Did You Know Feds Will Temporarily Cut Off All TV and Radio Broadcasts on Nov. 9? (2:00PM EST)

The Blaze ^ | Oct 22, 2011 | Buck Sexton

[eak3]

If you have ever wondered about the government’s ability to control the civilian airwaves, you will have your answer on November 9th.

On that day, federal authorities are going to shut off all television and radio communications simultaneously at 2:00PM EST to complete the first ever test of the national Emergency Alert System (EAS).

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Skynet was originally installed by the military to control the national arsenal on August 4, 1997. On August 29 it gained self-awareness, so this November 9 stunt is just a clever ruse.

Also, November 9 is Albert Einstein's birthday.

[TheRightGuy]

ECOMCON

I want in on the Preakness Pool

[An American in Turkiye]

Turkiye is Turkey. The turks spell it that way. I was stationed there when i signed up on FreeRepublic. Wish i could change it as i havent been in Turkey since 2005...

[LukeL]

I guess this is why they went 100% digital for TV, it is easier to hijack. I know with broadcast, as long as your signal is more powerful you can override any station.

[Jean S]

Does anyone know if this will affect TV and radio broadcasts over the internet?

[mass55th]

It’s bad enough that they break into programs on various days during the week with their noisy EAS tests. Now they’re going to cut programming too? I record “Murder She Wrote between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. every week day, and this will surely screw up my recording. What a bunch of crap.

[hattend]

the Presidential message capability does not have a time limit. So to evaluate if the system properly interprets the Presidential message code in this test, the message duration must be longer than two minutes in length.

Obama's obsession with himself strikes again.

[af_vet_rr]

Like I’ve said before, there hasn’t ever been a nation-wide test of the system. Now, you could say we sort-of had one in 1971 when the idiot operator at NORAD sent the wrong message during a weekly test. If you look at the results of what happened, then the system failed miserably. Over half the country would not have known if we were under attack. This is a way for the FCC to gauge how (and if) the system will work and to take steps to fix what doesn’t.

Something similar happened a few times since then, on a smaller scale though. I think the last mishap was in 2007 somewhere in the North with something FEMA related.

They nearly activated the nation-wide EAS alert with the 9/11 attacks, but the person in charge of EAS at the time made the decision not to, based on their view that every news/local station was already covering it.

I have a theory that the coverage was only part of the reason why we didn't get the full EAS treatment in 2001 - imagine if they activated it in 2001 and it didn't work fully. Heads would roll.

[Pride in the USA]

Okay - this one scares the crap out of me.

[marty60]

Think THAT will wake up the braindead american electorate?

Probably NOT.

[ronnie raygun]

These son of a bitch bastards are testing thier software and hardware in preparation.

[LibertyRocks]

Class of 1990 RULES!

Yes... Yes, we do! ;)

(Happy Early 40th AIT! I've still got 9 months to go before I hit that milestone - freaking me out a tiny bit... LOL)

[K.B.7]

Hoagy62,

Anyone who knows how to push buttons on the front panel of an EAS unit or can access it over the management network (or with a laptop) can trigger a test. Monthly tests are required. Any tech who works at a cable headend can trigger the test. However, the designated primary station in each state usually triggers the monthly test that everyone uses. Proof of monthly tests must be kept on file for inspection as part of semi-annual FCC system sweep documentation.

National tests are not the only alerts that are required to be configured. Each alert type is given a priority during initial configuration and can be changed at any time. National tests are always configured at the highest priority.

The EAS can be turned off by pulling the power cord out of the outlet to which it is connected (assuming it is AC powered, some telcos use DC)

[Rennes Templar]

“Don’t worry, the world’s suposed to end sometime today, anyway.”

Again?

[Truth29]

This sounds like a big juicy target for some hacker group like Anonymous. The three minutes starts, then ends, and the silence continues...

[Average Al]

That was yesterday.

[Anima Mundi]

I think we have sort of an “app” for that.

[maica]

Election day 2012 is November 6.

[FourPeas]

Indeed. Nov 9th sounds like a good day to do an extra-field day test. I wonder if any FReepers have contacts at the ARRL.

[Doogle]

I suppose the genius is going to throw the switch