The National Emergency Alarm Repeater (NEAR) was a civilian emergency warning device in the United States. It was a 2–3" (5–7.5 cm) square box designed to plug into a standard

power outlet AC power plugs and sockets connect electric equipment to the alternating current (AC) mains electricity power supply in buildings and at other sites. Electrical plugs and sockets differ from one another in voltage and current rating, shape, si ...

to receive a special signal sent over the

electric power transmission Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is ...

lines. Research and testing for the NEAR program was developed in 1956 during the Cold War to supplement the existing siren

warning systems Warning system is any system of biological or technical nature deployed by an individual or group to inform of a future danger. Its purpose is to enable the deployer of the warning system to prepare for the danger and act accordingly to mitigat ...

and radio broadcasts in the event of a

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: * Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

attack. The advent of the radio

Emergency Broadcast System The Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), sometimes called the Emergency Broadcasting System or the Emergency Action Notification System (EANS), was an emergency warning system used in the United States. It replaced the previous CONELRAD system an ...

rendered NEAR obsolete, although a severe disadvantage inherent in the Emergency Broadcast System was that it required a television or radio to be turned on for a household to receive the emergency alarm, whereas NEAR did not. Despite this advantage, upon the introduction of the Emergency Broadcast System, stockpiled NEAR repeaters were destroyed by their respective manufacturers. A similar program was proposed in the United Kingdom during the 1960s.

Time magazine article

A ''Time'' magazine article in the 14 November 1960 issue outlined a new program supplementing the then "basically unsound" warning system consisting of localized sirens and the

CONELRAD CONELRAD (''Control of Electromagnetic Radiation'') was a method of emergency broadcasting to the public of the United States in the event of enemy attack during the Cold War. It was intended to allow continuous broadcast of civil defense informa ...

radio-alert system. The

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

argued that in the age of

intercontinental ballistic missiles An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...

a civil-defense warning system should be capable of warning 90% of the population within 30 seconds after a signal is given by the national civil-defense center in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. The device is a buzzer installed into ordinary electrical outlets. The devices would be set off in an emergency by altering the regular AC signal being generated and transmitted by the local power companies. This would be done by having a specific alternating current of a specific frequency superimposed upon it; the imposed current would be generated by special generators and would be at 270 Hz at 3 volts RMS for 50,000 cycles (),. Page 3, lines 32-43 approximately three minutes. The indoor buzzers would be supplemented with outdoor warning sirens. United States Civil Defense Roundel

An episode of the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

television program ''

History Detectives ''History Detectives'' is a documentary television series on Public Broadcasting Service, PBS. It features investigations made by members of a small team of researchers to identify and/or authenticate items which may have historical significance or ...

'' suggested that problems with NEAR might have included limited instructions on what to do when an alert was received and the device's inability to provide information on what exactly was happening. EMP effects of a high-altitude nuclear detonation could have disabled the system. After a decade of federal support for testing and development, the program was terminated.

References

External links

* * * * * , 1963, www.archive.org * {{cite web, url=https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=US&NR=3284791A&KC=A&FT=D&date=19661108&DB=&locale=en_EP, title=Original document: US3284791 (A) ― 1966-11-08, date=1996-11-08, publisher=European Patent Office, access-date=2022-08-31 Cold War history of the United States Disaster preparedness in the United States Emergency Alert System Emergency population warning systems United States civil defense Warning systems pl:System wczesnego ostrzegania

Time magazine article

See also

References

External links