Anxiety over upcoming test of US emergency system

http://www.breitbart.com ^ | 11/03/11 | APF

[stars & stripes forever]

It's only a test, but nerves are somewhat frayed over the first nationwide exercise of the system designed to alert Americans of national emergencies. The test occurs at 1900 GMT Wednesday, November 9, and may last over three minutes -- longer than the typical 30 seconds or one minute for most broadcast test messages.

[halo66]

This is from the Las Vegas NWS site:

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
432 PM PDT TUE NOV 1 2011 /432 PM MST TUE NOV 1 2011/

...PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...

ON NOVEMBER 9TH AT APPROXIMATELY 11 AM PACIFIC STANDARD TIME...OR NOON MOUNTAIN
STANDARD TIME...THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY WILL
CONDUCT NATIONWIDE TEST OF THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM. IT WILL BE
HEARD ON THE RADIO AND SEEN ON LOCAL...CABLE AND SATELLITE TV.
HOWEVER IT WILL NOT BE HEARD ON NOAA WEATHER RADIO.

THE PURPOSE OF THE TEST IS TO ASSESS THE READINESS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE
EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM AND TO IDENTIFY IMPROVEMENTS THAT WILL
MORE EFFECTIVELY SERVE OUR COMMUNITIES TO PRESERVE LIFE AND
PROPERTY. ALTHOUGH THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM IS FREQUENTLY USED
BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO
SEND WEATHER ALERTS AND OTHER EMERGENCIES...THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A
NATIONAL ACTIVATION OF THE SYSTEM. THE NATIONAL TEST MESSAGE WILL
LAST FOR APPROXIMATELY THREE MINUTES AFTER WHICH REGULAR
PROGRAMMING WILL RESUME. THE NATIONAL TEST MAY LOOK LIKE
REGULAR...LOCAL EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM TESTS THAT MOST PEOPLE ARE
ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH...BUT THERE WILL BE SOME DIFFERENCES IN WHAT
VIEWERS WILL SEE AND HEAR. WHILE THE AUDIO MESSAGE WILL REPEAT
THAT THIS IS A TEST...THE TELEVISION...CABLE OR SATELLITE VIDEO
TEST MESSAGE SCROLL MAY NOT INDICATE THAT THIS IS A TEST MESSAGE.

THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO ROUTINE WEEKLY TEST THAT WOULD NORMALLY BE HELD
ON WEDNESDAY...NOVEMBER 9...WILL BE CANCELLED. REPEATING...NO
ROUTINE WEEKLY TEST WILL BE HELD THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 7TH.

AS FEDERAL...STATE...TRIBAL...AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS PREPARE AND
EXAMINE THEIR CAPABILITIES...THIS EVENT SERVES AS A REMINDER THAT
EVERYONE SHOULD ESTABLISH AN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS KIT AND
EMERGENCY PLAN FOR THEMSELVES...THEIR FAMILIES...COMMUNITIES...AND
BUSINESSES.

VISIT FEMA DOT GOV FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE NATIONWIDE TEST OF
THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM.

$$

[Drill Thrawl]

That’s 19:00 GMT which is the same as 2:00 PM EDT.

[Drill Thrawl]

That stupid annoying buzzer sound currently used drives me nuts.

Ummm, that's the point, to get your attention.

[Uncle Ike]

” Who cares? People can’t handle a few minutes of no TV? Yikes! “

I’ve seen ‘tests’ that glitched up, and knocked the TV or Radio station off the air for up to 20 minutes...

And these were ‘local’ tests - imagine such a glitch on the National/Federal scale....

Well, that’s one way to rid them of that pesky Fox News, et. al.....

[Justa]

The only real question is how many jobs will be lost as a result of this test. That seems to be the one true indicator of this administration’s achievements to date.

[Jane Long]

That’s 19:00 GMT which is the same as 2:00 PM EDT.

Interesting. During Rush's show.

Preparing a year in advance?

[rarestia]

—.- ... —

[EEGator]

It’s also 1900 ZULU. Right now GMT or Zulu is +4hrs, but we turn the clocks back on Nov 6th at 2am EST. Then it will be +5hrs.

[skimbell]

"...nerves are somewhat frayed over the first nationwide exercise of the system designed to alert Americans of national emergencies...

If our federal government is involved in or in charge of this test, you can bet your sweet behind it will turn into a national emergency disaster!

[American in Israel]

It was also done to see if the system could play a multi-minute message, as would come from the Office of the President...

Well if Bozo can't get people to watch him on TV anymore I guess we will have to put up with this.

