EBS Test Pre 1971
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- čas přidán 18. 10. 2018
- Although the Emergency Broadcast System replaced CONELRAD in 1963, they were still using the CONELRAD format for an activation, i.e. turning off the transmitter (audio carrier for TV) for five seconds, turning it on for five seconds, turning it off again for five seconds, then turning it on and broadcasting a 1000 Hz tone for 15 seconds. This became known as the "EBS stress test," because sometimes when they shut off the transmitter, it wouldn't come back on again. More often than not, a TV station would simply display the US Civil Defense roundel through the test, which made for an eerie silence for the 15 seconds or so that the engineer was turning the audio carrier on and off, as if an eye was staring at you. This is an attempt to re-create the experience. It's in black and white, the way many of us experienced it in the '60's. Audio for the test announcement is from the KVFM announcements here: • KVFM Radio San Fernand... . The actual sound of the test was generated using Audacity. I used brown noise to simulate the shutting off of the audio carrier, and it might be a little hard to hear.
- Hudba
Hello Cvil defense shield!!!
The attention signal WHIS (WVVA) had at the time was a high-pitched B flat. Around that same time, WCHS in Charleston, WV had their EBS Tests announced by a woman.
B flat is roughly 932 Hz, and B is roughly 988, so it was in between there? The higher tone of the two-tone they used after 1976 was 960, which could also have been used with the single-tone system, I guess. It wasn't too common to hear a woman read the script back when most announcers were men, but as equality reached the announcer's booth it was more common. Here's a clip with Merri Dee of WGN reading it: czcams.com/video/XQ6HfE3750Y/video.html
At the time, the WCHS EBS slide was the words Emergency Broadcast System in capital letters with the letters EBS enlarged and shown in black & white.
Matthew Taylor I wonder if anyone has gathered all (or a good number) of the slides that were used for the test with an eye toward building a gallery...
@@JohnHolton I don't know, but that wouldn't be a bad idea.
This is how WHIS-TV (Now WVVA) in Bluefield, WV did an EBS test until around 1978. Their CD logo had its triangle inverted inside a rectangle on a blue background. The announcer at the time had a low baritone voice sounding almost like a cross between disc jockey O.C. Young & news anchor Tiny Thompson.
That's an interesting logo. Never seen anything like that. It was common for stations to pre-record the test script, even to get a pre-recorded one from a professional actor, though most stations had the announcer that was on at the time read the script.
As of 1978, WHIS still used that CD logo, but went to the 2-tone attention signal, and a guy named Andy (don't know last name) read the script with the "This station serves the..." added at the end. In 1980, the slide was changed to a green background with the words Emergency Broadcast System at the top in a light gold pointed "burst" design.
One of the "Andy" EBS tests occurred during Wheel of Fortune. Just as Chuck Woolery said "Welcome back to round...", the CD logo popped up just before Chuck could say "two." Normally, a test wouldn't be conducted in the middle of a program.
Matthew Taylor That is odd. Most stations just waited for a commercial break, but that wasn't written in stone. Maybe the guy that was in charge of all the local stuff knew he had to do the test during a break and forgot, and decided to do it right then...
Modern EAS Tests happen in the middle of the program, like the National EAS Tests of 2011, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.
In what day of 1976 they stopped using the stress test
Going out in a limb here, but I'm willing to bet it happened April 16, 1976. This is the date when the cut over to the current two tone attention signal came into effect.
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