LYNDONVILLE, N.Y.—Nebraska Public Media is deploying the Digital Alert Systems DASDEC Emergency Alert System (EAS) messaging platform at all of its radio and TV stations as part of its implementation of an IP infrastructure to prepare for transitioning to ATSC 3.0.
The public broadcaster is installing about 20 DASDEC units for redundancy and to support regional emergency messaging around Nebraska.
“We’ve been redesigning our signal distribution out to all our sites, and part of that redesign was to move to an IP workflow. We’ve also got ATSC 3 on our horizon. We knew our old equipment wasn’t up to the task,” said Al Krause, network operations manager at Nebraska Public Media.
“Not only are we futureproofing our system by going with all DASDECs into the future, but we’re gaining function and efficiency that we never would have had with our old gear," he added. "The plan going forward is to do more regionalization, which will enhance the precision and relevance of emergency communications across our 500-mile-wide state. I think that’s going to be easier to do with the DASDEC if for no other reason than the IP connectivity.”
The DASDEC platform gives Nebraska Public Media more flexibility in sending alerts and targeting specific regions. In the past, Nebraska Public Media could only trigger events across the entire state. Now, it can send statewide messages as well as use DASDEC units at specific radio transmitter sites to regionalize emergency alerts.
Beyond regionalization, the DASDEC system makes it possible for Nebraska Public Media to add a satellite-redundant mode for Emergency Action Notification (EAN) coverage if the IP network —the broadcaster’s primary method of alert delivery— fails.
In this scenario, the DASDEC units serve as backups for delivering critical emergency alerts. DASDEC devices installed at each FM site can receive alerts via SiriusXM, a secondary source of presidential alerts and EAN messages independent of the IP network. Linking SiriusXM with the DASDEC devices ensures continued primary alert delivery, thereby eliminating the IP network as a single point of failure, Digital Alert Systems said.
The DASDEC platform is easier to program, offers a test mode to ensure settings perform as intended and includes internal tuners, modern audio connections, programmable GPIO and a streamlined user interface—all improvements over its previous system, the company said.
“I have to sing the praises of DASDEC because it’s so much more efficient and flexible. My favorite thing is the alert node simulator. I can check to make sure that the filters are set correctly and that it’s going to fire off the right message at the right time. There’s also the programmable GPIOs. Unlike our previous system, which was pretty much just open/close, with the DASDEC you can program those GPIOs to do so many different things,” said Phil Gebers, broadcast engineer at Nebraska Public Media.
“I've also really liked working with the internal tuners. The less external gear you have to buy the better, and with the DASDEC we get three tuners built right into the box. Just plug in an antenna, set the frequency and off you go. I love that so much. No extra power supplies, no extra rack space and no extra cabling.”
Nebraska Public Media has also purchased a Digital Alert Systems HALO enterprise-level EAS device management system, which it will implement after the DASDEC rollout is completed.
More information is available on the company’s website.
