IPAWS National Test 2023

[IMA SOL MAN]

IPAWS National Test 2023

FEMA, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a national test of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) on Oct. 4, 2023.

www.fema.gov

 

[PhotonWrangler]

The cellular portion of the EAS network is the cleanest and most straightforward of them and I expect they will work pretty much as expected during the national test. The legacy radio and tv EAS systems, however, are a messy patchwork of daisy-chained devices that sometimes work well and sometimes work embarrassingly poorly. They really need a complete overhaul of these systems. All too often I've heard actual emergency weather announcements that were a garbled mess and conveyed almost no useful information.

Testing is important, but testing without remediation is useless.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

My local NOAA radio station has been humming away almost perfectly for years, but suddenly this month, they have been having major problems with it--noise, having to resort to manually doing the announcement, and then the EAS over the broadcast radio, which has been not working for years, suddenly is working, but the audio is all distorted. I can only believe that all of this has been in preparation for the big test in October.

The fact that the feds are finally getting serious about fixing the system makes me think that they realize the precarious nature of things, and they are finally getting their act together before the SHTF. All I can say is, it's about time.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

My local NOAA radio station has been humming away almost perfectly for years, but suddenly this month, they have been having major problems with it--noise, having to resort to manually doing the announcement, and then the EAS over the broadcast radio, which has been not working for years, suddenly is working, but the audio is all distorted. I can only believe that all of this has been in preparation for the big test in October.

This is my point exactly. A lot of the broadcast systems produce hissy, distorted audio because they're either not calibrated correctly or their upstream source (which is simply picked up from another station via antenna) is poor. This whole system needs to be redesigned IMO to include IP-based distribution of audio.

I used to maintain some of these systems. I was even pressed into service once to make an emergency tornado announcement over the air when the local emergency response team's equipment was flooded out due to the accompanying storm. Back then the systems were simpler but they were still a little tricky to keep running correctly. They're somewhat more sophisticated now (look up ENDEC devices if you want to know more) but they still have serious weak points.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

If the radio and TV "networking" was all converted over to a modern, error correcting digital system, I think it would likely work fine. But, as they say, the devil is in the details.

 

[jtr1962]

One thing I find particularly disconcerting is the fact they use SDTV resolution when I see their tests conducted, even on cable systems which are 100% digital, and on HDTVs. I don't have much confidence in a system that is still using standards which were more or less obsolete well over a decade ago. Send the messages in 1080P. The few people left who still have SDTVs are already connected to a digital receiver of sorts, either a cable TV box, or a digital-to-analog converter box. Either way, they'll still receive the messages converted to a format which works on their TV.

Then after the test, when it goes back to normal programming, it takes a few seconds for the sound to come back.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

One thing I find particularly disconcerting is the fact they use SDTV resolution when I see their tests conducted, even on cable systems which are 100% digital, and on HDTVs. I don't have much confidence in a system that is still using standards which were more or less obsolete well over a decade ago. Send the messages in 1080P. The few people left who still have SDTVs are already connected to a digital receiver of sorts, either a cable TV box, or a digital-to-analog converter box. Either way, they'll still receive the messages converted to a format which works on their TV.

Then after the test, when it goes back to normal programming, it takes a few seconds for the sound to come back.

It takes a long time for the broadcast industry to change, and the government even longer. During the great unemploying of 2020, Kansans found out our department of labor was still using 1970's computer technology. Needless to say, that with all the claims coming in, things bogged down to a crawl, and we got defrauded big time. Hopefully the KDOL has upgraded everything to current state of the art, but I'm not going to hold my breath on that. So, I'm not surprised that the TV emergency alert system is behind the state of the art by quite a bit. I know, as a citizen and taxpayer, you expect that with the government's awesome responsibilities and unlimited tax income, that things would be handled properly, but I have very little expectations from it. It's just the way it is.

 

[jtr1962]

I know, as a citizen and taxpayer, you expect that with the government's awesome responsibilities and unlimited tax income, that things would be handled properly, but I have very little expectations from it. It's just the way it is.

