[SBE16-Seattle] EAS Tab 10 Updates Are Here!

[Spring, Terry]

Shouldn’t this go to the EAS remailer?


Terry Spring
Chief Engineer

KWPX TV
ION Media Networks
PO Box 426
8112-C 304th Avenue SE
Preston WA  98050

W:  (425) 222-6010  X203
C:  (206) 849-0166
F:  (425) 222-6032


From: SBE16-Seattle <sbe16-seattle-bounces at sea.sbe16.org> On Behalf Of Jon Kasprick - SBE via SBE16-Seattle
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2020 10:09 AM
To: SBE Chapter 16 Members and Others <sbe16-seattle at sbe16.org>
Subject: [SBE16-Seattle] EAS Tab 10 Updates Are Here!

The long-awaited redesign of the EAS monitoring assignment tab for your Washington State EAS Handbook has been published.

THE ATTACHED 3 FILES REPLACE YOUR CURRENT TAB 10. Please coordinate with your station's Chief Operator to ensure your handbook is up to date. See details below.

This new Tab 10 is a complete re-design that supports the current FCC direction for EAS monitoring assignments and the Alert Reporting System (ARS).

The following comes from Clay Freinwald, our Washington State EAS Chair -


For well over 20 years, the Washington State SECC has attempted to guide every Radio &TV Station and Cable System regarding what to monitor for the Emergency Alert System….

Our State EAS Plan has, over the years, had various Tabs (Segments) that dealt with this issue.   The reason was simple – The FCC wants the SECC’s to determine how National-Level Messages propagate to every EAS Participant in the State.

Over the years the FCC has been ‘ramping up’ their end of the deal with periodic National Tests (NPT’s) and following it up by having all Participants report to the FCC how the system is working via the Electronic Test Reporting System (ETRS).

To make the loop complete, the FCC is about to launch a system called ARS. This will provide a method for the SECC’s to report to the FCC how our State systems are organized including what the Local Primary Stations (LPs) and Distribution Systems are monitoring.   In this way, when the FCC checks the results from ETRS they will know how the overall system functions.

With all this going on, the time had come to overhaul the way Washington State was discharging this responsibility.     To that end, the SECC appointed a committee to overhaul not only the State EAS Plan, but the segment that deals with Participant Monitoring – We are now, officially, launching this change.

Going forward, the SECC will no-longer be prescribing what Participants (Call PN’s) Monitor – replacing this method are tables that provide choices for Participants that will ensure that they are properly connected.   (This information is all in what we now call Tab 10C)

We are now, hereby, issuing Monitoring Assignments to Local Primary Stations and Distribution Systems.    (This information is contained in our new Tab 10B)

Information about how this all goes together is contained in a new Tab 10A

So here is what you need to do -

INSTRUCTIONS FOR UPGRADING YOUR COPY OF THE EAS PLAN

  1.  Please remove the following from your copy of the Washington State EAS Plan –

•         Tab 5 – Western Washington Matrix (obsolete)

•         Tab 6 – Eastern Washington Matrix (obsolete)

•         Anything shown as Tab 10 – Including those with Alpha-Suffixes – ie, Tab 10B, Tab10C etc.

  1.  Replace all of the above with the 3 attached files (as Tab 10).

INSTRUCTIONS FOR DEALING WITH OPERATIONAL ISSUES

  1.  Carefully read Tab 10A. (This explains how it all goes together)

  1.  If you are  Local Primary (LP), or Distribution System,  Carefully note your Monitoring Assignments in the new Tab 10B

•         In some cases they are the same as they were –

•         In others, additional and/or different equipment is required.

•         Remember these are – Requirements, not options.

  1.  If you are a PN (Meaning your Station/Facility is NOT an LP or Distribution System)

•         Carefully review the Options you have for Monitoring to remain FCC compliant in the new Tab 10C

FINALLY –

Should you have any questions as to how these new procedures work at your facility –

Please post those questions to the EAS-WA Remailer (eas-wa at sbe16.org<mailto:eas-wa at sbe16.org>) where answers will be provided for the benefit of all.

Let the record show my sincere appreciation to those have volunteered to be on the EAS Plan Revisions Committee and have worked so hard to complete this task.    Specifically I want to thank Charlie Osgood who works with Alpha Media in Wenatchee for his proofing and editing skills..

Historically, none of our EAS Plan material is ‘Cast in Stone’.   All of our work is open for review and improvement.

Therefore, I encourage your contributions to that end.

Now we move on to other work to be done as we take on the task of over-hauling the rest of our EAS Plan and the roll out of what will be known as WA-PAWS later this year.

If you’d like to be a part of this process, we’d love to have you on our team.


As a previous member of the Plan Revision committee, I can attest to the importance of the current effort to overhaul our state EAS Plan. Clay and I encourage all members with an interest in the success of our EAS coordination efforts to get involved.

Stay well.

Jon Kasprick, PE, CBRE, DRB
Society of Broadcast Engineers
Director 1, Chapter 16, Seattle
253-951-3347
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