Gordon Grazes Florida |
Blows by SW Florida
Community Inundated by Irma |
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Marco Island (red circle) and the wind track of
Tropical Storm Gordon. |
MARCO ISLAND, FL: Tropical Storm Gordon brushed this
Island on Labor Day, as it worked its way northwest into
the Gulf. The soon-to-be-hurricane packed 60+ mph
sustained winds with heavy rain, surf – but thankfully,
left little damage in its wake.
Another upside: the City’s emergency managers are
thankful to have a new
ALERT
AM emergency radio station
that was just put in place two weeks ago on AM frequency
1690.
Hurricane Irma made landfall at Marco Island one year
ago, prompting the realization that a communication
backup provided by the radio station was needed. The
City hustled to complete the installation in August,
which turned out to be just in time for Gordon’s
glancing blow. As it turned out, an emergency didn’t
develop and the station’s service was not required –
this time. And that’s just fine, according to Marco
Island safety officials.
See a state-by-state listing of emergency advisory radio stations across
America. |
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Opioid PSA's Available |
Texas Emergency
Management Agency to Air New Addiction Awareness
Messages |
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RICHMOND, TX: Fort Bend County Emergency Management
Agency has received approval from the county health
department to air a series of opioid addiction awareness
messages on its ten Information Radio Stations whose
signals blanket the Houston-area community.
See
January’s The Source article “Opioid Info On
the Air."
The broadcast-quality public service announcements were
recorded by the National Safety Council specifically for
air on Information Radio Stations in the US.
AAIRO
(the American Association of Information Radio
Operators) makes the messages available at no cost to
any station operator, with audio optimized specifically
for the medium. Various versions are available – 30 and
60 seconds – as well as an infomercial-length 3:30,
which provides listeners additional how-to detail about
ways to assist. Hear a
sample.
The FCC clarified in a 2013 Report and Order that
Information Radio Stations may broadcast any information
required to protect life and property at the discretion
of local emergency managers.
For more information on obtaining the messages for your
station, email
Bill Baker. |
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North
Plainfield’s website features their new
1630 AM StreamCAST Service on the home page. |
A Streaming Success |
North Plainfield Borough Sets Record
for Radio Stream Listening |
NORTH PLAINFIELD,
NJ: The first city in the United States to own and
operate its own radio station (in the 1920's) continues
the tradition today by operating an Information Radio
Station with amazing results. Recent research shows that
since the Borough undertook “StreamCASTing,” their AM
1630 signal in April, nearly 4000 “tune-in’s” have been
logged via the internet. This, at a time when no
emergency was driving people to access the station’s
content.
Part of the
popularity may be driven by the fact that the Borough
has positioned the listening link at the top of its
website’s home page, so citizens don’t have to drill
down to find it. But on a medium where “content is
king,” even more of a factor may be the station’s
reputation for delivering timely and exclusive messages
regarding local events and emergencies.
Asserts Borough Clerk Rich Phoenix, “One thing I learned
after years and years in commercial radio – keeping
content current and germane to the audience can’t be
beat. And when we have a large-scale blackout like we
experienced during Hurricane Sandy, we
kept our residents informed with reliable century-old
technology (AM radio), and it was remarkable. Any family
with a simple battery-powered radio (or car radio) did
not have to be left in the dark about what was next or
where to go.”
On fair-weather days, Phoenix programs the service to
keep residents in the loop about local events, street
closures and weather situations that impact North
Plainfield. |
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As noted in
January’s
The Source, the Borough has been
consciously creative with its programming, tapping
students from North Plainfield High School to record
multilingual broadcast messages in three languages. The
inclusion of citizen input is unique and broadens its
appeal and impact with the community.
StreamCASTing is a service offered by Information
Station Specialists to station operators for less than a
dollar a day plus a basic equipment package. It allows
unlimited tune-in’s and is often praised by relatives or
evacuees who want to check in on a community’s status
from a remote location.
“With our streamed audio on the worldwide web from
1630-AM, you now can click into our bulletins from
wherever you are…anywhere in the world.” |
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It's Airtime! |
New Stations and
Applications |
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REAGAN NATIONAL
AIRPORT, WASHINGTON DC: AM 1640 replaces their legacy 530 AM
radio service dating from the 1970’s. The Airport’s new
Information Station IP station allows airport
officials to keep ground travelers updated on the
construction project currently underway and to issue
prerecorded safety advisories quickly when needed. |
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Winslow Hill Elk Viewing
Area, Benezette, PA: AM 1620.
Watching elk
in Pennsylvania is an annual tradition, and now,
visitors will be better informed about where to see them
safely and be able to learn about the majestic animals
from the comfort of their automobiles. This is the
second
Information Station IP system installed by the
Pennsylvania Game Commission for wildlife viewing in as
many years. |
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Hocking Hills State Park,
Logan, OH: AM 1620 Ohio DNR is ready for
the annual influx of foliage fanciers this fall with the
addition of an
Information Radio Station engineered to alleviate
parking congestion by spreading demand across multiple
area attractions. The park is situation in a rustic area
outside cell coverage, limiting visitors’ wayfinding
ability. |
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© 1983-2022 • Information Station Specialists,
Inc. • All Rights Reserved
PO Box 51, Zeeland, Michigan, USA, 49464-0051, Phone
616.772.2300, Fax 616.772.2966,
Email the Editor
• • •
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Information Radio Stations is a generic term
synonymous with Travelers Information Stations (TIS), Highway
Advisory Radio Stations (HAR) / Highway Information Systems &
Low Power Radio Stations (LPR). Operation of the stations is
governed by FCC Part 90.242 Rules. A FCC license is required.
Information Radio Stations may be fixed or portable.
Subcomponents may include transmitter, antenna and ground
system, digital voice player, wattmeter, cabinet with
conventional or Corbin locks, lightning arrestors for RF, power
and telephone lines, coaxial cable. Most stations employ black
maximized antennas to discourage ice accumulation and security
measures to prevent unauthorized program access. Options include
synchronization, battery backup, solar power, remote programming
by local, network or telco, multi-station audio distribution via
RF or LAN / WAN or wireless network. |