REC has made its first major update of the Broadcast Query Tool (available at recnet.net) this year.
Some of the major updates and changes in this release include:
- AM and TV broadcast applications can now be accessed from the FCC in the same manner that FM applications were obtained for a long time now.
- The View Application link will now also show superseded records (FM, AM and TV).
- FM records now feature a "Data Export" feature. This button allows users to "copy and paste" data from REC Broadcast Query into formatted text. This button can also be used for importing data on a particular facility directly into major broadcast engineering tools such as CommStudy 2.
- There has been a change in the layout of the facility information. The data now spans both rows to allow for the ability to add more features to the page.
- A new "History Grid View" has been added. This allows you to view all of the construction permits for a particular facility with some engineering information on a single page. Currently, this data is available only for records that have already been enhanced by the REC Radio History Project but we will eventually add it to all AM records using CDBS and recovered BAPS data. FM and TV will come later.
- TV facility records will now also show virtual channel, network affilliation and a links to a copy of the authorization (construction permit or license) and to the public file at the FCC's new Public File website.
- The dialscape (list of stations for a partciluar community) will now also show virtual channels and network affilliations for TV stations. (for FCC records)
- And most importantly, a Donate button has been added. Please show your support for REC's online services by making a donation today. REC Broadcast Query works on a "shareware" basis. If you love it, please support it.
The prior release earlier this month added new functionality to support the REC Radio History Project
- Enahnced records now show engineering and application history dating back to the 1920s through the transfer of pre-1980 FCC paper history card data.
- Using old pre-CDBS data, we have managed to restore engineering records for over 1,000 radio (Am and FM) applications that were not considered as "current" at the time of the conversion to CDBS in 1999 and therefore were never cut over.
- In the engineering data, a record with a red H indicates that the data has been restored from the recovery of vintage BAPS data.
- In the AM dialscape, stations with a red H after the frequency are records that have been enhanced with pre-1980 FCC paper history card data.
Functionality is also going in to prepare the Broadcast Query tool to also support radio public files if/when those will be made available online. We will also be working on integrating REC Broadcast Query with the FCC developer tools.
As always, thank you for your support of REC. We hope you find these enhancements useful and make recnet.net your number one choice for broadcast data.
