RRDB v2.0 Q&A and Feedback Discussion

[codeplug]

RRDB v2.0 Q&A and Feedback
Comments or Suggestions on the New RRDB v2.0

I see that Now when you type in the Website, https://www.radioreference.com
you get the standard RR Database Page. Radio Reference Main Page.
I am okay with that unless you can make it better otherwise leave that alone.
Thank you fxdscon for pointing out my mistake.

Now, when you click on the New Frequency Database link you get all kinds crazy weird stuff that
I don't have a clue what it is and I don't care to look at.
I don't care about the 30 Day Database Trends or the Current Database Statistics.
Put that info in a Menu, Sidebar or some where else.
All I want to see if the Frequency Database. Too much New stuff just for Basic Database Searching.

In my opinion The New Database Home Sidebar on the Left should be under a Menu or Tab or some
where else where you can open it up if or as needed.
As soon as you open the Frequency Database Page it's popping up on the Left side of the Screen.
I don't want to see all that stuff on the left side of the frequency page unless I need to look at
something other than the Frequency Database.
Thank you fxdscon for pointing out the how to collapse the Sidebar. I did not see it.
I read it in the Forums but did not know how to do it.

I am not sure if I like the way the New Frequency Database Page is setup yet.
I think some adjustments or improvements can make it better or more user friendly.

Deleted: Ref Link to Forums.
Found it. Thank you fxdscon for pointing out the Link, I did not see it.

Too much of having to look and around and click on multiple links and tabs juts to get back to where
you want to go. It's all there I agree but it needs a lot of simplifying and cleaning up to make it more user
friendly or easier to navigate from the Database to the Forums to Broadcastify and then back.
Never mind om

Can you consider adding under the Trunked Talk Group Category A Link to Click on instead
of just selecting a Circle to Make the Talk Groups go from Grouped to All or New.
On the Old way you can right click the Box near the Talk Group Tab to make it open in a separate
website Page so you can pull up both the Grouped and All or New TG's on a separate Page.
I don't see a way to do that on the New 2.0 Version.
I usually open the TGs both ways so I look at them at the same time.
Now I am having to do Copy & Paste the current Website Link then select All or New.
It's not very user friendly the way it is now at least not for me.

Example:
Talkgroups
Current Way, Select Circle
O Grouped - O All Talkgroups - O New Talkgroups

My Suggestion.
New Way, Possible. Select Circle or Click on Link to open the Talk Groups in a separate Page.
O Grouped + Link / O All Talkgroups + Link / O New Talkgroups + Link

Now, when Submitting Info to the Database Text is in alignment on the Submit Page.
As soon as you hit Submit the Info, it goes out of alignment.
It appears that it may cause some issues for RR Admins, its jumbling all the submitted info up.
It's causing me issues so I assume others may have the same or similar issues.
Doesn't seem to matter if I type the info in the Submit Page or Copy and Paste the info
from either MS Word or MS Excel or even from the Database.

Can you consider adding the capability to Tab over Text when typing info into the Submit Page.
Current way when you hit the Tab button to move Text over all it does is move the cursor down.

Can you consider adding the capability to pull or make the screen wider so you can
see all of the Text you are typing on the Submit Page.
Not sure if this is a Submit Page Issue or a PC or Internet Web Browser issue.
Sometimes it allows you to do it and sometimes it doesn't. Not sure why.

Thank you Mr. Blanton for All of your hard work.
I am still evaluating the New 2.0 Version to see if any Improvements may need to be made.
If I see anything else I will send my comments or suggestions.
My Apologies If any of my comments or suggestions have already been covered here.

 

[fxdscon]

I see that Now when you type in the Website, https://www.radioreference.com
you get the standard RR Database Page.
I am okay with that unless you can make it better otherwise leave that alone.

When I click on that link, it takes me to the usual Radio Reference main page, not the database page.... same as it's always been.

In my opinion The New Database Home Sidebar on the Left should be under a Menu or Tab or some
where else where you can open it up if or as needed.
As soon as you open the Frequency Database Page it's popping up on the Left side of the Screen.
I don't want to see all that stuff on the left side of the frequency page unless I need to look at
something other than the Frequency Database.

