Re: My Research on Minot, ND

[Aaron Read <aread@speakeasy.net>]

At 02:14 PM 4/7/2003 -0400, Sid Schweiger wrote:
> >>isn't this a GLARING problem in that area's EAS chain?  What if a nuke 
> was launched at the US and an EAN went out?  What would these stations do?<<
>
>The EAS rules state very explicitly that receipt of an EAN must interrupt 
>ALL broadcast stations, and that all presidential addresses made under an 
>EAN must be carried live.  Therefore, stations that use unattended 
>operation must have the EAS box in the program lines so that it will 
>automatically interrupt regular programming when an EAN is received.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

(snip)
>Anything else is purely voluntary.  That's what the current rules say, and 
>that's how CC would presumably avoid any consequences other than the 
>public's outrage that no one was "home" to initiate an alert.

I would think the outrage would be more from the state gov't and/or their 
version of MEMA (Mass Emergency Mgmt Agency)....this really seems like the 
sort of thing a state plan should mandate - as in, set to auto-forward 
specific emergency codes like CEM (ignoring Amber for a moment) or 
something.   Although since all State Plans are subject to FCC approval 
it'd have to hashed out at the federal level, too.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aaron "Bishop" Read             aread@speakeasy.net
FriedBagels Consulting          AOL-IM: readaaron
http://www.friedbagels.com      Boston, MA