# Disabling forced watching of "emergency" alerts?



## dochawk (Aug 1, 2002)

Is there a way to modify how "emergency" alerts are handled?

It's really getting annoying to go through alerts that probably shouldn't have been made, for someplace 100 miles away, *twice*, several nights a week, and not being able to leave them--while invariably playing reality or tabloid garbage from whatever the top tuner was . . .


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

Nope.

You can avoid them a little bit if the TiVo is in 'standby'.

Try going through a hurricane that won't EVER leave and you'll know TRUE hardship on that!

-KP


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Yeah, that's the only thing you can do to prevent your RECORDINGS from being hosed -- put Tivo(s) into standby.

Yes, it sucks. I can turn off these things on my phone, I should be able to turn them off on my Tivos.. but supposedly they are required (except in standby) by the cable card compliance.


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

file a complaint:

FCC Complaints


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Does the FCC have jurisdiction?


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## BrettStah (Nov 12, 2000)

How are these alerts transmitted to the TiVo? I vaguely recall hearing that there's some signal that the cable companies transmit on a certain frequency - maybe that could be blocked/filtered somehow.


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

mattack said:


> Does the FCC have jurisdiction?


yes, and they listen to feedback. when the rain watch alerts were going berserk here on comcast (7 during a one hour show due to changing end times for the watches), i wrote a thoughtful letter to fcc/eas asking what purpose they served when i was in my home - flood or tornado warnings, sure, but rain watches? shortly afterwards our market switched their tests to 5am, and stopped rain watch alerts altogether, not a bit of trouble since.


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## UCLABB (May 29, 2012)

mattack said:


> Yeah, that's the only thing you can do to prevent your RECORDINGS from being hosed -- put Tivo(s) into standby.
> 
> Yes, it sucks. I can turn off these things on my phone, I should be able to turn them off on my Tivos.. but supposedly they are required (except in standby) by the cable card compliance.


Not all systems affect recordings. Mine doesn't. A system that affects recordings might be something that one could complain to the FCC about.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

NorthAlabama said:


> yes, and they listen to feedback. when the rain watch alerts were going berserk here on comcast (7 during a one hour show due to changing end times for the watches), i wrote a thoughtful letter to fcc/eas asking what purpose they served when i was in my home - flood or tornado warnings, sure, but rain watches? shortly afterwards our market switched their tests to 5am, and stopped rain watch alerts altogether, not a bit of trouble since.


Funny but, I understand rain watch alerts, when it's a severe weather condition meriting an alert--such as, accompanied by strong winds that could result in tree and power line crashes (had that, with a cooperative tree kindly falling in the opposite direction from my house and the neighbor's).


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Mikeguy said:


> Funny but, I understand rain watch alerts, when it's a severe weather condition meriting an alert--such as, accompanied by strong winds that could result in tree and power line crashes (had that, with a cooperative tree kindly falling in the opposite direction from my house and the neighbor's).


I don't understand Amber alerts. I'm home. How am I going to see a car?


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

JoeKustra said:


> I don't understand Amber alerts. I'm home. How am I going to see a car?


I can understand it--you might be out 5 minutes later.


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

Mikeguy said:


> Funny but, I understand rain watch alerts, when it's a severe weather condition meriting an alert--such as, accompanied by strong winds that could result in tree and power line crashes (had that, with a cooperative tree kindly falling in the opposite direction from my house and the neighbor's).


when you're in your home, what are you supposed to do? change clothes? put an umbrella near the door? look out the window? sure, you could decide not to travel, but when you open the door, and hear the thunder and wind, wouldn't you make that decision anyway, without an emergency alert?

domesticated animals have been surviving rain for years without emergency alerts - when they hear the thunder, or see dark skies and hear the wind, they seek shelter - humans should be able to do the same, without 7 interruptions of high-cost cable programming in one hours time.

plus, if the emergency alert system goes off every 5 minutes for rain, a few days a week, if there ever is a real emergency, say a flash flood or tornado, many will simply tune out the alerts and miss the warning - think boy who cried wolf.

rain is not an emergency, it's weather.


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

JoeKustra said:


> I don't understand Amber alerts. I'm home. How am I going to see a car?


if you just came home, you may have seen the vehicle earlier, and could forward the info to police to help with the search? it's all i could come up with.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

NorthAlabama said:


> when you're in your home, what are you supposed to do? change clothes? put an umbrella near the door? look out the window? sure, you could decide not to travel, but when you open the door, and hear the thunder and wind, wouldn't you make that decision anyway, without an emergency alert?
> 
> domesticated animals have been surviving rain for years without emergency alerts - when they hear the thunder, or see dark skies and hear the wind, they seek shelter - humans should be able to do the same, without 7 interruptions of high-cost cable programming in one hours time.
> 
> ...


And that's why I noted that the weather needs to merit it, such as high winds that could cause trees to fall, as happened in my case. I really hadn't thought that that would be an issue right where I am--now I do.

And animals have survived without tornado alerts and hail alerts and blizzard alerts as well . . . . Yes, it needs to be done intelligently and judiciously. But that doesn't mean that what will be helpful should not be done.


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## Razzer (Nov 5, 2015)

Ah, a cable thing... got it .

(OTA user here.)


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Though aren't there still AMBER alerts and such that can go OTA?

or I guess those are all embedded in the normal programming itself.


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## Razzer (Nov 5, 2015)

mattack said:


> Though aren't there still AMBER alerts and such that can go OTA?
> 
> or I guess those are all embedded in the normal programming itself.


Good question. All I can say is that in my own, Twin Cities, broadcast market, we see a crawl at the bottom of the screen (strictly as part of the recorded program itself) if there are weather conditions or something else that requires emergency notification, but my OTA Roamio system isn't getting interrupted by any other notifications.

We see some TiVo main page messages once in awhile, the same ones you would see pertaining to TiVo content or channel lineup changes, not emergency use nor community info.

(Another benefit of cutting the cord!).


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