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AM Radio Station Finder

by davebaker (Pilgrim)
on Dec 21, 2005 at 22:03 UTC ( [id://518445]=sourcecode: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??
Category: Fun Stuff
Author/Contact Info Dave Baker davebaker@benefitslink.com
Description: This small script (with a large appended DATA section) was written in 2005 for my 11-year-old son, who enjoys listening to AM radio late at night in bed. He tries to find "DX" stations, meaning long-distance stations that are capable of being received at night due to the "skip" off of the ionosphere. This program shows which stations in the U.S. and Canada are broadcasting on a given frequency, and conversely shows which frequency and how much power a given station uses. About 5 megs in size due to the database from the FCC.
Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: AM Radio Station Finder
by Anonymous Monk on Dec 22, 2005 at 01:56 UTC
    I don't know why, but the code is gone. Maybe the administrators took it offline due to size? Here's the script without the data part: 
    #!/usr/local/bin/perl

# joeys_dx_stations.pl
# version 1.2, Dec. 21, 2005
# by David Rhett Baker, davebaker@benefitslink.com

# This small script (with a large appended DATA section) was written i
+n 2005 for
# my 11-year-old son, who enjoys listening to AM radio late at night i
+n bed.
# He tries to find "DX" stations, meaning long-distance stations that 
+are capable
# of being received at night due to the "skip" off of the ionosphere.
# This program shows which stations in the U.S. and Canada are broadca
+sting on a
# given frequency, and conversely shows which frequency and how much p
+ower a given
# station uses. It's about 5 megs in size due to the large database fr
+om the FCC.
# This program does not use every field of the data; it could be impro
+ved to show
# the direction in degrees to a particular broadcasting station from t
+he reception
# point, for example, or to show the distance between the broadcasting
+ station and
# the reception point, if one were to take advantage of all the fields
+ of data.

# History
# 1.0 - initial release
# 1.2 - added ability to enter c or f even when at prompt asking for u
+pward or
#       downward adjustment of frequency to the next channel (10 kHz u
+p or down),
#       so Joey will be able to get used to entering c to input a call
+sign no matter
#       where in the program he is (and same for f to input a frequenc
+y).

use strict;
use warnings;

my @data_array;

print "Christmas 2005: loading program for Joseph Rhett Baker... pleas
+e stand by.";


# We'll use an __END__ token at the end, which works like __DATA__, bu
+t in a program
# rather than a module...
while (my $line = <main::DATA> ) {

     # Spinning bar in column 1, over the C in 'Christmas' <g>
     print "\r/";
     print "\r-";
     print "\r\\";
     print "\r|";
     print "\r/";
     print "\r-";
     print "\r\\";
     print "\r|";
     print "\rC";

#TS print "\nLine is $line\n";
    my @values = split /\|/, $line;
    foreach my $value (@values) {
        $value =~ s/^\s+//;
        $value =~ s/\s+$//;
#TS print "\$value is $value\n";
    }

    # Chop spaces and kHz following the numeric frequency...
    $values[2] =~ s/ //gi;
    $values[2] =~ s/khz//gi;

    # Chop extra spaces in the power column...
    $values[14] =~ tr/ //s;

    my $data_hashref = { callsign => $values[1],
                         freq     => $values[2],
                         time     => $values[6],
                         town     => $values[10],
                         state    => $values[11],
                         country  => $values[12],
                         kw       => $values[14],
                       };

#TS print "Callsign is $values[1], freq is $values[2], time is $values
+[6], town is $values[10], state is $values[11], kw is $values[14].\n"
+;

    push @data_array, $data_hashref;
}

PROMPT: while (1) {
    print "\nJoey, <c>allsign, <f>requency or <q>uit? (c, f or q): ";
    my $choice = <>;
    chomp $choice;

    unless ($choice eq 'c'
            || $choice eq 'C'
            || $choice eq 'f'
            || $choice eq 'F'
            || $choice eq 'q'
            || $choice eq 'Q'
            ) {
        next PROMPT;
    }

    if ($choice eq 'c' || $choice eq 'C') {
        CALLSIGN_PROMPT: print "\nWhat callsign? ";
        my $callsign = <>;
        chomp $callsign;
        $callsign = uc( $callsign );

        foreach my $hashref (@data_array) {
            if ($hashref->{callsign} eq $callsign) {

                print $hashref->{callsign}, " broadcasts on ", $hashre
+f->{freq}, " kHz (",
                    $hashref->{time}, ") from ", $hashref->{town}, ", 
+", $hashref->{state},
                    ", running ", $hashref->{kw}, ".\n\n";
            }
        }

