You would think... being the Emergency Alert System... that you should NOT have to call it in.

This is something that should not be Beta tested by the public. Any emergency system should be ready to go when it's released to the public.

Also, I think that this should be noted as being a shared blame between Comcast and the box manufacturers (Motorola, I'm looking at you, because we've seen problems similar to this happen here in Clemson, and we don't have Comcast).

EAS is a big deal on the broadcast side of things. If they aren't complying either through malice or incompetence, they can and will be facing enormous consequences. EAS is no joking matter to the FCC.

A few years ago I one read in the paper that WOW cable showed porn / adult ppv on a local channel (that is used for EAS) as some one spilled coffee on a switch at the cable headed. So lightening setting the system off is not to far off but in this system will they still use QVC or just make it a PSA channel when analog gets cut down?

It's just as I suspected. QVC controls the weather.

Charter Communications in St. Charles County Missouri also uses QVC (channel 14) for their EAS channel. In this area, activation of the EAS broadcast system automatically changes the cable box channel to QVC and locks out all user control. The LCD on the larger cable boxes read "EAS" when this mode is activated. At the conclusion of the broadcast, the cable box will show QVC for a couple seconds before changing back to the channel being displayed before the broadcast.

So why is the QVC channel being used as the EAS channel instead of the TV Guide channel or the Local Broadcast channels?

I doubt the Comcast CSRs would know what to do if someone called this in nor bother escalating in order to get it addressed asap.

Something similar happened to me. Except it wasn't QVC, but the NBC shopping channel. Without fail, after an emergency warning or test, the box would tune itself to the shopping channel. I never understood the problem, but I don't think it was lightning.

@silver-bolt: In the original article they explained why: "The box isn't tuning itself to QVC so much as it's tuning itself to channel 3, which happens to broadcast QVC."

The more people report an issue, the more pressure Comcast will put on it to get fixed. Comcast is having an issue with the DVR software recording repeats even if you've selected only new episodes. I called it in, and was told that only 2 others had reported it too. I'm sure it has to be a much bigger problem and it will only get fixed when everyone calls in to complain!

@idip: Far be it from me to defend Comcast, but having the EAS accidentally activate when it shouldn't is a much safer alternative than EAS not activating when it should.

valen, if you're returned to the channel you've been watching, that's an improvement over what I experience. My cable system (Time Warner in Kerrville, Texas) flashes an alert after which I remain on the local access channel.

Irritatingly, DVR recordings are interrupted (and not resumed) as well.

@valen:

So setting the screen darker would cause it to show the correct channel?

@Coles_Law: True, but too many activations when there's no real emergency would lead to a "boy who cried wolf" attitude toward the EAS alerts.

Both failure modes are bad, just in different ways.

@idip: It's not really a "beta" test. If anything, it's a false alarm, like dust setting off a smoke detector or how thunder used to set off my car alarm. There are somethings you can not avoid.

The train tracks down the road from me have a special number to call if the warning lights get stuck on for whatever reason. They tend to sometimes go on by accident, but never fail to light when a train comes.

@dwasifar: Subtle yet witty. Nice :-).

Pet peeve, but uhh... "lightning". Unless the post is about Comcast trying to lose some weight on something.

@darkmoon:
I'm surprised and disappointed it took someone this long to point this out.

@DrWebster: Actually it didn't. I got there first; I was just more oblique about it. :)

So, did their corporate department just admit that God hates Comcast?

@jeffbone: But no false EAS message went out, the channel just changed to QVC for a little while. It's not like a message said a non-existant tornado was coming. The boy who cried wolf analogy doesn't work here.

At my parents house on comcast, it just tells them to tune into whatever channel the emergency alert is on.
It is always a home shopping channel (QVC or another, I'm not sure). At least they're not forced to it, but you do end up watching some of the home shopping if you don't turn it back immediately.

They pick that channel on purpose. If nothing else, I bet comcast gets money from QVC every time one of their customers tunes in.

I was a head end engineer for a major cable operator. A lightning strike causing that is incredibly unlikely.

The EAS monitor, which is usually tuned to a local radio station that carries EAS signal has a set of contact closures in the back. When the EAS unit picks up an alert the closure shuts (or opens depending on how its wired)

This sends a signal to a whole bunch of equipment, like the set top controller, analog video switcher, digital muxes, etc.

If lightning were causing this, they have way more problems then just the EAS platform. Their grounding would have to be completely out of whack.

More then likely, the EAS receiver is failing. If there were a problem with the EAS receiver, and the FCC and local franchise found out, they would go nuts and there would be all kinds of fines.

So if you want it fixed, contact your local cable franchise authority or FCC. It will get fixed tomorrow.

@headhot: A question to be answered is just how does the emergency STATUS get transmitted to the cable set top box. Is it an intermittent pulse? Is it a continuous carrier on a certain frequency? Is it a digital code? Whatever it is, the box has to always be listening for this regardless of what channel it is tuned to. So either it needs a 2nd tuner, or it needs to be within every channel.

