(August 5, 2016) – There have been several EAS developments this summer but the most important requires your action by August 26. All EAS participants must enter preliminary data (Form One) in the FCC’s new online EAS Test Reporting System. An excellent recap on your obligations, new event codes, and software upgrades is available here.
One particular item that has caused a lot of confusion is usage of the new term “Geographic Zone of Service.” Because New Hampshire is a small state we have never designated particular operational areas in the NH EAS Plan (cover date December 2000). When you are ready to enter this information in ETRS you may find the form tries to auto-populate based on a previous user’s entry. You should simply type the county of your primary service. Many stations overlap into multiple counties; each needs to be entered.
Don’t forget that a National EAS Test is coming on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016 at 2:20 p.m. It will utilize the new nationwide geographic zone code, 000000. If your software hasn’t been upgraded to recognize that code you must do it before Sept. 28. After the test, all stations must return to ETRS and provide some basic response information by midnight on Sept. 28. A detailed response must be posted by Nov. 14, 2016.
If your station is unsure what your correct EAS monitoring assignments are, please contact Ed Brouder at NHAB: 603-627-9600.