RR Database Understanding

[pingdew]

I've found something I don't understand. I'm a newbie when it comes to this stuff.

I visit this page:

State Systems Radio - UHF (Kalamazoo) Site: Verified LCN

State Systems Radio - UHF (Kalamazoo) Site: Verified LCN Details

www.radioreference.com

I click on the upper pin "1521 Gull Rd"
I click "Proximity Search" (Premium Member)

It provides a list of frequencies with tabs.
Licensee, Frequency, Callsign, City, County, State, Svc, Distance

In that list, I find frequencies with licenses that don't exist on the standard RR landing page (Kalamazoo County, Michigan (MI) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference).

As an example. Using the steps I provided above.

On the proximity search page I find:

WEST MICHIGAN AIR CARE

155.385000

WRXL462

KALAMAZOO

KALAMAZOO

MI

PW

0.0004

However, on the RR landing page:

Kalamazoo County, Michigan (MI) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference for Kalamazoo County, Michigan (MI)

www.radioreference.com

I do not find this frequency or license. There are others as well. As an example on the main landing page, I find one (1) frequency for KIK382
but the proximity search page finds two (2) frequencies for license KIK382

Can someone explain why this is and most importantly, if I find these discrepancies, should I be scanning these "proximity search" frequencies if I feel it might be an interest to me?

Thanks

 

[nd5y]

Proximity Search returns FCC licenses (only certain types, not all of them) where one of the license locations is within the range of the selected latitude/longitude coordinates.

The RR database only show what was submitted by memebers. It is just the tip of a large iceberg. It doesn't contain everything that is possible to receive on a scanner in any particular location. In some areas the database is missing a lot or has obsolete data and might be nearly useless in some places. Some FCC licenses may contain frequencies that aren't used or other data that doesn't reflect what actually exists in real life.

Also sometimes there are errors in the database and sometimes there are location (or other) errors on FCC licenses.

 

[pingdew]

Ok. So that's exactly (almost) what I figured but there's one failure in that standard line I've seen before.

"The RR database only shows what was submitted by members."

If that is true then when I click "Proximity Search" it SHOWS other frequencies. And if that quote above is true, it is showing those other frequencies because they were submitted by a member.

So . . . why not just show them (those frequencies discovered on the Proximity Search) on the Main page? They have all the fields populated and they provide Calls signs as well. And in my specific example above they include one (1) frequency for a Call Sign on the main page but didn't include the other frequency under the same License and Call Sign.

From my main post:
"As an example on the main landing page, I find one (1) frequency for KIK382
but the proximity search page finds two (2) frequencies for license KIK382"

 

[nd5y]

I'm not a paid member so I can't see excatly how proximity search works now.
It used to be that it only showed FCC licenses.
The FCC license data is downloaded from the FCC web site every week and is not part of the database.
The database only contains what was submitted by members.

It's not unusual for a particular database entry to not have all the frequencies on the FCC license.
It's not unusual for a particular database entry to not have all the FCC licenses or even the correct ones. Sometimes the licenses are moddified, added or expire and nobody submits updates.

If nobody in a particular area is capable of finding new stuff or keeping up with changes then the usefullness of the database suffers.

 

[GTR8000]

The Proximity Search is returning raw FCC license data, not member submitted data.

 

[pingdew]

Ok,

GTR8000 and Nd5y thanks for those replies it clears things up a little.

However, I guess I don't understand why RR wouldn't bring that information front and center. It seems like it would benefit everyone (especially RR). The example I gave above is the perfect situation.

RR supplies the user-verified frequency of KIK382 155.340 but doesn't supply the unverified FCC database pull of KIK382 155.280 (without a paid membership and doing an oddball proximity search).

You would think they could add a column to the RR database for "Verified" with a Yes or No and then when you pulled the database frequencies into your scanner you would automatically have it and know that it has not yet been verified. And serious scanners could place tone alerts on unverified frequencies that they are around often and it would be a big win for the database.

But of course, I don't run a large website like RR so I'm sure there is more to it than I'm understanding.

 

[mciupa]

Rather than mining the FCC database, users can use SEARCH mode on their scanner and find frequencies in their listening area. I for one enjoy finding new unlisted stuff.

If they are not listed on RadioReference, then they can be submitted to supplement the verified ones already listed..

 

[GTR8000]

The purpose of the RR database is to catalog confirmed/verified data, not to be a collection of unverified frequencies from FCC licenses.

The FCC data is provided on RR as a convenience, intended to compliment the database by providing an integrated means of looking up frequencies and licenses. The proximity search is an example of that, where one can look at other licenses at a site/within a radius.

The fact is that there are countless frequencies licensed that are not used. As it doesn't cost anything to renew Part 90 public safety licenses, they are very often renewed in perpetuity long after agencies have stopped using some or all frequencies on the license. I'm personally aware of many of these sorts of licenses, where for example a 37 MHz channel that hasn't been used since 1988 (really) is still on a dozen or more police agency licenses in one county alone.