# Did you hear the national EBS test? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 10, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-hear-the-national-ebs-test/602471 "2011-11-10T03:34:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-hear-the-national-ebs-test/602471/1 "2011-11-10T03:34:23Z")
I heard the national EBT test scheduled today at 11am PT/2pm. The radio station I listen to did the usual beep, short message, and then went silent for a minute. I’ve heard on the internet that many stations botched the test somehow. What was your experience? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-hear-the-national-ebs-test/602471/2 "2011-11-10T03:39:21Z")
I am never ever listening to the radio or watching TV during the work hours. I haven’t been in an office with a TV since like 2002. But today of all days, my neighbors were having a huge tree cut down (I work from home) and it was annoyingly loud, so I went to work at my dad’s house where the TV is never off and I was witness to the test. Luckilly, Time Warner sent my parents a notice so there was only a second of “goddammit the screen went black!” before dad realize it was just a test. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-hear-the-national-ebs-test/602471/3 "2011-11-10T04:03:14Z")
I missed it. what did I miss? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-hear-the-national-ebs-test/602471/4 "2011-11-10T04:20:23Z")
I had had a busy morning, so took a nap when I got home. Slept right through the test. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-hear-the-national-ebs-test/602471/5 "2011-11-10T04:23:48Z")
I did see it. I don’t even remember what I was watching, but it cut off the last bit of it. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-hear-the-national-ebs-test/602471/6 "2011-11-10T06:03:01Z")
My husband was specifically waiting for it, watching TV. (Don’t ask.) He saw/heard nothing on any of the local or national channels. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-hear-the-national-ebs-test/602471/7 "2011-11-10T13:55:44Z")
Didn’t television stations used to do these _all the time_? Like once a week or once a month? Why is this a big deal? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-hear-the-national-ebs-test/602471/8 "2011-11-10T14:07:51Z")
So what exactly is being tested? Are the people who send the test being tested? Is it the equipment? The station personnel? If it is the people, the test doesn’t seem too accurate. I volunteer at a radio station, and the test just gets a ho-hum initial this staple that response. How we’d all act if bombs were dropping or asteroids falling is anybody’s guess. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-hear-the-national-ebs-test/602471/9 "2011-11-10T14:30:19Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Didn’t television stations used to do these _all the time_? Like once a week or once a month? Why is this a big deal? All stations are still required to do a test once a month. This was the first time that a co-ordinated test was done across all broadcast systems at the exact same time. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-hear-the-national-ebs-test/602471/10 "2011-11-10T14:36:01Z")
I sleep during the day, so not through any of the traditional media. However, my university has a campus notification system that is supposed to alert students and faculty of an emergency through multiple channels (chosen by the recipient). I’m signed up to get notification by text message to my cell phone, robocall to my cell and home landline, and e-mails to my university and personal e-mail accounts. The school’s system participated in the test, and I only received a single one of the above: an e-mail to my university account. Something’s screwy, because the last few times there have been emergencies (gun sighted on campus, weather-related, a fire) I’ve received all of them. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-hear-the-national-ebs-test/602471/11 "2011-11-11T04:51:37Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > All stations are still required to do a test once a month. > > This was the first time that a co-ordinated test was done across all broadcast systems at the exact same time. It’s not that it was a coordinated test. To me, that means a bunch of stations saying “At 2pm, let’s run a test.” This was a test of a national system that automatically pushes down to all the local stations..think of it as a meta-test of the system. It’s a higher level of control. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-hear-the-national-ebs-test/602471/12 "2011-11-11T12:19:52Z")
Absolutely not. It’s a conspiracy by the government to control our minds. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-hear-the-national-ebs-test/602471/13 "2011-11-13T04:50:38Z")
Get this: we missed it because our power was out.