This clip was sent to us by Jeff Blackwell of Blackwell Communications. His comments follow:

I just took my new Zoom H1 Digital Recorder, that I purchased from ProAudio.com, to the streets of New Orleans on the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. For a $99 digital recorder, it's got remarkable mics! It is very sensitive to wind noise and handling, but above all, it's reliable and packed with features. Cool tool. Here's the sound of a trolley on Canal St., pulling into a stop near the Aquarium of the Americas, next to the Mississippi River downtown. Had to use a kleenex as a windscreen.  It's a flat recording, intentionally recorded low, with no autogain.  I did boost the volume by 10 db and added fades at the head and tail.  

New Orleans Canal St Trolley 02 08-26-2010

Since 1951, the FCC has required US radio and television broadcasters to participate in a national emergency warning system. This system (originally called CONELRAD, then EBS, and now known as EAS) allows various authorities to communicate directly with the public in the event of an emergency. Broadcasters are required to test their EAS equipment regularly - you've heard these tests commence with a high-pitched tone and an announcer's voice saying 'This is a test of the Emergency Alert System....' 

Here is one of several attempts by various stations to "perk up" the EBS test script, as it had been run over and over so much so that listeners could virtually repeat along with the announcer.  However, the FCC took a dim view of this, saying that it trivialized the seriousness of real EBS alerts, and issued a policy in the late 1970s, banning singing or making fun of the script. This clip is courtesy of our friend Barry Mishkind, editor of The Broadcasters' Desktop Resource (www.theBDR.net) and The Broadcast Archive (www.oldradio.com). Although we have no idea where it originally came from, perhaps someone will hear it and let us know!

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