Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
On the morning of July 9, 1964, various breakdowns of its transmitter forced then-ABC affiliate WEAT-TV in West Palm Beach, Florida to knock off the air for 30 hours. President Bert Lebhar of the Gardens Broadcasting Company that owns WEAT said that to prevent future program interruptions of the same type in issue, the station entered into a contract to purchase a full-power standby transmitter meaning that when the installation is complete then the station will be able to operate at full power on either transmitter, giving full power programming to its viewers at all times.
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Whenever Denver's KBTV goes down in 1978, this is what you'd see.
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BREAKING NEWS: SAGE HAS ANNOUNCED THE END OF SAGE'S DIGITAL ENDEC MODEL 3644 PRODUCTION
If the FCC requires radio stations to have an encoder for the Emergency Alert System and one of the two major manufacturers of the devices says it will stop selling them – what's next? That’s the question broadcasters and regulators are about to have to grapple with after Tuesday’s announcement from Sage Alerting Systems that it has ceased production of its Digital Endec, model 3644. The blue boxes, which list for about $2,500, are the dominant model of EAS encoders currently in-use in both the United States and Canada.
“Some parts for the ENDEC are no longer available,” said Harold Price, president of Sage, who added that while the company pivots to focus on software, existing hardware ENDEC boxes will continue to be supported with firmware updates and factory repairs “for several years. The EAS has always been an odd niche business with a very bursty sales rate,” Price said, noting that there are no plans for a new model to replace the 3644."
Scott Fybush’s observations: With Sage out of the picture for EAS hardware, radio stations will find themselves in a bind, and quickly. The only other major provider of the boxes is Digital Alert Systems, whose DASDEC units are the default option for most TV stations and cable systems. But while the 3644 is a fairly simple device to configure for small operations like LPFM stations, the DASDEC is a more complicated beast that takes some know-how to program and operate. (Trilithic, primarily a manufacturer of EAS equipment for TV, is also found in a small handful of radio stations but has not made the radio market a priority.)
As for Price’s comment about the “bursty” nature of the business, it’s very true. Demand for new EAS boxes peaks when the FCC licenses new stations in windows like the one that just yielded up hundreds of new LPFM construction permits, then dies down to almost nothing for years in between windows. It’s entirely understandable that a company like Sage can’t justify the costs of keeping a manufacturing line running and updating unobtainable parts for a sales volume that could be as little as a few units a month. In a world where so many pieces of broadcast hardware are being virtualized and most of a radio facility can be operated as software-as-a-service running from the cloud, the EAS box has remained the stubborn outlier, existing in hardware form and fed by AM, FM and weather band receivers that are also hardware-based.
Price notes that the new FCC is likely to be considering some changes to the EAS rules in the coming years, and we know some of the larger group owners have been looking at ways to make EAS a more software-based service, potentially making it part of a virtualized digital airchain along with automation, processing and metadata encoding.
In the meantime, though, it’s going to be a little chaotic. We’d expect the remaining new stock of 3644s in dealers’ inventories to be snapped up quickly, leaving LPFMs that haven’t started building their facilities scurrying to either find used units or having no choice but to buy a DASDEC instead. Will the FCC be comfortable with a continuing mandate that can only be met by a single supplier?
And there’s a larger piece to this picture, too: it’s not just EAS boxes that have a small, “bursty” market. The entire broadcast equipment landscape is a small-volume niche these days in the larger environment of electronic production. With the potential chaos of new tariffs and shortages of parts, how many other vendors will reach the same conclusion Sage just did – that the market just isn’t there anymore to justify the cost of small-volume hardware manufacturing?
This came through Radioinsight.
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Inside United Video:
On January 25, 1996, United Video merged with TCI in a $210M stock swap. Shareholders voted to adopt the merger plan between both companies that was first announced on June 22, 1995. The transaction ended with TCI controlling 83% of voting power and 40% of United Video's stock. UV President Roy Bliss said in a statement that the impact of the merger will be felt as TCI's direct-to-home satellite business will relocate to Tulsa from Englewood, Colorado with the hiring of 100 employees in the following six months. TCI's Netlink service, which have around 300 employees at the time, will also be absorbed into UV's Superstar Satellite Entertainment for home satellite owners, and may cause trouble with the amount of employees.
Despite its merger, UV continued to operate as a separate entity, but as a subsidiary of TCI, they will keep its same management and services. Lawrence Flinn Jr., the chairman and chief executive and former majority owner of United Video, said that the transaction offers various business opportunities for the company including the possibilities for growth in the Prevue Guide business and programming business. At the time, TCI is UV's largest client with 9.5 million customers using Prevue, and 6.9 million receiving superstation programming. Bliss also added that since TCI is UV's largest customer and then-as now owns one-third of its stock, he believes that TCI will purchase even more of UV's services.