Click on the arrow at the bottom of that sidebar, it will collapse to the left side of the page when you move your mouse back to the mainpage.

 

[fxdscon]

Now when you get on the Database Page I wasn't able to find a way to go to the Forums Home Page
unless you use the back arrow button.

There's a link to the forums right at the top of the database page:

 

[codeplug]

Hello fxdscon
Thanks for the help.
New Database Home Sidebar
I see what the issue is now.
When the Sidebar is open it is hiding the RR Home Link & the Forums Link and the other Links
on the far left side, top of the page. On my tablet I can't get it to fully collapse so its still blocking
some of the links. Not sure if its an issue on smart phones. I will have to check my PC to see if its
blocking them on it also. It may have something to do with screen settings but I don't know how to
adjust those on a tablet.
If there is anything that can be done to adjust or fix that on the RR side it would be helpful.

 

[DudleyG]

Tap the small 3 horizontal bars on the top line just to the left of RR Home. That will cause the sidebar to completely go away.

Tap it again to make the sidebar reappear.

 

[blantonl]

I don't know if this got lost. This is still an issue. Subcategories pages do not have input frequencies.

I'm getting there on this. Be patient. It's a REALLY minor issue.

 

[lynchy135]

I'm getting there on this. Be patient. It's a REALLY minor issue.

No worries! Just wasn’t sure if I got drowned out. Obviously not a huge deal.

 

[ECPD279]

I'm still struggling a bit to get used to 2.0, after so many years of using 1.0. I agree with the sentiment of keeping the 1.0 option for those of us who abhor change.

A minor annoyance I have encountered with the Beta is this. When searching the FCC Database, the results always default to show 100 entries. If the user clicks another option, such as "ALL", any time the user clicks on a license entry to view it then returns to the results page it will always default back to show 100 entries. Also, if the results page is multiple pages, if a user clicks out to view an entry then returns it will always return to page 1 regardless of where the user was when clicking in to the entry. This makes it rather more difficult and time consuming to research when you have to remember where you were in the results and click back to that page to continue where you left off. (For the record, this is with Firefox)

Also, if the contrast between lines could be increased slightly it would be helpful. The grey that is used is so light as to be almost indistinguishable from the white. Perhaps give the user the option of choosing the contrasting colors, a'la Excel.

On the plus side, I do appreciate the addition of columns for ERP and Emission in the search results. This makes searching for certain types of stations much easier and actually makes me more likely to use 2.0.

 

[codeplug]

Thanks DudleyG.
If using a tablet in the landscape mode its not working that way.
The Sidebar even partly collapsed is still blocking the 3 small horizontal bars and when
I try to move the screen around enough to hit the bars its going back to the RR Main Page.
The Sidebar just keeps getting in the way.
I changed my tablet to auto rotate to the portrait mode and I got the sidebar to collapse
all the way using the 3 horizontal bars.
I then tried my smartphone in both modes and it seems to work better on it.
Trial and error I guess.
Thanks for the help.

 

[blantonl]

I'm still struggling a bit to get used to 2.0, after so many years of using 1.0. I agree with the sentiment of keeping the 1.0 option for those of us who abhor change.

Well I'm sorry, but we aren't going back. This ship has sailed. The toothpaste is out of the tube. We've moved on.

A minor annoyance I have encountered with the Beta is this. When searching the FCC Database, the results always default to show 100 entries. If the user clicks another option, such as "ALL", any time the user clicks on a license entry to view it then returns to the results page it will always default back to show 100 entries. Also, if the results page is multiple pages, if a user clicks out to view an entry then returns it will always return to page 1 regardless of where the user was when clicking in to the entry. This makes it rather more difficult and time consuming to research when you have to remember where you were in the results and click back to that page to continue where you left off. (For the record, this is with Firefox)

A quick fix to this would be to right click on the link and open the license in a new tab or window. That way you don't lose your spot during your research.

But I hear you - I'll think about some ideas on this to better improve the workflow. I might just change the link to do that for you in your browser vs trying to implement logic to "save" that setting as a cookie or localstorage object.

 

[Outerdog]

A quick fix to this would be to right click on the link and open the license in a new tab or window. That way you don't lose your spot during your research.

This is exactly why I mentioned the Search Database link not working when using this technique....

