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Alabama IPAWS EAS Test a Success

The rescheduled test came together “extremely well,” says Alabama Broadcasters Association

It was a successful EAS test for the state of Alabama on Thursday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency rescheduled a National Periodic Test EAS test for Alabama, which was one of several states that had been removed from a scheduled 22-state test on Feb. 24 due to real weather conditions in parts of several states.

The new test took place at 11:15 a.m. Central Time in lieu of Alabama’s normal required monthly test that had been scheduled then.

Broadcasters were asked to check in with the Alabama Broadcasters Association afterwards to report whether their station received and relayed the test properly and if the station had any problems. Broadcasters were asked to monitor the test relay and to comment on the audio quality.

Larry Wilkins, contract engineer for the ABA and chairman of the Alabama State Emergency Communications Committee, said the “NPT went extremely well. With over 200 stations reporting back so far, we have had only four with a problem. [We have] already corrected one, and the others look like the same problem,” he said, which looked to be old firmware in the EAS unit at the individual station.

Wilkins expressed thanks to FEMA and IPAWS Program Manager Al Kenyon for helping facilitate a successful test for stations in the southeastern state. He said the ABA will continue to work with its stations before the scheduled national test on Sept. 28.

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