EAS Watch - Frequently Asked Questions


The Questions

  1. What is EAS?
  2. Does EAS work?
  3. What is the problem?
  4. How often does EAS fail?
  5. What causes EAS to fail?
  6. What are spurious EAS Alerts?
  7. How does EAS WATCH solve the problem?
  8. What EAS Sources can be received by the EAS WATCH Monitor Panel?
  9. What details of the EAS Alert are sent to the server?
  10. How does the server present information regarding an EAS Alert?
  11. How does the server know what stations should broadcast a particular EAS?
  12. What if another agency initiates the EAS?
  13. What if another agency wants to see their EAS activity - such as a County EMC?
  14. What if a second EAS goes out in my state while I'm watching an earlier alert?
  15. How else does EAS WATCH help with the real task of getting critical alerts broadcast?
  16. How does EAS WATCH handle spurious EAS Events?
  17. How does EAS WATCH help keep track of the health of the EAS distribution in my state?
  18. What EAS WATCH reports can be generated?
  19. How can EAS WATCH help broadcasters?
  20. How can EAS WATCH help government agencies?
  21. How can EAS WATCH help the public?
  22. How complicated is the installation of the EAS WATCH system?
  23. After installation, how will I know that the EAS WATCH Monitor Panel is working properly?
  24. How many EAS WATCH Monitor Panels are required?
  25. What if the server fails or the Internet connection at the server fails?
  26. This sounds great! Is EAS WATCH available for sale?

More questions? Contact us at questions@easwatch.com.


The Answers

What is EAS?

EAS stands for Emergency Alert System. It superceded the Emergency Broadcast System back in 1994.

EAS is a national alert system coordinated by the FCC, FEMA and the NWS.

For a general overview, look here.


Does EAS work?

Yes, it usually does. EAS reliability has improved over recent years with more paths from Emergency Management Centers out to broadcasters. Many states are now using satellite and other wide area distribution means. But it is far from perfect.


What is the problem?

Sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes spurious EAS Alerts go out. Any system that distributes data or voice can sometimes fail due to a variety of causes. But with the current EAS, there is no way to know that the broadcast has not gone out. Worse - when an EAS is accidentally broadcast, authorities often do not know about it until they are contacted by the public or by news media.


How often does EAS fail?

No one knows. Except for anecdotal reports and after test informal discussions, there seem to be no reliable statistics. EAS does often fail at one or more locations in many state systems despite what appear to be redundant paths to each location.


What causes EAS to fail?

Often the problem is human error, sometimes it is an unplugged cable. Surprisingly there are some broadcasters who simply don't care. The number of FCC enforcement actions against radio stations do not have a functioning EAS unit is amazing. And the enforcement is often after months of failing to participate in the Required Weekly Test. This should be considered unaccepatable.


What are spurious EAS Alerts?

Occasionally - probably at least once a month somewhere in the U.S. someone pushes the wrong button or does an "off air" demonstration of an EAS Encoder when the output is in fact going out over the air. In the best case, only the originating station broadcasts the spurious EAS. Often, other stations monitoring the spurious EAS as a source go on the air with the EAS spreading the false information further. Worse: government authorities have no knowledge of this until they are contacted by broadcasters or the public.


How does EAS WATCH solve the problem?

An EAS WATCH Monitor Panel is installed at locations around the state to receive the actual broadcast signals that are supposed to carry EAS Alerts. When any EAS Alert is heard, details of the Alert (including the voice message if any) are sent to a central server via Internet where a state map presents the data.


What EAS Sources can be received by the EAS WATCH Monitor Panel?

AM broadcast stations 550-1710 KHz (standard)
FM broadcast stations 88.1-107.9 MHz (standard)
National Weather Service - any channel (standard)
RDBS Text - AM or FM (option)
State repeater network - VHF or UHF (option)
TV teletext (any broadcast channel) (option)


What details of the EAS Alert are sent to the server?

Almost everything. The full FSK text (including the two repetitions) are sent. Voice audio is captured and sent to the server. A technical evaluation of the entire alert is performed, summarized, and checked against the specification contained in the FCC rules. The report includes tone frequencies, FSK data rate, amplitude of tones and voice message (compared with average audio levels captured before the EAS Alert).


How does the server present information regarding an EAS Alert?

The server is designed to show the data visually on a high resolution computer monitor or High Definition TV monitor. For each new EAS event, a map of the region is generated and the stations that should be broadcasting the alert are shown in their approximate geographic location. The station icons are shown in yellow, indicating that an EAS broadcast is pending. When the remote EAS Watch Monitor Panel detects the EAS, the station icon turns green. If a preset time elapses with no EAS detected from any stations, those station icons turn red. See here and here.

The server supports a second smaller monitor which may be used to update databases and generate reports from the database. Popup information about specific stations may be directed to this monitor which would typically be located at an Emergency Management Center workstation. The larger display may be wall mounted or located at a workstation. The ideal resolution for our the graphic display for the system is 1920 x 1200 or HDTV 1920 x 1080.


How does the server know what stations should broadcast a particular EAS?