    }
    elsif ($choice eq 'f' || $choice eq 'F') {
        FREQ_PROMPT: print "\nWhich frequency? ";
        my $frequency = <>;
        chomp $frequency;

        my %printed_already;
        FREQ_OUT: print "\nHere are the U.S. and Canada stations on $f
+requency kHz:\n";

        # Initialize or re-initialize, in the case of a freq adjustmen
+t ordered later in the script...
        %printed_already = ();
        foreach my $hashref (@data_array) {
            if ( $hashref->{freq} == $frequency
                 &&
                    (   $hashref->{country} eq 'US'
                     || $hashref->{country} eq 'CA'
                    )
               ) {

                my $station = $hashref->{callsign};
                unless ($printed_already{$station} ) {
                    print "\n   ", $hashref->{callsign}, ' in ', $hash
+ref->{town}, ', ',  $hashref->{state};
                }

                # Instantiate and increment to non-zero value...
                $printed_already{$station}++;

            }
        }

        CHOICE: print "\n\n<u>p or <d>own to next frequency, or <q>uit
+? ";
        my $choice = <>;
        chomp $choice;
        goto CHOICE unless (   $choice eq 'u' || $choice eq 'U' || $ch
+oice eq 'd' || $choice eq 'D'
                            || $choice eq 'q' || $choice eq 'Q' || $ch
+oice eq 'c'  || $choice eq 'C'
                            || $choice eq 'f' || $choice eq 'F'
                           );
        if ($choice eq 'u' || $choice eq 'U') {
            $frequency += 10;
            goto FREQ_OUT;
        }
        elsif ($choice eq 'd' || $choice eq 'D') {
            $frequency -= 10;
            goto FREQ_OUT;
        }
        elsif ($choice eq 'c' || $choice eq 'C') {
            goto CALLSIGN_PROMPT;
        }
        elsif ($choice eq 'f' || $choice eq 'F') {
            goto FREQ_PROMPT;
        }
        else {
            next PROMPT;
        }
    }
    else {
        print "\n\nI love you, son! --Dad\n\n";
        sleep 5;
        last;
    }
}
__END__