 

[blantonl]

This is exactly why I mentioned the Search Database link not working when using this technique....

I’m aware. This is a very minor issue from the user’s perspective but could be a little more complex on my end. Stay tuned,

 

[NebraskaCoder]

At some point I'd like for us to release a REST based API, but I'd like to understand what your user case is here?

Most of the programatic API access available and in use for the RRDB is application to application integration, where SOAP (used to) really shine(d).

Sorry, a lot going on in the past 8 days for me to reply (plus you've been busy in here anyway).

The use-case for REST or SOAP (at this point, both will work) is to be able to allow a user of a web application to search the RRDB and import a frequency, talkgroup, system, etc... into the application. For the REST vs SOAP argument, it is minor but people on a slow connection need to download more data with XML versus a condensed JSON. Another issue (this might be able to be changed on the SOAP API too) is CORS so that the user's web browser can request the data directly instead of my application having to make a proxy and handle the user's credentials. I found out that isn't my biggest request (still is one as I have to use a non-standard library for making requests).

My biggest request is to change from having to store the user's username and password in plaintext to using an authentication token (and refresh token) for login. This could be a new REST API as to not break previous apps or a new endpoint on the SOAP API so as to not break current applications. Storing the user's username and password on my server wouldn't be practical as encrypting it wouldn't make much of a difference as it would have to be stored on my server along with the decryption key. While this still applies to any application to application integrations (storing the user's password anywhere is a security risk), it is much worse in a web browser as there is a chance for XSS and other security vulnerabilities.

Hopefully, this makes sense and is being considered as that is a big blocker on my web application for the time being. Being a programmer for PayPal, I tend to focus on vulnerabilities to applications I make so I don't make the headlines anywhere.

The web application use case would be to have a web app where users could keep notes on systems, frequencies, etc... (kind of a place before submitting anything to RR to be official, unless they don't plan to submit the information to where it would remain private to them). They could import RR data into their private account and, if you add the functionality, submit a report to RR with their notes.

 

[AM909]

It would be good to have a center/zoom feature in the state county maps. For example, try to click on San Francisco County in the California map. (Sorry if this belongs somewhere else, as it may not be an issue new to 2.0).

 

[fxdscon]

It would be good to have a center/zoom feature in the state county maps. For example, try to click on San Francisco County in the California map. (Sorry if this belongs somewhere else, as it may not be an issue new to 2.0).

-
Just use the "Browse by County" drop down box just below the map.

 

[AM909]

-
Just use the "Browse by County" drop down box just below the map.

I know there are several ways to get to a particular county – just trying to point out that the map feature is not usable for small counties.

 

[ECPD279]

A quick fix to this would be to right click on the link and open the license in a new tab or window. That way you don't lose your spot during your research.

Which is what I started doing about five minutes after I posted the comment.

 

[blantonl]

The web application use case would be to have a web app where users could keep notes on systems, frequencies, etc... (kind of a place before submitting anything to RR to be official, unless they don't plan to submit the information to where it would remain private to them). They could import RR data into their private account and, if you add the functionality, submit a report to RR with their notes.

OK, this is good feedback. I'll definitely take this into consideration.

We're going to be moving towards tokenized auth access to our other REST APIs (mainly on Broadcastify) and I'll keep this in mind for this.

I'd like to implement a REST API at the same time continuing to tightly control programatic access to the database.

 

[NebraskaCoder]

OK, this is good feedback. I'll definitely take this into consideration.

We're going to be moving towards tokenized auth access to our other REST APIs (mainly on Broadcastify) and I'll keep this in mind for this.

I'd like to implement a REST API at the same time continuing to tightly control programatic access to the database.

Thanks for considering it. Let me know if I can assist in any way. Doing this as my main job, I get exposed to many security considerations and build many apis.

 

[rincon]

I loaded a handheld ham radio with my regular frequencies, then filled the rest up with police etc. 2 years ago, worked awesome.
Now you took out 3/4's of my area's frequencies, there isn't crap left to use on this site, put the old version back on line, but as is, I will no longer support this site when it has been ruined. I can't even load up my new radio, if most people's area has the same thing happen as I have you are going to lose a ton of money by lass of subscriptions