We are looking to add EAS broadcasts to our local repeater. I was thinking
we could build a EAS decoder and then determine which alerts to have
repeated. Has anyone looked into building a EAS decoder?

Joe
-AG4QC

AG4QC wrote:
We are looking to add EAS broadcasts to our local repeater. I was thinking
we could build a EAS decoder and then determine which alerts to have
repeated. Has anyone looked into building a EAS decoder?

I have, without much success. They used non-standard modem tones and
data rates. (probably to discourage spoofing)

I wonder if the easiest way might be to cannibalize a S.A.M.E. weather
radio? You could even tap the warning lights to signal the repeater
when an alert is present, and simply use the programming of the weather
radio to decide which alerts to relay.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

Doug Smith W9WI wrote:


I wonder if the easiest way might be to cannibalize a S.A.M.E. weather
radio? You could even tap the warning lights to signal the repeater
when an alert is present, and simply use the programming of the weather
radio to decide which alerts to relay.

Agreed. Locally here they have been advertising EAS type consumer
radios. From what I gather from the blurb they seem like the real thing
with programmable municipality codes, programmable to your choice of
alert tones, etc. I don't know what a S.A.M.E. is , maybe the same
thing ? (Oops, sri for the pun)
I haven't bothered to hear a brand name or price but I suspect its cheap
enough to negate building your own from scratch.

Good luck,
Bill

Bill wrote:
Agreed. Locally here they have been advertising EAS type consumer
radios. From what I gather from the blurb they seem like the real thing
with programmable municipality codes, programmable to your choice of
alert tones, etc. I don't know what a S.A.M.E. is , maybe the same
thing ? (Oops, sri for the pun)

ouch!

S.A.M.E. = Specific Area Message Encoding. It decodes the EAS bursts so
you can program it to only respond to alerts for your area, as opposed
to the older radios that keyed on the alert tone & would go off for
everything.

I haven't bothered to hear a brand name or price but I suspect its cheap
enough to negate building your own from scratch.

Radio Shack sells them, for well under $100. However, the model I had
can only be programmed for location, not for alert type. (i.e. you can
program which counties it'll go off for, but it'll go off for all types
of alert for those counties. If they issue another Amber Alert at 3am
I'm going to turn the d*mned thing off...)
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

Doug Smith W9WI wrote:


I haven't bothered to hear a brand name or price but I suspect its
cheap enough to negate building your own from scratch.


Radio Shack sells them, for well under $100. However, the model I had
can only be programmed for location, not for alert type. (i.e. you can
program which counties it'll go off for, but it'll go off for all types
of alert for those counties. If they issue another Amber Alert at 3am
I'm going to turn the d*mned thing off...)

I heard the ad again. Midland WR-100, $39.95 at Walgreen's. Says its
programmable for 60 types of alerts, municipality coding, etc.

-Bill

Doug Smith W9WI wrote:
Radio Shack sells them, for well under $100. However, the model I had
can only be programmed for location, not for alert type. (i.e. you can
program which counties it'll go off for, but it'll go off for all types
of alert for those counties. If they issue another Amber Alert at 3am
I'm going to turn the d*mned thing off...)

So they are doing that. I saw it coming but never got that far. Mine went
off permanently on May 22, 2004, after being awakened twice in three hours
for a thunderstorm *watch* (which wasn't important enough to "tone out"
at 12:06 AM when it was issued). I was two pages into a letter to my
Congresswoman before I found out that the amber alerts soon to come were
mandated by Congress.

The web sellers of these things don't make it easy to determine whether
their radios allow programming by type of alert. Though one did offer
a selection something like normal/priority/emergency, that doesn't help
because they'll probably make all the amber alerts emergency status.
I'd love to see a list of weather radios by feature that included this
information.

--
If John McCain gets the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination,
my vote for President will be a write-in for Jiang Zemin.

Most of the radios I see have only warning watch and statement.. The Amber
alerts come in as watches.. So you can't distinguish between them and normal
weather warning.. My Midland model WR-100 has led's for the alert types so
I am thinking about taking that voltage to start things off.. But I never
thought about the amber alerts.. I know most people around here monitor the
repeater around the clock.. I'm not sure how receptive they would be to a
repeated amber alert at 2am.

Joe AG4QC

"Doug Smith W9WI" wrote in message
...
Bill wrote:
Agreed. Locally here they have been advertising EAS type consumer
radios. From what I gather from the blurb they seem like the real thing
with programmable municipality codes, programmable to your choice of
alert tones, etc. I don't know what a S.A.M.E. is , maybe the same thing
? (Oops, sri for the pun)

ouch!

S.A.M.E. = Specific Area Message Encoding. It decodes the EAS bursts so
you can program it to only respond to alerts for your area, as opposed to
the older radios that keyed on the alert tone & would go off for
everything.

I haven't bothered to hear a brand name or price but I suspect its cheap
enough to negate building your own from scratch.

Radio Shack sells them, for well under $100. However, the model I had can
only be programmed for location, not for alert type. (i.e. you can
program which counties it'll go off for, but it'll go off for all types of
alert for those counties. If they issue another Amber Alert at 3am I'm
going to turn the d*mned thing off...)
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com