Then what keeps it on the channel and doesn't change it back?

The EAS receiver could be failing or bad. Or the cable system could have too much intermod around the frequency for the EAS signal. Or there could be a signal ingress.

When info about what it is, then it will be easier to investigate the cause. I can imagine how lightning might trigger some things. I do not see how lightning can keep it on the EAS channel (is it waiting for a clear signal on the EAS channel). But I could see how a poorly installed or attached ground could make issues worse.

Jim Here. I actually tried to call in before I became frustrated and sent this in. I attempted to call 3 times but kept on getting disconnected when "waiting to be connected to an operator" There was nobody to tell my troubles to therefore I was stuck with QVC.

I did not put this in the original post, it seemed irrelevant. But as the above posted said, why should I be beta testing their system.

Pedantic note: The headline mentions "lightening," but I think what's being talked about is the meteorological phenomenon of "lightning," not the process of removing weight from something, or brightening it.

@valen: I live there too and always experience that. It's a weird thing to watch occur.

QVC is well known as a cable company, but many local channels carry huge blocks of QVC time and broadcast it. usually your WB/UPN type stations

@silver-bolt:

Technically, QVC *is* a local channel in Philadelphia. A relatively straight shot from Philadelphia to QVC's corporate/broadcast headquarters in West Chester, PA is a little over 25 miles.

@outlulz: The boy who cried BUY?

@Skaperen:

Actually yes, there is a 2nd tuner, but not for Video (so its cheaper). Its the Out Of Band tuner (OOB) The OOB signals are all the control information for the set top. The software gets loaded through this channel, along with the guide. This is what carries the EAS signal.

@silver-bolt: Cable systems have to broadcast an EAS alert or test on a station that everyone receives, from people stealing cable to Super-Duper-Special Digital, yet does not broadcast anything useful in an emergency like news or local information. This rules out local broadcast, and so cable operators will usually use QVC, HSN, TV Guide, or a public access channel.

So was it lightning striking again when the stupid EAS showed QVC? Right in the middle of Entourage? So I have to deal with this shit on top of my signal cutting in and out because their network sucks?

@outlulz: How do you know it was a false alarm? There were only 128 tubes of Tora Borgnine face cream left.

EMERGENCY!!!!

Let me say this: I hate Comcast with a passion you would not believe. I won't go into my years of hell here when I lived in areas where the choice was them or no one. I will say, however, I know exactly when it started. In April of 1984 when I took a day off from work (I could not easily afford) and waited and no one showed up. Calls to the local Comcast office were met with extreme apathy and a rude and butch (female) installer who came the next week (another day off). It was my fault, you see, for working so much she said.
From then on, it has always been hell with this rotten company. Now I use DiredTv, not great but a vast improvement over Comcast service.

@headhot: I'm a student by day, broadcast engineer by night, and I've worked on EAS gear. I would say that the problem is VERY likely the power supply on a SAGE ENDEC unit. The power supply is an odd one, 15vdc at like 2 amps. Inside the power supply is a filter capacitor that gets baked from the heat of the transformer.

When an alert is received and/or retransmitted by the SAGE, a huge flurry of activity takes place - the DSP wakes up and starts consuming lots of power, the log printer starts up, relays are flipped, serial port messages are sent (from up to FIVE ports)... basically, the SAGE turns to its power supply and says "FEEEEEED ME OM NOM NOM NOM!". Unfortunately, if this filter cap is dried out, as soon as the incoming AC waveform crosses zero, the power supply says "Sorry, my cupboard is bare!"... and the EAS reboots midway through whatever it was doing, losing the alert in progress.

This can usually be found by looking at the log tape from the machine and seeing a message like:
"INCOMIN

SYSTEM STARTUP..."

A further note on EAS: At one time, we had WIOD-AM transmitting bunk times on their EAS alerts, and they're one of the three LP-1 stations for southeastern Florida. EAS works through LP-1 level outlets, usually radio stations, receiving EAS alerts from the state via a satellite link(?) and retransmitting them on the local airwaves. In addition, another receiver feeds the SAGE with the alerts from the local National Weather Service office via NWS Weather Radio. The EAS alert is then propagated over the air and picked up by EAS ENDECs at cable operators, TV stations, and LP-2 (second tier) radio stations. Well, unfortunately, the time was off on WIOD's ENDEC, and that's a more or less all automated Clear Channel station. Their alerts were basically coming out already expired, so everyone else's ENDECs were ignoring them and printing stupid logs about it. We called up someone at the county division of emergency management, who found a contact to get it fixed, and lit a fire under their posterior.

The odd sounding blrrrrrrps at the start and end of an alert are its metadata. It contains a list of areas (by FIPS code) the alert applies to, the start time of the alert, and the end time (useful for such things as tornado warnings, etc). Of course, if the end time is somewhere in the past, the alert gets logged and discarded.

It's a really fascinating system, but it's never been used yet to any particular benefit at the national level. So far, it's a big ol' weather alert radio.