FCC License Data Sources
William K. McFadden
Changes preceeded by "|". Please e-mail corrections and additions to me.
INTRODUCTION
This is a list of FCC license data sources available to scanner hobbyists.
The FCC master contains a wealth of data about every non-government license
in the United States (over three million records). Most of the sources
listed contain a subset of this data, although a few contain all or nearly
all of it. Government licenses are not administered by the FCC, and the
data is not available to the public.
If you are interested in purchasing FCC data, you might want to consider
forming a co-op of people in your area to share the cost. As far as I can
tell, this is legal since the information is in the public domain.
However, the software supplied to view or manipulate the data is usually
copyrighted and must be purchased separately by each user.
Prices are rounded to the nearest dollar and include shipping, if known.
C.E.T.
CET sells records of all stations inside a 30-mile radius for $80. (Major
cities cost extra.) A 70-mile search costs $178. The data is provided on
floppy disks and is available in ASCII columnar and comma-delimited
formats.
CET does not provide data for licenses that do not contain specific
geographic coordinates (i.e., mobile-only systems) or specific operating
frequencies (e.g., amateur radio).
To do the search, CET requires the latitude and longitude of the center of
the 30-mile radius. I calculated mine from a USGS topographic map I
obtained at a local nautical supply store. Alternatively, you can obtain
the coordinates for your town from the University of Michigan's geographic
name server. Run "telnet 141.212.99.9 3000" and enter your zip code. For
my area, the server returned the coordinates of the main post office.
CET can be reached at 800-445-0297.
GROVE
Grove sells FCC data on CD-ROM and floppy. The CD-ROM covers the entire US
and is available with or without mapping support. The mapping version
brings up a map with the requested station plotted on it. The regular
version is $103, and the mapping version is $173.
Floppies are available by state for $43 per state (add $10 for CA, FL,
TX). The disk comes with a database search program. Grove Enterprises can
be reached at 800-438-8155.
MICROFICHE
The Bearcat Radio Club sells the FCC master by state for $15. Bearcat
Radio Club can be reached at P.O. Box 291918, Kettering OH, 45429.
PERCON
PerCon sells FCC data on CD-ROM. The Spectrum CD covers the entire US and
comes with a simple database search program. The US Index CD also covers
the entire US but comes with a more powerful database manager. Regional
CDs cover subsets of the US but provide more detail about each license.
Finally, the mother of all databases is the seven-CD Frequency Set, with
data organized by frequency.
Spectrum costs $37, the US Index is $87, regional CDs are $107 each ($465
for the complete five-disc set), and the Frequency Set is $1515. Data is
updated quarterly (the latest data is from Nov 94). PerCon can be reached
at 716-386-6015 (voice), 716-386-6013 (fax), or Per...@aol.com (email).
POLICE CALL
This is probably the most cost-effective source of public service license
information. The detail is limited, but the information that is there is
often more useful than the FCC master. For example, an entry in Police
Call that reads, "Portland Police, Net 3, North Precinct," reads,
"Portland, City of" in the master.
Police call is available in 9 volumes covering different regions of the
US. It can be purchased at Radio Shack stores for $10 per volume.
RADIOMAP SERVICE
Developed by long-time Usenet contributor Bob Parnass, this service
provides a custom report of frequencies, callsigns, and licensee names for
a specified area in any of the 50 states. Coverage areas of 4 to 256
square miles will be chosen by Bob depending on transmitter site density.
The report includes a color plot with transmitter sites marked.
To create the report, Bob requires the latitude and longitude (or nearest
street intersection) of the center location. Reports are $26 each. Write
to Bob Parnass at 2350 Douglas Rd, Oswego, IL, 60543, or call him at
708-554-3839 between 6-10 PM central time.
SCANWARE ASSOCIATES
ScanWare Associates sells a PC-based database program called the FCC
Frequency Retrieval System V2.x. It comes with FCC data for one state,
covering all services and all frequencies. Data is updated approximately
every six months (last update was Dec 94).
