The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a critical infrastructure element that most Americans recognize but few truly understand. As explored in our recent podcast episode, this mechanism serves as a vital communication channel. It connects government authorities and the public during emergencies. This mechanism’s importance can’t be overstated—it provides immediate, reliable information when other communication ways fail during crises.
CategoriesOpinion
When NOAA Weather Radio Goes Down, EAS Must Step Up
Lately, NOAA Weather Radio transmitters have been dropping off the air across the country — from Montana to Florida. Some have been out for hours, others for days. Equipment failures, broken microwave links, and even upgrade-related issues have all played a role. For broadcasters, it’s a reminder. When one piece of the emergency alerting chain breaks, the others have to be ready.
CategoriesNews
Tragic Fall from WAMU Tower Sparks Mental Health Discussions
On Friday, June 13, 2025, a man who had been perched on the WAMU/WTOP radio tower in northwest Washington, D.C., for nearly three days fell to his death. The incident began on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 10. It ended in the early hours of Friday morning. This was after an extended standoff involving law enforcement, emergency personnel, and mental health crisis negotiators.
The broadcast community, university officials, and local residents are now reflecting on what unfolded. They are considering what can be done to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.
CategoriesOpinion
Transforming Radio: Connecting with Today’s Audiences
Radio’s not dying. But it is moving — out of the dashboard, off the dial, and into every connected device we own. What was once a background medium is now ready to connect with listeners everywhere. This includes on their TVs, their smart speakers, their mobile phones, and in their cars.
And yet, too many broadcasters are still thinking inside the FM box.
That’s why a recent example from Pillar Media is so exciting. It’s not just exciting for what they did. It is also exciting for what it shows.
CategoriesNews
House Passes $9.4 Billion Rescission Package, Targets Foreign Aid and Public Broadcasting
In a closely divided 214–212 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $9.4 billion rescission package aimed at reclaiming earlier allocated funds for foreign aid and public broadcasting programs . The White House initiated this measure. It strives to solidify budget reductions already put forth by the Department of Government Efficiency—also known as DOGE cuts. These cuts were prompted in part by pressure from Elon Musk.
CategoriesEpisodes
Mailbag: When Engineers Collide: A Facebook Fact-Check Gone Wild
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is one of those broadcast technologies that most people recognize but few truly understand. As a broadcast engineer, I’ve noticed widespread misconceptions about how these alerts actually work. I recently encountered these misconceptions firsthand after posting a simplified explanation on social media.
A fellow engineer named Joe Fleming made a minor technical correction. This turned into a valuable opportunity to clarify how emergency alerts actually work. The interaction highlighted an important distinction: what triggers EAS equipment isn’t what most people think. The iconic two-tone attention signal – that jarring sound we all recognize – doesn’t actually start the alert system. Instead, it’s the less-noticed digital data burst at the beginning of the transmission that holds the crucial triggering information.
CategoriesEpisodes
Cable Giants Merge, Local TV Fights Back: Why OTA Still Matters
The cable television landscape is undergoing dramatic shifts as major providers combine their power. The proposed $34.5 billion merger between Spectrum and Cox Communications is one significant industry deal. It will fundamentally change how viewers access local television. Alongside this, Verizon’s $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications further concentrates market power among fewer companies. These mega-mergers raise serious questions about the future of local broadcasting. They also bring up concerns about retransmission agreements. Ultimately, this affects viewer access to critical local content.
CategoriesEpisodes
Unraveling the Puzzle: When HD1 Drops But HD2 Doesn’t
The Mystery of HD Radio Dropouts: When Digital Isn’t Always Better
In the world of broadcast engineering, few technical challenges are as frustrating as intermittent audio problems. Recently, we encountered a particularly perplexing issue with our HD Radio transmission that left us scratching our heads for weeks. Our HD1 audio signal would randomly drop out for brief periods—anywhere from 0.3 seconds to 3 seconds—while the HD2 signal continued operating flawlessly. This contradiction immediately caught our attention because conventional wisdom suggests that if there’s an issue with the transport stream or the exciter, all HD channels should be affected. But that wasn’t happening in our case, making this technical mystery even more intriguing.
CategoriesEpisodes
Engineers can finally study anywhere with SBE’s new web-based certification tools
The broadcast engineering landscape is rapidly evolving, and professional development tools are finally catching up. The Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) has made a significant leap forward by transitioning their CertPreview practice exams to a fully web-based platform. This development represents more than just a technological upgrade—it’s a fundamental shift in how broadcast professionals can prepare for certification and advance their careers in an increasingly mobile work environment.
For years, broadcast engineers faced unnecessary hurdles when studying for SBE certifications. The previous system required local installation of software that often created compatibility issues, leaving engineers spending precious time troubleshooting rather than studying. If you were moving between work locations—from studio to transmitter site to home—accessing your study materials meant being tethered to whichever computer had the software installed. This outdated approach stood in stark contrast to the evolving nature of broadcast engineering work, which demands flexibility and mobility from professionals who are rarely confined to a single workspace.
CategoriesEpisodes
When Your Backup Plan Needs a Backup Plan: The Slow Death of a Generator
There’s a special kind of dread that comes with finding metal shavings in your generator’s oil pan. That unmistakable sign of internal engine breakdown couldn’t have come at a worse time for our critical broadcast site.
The story of our Cummins 400kVA generator is one of changing technology and infrastructure planning challenges. Installed around 2002, this diesel workhorse was appropriately sized for an era of power-hungry tube transmitters that could each draw 30-50 kilowatts. Fast forward to today, and our modern solid-state equipment—a 32kW TV transmitter, two FM transmitters (18.5kW and 3.6kW), and a 1kW NOAA weather radio transmitter—barely scratches the surface of what this generator was designed to handle. Our monthly power consumption rarely exceeds 200 kilowatt hours, even in peak summer months.