[Outages-discussion] FEMA, W.H. send victims to Internet

[Eric J Esslinger]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: outages-discussion-bounces at outages.org
> [mailto:outages-discussion-bounces at outages.org] On Behalf Of
> Seth Mattinen
> Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2012 10:59 AM
> To: outages-discussion at outages.org
> Subject: Re: [Outages-discussion] FEMA, W.H. send victims to Internet
>
>
> On 10/30/12 8:37 AM, Jared Mauch wrote:
> >
> > On Oct 30, 2012, at 11:18 AM, "Owen, Greg" <gowen at litle.com> wrote:
> >
> >> I have a standalone gasoline powered charging system with
> sufficient
> >> battery reserves to recharge my cell multiple times without even
> >> needing to be run.  Additionally, it comes with an AM/FM
> receiver and
> >> provides evacuation capabilities in the event of an
> emergency.  It's
> >> a remarkably complete disaster management package.
> >>
> >> It's so handy, I got one for my wife, too.  We keep them in the
> >> garage.
> >>
> >
> > The interesting part for me in the article is that there was no
> > recommendation to use am/fm radio.  it used to be possible
> to "listen" to your tv stations when they were analog.
> >
> > I'm a bit concerned about this, but maybe i'm being paranoid... I do
> > think that the government and agencies involved should take
> a moment
> > and review what they are truly asking people to do...
> >
> > I know most DSL/cable/FTT* plants these days won't work
> without some
> > form of local power for extended periods.
> >
>
>
> EAS is internet-based now. I noticed one of my customers
> recently replaced the AM/FM tuners feeding their EAS decoder
> with an CAP-to-EAS box. It basically takes Ethernet (plain
> internet access) and feeds audio into the old EAS decoder so
> you don't have a buy new EAS stuff. So now I'm carrying EAS
> for a broadcast TV station, but there isn't any oversight on
> it beyond me being conscious that such a thing is important.
>
> ~Seth

Our EAS has CAP (which is required now) and also has three AM/FM/WX tuners. (We use two regional FM stations and the nearest WX transmitter).
Otoh we're cable so we're part of the problem, not solution I guess.

My last ditch backup for comms power at home (after the 12V, generator, etc is depleted) is a newer emergency 'crank/solar' radio which includes a usb-out power connection. I practiced it and found it will charge my (non-smart) phone in about 2 hours with about 10 minutes of cranking.
Note that if you have a sim-card based smartphone, you can purchase a cheap non-smart and just move the card in an emergency and it will last days on standby.


__________________________
Eric Esslinger
Information Services Manager - Fayetteville Public Utilities
http://www.fpu-tn.com/
(931)433-1522 ext 165


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