Draft:Emergency Alert System

Background

The Emergency Alert System is the USA's national warning system. Designed originally under the Emergency Broadcast System to allow the President to speak on all TV and radio systems in case of a national emergency, the EAS was an upgrade allowing for better localized alerts. SAME tones were introduced to help transmit data to encoders, to identify locations of any event. There are over 90 event codes. This system was implemented in 1997.

EASyPLUS Screen (November 2002-2019)

Most common variant of the EASyPLUS.
The 2011 National Test variant. This would also hypothetically what an actual Emergency Action Notification would look like.
Gray screen, white text.
FiOS test version.
Dish test version.
Local Access Alert

Visuals: On a black background, there is white VCR OSD Mono text. This text is in 4 lines, the top reading "EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM", the middle line displaying the alert sender, the next to bottom line reading "issued a", the bottom line displaying the alert. Between the first and second line, a scroll line reads "[ALERT SENDER] has issued a(n) [ALERT] for the following counties/areas: [LOCATIONS]. Effective until [TIME]. [ALERT RECEIVER]

Variants:

Some cable providers used a gray background with white text.
- A few used black text to go along with the gray background as well.
Some cable systems changed where the scroll goes, often to the middle of the screen, but sometimes to the bottom.
During the 2011 EAS test, under the Emergency Action Notification code, the top header read "NATIONAL ALERT". This would likely be protocol for all EAN alerts and Emergency Action Termination (EAT) alerts.
- FiOS used another CG layout where the top text read "NATIONAL EAS TEST", the middle text read "THIS IS A TEST" and the bottom text read "THIS IS ONLY A TEST". The scroll was on the bottom, with "THIS IS ONLY A TEST" before and after the scroll text.
Dish had a Required Monthly Test variant with the top text reading "Test of National EAS", the middle text reading "Dish Network" and the bottom text reading "has issued a monthly test of the National Emergency Alert System". The scroll read "This is a test of the National Level Emergency Alert System. Equipment that can quickly warn you of emergencies is being tested. If this had been an actual emergency Official messages would have followed the Alert tone." Note the miscapitalization of Official.
The Local Access Alert variant is all caps, on a very dark gray background. The top text reads "LOCAL ACCESS ALERT", the 2nd line reads "A LOCAL AUTHORITY", the 3rd line reads "HAS INITIATED A, and the bottom line reading "DIRECT COMMUNITY ACCESS". The scroll reads the exact same thing.
There was a variant in use by DirecTV where the EASyPLUS generated a black bar with white scrolling text over the DirecTV EAS Test slide. They later used an EASyCAP.
A channel change variant has the script unedited, sans EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM, with text reading "TUNE TO CHANNEL [x] FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.
- Another version was in mixed case.

Technique: Chyron effects generated on the Trilithic EASyPLUS, EASyIPTV, or EASyCAST Character Generator/EAS Encoder.

Audio: The SAME tones, followed by the EBS alert tone, then the audio message, then the EOM tones. For Local Access Alerts, only the audio message would play.

Availability: Used by many cable providers from 2003 to the mid 2010s, this was a common screen to come by. Comcast began phasing out the encoder by 2016, and Dish/FiOS by 2019. The encoder was replaced by the EASyCAP on October 20th, 2011 ^[1], compatible with the 2012 IPAWS/CAP standards. The last firmware for the EASyPLUS and EASyCAST was released around September 2012.^[2]

Legacy: As the most common EAS screen during the late 2000s and early 2010s, this had a major impact on EAS enthusiasts, often many of them creating EAS "mocks" with this screen.

Texscan-MSI (1999-2013?)

Green bar
Red bar
"IF ALIGNMENT IN PROGRESS" error screen

Visuals: On a blue background, there is white text. The top text reads "EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM", smaller than the rest of the text. Below it is the alert being issued. The alert text takes up most of the screen. A bar appears after a few seconds, with the white text: "[ALERT SENDER] has issued a(n) [ALERT] for the following counties/areas: [LOCATIONS]. Effective until [TIME]", scrolling to the left.

Variants:

On Required Weekly Tests, the text at the top is replaced with "Broadcast or Cable System HAS ISSUED A"
The color of the bar can vary, if a Test is issued, it would be green. Otherwise, it would be red.
Sometimes, especially on RWTs, the scrolling bar doesn't appear.
The text on the scrolling bar can be in mixed case or entirely in uppercase.
Rarely, a second configuration is used. This configuration has the top text "EAS ALERT" appear above the scrolling bar, now moved to the top, between the alert and the top text. The warning type is shown below, and the text "BROUGHT TO YOU BY [CABLE COMPANY]" is below, smaller than the rest of the text. Both the top text and alert are the same size. Has seen on Time Warner Cable and Comcast so far.
The scroll bar can have no text.
Usually, due to conversion issues, parts of the right side of the screen contain garbled symbols.
A version has the screen in black and white, the bar at the top, and the text "EAS ALERT" below it.
An error has the message "IF ALIGNMENT IN PROGRESS" in the middle of the screen. The EBS alert tone plays in this case.

