Monday Morning Coffee and Technical Notes

October 19, 2026 View as Webpage

Time Change November 1^st, 2026



The Senate has failed to vote on the Sunshine Protection Act which was passed by the House of Representatives in July.

This means that most of the United States will change their clocks to standard time at 2:00 AM local time on November 1^st,2026.

Moving from Daylight Savings time to standard time involves moving clocks back one hour.

FEMA SCHEDULES OCTOBER PLANNING SESSIONS AHEAD OF NATIONAL EAS TEST

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is staging a informational webinar this month to get stations ready for the event. FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Division will be hosting two webinars (one has already be held) for the broadcast community to cover test logistics as well as best practices to help broadcasters prepare for the National EAS Test.



Both webinars will cover the same content and will be held virtually.

Webinar Offering #2 Tuesday, October 20 2:30pm-3:30 pm ET

Registration Link

Please reach out to FEMA-NationwideTest@fema.dhs.govwith any questions.

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DasDec Video outlining correct setup for the NPT Test

Digital Alerting Systems has updated their website with more information about the upcoming NPT, including a brief video showing people how to set their inputs correctly.

You can find this information here: https://www.digitalalertsystems.com/2026nationwideeastest

National EAS Test Scheduled

As we have been reporting for several weeks, the National EAS Test will be transmitted on November 17, 2026. 

FEMA will transmit the nationwide test of the EAS at 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) using the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS). If conditions on that date require the rescheduling of the test, it will be conducted on December 3, 2026.

Engineers should ensure the station EAS equipment receives and decodes correctly, the Required Weekly Test (RWT) from IPAWS each Monday at 11:00 AM local time.

The national test will be fed via IPAWS. 

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ABA Engineering Academy

Radio and television broadcasters understand how rapidly technology has evolved in recent years. Broadcast staff—especially engineers—must stay current with these changes.

The Alabama Broadcasters Association (ABA) offers week-long engineering classes several times throughout the year. These courses cover the latest technologies while reinforcing the fundamentals needed to understand how they work. Managers are encouraged to support staff attendance at these classes.

In partnership with the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE), the Engineering Academy offers students the option to take the SBE exam on Friday; taking the exam is not required to attend the class.

The next class, designed for television engineers, will take place October 26–30 at the ABA Training Center, 2180 Parkway Lake Drive in Hoover (Birmingham).

Read more about the daily schedule and Register online here.

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ETRS Form Filings

All EAS Participants are required to participate in the nationwide EAS test and make required filings in the Commission’s EAS Test Reporting System (ETRS). 

All EAS Participants must submit their annual ETRS Form One for calendar year 2026 no later than October 30, 2026.

If you have any questions about the actual National EAS Test or the ETRS filings, contact the Alabama State Emergency Communications Committee

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Redundancy Revisited

We have previously emphasized the importance of redundancy, but its critical role in broadcast operations warrants another look.

When Hurricane Isaias struck the Florida Panhandle a week ago, redundancy proved essential. Although the storm caused no major damage, widespread commercial power outages created significant challenges, and some operations experienced problems with their backup power systems.

My good friend John Cooper, Bruce Springsteen’s front-of-house engineer, often reminds me why redundancy matters. As John says, “If the concert stops because of an issue, I don’t want it to be in my court.” His main console has primary and backup engine, a complete backup mix from the monitor mixer, and analog feeds that can be routed to the house system if everything else fails. In his words, “Even my backups have backups.”



Broadcast engineers should regularly review their backup plans to ensure they can continue serving the public when problems arise.

Earl, there is not a RJ45 jack on the back of that unit!

Pro Audio – Corporate Events

A good number of sound engineers are becoming involved in corporate sound. There are basically three types of corporate events, large event with 1,000+ attendees which usually involve multiple hangs of line array loudspeakers, including a row of mains and a row of delays. In addition, there are foldback (monitor) loudspeakers, front fills and subwoofers.

The medium-size events may also involve line arrays, but the line array stacks might be ground supported instead.

Most often the events are small (around 100 or less attendees) and involve four point-source loudspeakers across the front. Depending on how deep the room is, delay loudspeakers may or may not be used.



Carl Stewart wrote a most interesting article on corporate events in the latest issue of Pro Sound