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PODCAST

Fully Modulated

Fully Modulated is your backstage pass to the stories and signals that shaped radio, TV, and wireless communication. Join Tyler, a broadcast engineer, as he uncovers the wild moments, quirky legends, and technical breakthroughs that keep the world connected. From vintage radio hacks to the real drama behind today’s digital waves, each episode blends deep research, humor, and storytelling for anyone curious about how media magic happens. Independent, insightful, and made for every fan who loves a

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All Episodes

14:30

Beyond the Tone: Innovations in Alerting

Fully Modulated ·

2025/08/18

Send me a text! In this final chapter of our special series, The Story Behind EAS, Tyler Woodward explores how emergency alerting is moving beyond familiar tones and crawls into a new era of rich data and smarter delivery. From the Common Alerting Protocol to NextGen TV, the systems that warn us are becoming faster, more precise, and more connected than ever. You’ll hear how artificial intelligence is helping emergency managers detect threats in real time and how social media is reshaping the...

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21:01

Local Heroes: The County Emergency Managers Who Keep...

Fully Modulated ·

2025/08/11

Send me a text! Ever wondered who actually pushes that button sending jarring alerts over your radio and phone? The answer might surprise you - it's usually not someone in Washington, but your neighbors working in county emergency operations centers. Most county EOCs aren't glamorous command centers but rather ordinary rooms in courthouse basements or sheriff's departments. Inside, dedicated professionals monitor weather radar and emergency feeds, making critical decisions about when to inte...

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12:28

When disaster strikes, will your Netflix marathon...

Fully Modulated ·

2025/08/04

Send me a text! Have you ever wondered what happens when a tornado warning is issued while you're deep in a Netflix binge? Our emergency alert infrastructure, designed for the broadcast era of the 1990s, faces a critical challenge in today's digital world. The Emergency Alert System (EAS) was built when everyone gathered around TV sets at scheduled times to watch their favorite shows. Today, with over 60% of Americans primarily consuming content through streaming services, these critical war...

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16:46

Challenges and Limitations of EAS

Fully Modulated ·

2025/07/28

Send me a text! What happens when the systems we rely on to keep us safe suddenly fail? That moment when a Hawaii missile alert sends an entire state into panic because someone selected the wrong menu option. Or when a critical warning never reaches you because your favorite podcast app isn't required to interrupt your listening experience like traditional radio. Emergency alerts represent a fragile chain of trust—one that's increasingly challenged by outdated equipment, human error, and our...

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15:06

When Seconds Count: EAS in Real-World Emergencies

Fully Modulated ·

2025/07/21

Send me a text! When disaster strikes, the Emergency Alert System becomes the critical lifeline between danger and safety. But how well does this federally mandated network actually perform when lives hang in the balance? Through compelling real-world examples, we dive into EAS operations during the devastating 2011 Joplin tornado, where broadcasters became first responders as cell networks failed and storms darkened skies. You'll learn how redundant systems ensured alerts reached car radios...

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16:18

How Broadcasters and Engineers Manage EAS

Fully Modulated ·

2025/07/14

Send me a text! Have you ever wondered what happens between a tornado warning being issued and that jarring alert interrupting your favorite radio show? Behind those familiar tones lies a sophisticated network of stations, protocols, and dedicated professionals working to keep you informed and safe. As a broadcast engineer who manages several emergency alert system sites, I'm pulling back the curtain on this critical public safety infrastructure. We'll explore how alerts flow through a caref...

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19:05

The Science and Structure Behind Emergency Alert...

Fully Modulated ·

2025/07/07

Send me a text! That jarring, unmistakable sound that interrupts your favorite radio show or TV program serves a vital purpose beyond merely getting your attention. The Emergency Alert System's distinctive tones represent a sophisticated communication framework meticulously designed to save lives. As a senior broadcast engineer with years of experience maintaining this critical infrastructure, I take you behind the scenes of those attention-grabbing sounds that most people only experience oc...

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17:18

The Invisible Network That Could Save Your Life

Fully Modulated ·

2025/06/30

Send me a text! Ready for a deep dive behind those jarring tones that interrupt your favorite radio show during emergencies? Let's explore how the Emergency Alert System actually works. The EAS operates on a surprisingly elegant principle: a game of telephone played with broadcast equipment. Each station monitors several others in what engineers call a "daisy chain," creating a resilient web of information sharing. At the heart of this system sits the ENDEC (encoder-decoder), constantly list...

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16:42

From Bomber Alerts to Amber Alerts: America's...

Fully Modulated ·

2025/06/23

Send me a text! The familiar tones of emergency alerts that interrupt your favorite shows have a strange and fascinating origin story rooted in Cold War paranoia. What began as CONORAD—a system designed to prevent Soviet bombers from using American radio signals to navigate—evolved through decades of technical advancement and hard lessons into the multi-layered emergency alert system we rely on today. Journey with us through the tension-filled days of the 1950s when the government mandated r...

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12:53

Emergency Alert System: The Lifesaving Broadcast You...

Fully Modulated ·

2025/06/16

Send me a text! Ever wondered what happens when those jarring alert tones interrupt your favorite show? As a broadcast engineer, I'm taking you behind the curtain of one of America's most crucial yet misunderstood safety systems. The Emergency Alert System isn't just annoying beeps—it's a sophisticated nationwide network designed to deliver critical information when seconds count. From severe weather warnings to AMBER alerts and potential national emergencies, EAS serves as the backbone of p...

