Updated April 24, 2024

Rev96 has the certificates you need

Regarding the IPAWS advisory on April 25, 2024, "EAS Digital Certification Update Required". The Sage ENDEC Rev 96 release included the certificates needed to receive messages after April 28, 2024, if you have Rev96 installed, you will continue to receive alerts after that time.

If you use the ENDEC's Certificates/View CAP certs page, you will see a certificate in red that expired on April 14. We needed to include this certificate at the time Rev96 was released as some alerts still required that certificate for verification. That certificate, IGC Server CA 1, is now no longer used by FEMA and is of no concern.

The current certificates used by FEMA are IGC Device CA 1 and IGC Device CA 2, with expiration dates several years away.

Updated March 8, 2024

Rev96 Release

The text below, from February 6, 2024, has been updated to remind you that Rev 95 with CR_Rev6 is a prerequisite for Rev 96. We also have a version of ENDECSetD for Windows 7, and if you must run XP, send an email to support@sagealertingsystems.com to discuss.

Sage released the Rev 96 firmware update on February 6, 2024.

You will need to install this update by March 11, 2024 to meet the FCC rules regarding CAP Prioritization and national message text. The list price of the update is $159, available from any of our US distributors. The update is compatible with all 3644 ENDEC hardware. You must have Rev95 with CR_Rev6 installed before you can install Rev96.

Any Model 3644 Sage Digital ENDEC originally purchased new from dealer stock after December 12, 2021 is eligible for a free Rev96 update. This includes serial numbers B418750 to B429999. Once you have purchased an update, or if your serial number is in the free range of B418750 through B429999, you can go to the download page and follow the steps there.

The Rev 96 release also includes replacements for security certificates expiring in mid-April 2024, and adds support for new certs to be issued starting April 1, 2024. These are used by FEMA to allow EAS devices to validate alerts as required by Part 11.56(3)(c).

In addition to the FCC required changes, Rev 96 includes several usability features, including automated emailing of conformance reports, required alert summaries and the full log each week. This will reduce the amount of time needed to acquire and review the log data, and reduce the number of people that need to access the ENDEC. This will help to further highlight compliance issues such as failure to receive RWTs and RMTs, and to send RWTs and relay RMTs. Additional features are described in the release notes.

Additional information:
Download Page
Q&A
Release Notes

You should read the release notes. They will discuss how to install the release and details on the new features. If you don’t have time to read them, here are highlights.

• You need to download the Rev96 update and install it in the usual fashion. If your ENDEC is older than December 2021, you’ll need to purchase the update first. Your ENDEC needs to be running Rev95 with CR_Rev6 before you install Rev96.
• You need to install by March 11, 2024 to be compliant with new FCC rules and to avoid missing FEMA CAP alerts due to certificates that will expire in April 2024.
• You’ll need the new ENDECSetD (version 60) program to use some of the new features. If you are still running Windows 7, you should install version 60a, for Win7 only.
• There are new security features that will log web accesses, and will send email on login/logout and settings updates. You can disable HTTP access in favor of HTTPS. The ENDEC can email you weekly log summaries and the conformance logs.
• There are some new usability updates, including assigning a friendly name to the monitor inputs. You can also tell the ENDEC to log, but not forward, voluntary alerts for a short period, to avoid interrupting live reporting. This is controlled from the ENDEC's web page, GPI, or front panel input.
• Web browsers such as Chrome and Edge now deactivate web pages that are hidden, to save memory and laptop power. We’ve improved how our web interface reacts to that. You can also ask the browser to not discard or sleep the page if you want to actively monitor your ENDEC all the time to use the popup feature.
• Windows XP is no longer supported. Please contact support@sagealertingsystems.com if you must run XP.

Updated January 17, 2024

Rev96 Status Update

We have been working with FEMA over the last few weeks to resolve the upcoming expiration of intermediate signing certificates used by EAS devices to validate CAP alerts. There are two certificates that will expire April 14 and April 28, 2024. We are pleased to report that we've tested the newly-released replacements, and they will be included in the Rev96 release. You will not need to do an extra update to accommodate these changes.

In addition to the expiring intermediate certificates, FEMA will begin using a new certificate as it replaces older certs issued to originators such as state and county EOCs. Rev96 will also include support for that certificate as well. FEMA says that it will start issuing new certificates to originators starting April 1.

