Frequency Database

 I've got a little list — I've got a little list

Introduction

The frequency database contains definitions downloaded from one or more sources on the internet. Most are free, some such as ILGRadio are commercial but, in the author's opinion very good value for money.

The currently supported databases are:
  • Aoki,
  • EiBi,
  • FMLIST,
  • HFCC,
  • ILGRadio,
  • MWLIST,
Add your own entries with:
  • Custom CSV.
All are described in more detail below with screenshots of the files so you know you have downloaded the correct file.

Display

Select the Frequency Database from the View, General pane in the ribbon bar. The options are:
  • Enable tracking,
  • Apply the currently selected frequency (or double-click in the list),
  • Filter the display,
  • Autofit column widths
  • Display options (below).

Options

Use the options window to manage the entries in your own database.

Loading A Database

Load (Import) one or more databases from the internet into your own database in SDR Console.

Import

The same window is used for all databases. The second file is only used with HFCC, for other databases it is disabled.
  1. Select the file to be imported,
  2. Press Load. The load status will be shown, for example Loaded 4,257 definitions.
  3. Press Add to Database. Either:
    • Add the definitions (all current definitions are kept), or
    • Replace existing definitions for the current database.
  4. When the definitions have been added close this window.
The status at the bottom of the options window shows the definitions count for each database.

Reset

If the database is corrupted you must reset the database:
  1. In the options window above click Database, this opens Windows Explorer in the folder where the database is located with the current database highlighted, the default database is: FrequencyDatabase_001.sqlite.
  2. Close SDR Console.
  3. Delete or rename the database file.
  4. Restart SDR Console, you now have a new database file.
  5. Load the database.

Aoki

Home: http://www.geocities.jp/binewsjp/

Select the most recent database (ZIP format), unpack the contents to a folder on your computer. The main text file is used, for example in ncb17.zip the file is ncb17.txt .

EiBi

Home: http://www.eibispace.de/

Download the CSV database to a folder on your computer.

FMLIST

Home: http://fmscan.org/index.php then select Tools (userlist etc.), this should take you to http://fmscan.org/tools.php.

Set your location.

Select Userlists for Perseus / ELAD / Winradio / Stationlist / SDR Console, then one of:
  • FM+ (Tropo)
  • FM+ (Meteor Scatter)
  • Sporadic E
CSV separator:
  • Semicolon
You should see the text "The CSV format is a text file with: khz / country / language / program / modulation / location / latitude / longitude / power towards receiver / maximum power ERP / main transmitter beam / distance / azimuth / dB / RDS PS / RDS PI / pol / ID".

Note: when adding records to the database you are prompted to add the ERP value into the database Power field, this is recommended.

Download userlist1.csv to a folder on your computer.

HFCC

Home: http://www.hfcc.org/

Select Files in Standard Format, this should take you to http://www.hfcc.org/data/. Download the most recent ZIP archive, for example a18allx2.zip and extract the contents to a folder on your computer.

Two files will be used:
  • A18all00.txt (name depends on the ZIP archive),
  • Broadcas.txt

ILGRadio

Home: http://www.ilgradio.com/

Note: ILGRadio is a commercial website, the database is very comprehensive - an ILGRadio subscription is recommended. The database format used is CSV, save this file (usually ILGCDATA.CSV) to a folder on your computer.

MWLIST

Home: http://fmscan.org/index.php then select Tools (userlist etc.), this should take you to http://fmscan.org/tools.php.

Set your location.

Select Userlists for Perseus / ELAD / Winradio / Stationlist / SDR Console, then:
  • LW/MW/SW (0-30 MHz)
CSV separator:
  • Semicolon
You should see the text "The CSV format is a text file with: khz / country / language / program / modulation / location / latitude / longitude / power towards receiver / maximum power ERP / main transmitter beam / distance / azimuth / dB / target area / times / days / offset in Hz / beacon details / ID".

Note: when adding records to the database you are prompted to add the ERP value into the database Power field, this is recommended.

Download userlist1.csv to a folder on your computer.

