Tone alert tests to be completed Tuesday

This story was published Sat, Feb 12, 2000

By the Herald staff

PENDLETON - Final testing is to be finished Tuesday on the tone alert radio system for notifying the community in case of an accident at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

Citizens won't receive their radios until the system is ready, said Casey Beard, the program manager for Morrow County's Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP). It's still not clear when that will be.

"We believe that having them work correctly the first time is important to the safety of our citizens," he said Friday in a news release.

Tests resumed this week to determine the status of the radio system's reliability. The testing was divided into four phases. The first three phases were checked on Monday and Tuesday. The fourth phase will be Tuesday.

Eighty-six tone alert radios and locations were tested.

"We spread them out so that there would be some in each of the sectors surrounding the Umatilla Chemical Depot," explained Bill Howard, logistics officer for Umatilla and Morrow Counties CSEPP. "We specifically included buildings that we know are going to be some of the most challenging to receive a signal."

Phase one was designed to check programming and test the ability to activate radios in only one sector at a time. This will allow emergency management officials to communicate area by area and give important instructions such as when it's safe to stop sheltering-in-place or which routes should be used to evacuate.

"This capability can be used to notify people in specific areas of other potentially hazardous emergency conditions, such as a major fire, flood or dust storm," Beard said.

Phase two was designed to test the ability to activate all Oregon alert radios at the same time. Emergency management officials would use this option to send out the initial "alert" message and instructions. It also will be used to broadcast updates or information that applies to everyone.

The third phase prepared the radios for the "time-out" test by resetting an internal timer in the radio.

The fourth phase is the "time-out" test. As a safety precaution, CSEPP will be conducting regular tests to insure the alert radios in the homes and businesses, continue to work properly. The tests will be conducted weekly.

"The 'alert' tone will not sound during these tests," Howard said. When the radio receives the weekly signal a yellow test light will light steadily. When people see the yellow test light on, they must press the reset button.

If for some reason the radio does not receive the test signal, the yellow light will flash slowly and the radio will emit a beep every 30 seconds. Residents will be able to call the Tone Alert Radio hot line for instructions or to arrange for service.

"As we ran the first three phases, we found that several things are going to impact how well the (tone alert radio) can perform," said Howard. "Similar to a regular radio, where it is placed in the home or business will greatly impact the signal strength. Ideally they need to be placed near a window, and away from things like computers and modems. They also need to be plugged in. This keeps the back-up battery charged."

Antenna position also will be key. In most structures the regular antenna will work well as long as it remains at a 90-degree angle. Some locations will require additional external antennas.

"We also identified a couple of items that need to be simplified in the informational materials that will be handed out with the radios," Howard said.

Residents will receive an information booklet and a laminated "quick operational guide" with their radio. Both pieces will be printed in both English and Spanish. An optional Braille version also will be available.

 

Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.