[hoagy62]

First off, the ‘annoying buzz’ is a digital signal that tells the encoder at the station what kind of alert it is. Whether a test or an actual emergency, what kind of emergency, and who is activating the system. All that is contained in those three buzzes. For an actual emergency (and for this test), they then activate the Attention Signal, that wonderful slap-in-the-ears we older folks all remember from the old EBS.

Secondly...the test is for THREE minutes at 2 o’clock PM(1400 for those who understand) on the 9th. I have no idea where the heck Drudge is getting his info, but it’s wrong.

Finally...NOTHING IS GOING DOWN. NOTHING IS BEING SHUT OFF. The test is simply interrupting the normal programming, as it was designed to do. No phone systems are being turned off, no network signals will drop, no satellite feeds will go down. Understand: there is no reason for excessive paranoia due to this test.

NO, I don’t work for the government. NO, I’m most certainly NOT an Obama supporter. As a former broadcaster, I can see the benefits of testing the system to see if the darn thing works like it’s supposed to. That being said...is the timing suspect (i.e.; “a demonstration”)? Yes. They could’ve done it at a less conspicuous time.

All I’m saying is...there is nothing to be afraid of with this test.

(And if I’m wrong, you can look me up in the concentration camp later and say “I told you so”. :) )

[SampleMan]

Tests are done at 4am, when the fewest people will be inconvenienced. This will be done during the day. It’s not a “test”, it’s a “Demonstration”.
It was also done to see if the system could play a multi-minute message, as would come from the Office of the President. We know it works, we test it all the time.

Yes, precisely what struck me. A test can be done at the least watched times, but they want this to be seen. And in this modern time, do we really need to confirm that a "long broadcast" is possible? What do you learn about connectivity after the first 10 seconds?

Interestingly, the system wasn't used on 9-11, when it would have been logical to warn people to watch out for massed muslim attacks.

[G Larry]

I’’m out of tin-foil, but, this test validates a certain level of control over most all mass communication, by a man quite willing to misuse that capacity.

[George Varnum]

Are they going to take the internet down at the same time?

I kind of wish I had a HAM radio too, but in the event of martial law ANY non- governmental radio transmission is verbotten, and if you try it they can triangulate your coordinates pretty quickly and send a Gestapo team out to pay you a visit, or just have one of their loitering drones ship you a hellfire missile via express air mail and reduce your location to a smoking crater in no time at all.

After a few examples are made of, others will become very reluctant to push that “transmit” button.
Any broadcast, no matter how short, could be your last.

Even the possession of radio equipment will be prohibited. In Nazi Germany getting caught with even a radio receiver would get you a one way trip to the extermination camp, and in North Korea I understand that the only radios allowed only pick up the government station which blares propaganda 24/7, and people are not allowed to turn them off or even turn the volume down.

When I was in Inchon in ‘68 it was illegal for the South Koreans to even listen to the Nork radio stations... and they were supposed to be “free”.

For years now I have felt that as long as we have dissidents like Rush and Beck on the air, not all hope is lost. Frankly, I’m surprised that we still have access to them as well as other alternative opinion - like FR for that matter.

How much longer though? Stay tuned.

We are hearing rumblings of something big coming down in the Middle East possibly involving Iran about the same time as this “test”... I’m sure it’s just a coincidence though.

Is something coming down that we are not supposed to know about?

Again... stay tuned... if, that is, we are able to.

[Average Al]

So turn off your radio or tv. If Obama comes on it is a good time to go to the can.

[hoagy62]

Al...for this test, Barry the Boob will NOT be seen or heard. They’ve already said that.

Sample...The reason that this test is three minutes long is to determine if the encoders will work correctly for a national emergency message from the President. Why is that special? Every EAS message has a time limit of two minutes EXCEPT national/Presidential messages. They have NO time limit. Part of the test is to see if the encoder consoles “lock up” after two minutes and don’t allow the rest of the message to be broadcast.

[ErnBatavia]

[hoagy62]

Oh...one other thing: The reason they decided NOT to use EAS on 9/11 is that ALL the networks were covering the same thing. Because of what had happened, everyone ALREADY WAS on alert for shenanigans from muzzies. A national-level EAS alert is for situations when the President doesn’t have time OR is unable to get on the networks to tell us something (like if he’s on the NEACP getting his ass out of DC because there’s an inbound nuke).

[spokeshave]

As a HAM radio operator and certified ARES/RACES coordinator, this test freaks me out a little bit too. It’s very much big brother.

So...Pack my bag with twelve dozen Phoenician liquor jugs.....

and don't forget some "best bent wire"

[NonValueAdded]

Celerity said it best: at 4 AM it is a test, at 2 PM it is a demonstration.