It's More Than Just Weather!
In
2009, NOAA Now Has 1,000 Transmitters In
Place!
Owned by the U.S. Government and operated by
a staff trained to address emergencies, the
NOAA Public Alert Radio is a service of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration of the U.S. Department of
Commerce. NOAA personnel use
information from Doppler radar, storm
spotters, state and local officials,
satellites and other sources to issue
warnings. These watches and warnings
are broadcast over NOAA systems. In
Addition, Local Emergency Management And
Public Safety Officials can activate local
warning systems to alert communities of an
impending weather threat. If In Place!
Why Rely On If? In Addition To
Monitoring Public TV and Radio, A
Proper-Working Personal Alert Monitor Radio
Will Receive The Same NOAA Broadcasts And
Can Present Information Instantly As It Is
Sent!
In 2003, the Consumer Electronics
Association partnered with NOAA and
Environment Canada to establish new industry
standards to help ensure the reliability of
products carrying public safety warnings.
Products meeting these standards now carry
the “Public Alert” logo.
U.S. Department
of Homeland Security (DHS)
In June 2004, the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) and the Department of
Commerce entered into an agreement providing
DHS the capability to broadcast
terrorism-related information to national
and targeted populations over the existing
NOAA network. It Is The Duty Of All
U.S. Citizens To Stay Alert And Monitor The
Homeland Security Network And Stay Vigilant
For The Greatest Defense.
Emergency Alert System | EAS?
"This is a
test of the Emergency Alert System -- this
is only a test....". The EAS
was originally designed to provide the U.S.
President with a means to address the
American people directly, in the event of a
national emergency. Through the EAS,
the President has access to thousands of
broadcast stations, cable systems and
participating satellite programmers, to
transmit a message to the public. In
1963, state and local level emergency
information was allowed to be transmitted
using the EBS. The latest upgraded
digital system, provides state and local
officials with a new method to quickly send
out important local emergency information
targeted to a specific area.
The FCC ruled that the EAS would be a
digital-based automated system and use
coding protocols similar to NOAA Weather
Radio (NWR) Specific Area Message Encoding
(SAME). EAS sends out alerts not just
to broadcast media but also to cable
television, satellites, pagers, Direct
Broadcast Satellite, High Definition
Television, and Video Dial Tone. EAS
also accounts for the needs of special
populations such as the deaf and those with
special language requirements. In 1996,
EAS replaced the Emergency Broadcast
System (EBS).
What Is S.A.M.E.?
The Following Is The Official Description
Published By NOAA
NWSI 10-1712
FEBRUARY 11, 2005*
NWR SAME provides in a
digital format specific, timely information
on the nature and location of a threat to
the safety of those most immediately at risk
from severe weather or other hazards.
It is intended to provide enough information
before and after the broadcast of a
message to allow individual receivers to
immediately react to a received warning
according to preprogrammed user
instructions. Its greatest value is to
significantly improve the automatic
selection and distribution of messages about
events that threaten people and/or property.
Applications range from turning on the muted
speaker in individual personal radios for
specific classes of events and/or specific
locations, to automatically capturing and
re-broadcasting NWR messages on Emergency
Alert System (EAS) equipment at broadcast
radio and television stations and cable
systems.
Purpose of SAME*
The SAME feature on NWR
receivers allows listeners and EAS
participants to filter and receive only
messages and information for their selected
geographic areas that are disseminated
within the available NWR broadcast area.
Use of SAME permits a reduction in number of
unwanted receiver notifications due to
warnings and alerts that are outside the
receiver’s selected area(s) of concern (that
do not match the “listener’s” selected SAME
geographic area(s), message, event and/or
information type codes). Use of SAME
for automatic system turn on and alert is a
measured criteria in Consumer Electronics
Association (CEA) “Public Alert” certified
NWR receivers.

ALL Hazards
Monitor?
NWR broadcasts National Weather Service
(NWS) warnings, watches, forecasts and other
non-weather related hazard information 24
hours a day. During an emergency, NWS
forecasters interrupt routine broadcasts and
send a special tone activating special
weather-alert monitoring radios.
Weather radios equipped with a special alarm
tone feature sound an alert to give
immediate information about a
life-threatening situation.
NWR broadcasts warnings and post-event
information for all types of hazards:
weather (e.g., tornadoes, floods), natural
(e.g., earthquakes, forest fires and
volcanic activity), technological (e.g.,
chemical releases, oil spills, nuclear power
plant emergencies, etc.), and national
emergencies (e.g., terrorist attacks).
Working with other Federal agencies and the
Federal Communications Commission's (FCC)
Emergency Alert System (EAS), NWR is an
all-hazards radio network, making it the
most comprehensive weather and emergency
information available to the public.
Programming A SAME Receiver
To program NWR SAME receivers with the
proper county(s) and marine area(s) of
choice, a 6-digit SAME code number(s) for
the local county(s) is needed. With
this code information, follow the directions
supplied by the manufacturer of the specific NWR SAME receiver for programming.
U.S. Codes
* Information Subjected To
Chance Without Further Notice. Reference:
NOAA Weather Service;
Dissemination Policy NWSPD 10-17. This
Documentation Is Available At
http://www.weather.gov/directives/
NOAA Weather
Radio Now Numbers 1000 Transmitters!
The National
Weather Service (NWS) has reached a historic
milestone with the addition of a transmitter
in Nenana, Alaska. The Nenana transmitter
is the 1,000th station in the NOAA Weather
Radio All Hazards network. It broadcasts on
a frequency of 162.400 MHz with the call
sign KPS504. The broadcast originates at
the NWS Weather Forecast Office in
Fairbanks.
More Info On
Public Alert
NWR Service Coverage Map
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