I Discovered a channel this morning it must have been turned on over night because it was not listed yesterday.
"Emergency Alert System" it is on Channel 998 and when you tune to 998 it says the following.. "Monroe EAS Test" with a high pitch beeping noise. (I am in the Denver Area)
What would this be used for? When the EAS comes on it uses Comcast Entertainment Television as the carrying channel. (the Comcast Network)
First I've heard about this. Going to guess maybe they are going to start using a dedicated EAS channel instead of repurposing the CET channel, or perhaps it was a temporary thing while they were doing testing. Just how did you come across this channel? Was it through a digital tuner on an HDTV or was it through a Comcast cablebox while you were flipping channels?
I have seen the EAS configured on Time Warner Cable systems with digital simulcast to have a dedicated channel for EAS alerts that is unencrypted including the one I am and it is hidden in the guide so you don't see it until the EAS alert/test is activated.
Comcast Cable box it is listed on the on screen TV Guide that you use with your remote. It is the 2nd to last channel on our system. I Was just flipping through the guide & I know for a fact it was not there the day before.
lol I forgot about that thread. man that brings back memories. I'm surprised this even exists. I would have thought that by now all digital cable providers would be using a text crawler or ticker across the top of the screen instead of a full screen alert which could cover up important information on news channels reporting on the emergency such as weather maps or evacuation maps.
I could be wrong but I think Motorola areas use a dedicated channel and Cisco/SA areas use the banner?
  I see the banner in addition to the malfunctioning EAS channel.
Let me be more precise:
- That confidence reducing photo I posted is what I see via ClearQAM, and it is also what I see at my health club (which uses the DTA thingies).
- I see the banner when I am watching via my TiVo. I have not looked through all the channels that my TiVo is allowed to receive, to see if that same error message also is shown as a EAS channel on the TiVo.
This is what the EAS channel looks like here. It gives one a lot of confidence....
The EAS channel here has the linux login page showing on the EAS channel which is a security risk as someone could figure out the password if they got a hold of the login name. Remember the zombie EAS alert hack.
I wish our Cisco/SA equipment did the EAS display on the front panel but sadly it doesn't. I know the iGuide software running on the Motorola and Cisco/SA equipment both have the ability to use unambiguous EAS mode, Motorola equipment has it turned on and Cisco/SA equipment has it turned off. Here is a video I found with a weird message at the end.