    [download]
    To get the data, go to the FCC web site and use their online database to get all the AM stations. The format will be something like this: 
    |NEW         |1190  kHz |AM |-   |DA3 |Daytime             |B  |B  |AP
+P    |NELLIS AFB               |NV |US |BNP    -20040130BOW |50.0   k
+W |-         |-       |-       |161247     |N |35 |53 |53.00 |W |115 
+|17 |4.00  |RAMS III                                                 
+                   |   0.00 km |   0.00 mi |  0.00 deg |
|WYNI        |1190  kHz |AM |-   |DA2 |Critical Hours      |D  |B  |AP
+P    |HARAHAN                  |LA |US |BMJP   -20040130AZP |11.0   k
+W |-         |-       |-       |40900      |N |29 |52 |46.00 |W |89  
+|59 |51.00 |MCKISSICK ENTERPRISES                                    
+                   |   0.00 km |   0.00 mi |  0.00 deg |
|WYNI        |1190  kHz |AM |-   |DA2 |Daytime             |D  |B  |AP
+P    |HARAHAN                  |LA |US |BMJP   -20040130AZP |11.0   k
+W |-         |-       |-       |40900      |N |29 |52 |46.00 |W |89  
+|59 |51.00 |MCKISSICK ENTERPRISES                                    
+                   |   0.00 km |   0.00 mi |  0.00 deg |
|NEW         |1190  kHz |AM |-   |DAN |Nighttime           |B  |B  |AP
+P    |PINE BLUFF               |AR |US |BNP    -20040130ARB |0.25   k
+W |-         |-       |-       |161393     |N |34 |15 |18.00 |W |92  
+|1  |44.00 |JOEL J. KINLOW                                           
+                   |   0.00 km |   0.00 mi |  0.00 deg |
|NEW         |1190  kHz |AM |-   |DAN |Daytime             |B  |B  |AP
+P    |PINE BLUFF               |AR |US |BNP    -20040130ARB |10.0   k
+W |-         |-       |-       |161393     |N |34 |15 |18.00 |W |92  
+|1  |44.00 |JOEL J. KINLOW                                           
+                   |   0.00 km |   0.00 mi |  0.00 deg |
|KRFT        |1190  kHz |AM |-   |DA2 |Nighttime           |B  |B  |AP
+P    |UNIVERSITY CITY          |MO |US |BMJP   -20040130AQS |4.0    k
+W |-         |-       |-       |5281       |N |38 |26 |13.00 |W |90  
+|16 |45.00 |ALL SPORTS RADIO, LLC                                    
+                   |   0.00 km |   0.00 mi |  0.00 deg |
|KRFT        |1190  kHz |AM |-   |DA2 |Daytime             |B  |B  |AP
+P    |UNIVERSITY CITY          |MO |US |BMJP   -20040130AQS |10.0   k
+W |-         |-       |-       |5281       |N |38 |42 |25.00 |W |90  
+|3  |10.00 |ALL SPORTS RADIO, LLC                                    
+                   |   0.00 km |   0.00 mi |  0.00 deg |
|WWNB        |1190  kHz |AM |-   |ND2 |Critical Hours      |D  |B  |AP
+P    |NEW BERN                 |NC |US |BMJP   -20040130AKH |2.5    k
+W |-         |-       |-       |14672      |N |35 |6  |3.00  |W |77  
+|4  |33.00 |CTC MEDIA GROUP, INC.                                    
+                   |   0.00 km |   0.00 mi |  0.00 deg |

    [download]
    Just paste those lines immediately after the __END__ line (the last line of the script).
[reply]
[d/l]
[select]
      Here's the URL for the data on the FCC site:

      http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/amq.html

      Choose the "text file, pipe-delimited, no links" option for the FCC search engine's output. Then copy and paste that output immediately after the __END__ line of the script above.

[reply]
      Version 1.3, with ability to suck down fresh data from the FCC site if you have an Internet connection. Uses a separate data file rather than the __END__ technique, for maximum PAR compatibility. To create your first data file, just request the data from the FCC; the program saves it automatically as the separate data file now required (stations.dat). 
      #!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use Fcntl qw( :flock );
use LWP::Simple;

# stations.pl
# version 1.3, Dec. 22, 2005
# by David Rhett Baker, davebaker@benefitslink.com

# This script (with a large appended DATA section) was written in 2005
+ for my
# 11-year-old son, who enjoys listening to AM radio late at night in b
+ed. He
# finds "DX" stations, meaning long-distance stations that are capable
+ of being
# received at night due to the "skip" off of the ionosphere.
#
# This program shows which stations in the U.S. and Canada are broadca
+sting on a
# given frequency, and conversely shows which frequency and how much p
+ower a given
# station uses. It's about 5 megs in size due to the large database fr
+om the FCC.
#
# This program does not use every field of the data; it could be impro
+ved to show
# the direction in degrees to a particular broadcasting station from t
+he reception
# point, for example, or to show the distance between the broadcasting
+ station and
# the reception point, if one were to take advantage of all the fields
+ of data.

# History
# 1.0 - initial release
# 1.2 - added ability to enter c or f even when at prompt asking for u
+pward or
#       downward adjustment of frequency to the next channel (10 kHz u
+p or down),
#       so Joey will be able to get used to entering c to input a call
+sign no matter
#       where in the program he is (and same for f to input a frequenc
+y).
#
# 1.2d - Optional version using external stations.dat file rather than
+ inline data;
#       PAR packager seems to need data in separate file.
#
# 1.3 - Ability to request refresh of data from the FCC site; data now
+ stored in an
#       external file (stations.dat) in same directory as executable. 
+If no stations.dat
#       file came with your distribution of version 1.3, this version 
+allows you to
#       automatically create one by requesting data data from the FCC 
+site. Thanks to
#       jdporter on perlmonks.org for the idea!


my @data_array;
my @data_lines;

print "Christmas 2005: loading program for Joseph Rhett Baker... \n";

my $data_choice;