The weird thing is we seem to have no problems using the latest and greatest for national defense, but fail big time when it comes to other things. A big part of the problem is public employee unions and contractors both figure it's the government, so let's milk them. This seems to be mostly a problem in the US. We spend 5 to 10 times as much building infrastructure here as they do elsewhere. Maybe we need to adopt whatever oversight measures these other countries are taking.

Using 1970s computer technology doesn't surprise me. Sometimes older tech keeps people in obsolete jobs. Unions love that. It means more members.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

This is my point exactly. A lot of the broadcast systems produce hissy, distorted audio because they're either not calibrated correctly or their upstream source (which is simply picked up from another station via antenna) is poor. This whole system needs to be redesigned IMO to include IP-based distribution of audio.

I used to maintain some of these systems. I was even pressed into service once to make an emergency tornado announcement over the air when the local emergency response team's equipment was flooded out due to the accompanying storm. Back then the systems were simpler but they were still a little tricky to keep running correctly. They're somewhat more sophisticated now (look up ENDEC devices if you want to know more) but they still have serious weak points.

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-22-828A1.pdf

 

[PhotonWrangler]

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-22-828A1.pdf

Yep, I remember this. Besides patching any vulnerabilities, it's best practice to limit which IP addresses can reach the system, starting with geofencing from all offshore IPs.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

The funny thing is, my EAS receiver had been indicating that it had been receiving test signals, but the audio would never open. Now this month, the audio finally opened, but to a garbled message. Strange.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

One thing I find particularly disconcerting is the fact they use SDTV resolution when I see their tests conducted, even on cable systems which are 100% digital, and on HDTVs. I don't have much confidence in a system that is still using standards which were more or less obsolete well over a decade ago. Send the messages in 1080P. The few people left who still have SDTVs are already connected to a digital receiver of sorts, either a cable TV box, or a digital-to-analog converter box. Either way, they'll still receive the messages converted to a format which works on their TV.

Then after the test, when it goes back to normal programming, it takes a few seconds for the sound to come back.

I found this that you will be interested in:

Next Generation Warning System Grant Program

Next Generation Warning System Grant Program (NGWSGP) will support investments that improve the resilience and security of public broadcasting networks and systems.

www.fema.gov

 

[jtr1962]

I found this that you will be interested in:

Next Generation Warning System Grant Program

Next Generation Warning System Grant Program (NGWSGP) will support investments that improve the resilience and security of public broadcasting networks and systems.

www.fema.gov

It's about time. This is one of those things where investing pennies now saves many dollars down the road.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

I found this that you will be interested in:

Next Generation Warning System Grant Program

Next Generation Warning System Grant Program (NGWSGP) will support investments that improve the resilience and security of public broadcasting networks and systems.

www.fema.gov

Finally! It looks like it's only for public TV stations, but at least it's a good start towards overall modernization and improved clarity and reliability. This can't happen fast enough for me.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Well the cellular test went fine as far as I could tell (except for being sent 2 minutes early). The PBS station in my area did fine also, but the CG alert that was displayed by the cable system had no sound. This might be understandable if it was a small independent system but this was one of the large national providers.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

Well the cellular test went fine as far as I could tell (except for being sent 2 minutes early). The PBS station in my area did fine also, but the CG alert that was displayed by the cable system had no sound. This might be understandable if it was a small independent system but this was one of the large national providers.

It came on my EAS equipped AM/FM broadcast bands radio like a champ, but not my NOAA radio--wasn't it supposed to get pushed out on all the alert systems?

 

[PhotonWrangler]

It came on my EAS equipped AM/FM broadcast bands radio like a champ, but not my NOAA radio--wasn't it supposed to get pushed out on all the alert systems?

That's a really good question! I'm sure it would if it was a local or regional weather emergency, but there's no such thing as a national weather emergency. And if it's a national emergency, it's not about the weather. I'm going to do a bit of reading on this.

**Edit**
Well the answer is yes, the IPAWS system is supposed to be integrated with NOAA weather radio per FEMA's statement here. If your local NOAA feed didn't send it, it sounds like something is either misconfigured or broken at your local NOAA office. That's what these tests are for, to identify weaknesses and fix them.