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Emergency Alerts Coming to TV/Radio/Cell Phone in Canada

143K views 902 replies 108 participants last post by  ExDilbert 
#1 ·
#81 ·
^ No that would NOT be cool, to be able to hijack your internet connection and force-feed you noisy alert windows. It's not 1996 anymore, and we're not using IE4.

On the other hand, providing people with the ability to download an app which would allow them to select their region, what type of alerts to receive, and the option to disable audible alerts, just might work.
 
#82 ·
Instead of hi-jacking your home internet, a less intrusive idea would be a simple text message from your wireless cellular carrier since almost every Canadian has a phone. I am pretty sure the GSM spec has a provision for a special type of text message that opens automatically, so you don't even have to go into the message folder on your phone to read it or people wont complain they never "read" the alert. I know a lot of people might not like this, but once you read it, and close it, you can go back to what you were doing on any phone.
 
#84 ·
Manitoba goes to stage 3 with a Emergency Alerts today at 13:58 local time.

Later today @13:58 hours Manitoba EMO will conduct a live stage 3 test of the Emergency Alerts System. This is where it all comes together to see how system works. It is in conjunction with Emergency Preparedness Week - May 3 to May 9, 2015 across the country. See http://www.gov.mb.ca/emo/prepare/epweek.html
Are you ready?
The third type of testing involves Authorized Government Users issuing a test message designed for distribution to the public. These types of Test Messages are scheduled in advance and can only be issued by an authorized government agency; they CANNOT be issued by Pelmorex. Because these messages will be seen by the public they will clearly be identified as test messages. For example, a typical test message distributed to the public might say:
“TEST This is a scheduled TEST of the Public Alerting System. No Action is required.”
 
#87 ·
I was able to see the Emergency Alerts System on a Shaw system at 2 p.m. All the analog channels switched to a red screen with the test message, including the specialty channels. The DCX3400 display showed EAS and the remote was locked out for the duration of the red screen message (about 1 minute).
 
#89 ·
I am in Kelowna with a Gateway and three portals with Shaw cable.

I was playing back a recorded program on a Sports channel this afternoon when the alert came on, stayed for a minute or so and then restarted the recorded program where it left off and it played back for awhile until I tried to use the remote to make some change in the portal.

Then I noticed a problem. No reaction to remote key presses. Dr. Dave said he found that the remote was locked out during the red alert message but I didn't try to use the remote during the alert just after my recording has restarted. I tried pressing a lot of the remote keys with no response. The only thing I could think of was to pull the power plug and plug it in again. After the portal booted, I restarted my recording and it seemed to restart at the point that the alert interrupted its playback.

Not good. If the remote is supposed to be locked out during the alert but is to be restarted on return to normal function, then it didn't work properly in my case. I am going to call in the problem to Shaw as it certainly was annoying, particularly with no power button on the portal.
 
#90 ·
They just did a test while I was watching a movie on the Movie Network. The main programming was cut off, and a LOUD message, on a red screen came up. It didn't last for long, but it happened totally out if the blue that I jumped.

Ironically, it didn't mention that it was a test, and actually referred to a tornado warning in some location that I have never even heard of.

As others have noted, I couldn't use the remote during the period when the red screen was on
 
#92 ·
That looks like the message that I saw three times in the past hour. There was sound, and it was extremely loud, as though the volume was set to maximum.

Why, though, would a tornado warning from Southern Ontario be broadcast in Halifax? I hope that they can "tune" this better to be more location specific.
 
#95 ·
Why, though, would a tornado warning from Southern Ontario be broadcast in Halifax? I hope that they can "tune" this better to be more location specific.
So concerned family member(s) in the east can phone family member(s) in the affected zone who may not otherwise be notified?

In this case it was local bad weather. The next time may be region specific but of concern to the whole country so perhaps "tuning" isn't necessarily desirable.
 
#96 ·
David saw an Ontario centred warning in Halifax while watching the Movie Network. The system definitely needs tweaking. There is no need for viewers a thousand+ km away to get an irrelevant tornado warning three times an hour.

It's possible that a badly implemented system could cause actual harm. Imagine a confused old duffer in Collingwood NS seeing a tornado warning that was meant for Collingwood Ontario. He panics and tries to go down to his cellar in a hurry, falls down the rickety stairs and is hurt. I know it is not likely, but folks have been sued before for much less likely things.
 
#97 ·
Yes, this is a pretty stupid system if alerts end up being broadcast nationwide. People should only get alerts that are specific to their region. I get why an Alert that airs on Global Toronto might get broadcast nationwide because it's the channel itself doing that but I doubt that's the case for specialty channels, this is the cable systems inserting the emergency alert. If BDUs can't limit the alerts to the effected area than this system is deeply flawed.
 
#100 ·
It was interesting yesterday on Eastlink in Halifax. The message cut in over whatever channel we were watching and even cut in while we watching something that was recorded. What was really odd was that our Maestro terminals that were off appeared to be tuned to SRC in SD when we turned them on.
 
#101 ·
Difficult to understand speech

Was watching the local news OTA (CBC Ottawa) on Sunday when weather alert showed on screen. If it hadn't been in text as well as speech, I wouldn't have understood most of the locales, eg, Plevna pronounced as Playna(?), Madoc (hard A) pronounced as Madook. It wasn't until they got to Perth (can't go wrong there), Smith Falls & South Lanark, that I had a sense of the area involved. Same as Monday on CFRA broadcasting warnings for Drummondville, Victoriaville (I think) - I had to pay close attention several times before I could understand what & where the heck he was going on about. Good thing Rob Snow explained why Ottawa residents were hearing weather warnings for areas 3 hrs. drive away - has to do with the theoretical broadcast coverage area.

I find the guy that's reading the warnings very difficult to understand. He has a robotic speech quality, almost as though English is a second language. I don't see the value of these notices on radio as the old system worked perfectly well wherein the announcer would issue a weather alert on a regular basis. And I prefer the US system where there's a ticker at either the top or bottom of the screen.
 
#102 ·
I don't see the value of these notices on radio as the old system worked perfectly well wherein the announcer would issue a weather alert on a regular basis. And I prefer the US system where there's a ticker at either the top or bottom of the screen.
During Hurricane Arthur last year here in Fredericton and for the first day after it (when almost nowhere had power), the radio stations were all on automation or in the case of CBC broadcasting stuff from other areas. There was no announcer to do announcements, and the net result was that the radio was useless as a source of emergency information during an actual emergency. (Twitter was the go to source if you had access to it.)

The old system might have worked perfectly well, where it still exists. Over here, that system failed spectacularly the last time we needed it. At least this system should work even when nobody is home at the station.
 
#105 ·
Last week during the Tornado warnings in some area, I did see them come up on rogers.

They did go for a good 15 odd minutes.

Hitting EXIT on the rogers remote, would remove it from the screen. But would come back up again, during the warning period.

At least its good, that it appears that its an OVERLAY, that it would not effect any recordings, etc going on.
 
#107 ·
That's it, you SHOULDNT.

Since its an overlay, which is exitable (say, like the caller ID thing).

It should not appear on the recordings.

Should only come up, when the box is ON... I would THINK would show up, even if watching an old recording/VOD, etc.
 
#108 ·
That's exactly how it should work. having it come up in a recording a week later or not coming up now because you're watching a recording would be goofy. It doesn't replace the actual signal on the channel. It's another thing the box interprets and handles in real time.
 
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