WPAY does it again

If it's happening around us, post it here. All topics regarding our border states go here.

Moderators: Hoosier Daddy, The People's DJ, Arp2

Post Reply
RadioGeek
Newbie
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:25 am

WPAY does it again

Post by RadioGeek »

Several tornado warnings this afternoon and while chasing storms and listening to WKKJ in Chillicothe I hear the warning from the NWS followed by Tara from WPAY saying "Holy Batman we have tornado warnings for two counties." She blabbered on and on until the EAS finally timed out and cut her loose. I called WPAY to complain and was hung up on. I've notified the FCC. What a waste of signal. Thanks WPAY for continuing to SUCK!
User avatar
Big Media
Member
Member
Posts: 2286
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:46 pm
Location: Cruising I-64

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by Big Media »

Yep.. They should have their license forfeited.
User avatar
Bar Rat
Member
Member
Posts: 298
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2002 8:16 pm

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by Bar Rat »

The same message was on TWC's alert messages in Scioto County. I wondered who let a 12 year old behind a microphone. Now I know.
User avatar
BobFrank
Member
Member
Posts: 64
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 4:29 pm

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by BobFrank »

Granted I am closer to Washington, DC, but here when there is a warning of any kind, they just let the computer voice at NWS Sterling do the talking. The only exception is when there is Amber Alert and one of the people from WINC-FM does the alert reading on that.

Maybe they should let NWS do the reading instead of this Tara person.
User avatar
Hoosier Daddy
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2927
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2002 11:35 am
Location: Not 100% in love with your tone right now.

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by Hoosier Daddy »

Dude From VA wrote:Granted I am closer to Washington, DC, but here when there is a warning of any kind, they just let the computer voice at NWS Sterling do the talking. The only exception is when there is Amber Alert and one of the people from WINC-FM does the alert reading on that.

Maybe they should let NWS do the reading instead of this Tara person.
That's the problem. NWS trips the WPAY system, then Tara (who is the PD there) decides to ad lib and mangle what information was just given by the Drunken Swede computer voice at NOAA. This is the crux of the problem. She adds or forgets counrties under the warning, reads things out of order (probably from memory), and generally tries to be either too serious and dramatic or too goofy and funny about the NOAA bulletin. And that God awful voice she has, like some ugly stoner pothead chick you knew back in high school. WPAY must get the regional EAS designation because of its Class C signal, and not the competency of the employees who are in the pilot's seat when the bell rings.

8)
Translators are a Pox on the FM radio dial.
RadioGeek
Newbie
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:25 am

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by RadioGeek »

In this case she let the NWS robo-voice do the work, but didn't send the end tones so she jumped on right after the warning message ended. Any way to get an air check of them or at least the warning? Does the EAS box store those? I'd love to email her a copy of it!
RadioGeek
Newbie
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:25 am

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by RadioGeek »

User avatar
Mike
Member
Member
Posts: 464
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2001 5:03 pm
Location: Ashland, Ky
Contact:

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by Mike »

God what I could do with that 100kW signal they have. Even without it being moved, it still has as much power in Huntington as any 50kW there...

Put traditional oldies on that stick and you have a 5-6 share, maybe more if you do it right and get the heritage jocks, like O'Shea and Miller...
"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached"
-Manuel II Palaiologos
Byzantine Emperor (1391-1425)
Cameron
Member
Member
Posts: 887
Joined: Fri Aug 09, 2002 8:41 am
Location: Birmingham Ala-BAMA!
Contact:

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by Cameron »

...ergo - why WDGG is no longer a voluntary-part of the Ohio plan.
Way to go with that EOM.
NWS' Perfect-Paul, KYEAS via satellite+KET, MetroNews, and their associated duck-farts have served us nicely without that crap, thanks.
KY has also cleaned-up their system now that we don't have to monitor some of those Central-KY ground-loop-peanut-whistles.
Greg Happel with KYEAS has been very proactive on that front and tracks the breaks/failures closely.
I understand a power-supply issue or a clock-battery failing...but...EVERY TIME???!!!!
Primary point-of-entry isn't a job description!
------------------------
Cameron Smith - CSRE®
Senior Member - SBE 68 Birmingham
Senior Digital Product Manager - Hibbett Sports|City Gear
Cameron
Member
Member
Posts: 887
Joined: Fri Aug 09, 2002 8:41 am
Location: Birmingham Ala-BAMA!
Contact:

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by Cameron »

On Wednesday, March 24, a statewide test of the Ohio EAS will be conducted as part of "Severe Weather Awareness Week."  The test will be initiated from the State Emergency Operations Center at 9:50 AM.

Yesterday we were informed by WPAY, The Local Primary Station for the South Central EAS operational area, that their EAS equipment was down for repair.  As a station in that area, you would have normally received the test or other EAS emergency broadcasts from WPAY.  WKKJ, the Alternate Local Primary for the South Central Operational area, also transmits EAS activations and will be relaying the test.  In the event of an actual emergency and for the purpose of the Wednesday test, I wanted to inform all of you of the equipment outage at WPAY.

If you have any questions related to the above feel free to contact me at 614-889-7155.

