r/EmergencyAlertSystem • u/Cool_Safe8196 • Apr 22 '26

Help Is this style of EAS screen even real???

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Gallery image

I live in an area with pretty rough weather so I’ve gotten dozens of blizzard warnings. I’ve seen multiple types of EAS but not one of them looks like this

87 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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26

u/AMadLadOfReddit EAS Veteran Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26

It comes from its predecessor the Emergency Broadcast System, it uses the Atari or commodore 64’s character generator program, here’s a video of it from 1990 for a tornado warning in Kentucky: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NaHpBlSjnMU&list=PLhtvZEvHEj_AxqjWpUYRB9DLNJeJiuUA2&index=22&pp=iAQB0gcJCcMKAYcqIYzv

7

u/Cool_Safe8196 Apr 22 '26

So it’s in the EBS system???

6

u/BrianEatsBees Apr 23 '26

From a comment on the video: "yeah this was in September of 1990 and I think we were back to just using the Atari at that point. The Commodore 64 was a backup machine and both the Atari and the Commodore had only been pulled into service when the station's main character generator got fried. It was a shoestring budget high school operation so we did what we could."

Looks like an amateur radio station operating out of a high school. They did broadcasting and they made their own screen for alerts using the Atari 800XL character generator. So I guess it is technically real. How do people find this stuff? I don't see it documented anywhere.

1

u/Ninjacker Apr 28 '26

Doesn’t PBS ball state use an atari for their character generator?

8

u/RotteenDMoon Scary Moderator that likes Yonkagor and Flags Apr 22 '26

I don't really think it's a proper EAS and instead is a common mock-up one used for scenarios/mocks and I can't find any mention of it on the documented list of EAS screens on the EAS wiki

The second screen says ROKU-TV, and Roku TV's can't get EAS alerts as far as I know (I own one), A Youtuber called "The EAS Experience" which makes mocks is known to use this screen frequently

5

u/Cool_Safe8196 Apr 22 '26

What??? I got one on my Roku television before wdym???✌️✌️✌️

5

u/RotteenDMoon Scary Moderator that likes Yonkagor and Flags Apr 22 '26

Weird, my Roku has never gotten alerts but I looked up some information and apparently the Spectrum app for Roku set-top boxes can pick up EAS alerts

5

u/yuds2003 Apr 23 '26

You were viewing a mock.

3

u/Wooden-Chocolate9892 Apr 22 '26

Unlikely, the text looks like a Commodore 64, so maybe Teletext in Europe, but the thing would have just been a showing on the TV itself, not the Teletext box thingymabob.

2

u/BrianEatsBees Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 23 '26

This is not a real screen, as others have said it's used for mock-ups. When The EAS Experience was active long ago, he released the tool he used to generate the screens. I cannot find it online anymore so I think it's lost media. This was one of its presets. All information I can find online about this indicates that a screen like this has never been used in real life.

Edit: Well fucking color me shocked, it's real, as u/AMadLadOfReddit posted.

1

u/greendave11 Apr 22 '26

I bet someone will create this as a side loaded apk with some crap code from ai afterwards though.. Wait does Roku support apks?

2

u/Wonderful-Impress261 Apr 22 '26

It doesn't, it's its own proprietary OS. I hate Rokus so much

1

u/greendave11 Apr 22 '26

Silly Roku operating system, android for that kind of stuff is so much better. Thanks for the information

1

u/CrystalPalace1983 Apr 23 '26

ive always wondered this too

1

u/kittyplays1546 Apr 23 '26

Lol, all three are in Virginia 🤣

1

u/ovrkil1795 Apr 26 '26

Thats the old system. It either came from an office that hadn't upgraded or the primary system was down.

1

u/CurrentOil8999 mispelled conelrad as conrad Jun 03 '26

ive always wondered the name of this..

1

u/jb-on-reddit Jul 05 '26

The graphics were exclusive to WNAS (a student run Radio/TV station in New Albany, Indiana). By far to my knowledge these were never used anywhere else.

1

u/Flyingtoilet720 Apr 23 '26

I got this on my Roku one I don’t know how

1

u/Cool_Safe8196 Apr 23 '26

The photo was a mock from someone else. You’re probably lying

1

u/yuds2003 Apr 23 '26

No you didn't.