In summary, as has happened every few years, new certificates will be required by April 1, 2024 to continue to receive IPAWS alerts. These will be included in the Rev96 release.

We're wrapping up the Rev96 release, more news on that in a few days.

Updated 3:50 pm, November 28,2023

FCC Waiver

The FCC has issued a waiver giving Sage Alerting Systems' customers an additional 90 days from the original deadline of December 12, 2023. Sage thanks the Commission for the waiver on behalf of its users, and thanks REC Networks (REC) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) for filing a waiver request. Sage continues to work on preparing this release, we'll update when we have more information and we'll send an email to the support email list when the update is available. If you are not on that list, you can sign up on the support page.

Updated 4:15 pm, November 6,2023

Rev96 Status

We continue to work on the Rev96 update. We have made the FCC aware that the update has taken us longer to produce than we had anticipated, and that there will be insufficient time for many of our users to install the update by the December 12, 2023 deadline. This is especially true for users that have a large number of ENDECs, and for users that have contract engineers with many clients to update. We apologize for the delay. We will update this page and keep the FCC informed on the release status as we get closer to a release date.

When Rev96 is released, Email will be sent to those who are signed up for our support email list. If you are not on that list, you can sign up on the support page.

2023 National Periodic Test

The National Periodic Test for this year was completed successfully. We didn't get may reports of failure to receive or air the alerts this year, the most common were time issues. If you are seeing "ahead" or "expired" in your logs, check to make sure your ENDEC is showing the correct time - the ENDEC shows its local and UTC time on the right side of its home page under the ENDEC Date and Time heading. If you need help getting the ENDEC to sync its time to a NTP standard, call or email our support group.

Rev96 Announcement

An FCC Report and Order for PS Docket No. 15-94 adopting new rules to improve the clarity and accessibility of Emergency Alert System (EAS) messages recently went into effect with a compliance date of December 12, 2023. This R&O requires a significant change to EAS procedures, mandating that alerts received via over-the-air "legacy" EAS data tones be held while the possible presence of a matching IPAWS CAP alert is checked for and then used preferentially. There are a few other rules requiring changes on how the text for national alerts is constructed. A firmware update will be required to keep the ENDEC in compliance with the Part 11 rules.

Sage will release a paid update, called Rev96, in June. You will have until December 12, 2023 to install this update. The update is not yet available for download. We will send an email to our support email list when it is.

The list price is $159 and will be available from any of our US distributors. The update is compatible with all 3644 ENDEC hardware. Any Model 3644 Sage Digital ENDEC originally purchased new from dealer stock after December 12, 2021 is eligible for a free Rev96 update. This includes serial numbers B418750 to B429999.

In addition to the FCC required changes, we will also add several usability features, including automated emailing of log summaries and the conformance report. These two features should reduce the amount of time needed to acquire and review the log data, and reduce the number of people that need to access the ENDEC. It will help to further highlight compliance issues such as failure to receive RWTs and RMTs, and to send RWTs. The FCC also issued a notice of proposed rulemaking in October regarding security. While the NPRM may or may not result in additional rules, Sage is proactively implementing some tools that may assist users in improving security, such as expanding our audit logs to include login/logout and failed login attempts. Our emailed conformance report will also assist with operational readiness.

You can also read additional information in a Q&A format. This announcement will be updated when the release is available.

What is the current version of the ENDEC software?

The current version is Rev95 with CR-Rev6 and P4. Use the "Version" button on the ENDEC's web page to see your version information. You want to see text that includes this:

Board rev 4/95.00 (or Board rev 5/95.00)
CR-Rev6

You might also see P1 or P2 or P3 or P4 on the line with CR-Rev6. The P numbers denote patches, with various improvements. These are optional, but don't affect the way the ENDEC deals with alerts. If you are not on the latest version, see the Firmware Updates page.

Updated August 8, 2022

Security Reminder

Both FEMA and the FCC have recently issued reminders about EAS security.

The current version of the ENDEC software is Rev95 (95-00) with P4 and CR_Rev6. You can check your version by logging into your ENDEC and clicking the Version button. You will see 95-00 on the board rev line, and will see at least P4 and CR-Rev6, in any order, on the line below "Base". Other tags on that line do not affect the general release firmware update level and may not be the same from one ENEDEC to the next.