Cost is $35 for the first state and $20 for each additional state. Updates
cost $30 per state. (Add $5 for CA, FL, TX, NY.) Quantity discounts
available. Fully working shareware copy downloadable from their BBS at
206-871-4228 (FCC200.ZIP). ScanWare Associates can be reached at
206-698-1383 (voice) or 206-698-8207 (fax).
US SCANNER PUBLICATIONS
Similar in style to Police Call, this series of directories covers ALL
radio services between 30 MHz and 2 GHz. Each volume covers one state and
costs between $14 and $29, depending on the state. The volume for
California is 820 pages. Contact US Scanner publications at 800-890-6999
(voice) or 503-233-5176 (fax).
APPENDIX
Here is table of data fields in the FCC master. Fields provided by various
products are indicated by "#" or the field length, if known.
PERCON PERCON PERCON POLICE SCAN
DESCRIPTION SIZE CET GROVE SPECTRUM US OTHER CALL WARE
Frequency (or Lower Limit) 16 11 12 16 16 16 # 11
Upper Frequency Limit 16 16 16 11
Callsign 10 8 10 10 10 10 # 10
Service Code 2 2 2 2 2 2 # 2
Licensee DBA Name 40 32 40 40 # 40
Licensee State 2 2 2 2
Licensee Zip 9 5 9 9
Licensee Address 35 30 35
Licensee City 20 15 12 20 20
Licensee Name 200 40 40 100
Applicant Phone 10 10
Transmitter Latitude 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Transmitter Longitude 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Transmitter Elevation 5 5 5 5
Transmitter Height 5 5 5 5
Transmitter HAAT 5 5 5
Transmitter Effective Height 5 5 5
TX Antenna Structure Height 5 5 5
Transmitter Address 80 80
Transmitter City 20 10 20 20 20 # 20
Transmitter County 30 10 20 30 30 30 30
Transmitter State 2 2 2 2 2 2 # 2
Class of Station 4 4 4 4 4 # 4
Type of Message Service 1 1
Area of Operation 1 1
Radius of Operation 4 4 4
Antenna Type 10 10
Antenna Elevation Angle 6 6
Antenna Azimuth 6 6
Antenna Polarization 3 3 3
Antenna Gain 4 4
Antenna Path Length 6 6
Antenna Beam Width 8 8
ERP Out 8 4 8 8
ERP Units 2 1 2
ERP Indicator 1 1
Power Out 8 4 8 8
Power Out Units 2 1 2
Power Out Indicator 1 1
Emissions 15 15 15
License Issue Date 6 6
License Expiration Date 6 4 6
Operation Begin Time 4 4
Operation End Time 4 4
Number of Vehicle Mobiles 4 4 4 4 # 4
Number of Portable Mobiles 4 4 4 4 # 4
Number of Aircraft Mobiles 4 4 4 4 # 4
Number of Marine Mobiles 4 4 4 4 # 4
Number of Pager Mobiles 5 4 5 5 5
Originating Database ID 1 1 1
Authorization Type 1 1
CP Authorization Number 2 2
Area of Operation Descript. 100 100
Paint & Lighting Specs 33 33
Special Conditions 100 100
TX Latitude Direction 1 1
TX Longitude Direction 1 1
Type of Last Contact 1 1
Date of Last Contact 6 6
Number of Units 4 4
Reverse Azimuth 6 6*
Path Connection Latitude 6 6*
Path Connection Longitude 7 7*
* = Frequency Set Only, CP = Construction Permit,
ERP = Effective Radiated Power, HAAT = Height Above Average Terrain
--
Bill McFadden Tektronix, Inc. P.O. Box 500 MS 58-639 Beaverton, OR 97077
bi...@tv.tv.tek.com, ...!tektronix!tv.tv.tek.com!bill Phone: (503) 627-6920
CAUTION: Don't look into laser beam with remaining eye.