DATA_PROMPT: print "\nUse <l>ocally-stored data, or <d>ownload fresh d
+ata from the FCC server?\n(press l or d, then the ENTER key): ";
$data_choice = <>;
chomp $data_choice;

unless ($data_choice eq 'l'
        || $data_choice eq 'L'
        || $data_choice eq 'd'
        || $data_choice eq 'D'
        ) {
    goto DATA_PROMPT;
}


if ($data_choice eq 'l' || $data_choice eq 'L') {
    open my $fh, '<', 'stations.dat'
        or die "Trouble opening stations.dat; is it in same directory 
+as stations.exe? Stopped: $!";
    flock $fh, LOCK_SH
        or die "Trouble getting file lock for stations.dat; is it in u
+se by another program? Stopped: $!";
    @data_lines = <$fh>;

}
else {
    print "\nNow requesting data from the FCC server; this will take a
+ minute or two, even with a high-speed internet connection...\n";
    my $stations_data = get( 'http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?state=&ca
+ll=&arn=&city=&freq=530&fre2=1700&type=0&facid=&class=&list=4&dist=&d
+lat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9' );
    open my $fh, '>', 'stations.dat'
        or warn "Trouble opening stations.dat to save new FCC data; is
+ hard drive full? Stopped: $!";
    flock $fh, LOCK_EX
        or die "Trouble getting file lock for stations.dat; is it in u
+se by another program? Stopped: $!";
    print {$fh} $stations_data;
    close $fh
        or warn "Trouble closing file lock for stations.dat";
    @data_lines = split /\n/, $stations_data;
}


print "\nParsing data for AM station callsigns, frequencies, locations
+, output power and broadcast times... \n";

LINE: foreach my $line (@data_lines) {
    next LINE unless ($line =~ /\|/);

     # Spinning bar in column 1, over the C in 'Christmas' <g>
     print "\r/";
     print "\r-";
     print "\r\\";
     print "\r|";
     print "\r/";
     print "\r-";
     print "\r\\";
     print "\r|";

    #TS print "\nLine is $line\n";
    my @values = split /\|/, $line;
    foreach my $value (@values) {
        $value =~ s/^\s+//;
        $value =~ s/\s+$//;
    #TS print "\$value is $value\n";
    }

    # Chop spaces and kHz following the numeric frequency...
    $values[2] =~ s/ //gi;
    $values[2] =~ s/khz//gi;

    # Chop extra spaces in the power column...
    $values[14] =~ tr/ //s;

    my $data_hashref = { callsign => $values[1],
                         freq     => $values[2],
                         time     => $values[6],
                         town     => $values[10],
                         state    => $values[11],
                         country  => $values[12],
                         kw       => $values[14],
                       };

    #TS print "Callsign is $values[1], freq is $values[2], time is $va
+lues[6], town is $values[10], state is $values[11], kw is $values[14]
+.\n";

    push @data_array, $data_hashref;
}

PROMPT: while (1) {
    print "\nJoey, <c>allsign, <f>requency or <q>uit? (c, f or q): ";
    my $choice = <>;
    chomp $choice;

    unless ($choice eq 'c'
            || $choice eq 'C'
            || $choice eq 'f'
            || $choice eq 'F'
            || $choice eq 'q'
            || $choice eq 'Q'
            ) {
        next PROMPT;
    }

    if ($choice eq 'c' || $choice eq 'C') {
        CALLSIGN_PROMPT: print "\nWhat callsign? ";
        my $callsign = <>;
        chomp $callsign;
        $callsign = uc( $callsign );

        foreach my $hashref (@data_array) {
            if ($hashref->{callsign} eq $callsign) {

                print $hashref->{callsign}, " broadcasts on ", $hashre
+f->{freq}, " kHz (",
                    $hashref->{time}, ") from ", $hashref->{town}, ", 
+", $hashref->{state},
                    ", running ", $hashref->{kw}, ".\n\n";
            }
        }

    }
    elsif ($choice eq 'f' || $choice eq 'F') {
        FREQ_PROMPT: print "\nWhich frequency? ";
        my $frequency = <>;
        chomp $frequency;

        my %printed_already;
        FREQ_OUT: print "\nHere are the U.S. and Canada stations on $f
+requency kHz:\n";