Technique: Chyron effects generated using a Texscan-MSI SpectraGen CG, hooked up to a TFT 911 EAS Encoder.^[3]

Audio: The SAME tones, followed by the EBS alert tone, then the audio message, then the EOM tones.

Availability: Used by some cable broadcast systems, like Comcast, AT&T, Charter/Suddenlink, Cablevision and Time Warner Cable beginning around 1999. It is rumored that a Comcast provider in Ohio used this until 2013, but this is yet to be conformed. Was likely discontinued in favor of CAP-compatible EAS Encoders around June 30th, 2012, the CAP cutoff date for encoders.

Legacy: Another common screen that has inspired many mocks.

Keywest Technologies/Video Data Systems 800 Series/MHZ-SubAlert encoders (1997-) (Largely decommissioned by 2012)

Green screen
Yellow screen
Red screen
Version with ampersands instead of the scrolling message

Visuals: On a red, yellow, or green background, there is white Helvetica text. The top line reads "Emergency Alert System", the middle reading the alert name, and sometimes the bottom line reads the alert name in Spanish. Text would scroll on the bottom as well. The red background was used for warnings, yellow for watches, and green for tests.

Variants

Sometimes there was a tune to channel screen, often having "Emergency Alert System" on the top, the text reading "Tune to channel [x] for emergency message" in the middle, and the bottom reading the alert.
- A specific variant was spotted where the text stated that there was a local emergency in Fairfax County.
The VDS-830 was only able to generate scrolling text, and therefore would only generate a red, green, or yellow scroll with alert details. Stations could also configure the VDS 840 into a scroll-only mode as well.
The MHz SubAlert was able to mimic the font of the EASyPLUS, likely because both used the same CG graphics processor.
If the CG system wasn't calibrated properly, the scrolling message would be replaced by garbage text or a row of ampersands.

Technique: CG effects generated by the VDS 800 series, mainly the VDS 840 and VDS 830. Some also used the MHz SubAlert, which was the same CG but with a different graphics package. The encoder used is usually a Sage EAS Endec.

Audio: SAME tones, followed by the EBS alert tone, then the audio message, then the EOM tones. For Local Access Alerts, only the audio message would play. The tones were often distorted somewhat.

Audio Variants:

For the Tune To screen, it was either silent, the EBS Attention Signal, or a live voice reading "The Emergency Alert System has been activated. Please tune to channel (x) for more details".

Availability: Once prevalent during the early 2000s and late 90s, the CG and EAS encoder system was discontinued by 2008, as Video Data Systems was bought by KeyWest Technologies. By this time, most cable providers switched to alternate CG/EAS solutions, like the DASDEC or EASyPLUS. By 2012, only a few local stations were using the system, and as of 2024, only WVCY-TV uses the VDS 840.

Idea/Onics CG-1000 (1995-2008?)

Diagnostic screen
Early test screen
Later test screen
Version with full text output

Visuals: On a red background, there is the white text "IDEA/ONICS CG-1000 EAS" in the center.

Variants:

On RMTs, the text is replaced with "THIS CABLE SYSTEM IS CONDUCTING A REQUIRED TEST OF THE EAS SYSTEM."
An earlier version of this has the text slightly formatted differently.
In the rare case that the CG was set up correctly, the text replicates the HollyAnne Cable Envoy CEMS-1000 and CEMS-500. The top text reads "ALERT ALERT ALERT". The 2nd line reads the alert text. The next line reads "COUNTIES INVOLVED" , with the county(ies) below. The next page reads "MESSAGE EXPIRES AT [TIME] LOCAL."
The text usually flashes in 10 second increments.

Technique: Chyron effects generated using an Idea/Onics CG-1000 series CG, hooked up to any HollyAnne EAS encoder (mainly the MIP 921).

Audio: SAME tones, followed by the EBS alert tone, then the audio message, then the EOM tones. The tones were often distorted somewhat.

Availability: Most often seen during tests on cable providers such as Cox and Cablevision. Often, these screens would not be calibrated properly, which usually resulted in the version described in Visuals appearing. The only known appearance of the standard alert message occurred in Wyandotte, Michigan. The CG itself was released potentially in 1995, and was possibly discontinued around 2008, likely due to HollyAnne discontinuing their own encoders. The last known EAS sighting of this screen was around 2008.

References

[1] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20140815234350/http://eas.trilithic.com/press/20111020-easycap-release.html

[2] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20131220173811/http://eas.trilithic.com/Documents/Firmware/index.html

[3] ttps://cg-wiki.org/texscan_msi/z-series.

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