If your ENDEC is reachable from the public internet, you need to have a firewall. You also need to use passwords other than the defaults - the ENDEC will warn you about this. Finally, use the ENDEC's Log page to look for unexpected restarts, settings uploads, and firmware uploads.

Updated July 2, 2021

CR-Rev6: IPAWS signing certificate expires August 21, 2021

A signing certificate used by FEMA to validate CAP alerts will expire on Aug 21, 2021 at 21:00:00 UTC. Sage has released a free firmware update that you must install to permit your ENDEC to continue to receive EAS CAP alerts from FEMA after that date. Please read the release notes, and download the update file.

This update supercedes the CR-Rev5 update from 2020. You don't need CR-Rev5 to install CR-Rev6. Do not install CR-Rev5 after installing CR-Rev6. Never reinstall Rev95 after you have installed it once. As a general rule, never install an older version of ENDEC software over new, and never reinstall the same version. If you feel that you need to, please contact Sage support before doing so.

You must already be running the Rev95 release to install this update. Users without Rev95 stopped validating CAP alerts in November 2019, and have been unable to connect to the IPAWS server as of July 6, 2020.

While installing this update, you might notice that you aren't running the latest patch set for Rev95. We made a few changes to Rev95 in November and December 2019. None of these were problems that affected alert handling. You can read the P4 release notes to see if you'd like to install the patch. P4 won't conflict with CR-Rev6, you can install P4 before CR-Rev6, after, or not at all.

What is the current version of the ENDEC software?

The current version is Rev95 with CR-Rev6. Use the "Version" button on the ENDEC's web page to see your version information. You want to see text that includes this:

Board rev 4/95.00 (or Board rev 5/95.00)
CR-Rev6

You might also see P1 or P2 or P3 or P4 on the line with CR-Rev6. The P numbers denote patches, with various improvements. These are optional, but don't affect the way the ENDEC deals with alerts. If you don't have P4 you should install it when you get a chance.

Please read the CR-Rev6 release notes for more information. If this is the first you've heard of Rev95, read our October 2019 question and answer document and the Rev95 release notes.

If you have purchased a Rev95 update but have not downloaded it, go to the download page.

ENDECs with older software

To be compliant with Part 11, you must be running Rev 95 with CR-Rev5 or CR-Rev6, and after August 21, 2021, you must have CR-Rev6. Some ENDECs have been on the shelf as spares, or aquired from an inactive station, or for some other reason are far behind in updates. Some ENDECs will have had updates mistakenly applied in the wrong order. While our release notes cover the common cases for older releases, some will need to updated with a specific set of releases in a particular order. If your ENDEC is older than 89-30, and especially if it is older than version 89, please contact contact Sage support for assistance before attempting to update.

Updated April 29, 2021

Rejecting Bad CAP messages

On April 26, 2021, the weekly RWT from FEMA sent on the IPAWS feed contained an invalid digital signature. If your ENDEC logged the alert, it shouldn't have. Please read CAP Reject Settings for how you can correct this issue.

Updated October 28, 2020

Certificate Expired

A digital certificate used to verify FEMA IPAWS alerts has now expired. As announced in July, you must take action to allow your ENDEC to continue to receive and validate alerts as required by FCC Part 11. The CR-Rev5 update was superceded by CR-Rev6 in July, 2021.

Updated July 23, 2020

IPAWS signing certificate expires October 28, 2020

A signing certificate used by FEMA to validate CAP alerts will expire on October 28, 2020, at 14:05:29 UTC. Sage has released a free firmware update that you must install to permit your ENDEC to continue to receive EAS CAP alerts from FEMA after that date.

This release also updates the SSL root certificates that your ENDEC must have in order to download alert audio files from state or county alert originators. You must already be running the Rev95 release. Users without Rev95 stopped validating CAP alerts in November 2019, and have been unable to connect to the IPAWS server as of July 6, 2020.

The CR-Rev5 update was superceded by CR-Rev6 in July, 2021.

While installing this update, you might notice that you aren't running the latest patch set for Rev95. We made a few changes to Rev95 in November and December 2019. None of these were problems that affected alert handling. You can read the P4 release notes to see if you'd like to install the patch. P4 won't conflict with CR-Rev5, you can install P4 before CR-Rev5, after, or not at all.

