First Nation Wide Test a FLOP in Orygun

EAS has an originating station located at some emergency management thing in each state that feeds what are called LP stations, at least two. LP1 and LP2 all the other stations in a set geographic aria are required to listen to the two LP stations. The EAS box transmits what they tell me are called Fips or something like that codes, the 555 baud, who knows how they came up with that burst that you hear first in groups of three. This is all fuzzy to me because whenever they describe or explain it to me my eyes glaze over. Each fips code has a message identifier that tells you what type of message it is and a time stamp to tell you when it's sent. The TFT EAS systems that I work with sit there and listen to the two LP stations and when a message comes in the decoder reads the fips code and if it’s the first time it has received it stores the audio for the message on a digital audio recorder. Then depending on how you have your box set up it can rebroadcast the message with new fips codes playing the message. The EAS decoder has the ability to directly interrupt the program audio and play back the previously recorded message. Much controversy is around if you put the decoders ability before or after you audio processing, I have mine stuck before on the FM stations and after on the AM. Because the EAS decoder reads the Fips codes if the same message arrive on the other station you're monitoring it ignores the message because it has already run it, unless it’s a Sage EAS decoder then it just keeps repeating the message every time it arrives. Nobody knew that wood happen, go figure. Along with setting your stations indent and the local clock on the EAS decoder you can also set the box on what type of announcements you will and will not allow it to pass. There are about a hundred different fips codes for events from severe thunderstorm or severe winter weather to exotic codes for volcanic activity or tidal waves. Being on the coast we have our EAS decoders listening to the LP1 and LP2 stations for Maryland and also monitor NOAA weather and we allow the system to rebroadcast tornado and maybe one or two other type of events automatically. There is one fips code that you have no choice and have to rebroadcast that announcement eminently, that’s the one they used for this last test. In addition to all this the system also receive and generate required weekly test and being that one of my stations is a LP for the eastern shore of Maryland we receive and send a required monthly test that all the stations have to log. I am 100% cretin I screwed up a lot of this in my description and all of the people who know better can come in and explain it properly, now day I primarily deal with transmitter sites and try to stay as far away from the studio operations as possible. Certainly is different from the old EBS system and the Red Authenticator Envelopes.

RF