Thanks,
Mark  

Mark A. Patchen, Director
Technical Support Division
Ohio Emergency Management Agency
------------------------
Cameron Smith - CSRE®
Senior Member - SBE 68 Birmingham
Senior Digital Product Manager - Hibbett Sports|City Gear
User avatar
Hoosier Daddy
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2927
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2002 11:35 am
Location: Not 100% in love with your tone right now.

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by Hoosier Daddy »

Cameron wrote:Central-KY ground-loop-peanut-whistles.
Sounds cool. What is it?

:?
Translators are a Pox on the FM radio dial.
User avatar
Big Media
Member
Member
Posts: 2286
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:46 pm
Location: Cruising I-64

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by Big Media »

"We ain't got the money to fix it right now, boys. Just log it and put an "out of order" sign on the front."

Actual quote from a rural FM station owner.
Cameron
Member
Member
Posts: 887
Joined: Fri Aug 09, 2002 8:41 am
Location: Birmingham Ala-BAMA!
Contact:

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by Cameron »

EAS equipment problem on the WCMI-FM/AM box. Logged and fixed and reprogrammed in <24 hours. It can be done. Even on a station that's not LP-1 or SR-1.

(...and that's from a "short-timer".)
------------------------
Cameron Smith - CSRE®
Senior Member - SBE 68 Birmingham
Senior Digital Product Manager - Hibbett Sports|City Gear
sportsvoice
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 387
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2001 10:06 am
Location: O-H...

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by sportsvoice »

Speaking of EAS issues, anyone have a TFT box? I have a problem with one dropping out of "automatic" mode to "manual" (which doesn't forward alerts) but can't duplicate the problem. I pulled power to it to see if it was a startup condition but it stayed in auto.
Cameron
Member
Member
Posts: 887
Joined: Fri Aug 09, 2002 8:41 am
Location: Birmingham Ala-BAMA!
Contact:

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by Cameron »

sportsvoice wrote:Speaking of EAS issues, anyone have a TFT box? I have a problem with one dropping out of "automatic" mode to "manual" (which doesn't forward alerts) but can't duplicate the problem. I pulled power to it to see if it was a startup condition but it stayed in auto.
> is that the 911 will lose all of it's programming.  A common
> occurance for the TFT.
>

Replace the lithium battery. That's the number one problem when there's a power problem or loss. There is also a circuit mod that helps prevent memory loss problems: http://www.tftinc.com. You find the mod in the support section.
Do the circuit mods, replace the battery, and clean all the connections between the boards.
User avatar
Mike
Member
Member
Posts: 464
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2001 5:03 pm
Location: Ashland, Ky
Contact:

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by Mike »

Sucks that WPAY's 100KW is wasted by morons.
"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached"
-Manuel II Palaiologos
Byzantine Emperor (1391-1425)
sportsvoice
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 387
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2001 10:06 am
Location: O-H...

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by sportsvoice »

Cameron wrote:
sportsvoice wrote:Speaking of EAS issues, anyone have a TFT box? I have a problem with one dropping out of "automatic" mode to "manual" (which doesn't forward alerts) but can't duplicate the problem. I pulled power to it to see if it was a startup condition but it stayed in auto.
> is that the 911 will lose all of it's programming.  A common
> occurance for the TFT.
>

Replace the lithium battery. That's the number one problem when there's a power problem or loss. There is also a circuit mod that helps prevent memory loss problems: http://www.tftinc.com. You find the mod in the support section.
Do the circuit mods, replace the battery, and clean all the connections between the boards.
Thanks! I figured there may be an internal battery that needed replacing, but was unaware of the circuit mods.
User avatar
Big Media
Member
Member
Posts: 2286
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:46 pm
Location: Cruising I-64

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by Big Media »

Cameron wrote: is that the 911 will lose all of it's programming.  A common
> occurance for the TFT.
>

Replace the lithium battery. That's the number one problem when there's a power problem or loss. There is also a circuit mod that helps prevent memory loss problems: http://www.tftinc.com. You find the mod in the support section.
Do the circuit mods, replace the battery, and clean all the connections between the boards.
Replacing the battery doesn't help as it still loses its programming regularly. I had to make a damn cheat sheet because of the monthly reprogramming of that bitch.

I may try the circuit mod but it may have already been done for my unit.
User avatar
genlock
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 5866
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2001 4:09 pm
Location: OW

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by genlock »

TFT marketed a lot of things that worked poorly and didn't live long.
They were attractive tho, pretty in the rack.

They had a remote control unit that had the marketing label of
"Supervisory-Control-Scan".

Abbreviated to "Suc-O-Scan".
I didn't have one, but it lived up to it's nickname.
"Everyone Should be aware that you're just a screen grab away from infamy."
User avatar
genlock
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 5866
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2001 4:09 pm
Location: OW

Re: WPAY does it again

Post by genlock »

Back to the topic, EAS is looking at yet another review.
I read that on the net somewhere.
Seems it did not live up to the hype.
Japanese pilots do not need to home in on stations with RDF gear to find targets.
Some sort of emergency preparedness is needed from broadcasting, but I do not
have a clue of what it could be.
"Everyone Should be aware that you're just a screen grab away from infamy."
Post Reply