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Re: [IRCA] AM Station Lists?
- Subject: Re: [IRCA] AM Station Lists?
- From: Scott Fybush <scott@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 04 Nov 2007 19:10:17 -0500
Tim Hall wrote:
> One word of caution: don't trust the FCC site for data about Mexican
> stations. Their Mexican information is frequently inaccurate and they won't
> accept corrections from anyone but the Mexican government. For a Mexican
> list, go to mexicoradiotv.com
There's a point that I make every time this question comes up, and it's
worth making again:
It's VERY important to understand what the FCC's database is, and is
not, supposed to be.
Anything on the FCC database that's outside the US is there for one
reason and one reason only: because it's entitled to protection from
interference from US-licensed stations.
It matters not one bit whether the international station record is
"accurate" in the sense that we as DXers would like it to be (correct
call letters, for instance, or even on-air status). As long as Canada
reports to the US that there's a station on 1190 in Charlottetown, PEI,
for instance, US stations are required by international treaty to
protect that "station" - never mind that it migrated to 720 two decades
ago and then to FM a couple of years back.
Nor does the FCC care whether 1150 in Hamilton, ON appears in its
records as "CKMO" or "CKOC" or "PAUL ESTHER BLODGETT WALKER" - as long
as the technical record correctly reflects the station's parameters as
reported to the FCC by Industry Canada, that's all that matters.
That's why the FCC won't accept "corrections" to the list from DXers,
and it's also why web-based directories that treat the FCC data as
gospel for stations outside the US (I'm talking to YOU,
radio-locator.com!) are so untrustworthy for our purposes as DXers.
There are three sources I trust as gospel for Canadian stations: the
Industry Canada BASERAD database, which is unwieldy and not accessible
via a direct web interface; Barry McLarnon's list, which is based on the
BASERAD data and DXers' observations; and the NRC AM Log, which is also
based on a combination of BASERAD and DXers' notes.
As many - but probably not all - on the list know, I am the news editor
of yet another station-directory site. 100000watts.com is not a free
site (it's really meant for broadcast industry professionals, but access
for DX club members is available for a discount rate of $44.95 a year),
but I and my colleagues there take pride in our level of accuracy. It's
a complete list of all US-licensed stations, checked directly with each
station on an annual basis for accuracy. It's NOT a complete list of
Canadian stations - just the big-market border ones - but those are
checked directly with the stations, too.
s
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