Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. and Monroe Electronics have teamed up to create a powerful emergency alert information and distribution platform for the campus environment — whether it be university, government, enterprise, retail or stadium — without requiring a set-top box (STB). Monroe Electronics’ One-Net™ SE emergency alert system (EAS) has been seamlessly integrated with the EQAM-420B EdgeQAM with EAS from Blonder Tongue, allowing cable operators to deliver customized, local emergency alert information to viewers in a manner that is easy, cost-effective, and scalable.
After receiving emergency alert information from national, local, and private agencies, Monroe Electronics’ One-Net SE generates a customized EAS message and transmits the information to the EQAM-420B with EAS for distribution into the television system. The EQAM-420B with EAS features a dual Gigabit Ethernet input and a QAM coaxial output with a separate Ethernet management port, simplifying network connections. The EdgeQAM aggregates multiple SD and HD programs received in IP format and delivers them over a standard coaxial distribution network. Standard programming is replaced with full-screen text, video, and accompanying audio to ensure an impactful reception on the viewer. Since no STBs are needed at viewing locations, it’s easy to reach every viewer at the lowest possible cost.
Based on a modular design, the EQAM-420B with EAS can be scaled to support anywhere between one to hundreds of channels, providing operators with a flexible, cost-effective solution that is perfect for a wide variety of markets, including education, enterprise, healthcare, and hospitality. An intuitive Web-based interface simplifies setup and operation, lowering the learning curve for operators and eliminating the need for IT support. Remote monitoring and control can be performed via a comprehensive user interface that is compatible with standard Web browsers.
Controlled by a simple web browser interface, the Monroe Electronics’ One-Net SE is FCC-certified and IPAWS conformant, ensuring EAS messages are properly formatted and understood by the viewing audience. Optional AM/FM/NOAA internal receivers allow radio inputs for monitoring any standard over-the-air EAS alerts. Using tiered security enables multiple, simultaneous users, and a unique text-to-speech functionality automatically creates a consistent voice to accompany text messages, saving time and eliminating errors.
Blonder Tongue’s next-generation EQAM-420B with EAS supports up to 64 MPEG-2/H.264 single program transport streams (SPTS) or 16 multi-program transport streams (MPTS). Each program can maintain up to one video and two audio elementary streams. The IGMPv3-capable solution can be configured with one to four modules, each with four adjacent QAM channels for a total of 16 QAM channels (40 dBmV). PMT and PID values are passed through without changes to ensure accurate program information. The EdgeQAM solution also features a soft, IP-enabled EAS trigger and SNMPv2 support for product and network management.
More information on Blonder Tongue products and Monroe Electronics products are available at www.blondertongue.com or www.monroe-electronics.com.
