CONELRAD (Control of Electromagnetic Radiation) was a planned method of emergency broadcasting to the public of the United States in the event of World War III. It served two purposes; to prevent Soviet bombers from homing-in on American cities by using broadcast stations as beacons, and to provide essential civil defense information. U.S. President Harry S. Truman established CONELRAD in 1951. Look up Emergency in Wiktionary, the free dictionary An emergency is a situation that poses an immediate threat to human life or serious damage to property. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Nuclear fireball. ... Soviet redirects here. ... A broadcast station may be: a radio station a television station It does not include television networks or radio networks. ... This page discusses Beacons, fires designed to attract attention. ... The old United States Civil Defense logo. ... For the pop band, see Presidents of the United States of America. ... Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the thirty-fourth Vice President (1945) and the thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953), succeeding to the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ...

A "CD Mark" symbol

All broadcast stations would monitor a designated station in an area. In the event of an emergency, all United States television and FM radio stations were required to stop broadcasting. Selected Mediumwave AM stations would broadcast on one of two frequencies, 640 kHz or 1240 kHz, at low power. Radio sets manufactured after 1953 had these frequencies marked by the triangle-in-circle ("CD Mark") symbol of Civil Defense. Image File history File links CivilDefence. ... Image File history File links CivilDefence. ... The abbreviations FM, Fm, and fm may refer to: Electrical engineering Frequency modulation (FM) and its most common applications: FM broadcasting, used primarily to broadcast music and speech at VHF frequencies FM synthesis, a sound-generation technique popularized by early digital synthesizers Science Femtometre (fm), an SI measure of length... To meet Wikipedias quality standards and appeal to a wider international audience, this article may require cleanup. ... Mediumwave radio transmissions (sometimes called Medium frequency or MF) are those between the frequencies of 300 kHz and 3000 kHz. ... Sine waves of various frequencies; the lower waves have higher frequencies than those above. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1953 calendar). ... The old United States Civil Defense logo. ...

The old United States Civil Defense logo.

CONELRAD had a simple system for alerting the public and other "downstream" stations that consisted of a sequence of shutting the station off for five seconds, returning to the air for five seconds, again shutting down for five seconds, and then transmitting a tone for 15 seconds. Beginning in 1957, operating U.S. amateur radio stations were required to verify at least once every 10 minutes that a normal broadcast station was on the air. If not, the amateurs were required to stop transmitting. ((PD)) Federal Civil Defense Logo, no longer used except on FEMAs seal File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mrs. ...

CONELRAD was succeeded by the Emergency Broadcast System in 1963, and the Emergency Alert System in 1997; both were administered by the FCC. Around 1966 there was EANS or the Emergency Action Notification System. Fictional treatments of how CONELRAD would work can be found in the novel Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank, and the 1962 movie Panic in Year Zero, the 1955 "Medic" TV episode entitled "Flash of Darkness" starring Richard Boone, as well as the CBS television network's 1958 made-for-TV movie A Day Called 'X'. A slide used by television stations during Emergency Broadcast System announcements and tests. ... Template:C20YearInnTopic 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... The Emergency Alert System (EAS), is a national system in the U.S. put into place in 1997, superseding the Emergency Broadcast System and administered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). ... 1997 (MCMXCVII in Roman) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent United States government agency, created, directed, and empowered by Congressional statute. ... Alas, Babylon is a novel by Pat Frank published in 1959. ... Pat Frank is the author of the novel, Song for Sarah. Frank grew up the daughter of sharecroppers in the Delta of Northeast Arkansas. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... Panic in Year Zero! is a 1962 movie directed by Ray Milland. ... For other uses, see CBS (disambiguation). ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A Day Called X was a dramatised CBS documentary showing a civil defence exercise in Portland, Oregon in which the entire city is evacuated in response to an air raid. ...

There was also a hardcore punk-rock band in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, named CONELRAD. There is also a teleplay for "The Twilight Zone" called "The Shelter" involving the Conelrad station.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Civil Defense

• Nuclear war
• Nuclear weapon
• Blast shelter
• Fallout shelter
• Civil defense geiger counters
• Duck and cover
• Civil protection

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ... Nuclear War is a card game designed by Douglas Malewicki, and originally published in 1966. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ... A blast shelter is a place where people can go to protect themselves from bomb blasts. ... A sign pointing to an old fallout shelter in New York City. ... Most Civil Defense Geiger Counters were issued by the United States Civil Defense during the 1960s in the midst of the Cold War in an effort to help prepare citizens for a nuclear attack. ... Duck and cover was a method of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear detonation which the United States government taught to the generations of United States school children from the late 1940s into the 1980s. ... The overall objectives in the field of Civil Protection are to ensure better protection of people, the environment, economies and infrastructure in the event of major natural or man-made disasters, including accidental marine pollution, chemical spills. ...

External Links

• CONELRAD.COM, "A creepy look at Cold-War culture."
• Information and links to CONELRAD and its successors, EBS and EAS