[sbe-eas] Question about ETRS Form 1 requirement for stations that 100% other stations

[k7cr@blarg.net]

I agree, wholeheartedly, with Dave on this one.

 

With my NWPB had on, allow me to point out a couple of things about our operation.

 

*	NWPB operates 3 program services  (You can Google NWPB for additional details) 
*	The configuration is a Hub & Spoke.
*	The distribution method for two of the services is C-band, the other IP
*	At the Hub – We have EAS Equipment that injects National Level EAS Messages from IPAWS in addition to forwarding Legacy EAS from several sources
*	The majority of the Stations have an Internet connected EAS Encoder/Decoder install at the transmitter sites thereby permitting local insertion of EAS messaging applicable to the communities they serve.

 

If I were ‘King of the World’  (and the FCC) I’d require – Locally accessible EAS Equipment at all stations at the ends of the ‘spokes’ Including Translators.   As Dave correctly points out, those that listen/view local translators are not all that concerned about EAS messages for areas hundreds of miles away – But the CERTAINLY ARE concerned about, potentially, life-saving messages applicable to where they live.

 

Believe me – I could go on 😊

 

Clay Freinwald

 

From: sbe-eas <sbe-eas-bounces at sbe.org> On Behalf Of Dave Turnmire
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2023 12:46 PM
To: sbe-eas at sbe.org
Subject: Re: [sbe-eas] Question about ETRS Form 1 requirement for stations that 100% other stations

 

Legal requirements are one thing.  Public service is another.  The FCC principally is concerned with being able to receive and rebroadcast national alerts... which aside from NPTs, we hope we never see.  But what you need to provide good service to your audience is another topic.  If your NOC/hub is located hundreds of miles from some of its stations, any monitoring it does at that location may not reflect the needs of the audience of those stations... local weather, local hazmat spills, local fires, local amber alerts, etc.  

That would be a management decision regarding how important providing that service is.  And it is complicated by the fact that your audience for one transmitter in one community probably won't appreciate their favorite program being interrupted for an emergency in a far removed community.  So if you are feeding multiple transmitters for multiple communities widely separated geographically, using one EAS box probably isn't practical if you consider emergency messaging a valuable public service.  You may need to local EAS boxes even if the rest of the programming is centralized.  So there isn't one "right choice" on these types of things.  Just remember that there are other EAS considerations than just complying with FCC minimums...

Dave

On 1/24/2023 12:33 PM, Larry Wilkins wrote:

Mike:

 

Hope you are doing well.  

 

The way the Commission explained it to me is if you have a main station that feeds 100% of its programming to other transmitters and the main station has a correctly installed and programmed EAS unit in the main program stream, the remote transmitters do not have to install a EAS unit at their station. 

 

You may need to review your state plan to see if they issue alerts locally (in each zone).  That may require units at the remote sites.  If they don't then just one at the main studio is legal.

 

 Larry Wilkins CPBE

Director of Engineering Services

Alabama Broadcasters Association

334-303-2525

lwilkins at al-ba.com <mailto:lwilkins at al-ba.com> 

www.al-ba.com <http://www.al-ba.com> 

  _____  

 

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