Manufacturer Digital Alert Systems issued a white paper to help users of its DASDEC equipment prepare for the upcoming national EAS test.
The company also reminded users that the national test is of conventional EAS and does not involve the new Common Alerting Protocol.
“The Nov. 9 test will be the first national EAS test ever conducted and will consist of a single broadcast EAN (Emergency Action Notification) message sent simultaneously from a FEMA Operations Center to Primary Entry Point (PEP) AM/FM radio stations across the country,” it summarized. “These PEP stations will relay the EAN message to other broadcasters and cablecasters in their coverage area, as well as directly to the public.
“Broadcasters are expected to monitor and receive the message from at least two sources (in most cases the PEP and an LP-1 or LP-2 station) in accordance with state EAS plans and to broadcast the message to the public in their area. The nationwide EAS test will affect all U.S. broadcast and radio stations, which must participate and report the results of the test back to the FCC within 45 days.”
The company said its DASDEC units require no human intervention whether running in manual or automatic mode. “Facilities that have been running the Required Monthly Test (RMT) successfully on all program streams should experience no issues with their current wiring configurations or settings.”
DAS White Paper (PDF)