SWSKEDS

The swskeds database is imported using the Custom CSV file format described below.
  1. Download the latest CSV zip file from htps://groups.io/g/swskeds/files .
  2. Extract All files in your Downloads directory.
  3. Launch SDR Console, on the ribbon bar click on View tab, Frequency Database. Click on the Frequency Database Options button [...].
  4. Click the Custom CSV button, select -> Load custom file.
  5. Click in top Directory Open icon and navigate to your Downloads directory. Double-click the extracted Directory from step 2
  6. Selected the *.csv file and click Open.
  7. Select 1 Load, wait for data to load.
  8. Select 2 Add to database, When asked, choose -> Replace. Wait for data to load. Note that the frequencies are in Hz.
  9. Close Import Frequency Database window.
  10. Close Frequency Database Options window.

Custom CSV

Add your own database using the custom csv file layout. To see the custom csv layout definition:

 

  • Select the Save As... CSV option, this creates a csv file.
  • Open the csv file with a text editor, for example Notepad.
  • The column headers are shown in the first row after the comments.

 

You can either edit this file, or create a new file using these column headers.

 

  • Rows starting with # are comments
  • The column headers must start with Frequency, all other columns are optional.
  • The Frequency value is in either Hertz or kilohertz (option selected when file is loaded),
  • Each row of data must have a value for each column, even if the value is empty. If you have just 8 columns (first column is Frequency) then you must have 8 fields in each row of data.

 

Another way to create a file is to use Excel and use the Save As, CSV option.


Import your new file with the Custom CSV option.


FIELDS

The column titles correspond to the fields in the database. The easiest way to get a list of the fields is by selecting Show As... CSV which creates an editable CSV file.


Frequency, Station, CallID, Language, Site, TX_Country, Time_On, Time_Off, Days, Target, Notes, Pwr, Azi, M, Org_Country, Lat, Lon, Dist, ITU, Locator, RDS_PS, RDS_PI, Polarity, Source, Date


EXAMPLE 1

Frequency,Station,Pwr

3185000,"Blue Ridge Communications, Inc.",100

3195000,"Blue Ridge Communications, Inc.",100

3195000,"WNQM, Inc.",100

3195000,"WNQM, Inc.",100

3195000,"WNQM, Inc.",100

3195000,"WNQM, Inc.",100

3195000,"WNQM, Inc.",100

3195000,"WNQM, Inc.",100

3200000,Trans World Radio,25

3200000,Trans World Radio,50

3200000,Trans World Radio,50

3215000,"WNQM, Inc.",100

3215000,"WNQM, Inc.",100

3215000,"WNQM, Inc.",100

3215000,"Blue Ridge Communications, Inc.",100

3215000,"Blue Ridge Communications, Inc.",100

3215000,"Blue Ridge Communications, Inc.",100


This example has just three columns, available here [link].

 

  • Three columns, first column is Frequency
  • Each row has three values
  • File created with Excel

 

EXAMPLE 2

Frequency,Station,Pwr,Azi,M,Org_Country,Lat,Lon,Dist,Town

3185000,"Blue Ridge Communications, Inc.",100,,,WRB,,,,TownA

3195000,"Blue Ridge Communications, Inc.",100,,,WRB,,,,TownB

3195000,"WNQM, Inc.",100,,,WCR,,,,NoTown

3195000,"WNQM, Inc.",100,,,WCR,,,,NoTown

3195000,"WNQM, Inc.",100,,,WCR,,,,NoTown

3195000,"WNQM, Inc.",100,,,WCR,,,,NoTown

3195000,"WNQM, Inc.",100,,,WCR,,,,NoTown

3195000,"WNQM, Inc.",100,,,WCR,,,,NoTown

3200000,Trans World Radio,25,,,MAN,,,,NoTown

3200000,Trans World Radio,50,,,MAN,,,,NoTown

3200000,Trans World Radio,50,,,MAN,,,,NoTown

3215000,"WNQM, Inc.",100,,,WCR,,,,NoTown

3215000,"WNQM, Inc.",100,,,WCR,,,,NoTown

3215000,"WNQM, Inc.",100,,,WCR,,,,NoTown

3215000,"Blue Ridge Communications, Inc.",100,,,WRB,,,,NoTown

3215000,"Blue Ridge Communications, Inc.",100,,,WRB,,,,NoTown

3215000,"Blue Ridge Communications, Inc.",100,,,WRB,,,,NoTown


This example is the based on Example 1, available here [link].

 

  • Has more columns,
  • Empty values supplied where there is no data,
  • The Town column is invalid and is ignored.