![]() |
|
#1
|
||||
|
||||
|
Conelrad on FM or TV?
I was browsing an antique radio site a few minutes ago and noticed that most of the late '50s-'60s sets had the Conelrad emergency broadcast frequencies marked with the small triangle icon at 640 and 1240 kHz, as required by the FCC during that time frame. This got me to wondering. Was there ever an emergency warning system even remotely similar to Conelrad designed for and used by FM broadcast stations of the same period (1953-'63)? Every FM radio I've ever seen in my life, including every AM/FM set in my small collection (at least one of which, my Zenith MJ1035 which dates to 1961, is entirely devoid of the CD marks anywhere on the FM dial. How were listeners to FM stations to know when a Conelrad alert had been issued and was active for their area? Did the FM stations simply instruct their listeners to tune to 640 or 1240 and then go off the air for the duration of the emergency? For that matter, how did TV stations alert viewers to Conelrad emergency broadcasts? I've never seen a TV set in my life with CD marks anywhere on the VHF tuning dial. I'm old enough at almost 52 (grew up during the Cold War era) to remember the tail end of Conelrad and have heard many tests of the system over radio and TV before the system was abolished and replaced by EBS (the Emergency Broadcast System) and later the current EAS (Emergency Alert System), but never once heard the system activated in northeastern Ohio for anything other than weekly tests (This is a test. For the next 60 seconds, this station will conduct a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test.) I know the present Emergency Alert System sends warnings of impending severe weather over local radio and television stations, but I'm wondering what, if anything other than tests, the original Conelrad system was ever used for after the end of the war.
__________________
Jeff, WB8NHV Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002 Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten. |
|
|