wth

Premium Member

join:2002-02-20

Iowa City,IA 3 recommendations wth Premium Member [Cable TV] Emergency Alert System

Another problem I've noticed on both the Pace RNG200N DVR and on an Arris 525 box, if there was an EAS, and your TV/box was off, then when you turn them back on, the blue EAS screen is frozen on the box/DVR and pressing ANY button on the remote does nothing, as your box/DVR is froze/stuck. The only thing you can do is turn the box/DVR off/on, and you have to do that 3-4 times to get your box/DVR unfrozen. And all the time your doing this there's no EAS audio.



This may not be a problem in all areas, but it sure is here. For years, EAS was a drag across the top of the screen and audio told you something like For more information, please tune to Mediacom Channel 22. Now this year, and it's happened twice that I've seen, the screen goes completely Blue and Emergency Alert System appears at the top of the screen. The audio goes completely through the entire warning. Meanwhile, the customer misses 1-2 min of the program he/she was watching. With the old system, you only lost about 15 seconds.Another problem I've noticed on both the Pace RNG200N DVR and on an Arris 525 box, if there was an EAS, and your TV/box was off, then when you turn them back on, the blue EAS screen is frozen on the box/DVR and pressing ANY button on the remote does nothing, as your box/DVR is froze/stuck. The only thing you can do is turn the box/DVR off/on, and you have to do that 3-4 times to get your box/DVR unfrozen. And all the time your doing this there's no EAS audio.This may not be a problem in all areas, but it sure is here.



ZC_217

join:2010-02-07

Des Moines, IA 3 recommendations ZC_217 Member EAS has always taken over the entire screen here with the TiVo's. I honestly don't care that I miss a minute or two of a show and can't get away from it. That's kind of the point of the EAS. It's no different than a radio station's EAS in the middle of a song.



I'm willing to bet there is also government regulations on the EAS and how it has to work. It's more likely not a "problem" and more of "working as designed"



MediacomChad

Mediacom Social Media Relations Team

Premium Member

join:2010-01-20

Gulf Breeze, FL 1 edit 2 recommendations MediacomChad to wth

Premium Member to wth

I am very sorry to hear that you are having these issues, wth. Unfortunately, there is not a lot Mediacom can do to change how the EAS is delivered to you, whether it's a screen crawl vs a full on blue screen. This is controlled by the FCC and pushed to Mediacom equipment. As for the TiVo freezing, I'd like to look into this for you. Please send a DM to me for assistance.



Edit: Sorry, not TiVo. Pace RNG200N DVR and Arris 525 box



Anon187e0

@173.26.119.x Anon187e0 Anon He didn’t say tivo



MediacomChad

Mediacom Social Media Relations Team

Premium Member

join:2010-01-20

Gulf Breeze, FL 2 recommendations MediacomChad Premium Member You are correct, Anon - I apologize for the typo.

jpe42

join:2018-06-01 2 recommendations jpe42 to MediacomChad

Member to MediacomChad

Hey Chad, can you double check that? Everything I've seen is that the FCC provides the options for either a screen crawl or a full screen notification, and that it's up to the local broadcasters/cable providers to determine how they choose to alert.

wth

Premium Member

join:2002-02-20

Iowa City,IA 2 recommendations wth Premium Member said by jpe42: Hey Chad, can you double check that? Everything I've seen is that the FCC provides the options for either a screen crawl or a full screen notification, and that it's up to the local broadcasters/cable providers to determine how they choose to alert. It would be great if Mediacom could go back to the crawl, because there’s no interruption of the video, and the message to tune to Mediacom Channel 22 only takes about 15-20 seconds of audio time to comply with the FCC.



MediacomChad

Mediacom Social Media Relations Team

Premium Member

join:2010-01-20

Gulf Breeze, FL 1 recommendation MediacomChad to jpe42

Premium Member to jpe42

I'll be happy to look into this on my side and forward the request to use the screen crawl vs the blue screen. Thank you for the feedback.

chad52402

join:2008-03-27

Oelwein, IA 4 recommendations chad52402 to wth

Member to wth

The alert system is a great idea but not the full page thing. Can't even change the channel either. We were getting alerts left and right and from counties many miles away from Fayette County Iowa. While they were going on, I turned on our only OTA TV and there was not an alert so it's definitely on Mediacom's end. Banner alert works the best.



thedragonmas

Premium Member

join:2007-12-28

Albany, GA ·VOIPO

Netgear R6300 v2

ARRIS SB6180

1 recommendation thedragonmas Premium Member all they need to do is actually use SAME codes, theres a place for it in the config [not the one you can easily get to by hitting menu, been so long since i had to access it i dont remember how] it was set to 000000 which is "every where" they wont though because "liability" which is solvable by making it user setable with a warning, or selectable with the same codes served by the headend and a few surounding counties



MediacomChad

Mediacom Social Media Relations Team

Premium Member

join:2010-01-20

Gulf Breeze, FL 1 recommendation MediacomChad Premium Member I appreciate everyone's feedback on this subject and I will be happy to forward this along for consideration. If you experience any further issues with your service, please let me know.

wth

Premium Member

join:2002-02-20

Iowa City,IA wth Premium Member Any update on going back to the drag at the top of the screen?

hawkeye_wx

join:2009-01-07

Cedar Rapids, IA hawkeye_wx to wth

Member to wth

Yeah, this new way of showing warning information is horrible. Please go back to the way it was through last year.



This evening is the first severe weather event this year and the new, long, full-screen, eardrum-scraping recording gets old real quickly.

wth

Premium Member

join:2002-02-20

Iowa City,IA wth Premium Member It's interesting that if you watch Mediacom and NOT use a box, like watch KFXA on 82.2, you won't see any of those "Emergency Alerts".



