[grc] Time to replace your older Gorman - Redlick EAS box

[Tom Voorhees]

FCC Says No to Gorman-Redlich "Workaround"
Requesthttp://www.radioworld.com/article/fcc-says-no-to-gorman-redlich-workaround-request/279724
[1]

With all the other EAS developments going on this week, here’s one that
will come as unwelcome news to at least some small broadcasters.

The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has said “no” to
a request from manufacturer Gorman-Redlich for a rules waiver. 

The company had argued that some legacy EAS equipment is not able to
process alerts with the “six zeroes” national location code, as is now
required under the EAS Protocol. The FCC has stated that it believes
implementation of “six zeroes” would present negligible costs because
most equipment in the field already supports the six zeroes. But owner Jim
Gorman had asked the FCC [2] to allow users of legacy equipment to use an
“entire state” location code instead, and a half-dozen small
broadcasters wrote to the commission in support.

Now, with the next national test looming, the FCC staff says Gorman-Redlich
did not succeed in making its case. It said a waiver on behalf of
non-LP-1/LP-2 stations with no downstream monitoring stations would have
been so broad and cover so many stations as to create a de facto rule
change. Also, the proposal didn’t lay out a cutoff timetable for a waiver
nor show how it would serve the public interest, the bureau said.

Further, the purpose of the location code, the bureau said, is to ensure
consistency between EAS rules and industry CAP standards, which in turn
facilitates integration into IP-based alerting systems such as IPAWS, and
to help simplify national alerting and avoid confusion.

“The relief sought by the Waiver Request — using state location codes
for a nationwide alert — is exactly the sort of alternate,
‘workaround’ process that the ‘six zeroes’ national location code
is intended to eliminate,” the bureau wrote. “Further, there is no
indication that the requested ‘workaround’ would be effective, as it
would only apply to EAS alerts received via the IPAWS CAP feed. Alerts
delivered over the air would contain the ‘six zeroes’ code and would
not be processed by the old EAS equipment.”

And: “Granting the Waiver Request would be inconsistent with the public
interest goals of the second nationwide test, including the goal of
evaluating the reliability and effectiveness of the ‘six zeroes’ code
and other measures adopted after the first nationwide test.”

What this outcome portends for any stations that use such equipment during
the national test this week was not discussed in the ruling. Radio World
has invited comment from Gorman-Redlich and will share any reaction.

Related:
How to Find Form Two (and Other Last-Minute Test Reminders) [3] - See more
at:
http://www.radioworld.com/article/fcc-says-no-to-gorman-redlich-workaround-request/279724#sthash.0zBTkPRG.dpuf


Links:
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[1] http://www.radioworld.com/article/fcc-says-no-to-gorman-redlich-workaround-request/279724
[2] http://www.radioworld.com/article/gorman-redlich-eas-waiver-raises-questions/279419
[3] http://www.radioworld.com/article/how-to-find-form-two-/279722