ClarkCountyPCATechnical

Severe Thunderstorms Tonight in the Mid-Atlantic; Tropical Storm Bertha in the Gulf

Scattered thunderstorms with severe gusts, hail and a tornado risk are possible near a cold front from the Ohio Valley to the Mid-Atlantic tonight. Tropical Storm Bertha is expected to bring tropical storm conditions to portions of the Gulf Coast from the panhandle of Florida into Louisiana through Wednesday. Read More >

Clark County PCA - Technical Discussion

Each SAME message is composed of a digital protocol containing a 6-digit location code. Many broadcasters program their EAS encoder/decoder equipment to monitor one or more NWR transmitters. NWR and EAS are intimately connected: NWR’s digital protocol, SAME, is identical to the EAS digital protocol. The 6-digit SAME location code is identical to the EAS location code for a given county or county partition. When broadcasters monitor NWR for SAME messages, their equipment (if correctly programmed) will recognize, process and convey weather messages to EAS. If a SAME message invokes a given county partition, the EAS message invokes the identical county partition, using the 6-digit location code where the leading digit is not zero.

FCC Part 11 Rules

The Part 11 Rules (47 CFR Part 11, 11.56, 3c for location code with PSSCCC format) states, “The use of county subdivisions will probably be rare and generally for oddly shaped or unusually large counties. Any subdivisions must be defined and agreed to by the local officials prior to use.” P defines county subdivisions from 0 through 9. The Part 11 rules refer to county “subdivisions,” but because the word subdivision may have a different meaning to the public, the NWS prefers to refer to county subdivisions as county partitions, with the overall process referred to as partial county alerting for NWR and EAS. Broadcasters’ EAS encoder/decoder equpment must meet the requirements specified in Part 11. The NWS Office of Dissemination has conducted technical conversations with the major EAS encoder/decoder manufacturers for confirmation.

SAME-equipped NWR receivers

NWS recommends users look for receivers with the Public Alert or identified as a SAME-capable receiver. SAME-equipped receivers carrying these logos will have the ability to properly receive and convey county-partitioned warnings. The NWS Office of Dissemination has conducted technical conversations with the major NWR receiver manufacturers.