        # Initialize or re-initialize, in the case of a freq adjustmen
+t ordered later in the script...
        %printed_already = ();
        foreach my $hashref (@data_array) {
            if ( $hashref->{freq} == $frequency
                 &&
                    (   $hashref->{country} eq 'US'
                     || $hashref->{country} eq 'CA'
                    )
               ) {

                my $station = $hashref->{callsign};
                unless ($printed_already{$station} ) {
                    print "\n   ", $hashref->{callsign}, ' in ', $hash
+ref->{town}, ', ',  $hashref->{state};
                }

                # Instantiate and increment to non-zero value...
                $printed_already{$station}++;

            }
        }

        CHOICE: print "\n\n<u>p or <d>own to next frequency, or <q>uit
+? ";
        my $choice = <>;
        chomp $choice;
        goto CHOICE unless (   $choice eq 'u' || $choice eq 'U' || $ch
+oice eq 'd' || $choice eq 'D'
                            || $choice eq 'q' || $choice eq 'Q' || $ch
+oice eq 'c'  || $choice eq 'C'
                            || $choice eq 'f' || $choice eq 'F'
                           );
        if ($choice eq 'u' || $choice eq 'U') {
            $frequency += 10;
            goto FREQ_OUT;
        }
        elsif ($choice eq 'd' || $choice eq 'D') {
            $frequency -= 10;
            goto FREQ_OUT;
        }
        elsif ($choice eq 'c' || $choice eq 'C') {
            goto CALLSIGN_PROMPT;
        }
        elsif ($choice eq 'f' || $choice eq 'F') {
            goto FREQ_PROMPT;
        }
        else {
            next PROMPT;
        }
    }
    else {
        print "\n\nI love you, son! --Dad\n\n";
        sleep 5;
        last;
    }
}

      [download]
[reply]
[d/l]
        if ($data_choice eq 'l' || $data_choice eq 'L') {
    open my $fh, '<', 'stations.dat'
        or die "Trouble opening stations.dat; is it in same directory 
+as stations.exe? Stopped: $!";
    flock $fh, LOCK_SH
        or die "Trouble getting file lock for stations.dat; is it in u
+se by another program? Stopped: $!";
    @data_lines = <$fh>;
}
else {
    print "\nNow requesting data from the FCC server; this will take a
+ minute or two, even with a high-speed internet connection...\n";
    my $stations_data = get( 'http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?state=&ca
+ll=&arn=&city=&freq=530&fre2=1700&type=0&facid=&class=&list=4&dist=&d
+lat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9' );
    open my $fh, '>', 'stations.dat'
        or warn "Trouble opening stations.dat to save new FCC data; is
+ hard drive full? Stopped: $!";
    flock $fh, LOCK_EX
        or die "Trouble getting file lock for stations.dat; is it in u
+se by another program? Stopped: $!";
    print {$fh} $stations_data;
    close $fh
        or warn "Trouble closing file lock for stations.dat";
    @data_lines = split /\n/, $stations_data;
}

        [download]

        Good grief. That's way too much work. And error prone. Just use the mirror function from LWP::Simple: 

            # update file if necessary:
    mirror( $url, 'stations.dat' );

    # and then:
    open my $fh, '<', 'stations.dat'
        or die "Trouble opening stations.dat - $!";
    # LOCK_SH not necessary when using mirror()
    @data_lines = <$fh>;

        [download]
        We're building the house of the future together.
[reply]
[d/l]
[select]
Re: AM Radio Station Finder
by jdporter (Paladin) on Dec 22, 2005 at 02:40 UTC
[reply]
      THANKS for the link!

      I was able to use Autrijus Tang's wonderful PAR to make an executable version of this script for Windows, without the need to have Perl installed on the end user's machine, though I had to split the data into a separate file. (Couldn't get PAR to recognize the data in the form of embedded data after the __END__ line.)

      The zip file containing the Windows executable and the data file can be downloaded here.

      Dave

[reply]

        Rather than require the data to be local, why don't you make your perl script fetch the data from the web, real time? You could even have it cache the data locally, with expiration, etc.

        We're building the house of the future together.
[reply]

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