Updated July 6, 2020

TLS 1.0/1.1 has been turned off for IPAWS

FEMA has now disabled TLS 1.0/1.1 support for IPAWS. This had no effect on ENDECs running the Rev95 update. ENDECs running older versions have not have been validating CAP alerts from IPAWS since November 2019, and are now seeing a blinking "Automatic" led on the front panel. See our question and answer document and the release notes for details on the required Rev95 release.

Updated July 2, 2020

Reminder about TLS 1.0/1.1

Many broadcasters will have recently seen a notice from FEMA about IPAWS access. This will have no effect on Sage users running Rev95.

Details

Last year, FEMA announced that they would stop supporting older versions of the security protocol used to access the IPAWS CAP servers - called TLS 1.0/1.1. Sage's Rev95 update, released in November 2019, supports the new required version called TLS 1.2.

The REV95 release also included a required security certificate that allows users to receive and validate CAP messages. All Sage users should be running Rev95.

Having provided many months of lead time, FEMA announced on June 25, 2020 that they will pull the plug on the old protocol on July 6. Users running Rev95 will not notice any difference. Users running old Sage ENDEC software will see a blinking red Automatic LED on the front panel of the ENDEC, a CAP DOWN indication on the ENDEC's web page, and will see "Unable to establish SSL connection" on the Tools page Wget log. See our question and answer document and the release notes for additional details on the Rev95 release.

Updated March 20, 2020

Adding Additional Events

Many broadcasters have recently been asked to add additonal event codes to their air list. We've added a task sheet to help you. This is the same procedure that has always been used, but you probably haven't needed to use it in a while.

Updated December 17, 2019

Rev 95 Release

The Rev 95 update was released on November 4, 2019. An optional patch for a few minor items was issued on December 17.

• You can download your purchased update from our download page. We process orders at 4pm EST each day, they are then available for download by 5pm the next business day (we sometimes get them up sooner).
• If your serial number is B417611 through B429999, your update is free, enter your serial number on the download page.
• You can order the update from any of our distributors.
• If this is the first you've heard of Rev 95, read our question and answer document and the release notes.
• If (and only if) you downloaded your update prior to December 18, 2019, read the patch P4 release notes.

Updated September 16, 2019

September Release (Rev95)

As announced in July, Sage will release an update to address changing security requirements for IPAWS access as well as several new ENDEC features. As we prepare to roll out this release, we have provided a Q&A document to give you information about the upcoming release.

Check the Q&A document to see if your ENDEC qualifies for the "bought it after March 1, 2018" free update. Do not contact your distributor regarding the free update.

We will update this page when the Rev95 update is released. We will also send an email to our support email list. If you are not on that list, sign up on the support page.

From July 17, 2019

Release 89-34 - July 17, 2019

Sage has released firmware version 89-34. This release has been superceded by Rev 95.

This free update addresses a changed requirement in the FCC EAS rules, Part 11.33(a)(10), which affects how the valid time frame of an alert is determined. This rule change takes effect on August 12, 2019. The ENDEC currently employs a slightly different method of determining the valid time frame. The update will have no adverse effect on the reception and relay of valid alerts. All users must install this update to keep your ENDEC compliant. The update also adds the BLU alert to the list of valid alerts if you have not previously installed version 89-32.

NOTE: This release does not affect the ENDEC's reception and relay of the scheduled August 7, 2019 National Periodic Test. Whether your ENDEC is running version 89-30, 89-32, or this new version 89-34, your ENDEC will relay the NPT.

National Periodic Test

FEMA plans to run a National Periodic Test on August 7, 2019. You should take the following two steps to make sure you are ready to relay this alert.

1. You can verify that your ENDEC is configured to carry the alert by using the "Verify Req" button at the bottom of the tools page in the ENDEC's web interface. Click it and the ENDEC will show the filter names that match the EAN and NPT codes, and an indication that your settings are, or are not, compliant. If you don't have a "Verify Req" button, or you don't see the "Your ENDEC will meet the FCC requirements" messages for EAN and NPT, then you are running a pre-2016 release. See the release notes for the 89-34 update to update your ENDEC.
2. The 2019 NPT will be not be issued via a CAP server, you need to make sure your ENDEC is listening to the proper monitoring assignments. Check your EAS logs to see if are receiving weekly tests from those sources. If not, find out why.

