/ 11.01.2010 12:00AM
Society of Broadcast Engineers Forms EAS Committee
INDIANAPOLIS: The Society of Broadcast Engineers announced
that it is reaffirming its Emergency Alert Systems efforts and inaugurating a educational
committee.
“EAS is about to undergo significant changes
with the adoption of the Common Alerting Protocol, and SBE members seek
information about how to implement these changes and remain compliant with FCC
rules,” SBE President Vinny Lopez said. “The SBE is in a unique position to gather and deliver this information
through the work of this new committee. The SBE continues to serve as technical
resource to the broadcast industry.”
The new SBE EAS Education Committee will be headed by Ralph Beaver, CBT. Beaver
has extensive experience with EAS, going back to 1973. He also led the SBE’s
previous EAS committee. The SBE also maintains an emergency comms-related
e-mail list, the EAS Exchange.
The Federal Communications Commission recently set a deadline for broadcasters
to adopt Common Alerting Protocol formats by March 29, 2011. CAP will be used
to integrate emergency communications across TV, radio, the Internet and cell
phones. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced formalization of CAP
Sept. 30.
However, issues related to implementing CAP remain unaddressed, which motivated
the SBE and other affected groups to petition for an extension. The petition
remains unanswered. Among other concerns it questions how as many as 30,000
participants will be able to acquire the necessary gear within the timeframe
from the limited number of vendors that make it. EAS equipment must pass
federal certification.
The FCC currently lists 10
certified vendors.
FEMA said it would publish a list of CAP-compliant gear that meet the CAP
profile at its Responders Knowledge Base page
on Nov. 5. FEMA’s vendor conformity assessment guide is available online.
The standard document for CAP is available from the Organization for
Advancement of Structured Information Standards. -- with Radio World