In the preferred installation, the server receives the raw audio EAS directly from the encoder at the location that initiates an EAS. The server decodes the data including type of event, originator, and the list of FIPS codes indicating the geographic area affected by the alert. A relational database translates the FIPS codes in to a list of stations that should carry the alert. Those stations are then shown on the graphic display.


What if another agency initiates the EAS?

There are several possible ways of handling this. Ideally the other agency will have a network interface that will send the EAS message (FSK string) over the Internet to the server. As an alternative it may be possible to monitor the other originating source so the server knows what has happened. With recent changes in FCC rules it is likely that more regional centers will be originating alerts.


What if another agency wants to see their EAS activity - such as a County EMC?

Not a problem. The reports from the Monitor Panels around the state can send data to more than one recipient. So, it is entirely practical to show the activity at the state level, county level and even on a Homeland Security screen.


What if a second EAS goes out in my state while I'm watching an earlier alert?

The graphic display with the state map can only show one active EAS at a time. However, thumbnail views of multiple EAS events are shown along the right side of the screen. The user can quickly move from screen to screen to monitor the progress of multiple EAS events.


How else does EAS WATCH help with the real task of getting critical alerts broadcast?

Moving the cursor over any station brings up contact information for that station derived from the local database. This may include telephone numbers and an email address for the control room. In the event that a station has not gone on- air with an alert, clicking a send button in the station window will send an email immediately that contains the FSK EAS text for the current alert. In a critical event where life and property are at immediate risk, the operator at the EMC can call the radio station directly and ask them to broadcast the EAS. The voice message associated with the alert can be sent immediately as a .WAV file along with the email.


How does EAS WATCH handle spurious EAS Events?

A spurious EAS Event is one for which the server has no record of an initiation. They are most often caused by human error or a misbehaving encoder. Any unexpected EAS detected by the system will immediately generate a new page showing the FSK message including the originator. If additional stations are found to be broadcasting an identical FSK message, those and the original broadcaster will be shown on the map with red icons. As with any station problem, moving the cursor over the red icon will allow immediate sending of an email and will also show telephone contact information for the station.


How does EAS WATCH help keep track of the health of the EAS distribution in my state?

Every EAS event is logged. The log includes the time and date of the initiation of the alert and the time at which every station broadcasts the EAS. Reports can be generated summarizing the results of every weekly or monthly test and every actual EAS alert. The system can also monitor any statewide or regional network such as VHF repeaters. This allows instant recognition if part of a regional relay system fails.


What EAS WATCH reports can be generated?

Reports can show performance of a particular broadcaster over the entire period of monitoring (months or years). It can also show the performance of all stations for a particular EAS Alert or test. The reports can include details of the technical characteristics measured for each monitored event.


How can EAS WATCH help broadcasters?

At every EAS event, the server can send an email to the broadcaster for logging that confirms that an EAS was broadcast. Any deviations from specification that are detected will be included in the report. Online password access can be made available to every station to review their EAS broadcasts over time.


How can EAS WATCH help government agencies?

EAS WATCH provides immediate real-time information on the integrity and response time of the EAS System. Statistics can be quickly extracted regarding compliance. Notification of out of specification broadcasts can be immediate at a server or via an e-mail transmission from the server. Every EAS event is logged. Every initiation and every broadcast is captured to a database. All voice portions of the EAS are captured and may be played back.


How can EAS WATCH help the public?

The EAS is the recognized authority for urgent public safety information. The public trusts this source and depends upon it. EAS WATCH can encourage compliance by broadcasters and bring attention to flaws and shortcomings as they are detected.


How complicated is the installation of the EAS WATCH system?

It is not complicated. The EAS WATCH Monitor Panels require a single short vertical antenna outside (with a built in amplifier). Two cables of standard RG6 coaxial cable need to run from the antenna box to the Monitor Panel. The panel also requires a reliable source of 120 Volt power and a connection to internet via an ethernet LAN. The server installation is similar to setting up a personal computer. A static IP address is recommended for the server.


After installation, how will I know that the EAS WATCH Monitor Panel is working properly?

A front panel color LCD touch screen shows the stations being monitored, the signal strength and the relative audio level. A touch screen menu allows turning on the audio to a local speaker. The normal screen also shows the time of the last Internet interaction with the server. The server keeps tabs on all monitors every few minutes. The server can display all stations in any area and show the current signal strength and highlight any stations which are off the air or not being received.


How many EAS WATCH Monitor Panels are required?

Each panel can be configured to monitor up to 24 different frequencies at the same time. However, if there are 480 stations to monitor, more than 20 panels may be required. Panels need to be located in the service area of the stations to be monitored. We can provide panels with any number of frequencies (up to 24) included. It is very easy to add or remove Channel Modules. Each Channel Module monitors 2 frequencies.


What if the server fails or the Internet connection at the server fails?

Each EAS WATCH Monitor Panel can send EAS data to one or more servers. An off-site server can receive all data as a backup. That server could be accessed via a web browser (password protected) to allow viewing of data at any location.


More questions? Contact us at questions@easwatch.com.


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