robb0995's profile

Mentor

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42 Messages

Sunday, October 13th, 2013 7:09 AM

How to turn off or at least mute those horrible severe weather alerts?

There has to be a way to turn these things off!

 

Tonight I've run into both of the fundamental flaws in this system.  Earlier tonight, I saw an alert pop up and I scrambled for the remote knowing that if I didn't exit it fast I was going to have some upset dogs and got blasted with the way out of proportion alert tone.  I never even got to read the alert, because I was so focused on exiting it quickly.  

 

Then a few minutes ago, as I was drifting off to sleep with the TV on sleep timer, I got blasted awake by a Flash Flood alert that kept getting louder and louder until I finally founf the remote and made it stop.

 

Somebody please tell me how to turn these off.  They are utterly pointless and far more trouble than they are worth. 

Thanks

Official Solution

Expert

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14.5K Messages

10 years ago

No, the Emergency Alert System (EAS) contains no option for consumers to opt out of receiving the alerts from their TV provider.  The opt out option that you are referring to, applies to alerts sent to your cell phone as a result of the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS).  Thus, you can option out of certain alerts being sent by your mobile phone provider.  So you are talking apples and oranges.
Take your concerns up with your Congressman.  The members of this forum, cannot resolve your problem.

Official Solution

ACE - Expert

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27.6K Messages

10 years ago


@robb0995 wrote:
That's not remotely what the first sentence says. You can't opt out of the presidential address, nor is anyone asking for that. But even so, there's not one word in there that supports your pointless interjection in people asking for AT&T to give us a feature or train us on how to use it. Nobody asked for your opinion on whether or not we're allowed to ask for it.

Sent from my iPhone

 

The EAS is a national public warning system that requires broadcasters, cable television systems, wireless cable systems, satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) providers, and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) providers to provide the communications capability to the President to address the American public during a national emergency. The system also may be used by state and local authorities to deliver important emergency information, such as AMBER alerts and weather information targeted to specific areas.

 

ATT is REQUIRED to send the alert per the statement above. 

 

Your option is to turn down the volume using the "volume" button on your remote or the "power" button for full control.

 

Thank you and drive through.

Official Solution

ACE - Master

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6.9K Messages

10 years ago


@robb0995 wrote:
Yes, I read those exact words. They don't say anything close to what you think they say.

Sent from my iPhone

While Presidential alerts are required, most states if not all,  require weather and amber alerts to be broadcast.  Unlike mobile phones you cannot opt out from television or radio EAS alerts.  Each state also requires a monthly test to be performed during the first week of the month.

Mentor

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42 Messages

10 years ago

So, AT&T's answer is that "Our service isn't very good, so you should watch something better like VHS?" LOL

My local radio stations and local TV stations are not breaking in with these alerts, just Uverse. And sharing more flash flooding warnings all night when I know it's raining hard is not sharing particularly important instructions. Uverse really needs a way to opt out of this. It's incredibly annoying.

New Member

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25.7K Messages

10 years ago

They are broadcast for a reason......To save life and property.  They may be annoying to you but quite beneficial to others.  What if there was a tornado in your area and you didn't get the warning because you "opted out" and your house was destroyed, and/or worse, you experienced loss of life to one of your family members?  Then what?  You would wish that you had received the warning, right?

 

I don't know who decides when or what to display on the warnings but if I had to guess it would be someone like the National Weather Service, or your City/Local Government.  I'm sure it's not AT&T that makes the decision when and what to warn you about.

New Member

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1 Message

i rely on the town's warning siren

ACE - Professor

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7.6K Messages

10 years ago

If there WAS a tornado in the area, I would hope local news would interrupt a few minutes (or longer) before the tornado would be a real threat. In my area, the local news outs a graphic in the corner of the screen for a mild situation. If it's a bit more serious, they'll run a crawl across the screen. If it's a tornado watch, then they break in until there's no more tornado threat in the area.

 

There is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED FOR THE SIREN TO BE SO %&--#;(#%+ LOUD!!!!!!! (Screaming to be heard over the blare.)

New Member

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25.7K Messages

10 years ago

The local alert from a station would be expected IF you were watching a loacl station.  What if you were watching HBO as an example, or any other channel such as Discovery?  Therefore the reason for the AT&T alert.

Expert

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14.5K Messages

10 years ago


@baseballisback wrote:

 

If there WAS a tornado in the area, I would hope local news would interrupt a few minutes (or longer) before the tornado would be a real threat. In my area, the local news outs a graphic in the corner of the screen for a mild situation. If it's a bit more serious, they'll run a crawl across the screen. If it's a tornado watch, then they break in until there's no more tornado threat in the area.

 

There is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED FOR THE SIREN TO BE SO %&--#;(#%+ LOUD!!!!!!! (Screaming to be heard over the blare.)


As BeeBeeSA mention, what you describe only works if you are watching a local station.  Not everyone only watches local stations.  The EAS alerts appear regardless of the station being watched.  They are even received if you are watching a recorded program or an On Demand Program.

 

By the way, if you simply press OK on your remote, when the alert appears, the sound will be muted.

Expert

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14.5K Messages

10 years ago

By the way, the EAS alerts are government mandated:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Alert_System#Station_requirements

Mentor

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42 Messages

10 years ago

There seems to be some confusion here. I am not asking that the alerts be removed for those who want them. I don't think anybody is.

I came here asking for one thing: how do I personally turn them off? The EAS mandates only require that Presidential notifications go to everybody. All other alert types can be opted out of. So, just like I can on my AT&T cell phone, I'd like to opt out, please.

However, if it is the will of this forum that I not be allowed to opt out and that I darn well learn why I should to love them and how they save my life and property, then I'll go into more detailed criticism of the implementation.

1) it's ridiculously loud. There's absolutely no justification for it. My attention can be channeled with far less volume or at least far less duration. They should "tone" it down.

2) it's ridiculously intrusive. As posters have noted, local broadcasters with the same responsibility manage this with a bug or crawl, instead of modal messages that hijack the tv until responded to.

3) it's overly sensitive. I don't need to drop everything every time a low-level alert is issued or extended. Flash flood alerts aren't particularly valuable sitting at home watching TV, and they are even less valuable every 5-10 minutes as the watch/warning is slightly modified. Same for thunderstorms (yeah, the sky gave me its own alert tone--I'm all caught up).

4) it's still not 100% effective. For all the hand-wringing above over "What if you're not watching local TV when the life-saving missive from heaven sounds its clarion call???", I have to ask What if you're watching a DVD or (:snicker:) VHS? Or shocking as it may be, what if you're reading a book with the TV off? Shouldn't I be screamed at from the rooftops on those situations too, or do people who read simply deserve to die? Lol. If they really wanted to get the word out, they'd sound an alert from the box whether the TV was on or not. I'd support that... On an opt-in basis.

If these were done better, then I'd probably stay opted in, so by all means, fix the problems, but start with allowing opt-outs as allowed by the law.
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