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Meetings

SBE 47 Online Presentation: Streamline Your Remotes

With the rapid global growth of podcasting and radio on-demand, the need has never been higher for professional, easy-to-use solutions that handle technical problems intuitively, without sacrificing feature set.

RØDE Microphones, and Australian-based manufacturer of professional microphones and audio equipment, released the RØDECaster Pro, the world’s first fully integrated podcast production studio, in December 2018, initially for the podcast production audience. Since that time RØDE has listened to the broadcast community, and has developed dozens of additional features that make the Rodecaster Pro perfect for remote broadcasting in almost any situation, both private and professional. Ryan Burke and Tristan Salter from RØDE Microphones HQ, will present the Rodecaster Pro, along with a range of other RØDE solutions on offer, followed by a discussion on the continuing evolution of remote production gear at RØDE.

Join SBE Los Angeles Chapter 47 Tuesday, September 8, 2020 at 6:30 PM PDT. Sign up here.

National

Cyber Hackers Strike Salem Group

Salem Media, owners of KCBQ 1170 AM San Diego and K241CT Oceanside, apparently got hit by hackers with damaging ransomware. Salem announced it has been able to recover “many of its critical Operational data and business systems,” and that the company does not expect the incident to have a material impact on its business, operations or financial condition. No word on the impact on their San Diego operations.

Attacks in the last year caused damage to the Bicoastal Media, Urban One and Entercom groups.

Meetings, National

SBE Cancels National Meeting

[From SBE National Headquarters] The 56th SBE National Meeting, planned to be held in Syracuse, NY on Sept. 22 and 23, will now be conducted via the internet. The event was to be held in conjunction with the SBE Chapter 22 Broadcast & Technology Expo. Chapter 22 has announced that this year’s event has been canceled due to restrictions imposed by the state of New York due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. SBE will hold a combined Annual Membership Meeting and National Awards Presentation via the internet at 4:00 p.m. PT on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Details on how to watch the on-line program will be shared soon via the SBE website, SBE-news email newsletter, and social media.

National

Sage EAS Users: Update Your FEMA Certificate

[Sage ENDEC Press Release] This message is from Sage Alerting Systems regarding your Sage Digital ENDEC model 3644. It applies only to users in the United States.

Action required before October 28, 2020.

A signing certificate used by FEMA to validate CAP alerts will expire on Oct 28, 2020, at 14:05:29 UTC. Sage has released a free firmware update that you must install to permit your ENDEC to continue to receive EAS CAP alerts from FEMA after that date.

This release also updates the SSL root certificates that your ENDEC must have in order to download alert audio files from state or county alert originators.

You must already be running the Rev95 release. Users without Rev95 stopped validating CAP alerts in November 2019, and have been unable to connect to the IPAWS server as of July 6, 2020.

Please read the release notes. The installation process is straightforward as described in the release notes. Installing this update will not change any of the settings on your ENDEC.

If you have any questions regarding this update, please email us at support@… or call 914-872-4069 and press 1 for support. If you get voice mail, please leave a message and we will call you back.

National

No National IPAWS EAS Test this Year

(From FEMA.gov) Due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency reponse, FEMA will not conduct a national test of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) this year.

FEMA is moving the next national test of the system to 2021 out of consideration for the unusual circumstances and working conditions for those in the broadcast and cable industry. Although systems remain in place for rapid automatic transmission of the test message by broadcast and cable operators, the follow-on reporting activities associated with a national test place additional burdens on technical staff that are already quite busy maintaining as close to normal operation as possible.

IPAWS is a national system for local alerting that provides authenticated emergency alert and information messaging to the public through cell phones and internet applications using Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), and to radio and television via the Emergency Alert System (EAS). Emergency officials across the country have sent more than 360 important safety messages on the COVID-19 pandemic to their residents via WEA and EAS.

FEMA is required by law to test IPAWS at least every three years. The national WEA capability was most recently tested in conjunction with the EAS in 2018.