MediacomChad

Mediacom Social Media Relations Team

Premium Member

join:2010-01-20

Gulf Breeze, FL MediacomChad to wth

Premium Member to wth

I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you. Unfortunately, there are no new updates on if the EAS will be adjusted. However, I do appreciate your feedback and I will be happy to forward this along for consideration in any future updates. If there is anything else that I can assist you with, please let me know.



Anona10af

@172.15.204.x 1 recommendation Anona10af Anon Last night was ridiculous....trying to watch the final episode of "bang" and the EAS warning interrupted several times. Worst part is, after the obnoxious beep, the TV automatically goes to a Spanish channel and we have to watch soccer for 5 minutes. This is not acceptable! What can we do to get this stopped?

wth

Premium Member

join:2002-02-20

Iowa City,IA 1 recommendation wth Premium Member The real problem with to new EAS is even if your watching a recording, the EAS SHUTS DOWN the play mode of the DVR until the message is over, which can be a LONG time, like several minutes. The old system would also do the same thing, but only for 10-12 seconds.

wth wth Premium Member After 8 EAS tonight so far tonight, if you disconnect the cable from your box/DVR and add a splitter, then connect the extra cable to the TV's tuner. Then when the EAS's start, just switch to the TV tuner and watch. Here in Iowa City, all you see is a small black drag across the top of the screen, and all it says is "Emergency Alert System". you won't see any details, and the EAS does not interfere with the video or audio of the program you are trying to watch. But you'll still have to put up with your local channels "weather updates & weather persons.



thedragonmas

Premium Member

join:2007-12-28

Albany, GA 1 recommendation thedragonmas Premium Member except in areas that have fully encrypted cable, i.e. albany ga and surrounding area, no clear QAM any more a box [ and associated rental fee ] is required



Anon8c99c

@50.80.149.x Anon8c99c to wth

Anon to wth

The EAS system using the whole screen has become extremely annoying. We receive notifications for areas far away from us. Why not just use the banner type of notice? Medicom is lousy.



Anon0b894

@173.22.162.x Anon0b894 Anon Agree!!! Can't watch the local news because the EAS is showing up for counties 100s of miles away... 12 times in the last hour



KA0OUV

Premium Member

join:2010-02-17

Jefferson City, MO 76.3 5.7

1 recommendation KA0OUV Premium Member Chad:



One other thing regarding EAS: Please ask the support folks to 'Suppress Duplicate Alerts' on their EAS configuration. (I help care and feed for radio EAS boxes, and this is a setting that may not be enabled by Default.)



I just watched duplicate EAS messages for Flash Flooding here in the Columbia/Jeff City/Holts Summit systems: First one was sourced from NWS, either Direct or through NWS Radio. As soon as the original EAS message was completed, a duplicate notification was generated with the same NWS audio passed through KTXY-FM.



All of the EAS boxes have a setting to avoid duplicates: it avoids unnecessary interruption and lessens listener (viewer) fatigue and frustration.



Thanks.

KA0OUV (Tim)



MediacomChad

Mediacom Social Media Relations Team

Premium Member

join:2010-01-20

Gulf Breeze, FL MediacomChad Premium Member Hello KA0OUV and thank you for the information. I appreciate your feedback and I will be happy to forward this along. If there is anything else that I can assist you with, please let me know.

wth

Premium Member

join:2002-02-20

Iowa City,IA wth Premium Member The EAS is still screwed up, because when your box is OFF and you turn it on, even hours after the eas, all you'll see is the blue eas screen, no audio, just a locked up box. Then I had to turn the box off/on twice to get past the blue eas screen.

gregherrin4

join:2016-11-25

Herrin, IL gregherrin4 to wth

Member to wth

Watching TV is almost impossible on stormy days due to all the EAS alerts.

wth

Premium Member

join:2002-02-20

Iowa City,IA 1 edit wth Premium Member Again today when I turned on the tv & DVR, I had to turn off our RNG200N DVR box 4 times to get past the blue EAS screen and there's no EAS audio. The blue screen pops up well after an EAS alert when you turn on your DVR/box. If there's no audio, then it should not popup on the screen when turning on your DVR/box.

Our Arris DCX525e boxes do not have this problem when turned on after a EAS has been issued.

wth wth Premium Member Discovered another firmware problem with Mediacom DVR & EAS. Tonight we had a EAS JUST BEFORE 7pm CDT. What happened was our 2 preset 7pm DVR recordings DID NOT start to record, and after the end of the EAS, which was about 7:01pm did not start to record. After turning the DVR on/off 4 times to get by the old EAS, which freezes the DVR until you turn it on/off 4 times, I checked the recordings and both of the 7pm recordings were "marked" with the red circle with the slash through the circle, and both were not recording at 7:05pm, which was after the end of the EAS.



ahent

join:2006-10-06

Johnston, IA 270.0 25.0

3 recommendations ahent to wth

Member to wth

I would just like to chime in and say we were watching the local news because the alleged tornado was just south of us and then the EAS blocks out the news so we can't watch it to tell us something we knew already and were trying to keep tabs on. Scroll I don't mind, but hijacking the news coverage that I was watching to keep my family safe is a little unnecessary.

Riverpilot

join:2006-12-11

00000 Riverpilot to wth

Member to wth

With the amount of thunderstorms, etc.. in this area, that would piss me off beyond belief.

Is this for the Tivo boxes as well? I was thinking about coming back to Mediacom for TV due to sports issues with Dish, but this would be an immediate deal breaker for me.