Major release planned for September, 2019

Sage also plans a major version release in September. As is typical with data security, old methods are discarded in favor of new, more secure methods. FEMA will be making a change to the method used to connect to its IPAWS server, disabling an older method in favor of the new standard. Our September release will support that change. After the FEMA switchover, older versions of the ENDEC software will not be able to receive CAP messages from IPAWS. In addition, the September release will focus on features our users have asked for, including the ability to preferentially send the CAP version of EAS messages for most alerts, role-based logins, enhanced automation interfaces (IP and GPIO), day parts, activity logging, emailed summary logs, and more. This release will be mandatory.

While Sage has made updates available at no charge since the original 2008 release of the Model 3644 ENDEC, there will be a one-time charge of $349 for the September release. The release will only be sold through our distributors. This update will be provided free of charge for ENDECs purchased new after March 1, 2018 (eighteen months prior to September 2019). We'll send out an email when that release is available.

Items in the "older news" section are provided for historical context.

89-32, CR-rev4, and SI-rev5

These older updates, for the BLU alert and security certificates, have been superseded by the 89-34 release.

Blue Alerts - December 14, 2017

Blue Alert is moving through the approval process, but has not yet taken effect. Sage will make a free software update available to support Blue Alerts. You should make no configuration changes at this time.

Important Items - July 27, 2017

The FCC has updated its EAS Operating Handbook. The FCC says "A copy of the Handbook must be located at normal duty positions or EAS equipment locations when an operator is required to be on duty and be immediately available to staff responsible for authenticating messages and initiating actions."

Sage has updated its guide to the handbook that helps you put the FCC Handbook into context for a Sage Digital ENDEC (model 3644).

Important Items - July 17, 2017

FEMA has announced its intent to run a National Periodic Test on Wednesday, September 27, 2017 in a letter filed on the FCC's ECFS system.

You can verify that your ENDEC is configured to carry the alert by using the "Verify Req" button at the bottom of the ENDEC's tools page. Click it and the ENDEC will show the filter names that match the EAN and NPT codes, and an indication that your settings are, or are not, compliant. If you don't have a verify button, or you don't see the "Your ENDEC will meet the FCC requirements" messages for EAN and NPT, then you need to read the release notes for the 89-30 software release:

• Version 89-30 software update (the 000000 release)

Sage's Jerry Lebow shares stories from his history in broadcasting in a podcast that is part of WCBS 880's 50th news radio aniversary. Jerry provides history from an engineering point of view.

Updates for Wednesday, August 24, 2016:

FCC 2016 EAS Handbook

The FCC has released a revised EAS Operating Handbook. The FCC says "The Handbook's new format was designed by industry and alerting stakeholder members of the Commission's Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC)". Sage was part of the committee that worked on the recommendations for the new handbook. One of the recommendations of that committee was that each EAS device manufacturer provide additional information that will assist you in utilizing the FCC Handbook.

Sage has provided that information in a document intended to assist its users with the fill in the blanks portion of the FCC Handbook. Even though you have already provided a good set of instructions to your operators, we urge you to read the "Recovery Procedures" section of our document.

Download our handbook assistance document. (updated for 2017)

You must customize the FCC Handbook and place a copy " ... at normal duty positions or EAS equipment locations when an operator is required to be on duty and be immediately available to staff responsible for administering EAS tests." This must be done before the National Periodic Test scheduled for September 28, 2016.

Updates for Monday, July 25, 2016:

Regarding the FCC's 6th Report and Order on EAS, with a July 30, 2016 implementation deadline.

Version 89-30 is the current version, and is required to keep your ENDEC in compliance with the Part 11 rules. See the firmware page for details. The release includes:

• Support for the national location (000000) code and priority treatment for NPT
• An "auto filter" feature that will properly handle EAN and NPT events, even if you don't have a filter installed. This feature is on by default and highly recommended, the effect is that you will not need to update your settings file.
• A verify button on the ENDEC's tools page that will let you know which filter will match a national NPT, and if your ENDEC will be compliant.
• The new NWS event codes.
• New intermediate certificates for IPAWS alert signatures.

If you have sent a message to support@sagealertingsystems.com with "add" as the subject, you will receive an email when future updates are made available.

We will not update the firmware for the model 1822. Support for that non-CAP product ended in 2011.

Updates for October 31, 2014:

Strict Time

The replay of an old alert that was sent out on a syndicated radio program in 2014 raised several questions. We address the issue of strict time and expired alerts in the FAQ. In case there is any doubt, the official word from us here at Sage is that you should have Strict Time turned ON. See the FAQ for more details.