Shown in this photo is President Roy Bliss holding a copy of the then-brand new Sneak Prevue laserdisc on May 18, 1994.
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WYTV Emergency Broadcast System Card Recreation (Late 1980s)
(I tried my best to follow the steps on what the Warning Card looks like).
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KLFY-TV Technical Difficulties Card Recreation (1984)
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Today marks 13 years since the first National EAS Test was activated by FEMA. Shown here are two Samsung televisions playing WBBM-TV's National EAS Test.
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Severe Weather Statement
National Weather Service Tulsa OK
354 PM CST Mon Nov 4 2024
ARC007-143-OKC001-042215-
/O.CON.KTSA.TO.W.0100.000000T0000Z-241104T2215Z/
Benton AR-Washington AR-Adair OK-
354 PM CST Mon Nov 4 2024
...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 415 PM CST FOR
SOUTHWESTERN BENTON...WEST CENTRAL WASHINGTON AND NORTHEASTERN ADAIR
COUNTIES...
At 354 PM CST, a confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado was
located 3 miles southwest of Watts, moving northeast at 45 mph.
This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. TAKE COVER NOW!
HAZARD...Damaging tornado.
SOURCE...Radar confirmed tornado.
IMPACT...You are in a life-threatening situation. Flying debris may
be deadly to those caught without shelter. Mobile homes
will be destroyed. Considerable damage to homes,
businesses, and vehicles is likely and complete destruction
is possible.
Locations in or near the path include...
Siloam Springs... Westville...
West Siloam Springs... Watts...
Cincinnati... Lake Francis...
Ballard... Wedington...
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
To repeat, a large, extremely dangerous and potentially deadly
tornado is on the ground. To protect your life, TAKE COVER NOW! Move
to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy
building. Avoid windows. If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in
a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect
yourself from flying debris.
&&
LAT...LON 3605 9437 3598 9463 3600 9471 3607 9472
3616 9460 3616 9456 3619 9457 3622 9452
TIME...MOT...LOC 2154Z 220DEG 38KT 3607 9461
TORNADO...OBSERVED
TORNADO DAMAGE THREAT...CONSIDERABLE
MAX HAIL SIZE...<.75 IN
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QUESTION: How many Emergency Broadcast System alerts were issued nationwide between 1976 and 1994?
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On February 20, 2003 at approximately 7:02 PM ET, New Jersey's first EAS Child Abduction Emergency activation caused panic to some New Jersey cable users who were watching CNN, MSNBC, or FOX News due to its "Terror Alert" graphic being placed on screen.
People say that it was a glitch in the state's Amber Alert program, but it's not. This was due to Child Abduction Emergencies being a new code for the Emergency Alert System after the state law authorizing the Amber Alert was signed in December 2002. The first Amber Alert that evening was issued by New Jersey State Police for a missing 10-year-old Trenton boy who was found safe walking near his home two-and-a-half hours later at 5:40 PM ET, which is exactly a little more than a hour BEFORE the Amber Alert was issued. He was spotted walking near his home exactly two-and-a-half hours after the boy got in a car with two men wearing ski masks and gloves at approximately 3:00 PM that evening. This happened while the boy was walking out of the International Charter School with his 11-year-old friend. The alert is not just for New Jersey. The EAS activation is also a rare multi-state activation for four neighboring states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland.
In Trenton, New Jersey, Comcast viewers there had VDS with Tune-To Screen (Channel 43) -- "The Civil Authorities has issued a Civil Emergency Message for all of Delaware, all of Maryland, all of New Jersey, and all of Pennsylvania beginning at 6:11 PM Thu Feb 20 and ending at 12:11 AM Fri Feb 21 (COMCAST)" .
Jeff Alexander, director of public relations for the eastern division of Comcast, said that the New Jersey State Police control this alert and how the public is notified. Any question as to how the alert works and its distribution should be directed to the state of New Jersey.
Although there are no noticeable increase in calls reported in Camden, Salem, and Cumberland counties, Gloucester County was completely swamped with calls. Between 7:08 PM and 7:50 PM, there were 108 calls to 911 at the county Communications Center in Clayton. During the same hour, there were 850 calls to non-emergency police lines which that compares to 325 calls between 5 and 6 PM, and 180 calls between 9 and 11 PM.
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