MarioMania
Star Participant
I like this site for searching Stations, But why do have restrict how many searches you got?
Is there anyway around it?
Is there anyway around it?
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Radio-Locator.com
- Thread starter MarioMania
- Start date
Goat Rodeo Cowboy
Star Participant
Yes. Pay them a subscription fee.
K
K.M. Richards
Guest
I've never encountered restrictions on number of searches. The only restriction I'm aware of is that some of the data is only available to paying subscribers and certain search types are also restricted to paid customers.
Maybe you're searching far more than most people?
They gotta make their living some way.
U
Unregistered
Guest
FCC has contours... but with both Google Earth and Google Maps updating... WILL THE FCC DISCONTINUE CONTOURS? ALSO, THEY ARE FREE WITHOUT ANY SUBSCRIPTION.
U
Unregistered
Guest
I found this page that explains why Radio Locator works (or doesn't work) the way it does. I hope he posts the next installment soon.
http://www.fybush.com/rlmaps/
What is CDBS? I've found that over the past couple of years, Radio-Locator has not done a very good job of keeping up with format changes, and no dated for Canada. The problem with the FCC site is, they only give the 60 Dbu contour for FM and nothing for the AM stations.
PTBoardOp94
Walk of Fame Participant
CDBS is the FCC's lookup tool for broadcast stations.
K
K.M. Richards
Guest
And the engineering consulting firm Cavell, Mertz & Associates provides a very user-friendly interface to CDBS at http://www.fccinfo.com if you don't want to use the FCC site's interface.
Just remember that, unlike Radio-Locator, the FCC does not track programming information.
CDBS is the FCC database, from which Radio-locator receives its information. It's where you can check on facilities applications, among other things.
joebtsflk1
Star Participant
Re: Radio-locator, I've found they have gotten more restrictive on the number of free searches over time. Display ads aren't cutting it, apparently and there aren't enough Gold users to pay the bills. I doubt there are many people using this site for bona-fide business purposes, so it needs more coin from us hobbyists
charlestondxman
Star Participant
Radio-Locator has had this rule for a long time. Back from when the site started in 2000 or so.
This site has FM contours you can look up without restriction.
http://www.njpirgdata.com/fmdx/
This site has FM contours you can look up without restriction.
http://www.njpirgdata.com/fmdx/
U
Unregistered
Guest
Yes, I love it, but I worry it will be discontinued after Google Maps changes it's features because it needs Google Maps and Google Earth is being discontinued too, so that means that the only site TO LOOK UP CONTOURS IS THE STRICT RADIO-LOCATOR! Maybe they will make Radio-Locator avaliable to everyone for free all the time when FCC and NjPiRgData scraps out their contours, because Google Maps is changing and Earth is going away...
No more free contours in 2015... sadly...Thanks for the link. I've landed on that site by accident a couple times. Very useful.
Too bad the coverage maps aren't superimposed on a geographical map.... but you can't have everything. At least it shows the major lobes, nulls, etc. for the AMers. Which is still quite useful if one is a DXer.
vchimpanzee
Walk of Fame Participant
I've run into that daily limit myself. Since I have no intention of paying, the solution for me is to limit my use of the site.
I don't see why anyone would pay, though, considering the disclaimer about accuracy. I know a lot of those contours would be affected by stations on or near the frequency and by terrain.
I don't see why anyone would pay, though, considering the disclaimer about accuracy. I know a lot of those contours would be affected by stations on or near the frequency and by terrain.
joebtsflk1
Star Participant
With the FCC contours, this is similar to the situation several years ago when the old Tiger map server from the US Census (IIRC) was retired. The workaround was downloading the .kml text files from the FM Query detail, saving it as a .kml file, then have it run on Google Earth. Messy and somewhat time consuming but at least it's an option. Perhaps when the new Google maps platform has been out for a few months, the FCC might roll out a new contour mapping feature, but it probably isn't real high on their priority list to keep us radio geeks happy.
As far as AM contours go, Radio-Locator is hard to beat, as it allowed for variations in ground conductivity. I'd like to see Radio-Locator come out with a "bronze" hobbyist level. Instead of ten free searches daily, for $5/month that limit could be extended, maybe twenty-five searches per day. No tech support or other features as with Silver and Gold subscriptions. Danger is the "bronze" level might cannibalize the existing subscriber base.
That brings me to the next point: the business model for Radio-Locator may be broken. I know the number of daily free searches has been reduced over the years. They probably need more paid subscribers. But at $50/mo Silver, $75/mo Gold being the only options, that leaves most hobbyists out in the cold.
And, I doubt there is enough demand for corporate users to justify subscribing to this service. I'm just guessing here, but it would seem that media buyers and record label promoters would be the primary audience for a paid subscription. And I think those users could be satisfied with the "bronze" level I proposed. Thus the cannibalism. And I just don't know whether there would be enough of us radio geeks ponying up $5/mo. to make up the difference.
Maybe someone better connected to the industry can weigh in on this.
As far as AM contours go, Radio-Locator is hard to beat, as it allowed for variations in ground conductivity. I'd like to see Radio-Locator come out with a "bronze" hobbyist level. Instead of ten free searches daily, for $5/month that limit could be extended, maybe twenty-five searches per day. No tech support or other features as with Silver and Gold subscriptions. Danger is the "bronze" level might cannibalize the existing subscriber base.
That brings me to the next point: the business model for Radio-Locator may be broken. I know the number of daily free searches has been reduced over the years. They probably need more paid subscribers. But at $50/mo Silver, $75/mo Gold being the only options, that leaves most hobbyists out in the cold.
And, I doubt there is enough demand for corporate users to justify subscribing to this service. I'm just guessing here, but it would seem that media buyers and record label promoters would be the primary audience for a paid subscription. And I think those users could be satisfied with the "bronze" level I proposed. Thus the cannibalism. And I just don't know whether there would be enough of us radio geeks ponying up $5/mo. to make up the difference.
Maybe someone better connected to the industry can weigh in on this.
vchimpanzee
Walk of Fame Participant
Like I said, their inferior maps would not be worth the kind of money they are charging. Do they provide changes resulting from other stations on the same frequency or nearby frequencies, or from terrain?
If not, forget it.
I remember before Wikipedia there was 100000watts.com. Then they started charging. What is now called Bing search would give a radio station as the first result when I searched for a radio station's call letters, and there was some useful information. Later the Wikipedia article for the station would come up in most cases. But a lot of stations didn't have them. I found out I could add them.
If not, forget it.
I remember before Wikipedia there was 100000watts.com. Then they started charging. What is now called Bing search would give a radio station as the first result when I searched for a radio station's call letters, and there was some useful information. Later the Wikipedia article for the station would come up in most cases. But a lot of stations didn't have them. I found out I could add them.
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