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2:04

Behind the Broadcast: Decoding the Emergency Alert...

Fully Modulated ·

2025/06/13

Send me a text! Those jarring tones that interrupt your favorite radio and TV programs aren't just annoying interruptions—they represent a complex, life-saving system with a fascinating history and critical importance to public safety. Fully Modulated returns with an ambitious new season dedicated entirely to unpacking the Emergency Alert System. Your host Tyler brings years of broadcast engineering experience to guide you through this vital yet often misunderstood technology. From its Cold ...

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8:35

Mailbag: When Engineers Collide: A Facebook...

Fully Modulated ·

2025/06/12

Send me a text! Whether you've worked in broadcasting for decades or just wonder how emergency alerts interrupt your favorite shows, you're about to discover what really happens behind those alarming tones. After a seemingly harmless social media post about emergency alerts sparked a technical correction from a fellow broadcast engineer, this episode dives into the fascinating mechanics of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). Contrary to what many believe, those familiar two-tone attention sign...

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1:20

Those Annoying Tones? They're About to Get Fascinating

Fully Modulated ·

2025/06/11

Send me a text! Something new is coming to Fully Modulated, and it's all about those jarring tones that interrupt your favorite programs during emergencies. Starting June 16th, the podcast transitions to a seasonal format with our first season dedicated entirely to exploring the Emergency Alert System (EAS). Why the change? This new approach allows us to dive much deeper into fascinating topics rather than skimming the surface. Over 10 carefully crafted episodes, we'll unravel everything abo...

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20:04

Cable Giants Merge, Local TV Fights Back: Why OTA...

Fully Modulated ·

2025/06/09

Send me a text! Cable industry titans are merging, and the consequences for local television could be profound. The $34.5 billion Spectrum-Cox merger and Verizon's $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications represent massive shifts that put the future of accessible local broadcasting at risk. When cable providers and broadcasters clash over retransmission fees, viewers lose access to critical local news, weather updates, and emergency information during blackouts. These disputes have...

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12:25

Unraveling the Puzzle: When HD1 Drops But HD2 Doesn't

Fully Modulated ·

2025/06/02

Send me a text! Ever faced a technical problem that defied conventional wisdom? In our latest deep-dive, we unravel a perplexing HD radio mystery that had us questioning everything we thought we knew about digital transmission. Our HD1 signal kept dropping out randomly for fractions of seconds while HD2 played flawlessly—a contradiction that shouldn't happen if the issue was with the exciter or transport stream. We meticulously examined every component: the Nautel NV30 transmitter, HD ...

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9:36

Engineers can finally study anywhere with SBE's new...

Fully Modulated ·

2025/05/26

Send me a text! Broadcast engineering certification just got a whole lot more accessible. The SBE has finally brought their CertPreview practice exams into the modern era with a completely web-based platform that eliminates the installation headaches and compatibility issues that plagued the previous system. As broadcast engineers, we're rarely in one place. We bounce between studios, transmitter sites, and remote locations, yet our professional development tools haven't kept pace with this ...

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7:34

When Your Backup Plan Needs a Backup Plan: The Slow...

Fully Modulated ·

2025/05/19

Send me a text! There's a special kind of dread that comes with finding metal shavings in your generator's oil pan. That unmistakable sign of internal engine breakdown couldn't have come at a worse time for our critical broadcast site. The story of our Cummins 400kVA generator is one of changing technology and infrastructure planning challenges. Installed around 2002, this diesel workhorse was appropriately sized for an era of power-hungry tube transmitters that could each draw 30-50 kilowat...

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10:00

Transmitters vs. Tornadoes: The Battle for Broadcast

Fully Modulated ·

2025/05/19

Send me a text! You don't get into broadcast engineering thinking you'll become a first responder, but that's exactly what happened on May 26, 2025, when an EF3 tornado tore through St. Louis. The powerful storm passed just 250 yards from the KMOX FM transmitter tower, knocking the heritage 50,000-watt station off the air and triggering an emergency response that reveals the true backbone of radio resilience. This episode takes you behind the scenes as KMOX engineer Kyle Hammer – who had jus...

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10:00

Free Software, Priceless Results: Essential Open...

Fully Modulated ·

2025/05/12

Send me a text! Dive into the world of free and open source software that's revolutionizing broadcast engineering! We're peeling back the curtain on the powerful tools that keep stations running without breaking the bank. The humble Linux penguin (affectionately known as Tux) might be the unsung hero of broadcasting. As Kirk Harnack perfectly put it, "Linux is the air you breathe in broadcasting. You may not always see it, but without it nothing moves." From remote transmitter sites to compl...

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10:31

From Engineers to Babysitters: How Corporate...

Fully Modulated ·

2025/05/05

Send me a text! Remember when your local TV station actually felt local? When engineers knew every inch of the equipment and could fix problems with a screwdriver instead of a help desk ticket? Those days are rapidly disappearing as corporate consolidation reshapes the broadcast landscape. The quiet revolution in local television has transformed independent stations into remote outposts of massive media conglomerates. Since 1995, we've witnessed a 40% drop in companies owning local stations ...

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51 results

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