TV ENGINEERING DATA BASE ________________________________________________________________________________ NOTES: The database referred to in the following pages was removed from service in September 1999 and replaced with CDBS (Consolidated DataBase System). This page is retained for reference. Current data in a format very close to that explained below may be obtained through the TV Query at http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/tvq.html. (Select only the the VAX to retrieve all current records. ) Once the text file is generated, save it to your computer as a text file, e.g. tvtxeng.txt. Alternatively you may download a zipped file version (tvtxeng.zip) at http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/formatted/ or ftp://ftp.fcc.gov/pub/Bureaus/MB/Databases/formatted/ . These files are primarily intended for users of older programs that were constructed using this layout. New programs should be constructed using the CDBS relational database files at http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/cdbs/ or ftp://ftp.fcc.gov/pub/Bureaus/MB/Databases/cdbs/ . Not all fields listed below will be populated. Structure of the current file is shown here: Revised TV Engineering Database "Flatfile" /* Positions 1, 2 -- Station Channel */ /* Positions 3 to 8 -- Now blank, formerly Sequence ID */ /* Positions 9, 10 -- Service */ /* Positions 11 to 16 -- Now Facility ID, formerly unused Blank Space */ /* Position 17 -- Country A - America (United States) C - Canada M - Mexico */ /* Positions 18, 19 -- State */ /* Positions 20 to 39 -- City */ /* Positions 40 to 42 -- Latitude degrees */ /* Positions 43, 44 -- Latitude minutes */ /* Positions 45, 48 -- Latitude seconds */ /* Positions 49 to 52 -- Longitude degrees */ /* Positions 53, 54 -- Longitude minutes */ /* Positions 55 to 58 -- Longitude seconds */ /* Position 59 -- Near Border (within 320 km) */ /* Positions 60 to 67 -- Callsign */ /* Positions 68 to 75 -- CDBS Application ID, formerly Blank space */ /* Positions 76 to 81 -- Application Prefix */ /* Positions 82 to 110 -- Application ARN (Awaiting Review Number) + Blank Space */ /* Positions 111 - 116 -- TV domestic status */ /* Position 117 -- Frequency offset (analog TV only) */ /* Positions 118 - 121 -- ERP (Horizontal) */ /* Positions 122 - 126 -- HAAT (Horizontally polarized) */ /* Position 127 -- Antenna polarization */ /* Position 128 -- Directional Antenna Indicator */ /* Position 129 -- Beam Tilt Indicator */ /* Position 130 -- TV zone */ /* Positions 131, 132 -- Blank Space */ /* Position 133 -- Blank space, formerly not-community-of-allocation indicator */ /* Positions 134, 141 -- Directional Antenna ID No., previously blank */ /* Position 142 -- Blank, formerly Educational or Commercial indicator */ /* Positions 143 - 148 -- Last Update Date */ /* Positions 149 - 154 -- Cutoff date, no longer used */ /* Positions 155 - 162 -- Docket Number */ /* Positions 163 - 198 -- Licensee */ /* Position 199 -- Blank Space, formerly part of Comment */ /* Positions 201 - 208 -- Application prefix, formerly part of Comment */ /* Position 209 -- Dash in file number, formerly part of Comment */ /* Position 210 - 223 -- Complete Application ARN number, formerly part of Comment */ /* Positions 199 - 284 -- Comment & blank space, presently unused */ /* Positions 285 - 289 -- RCAMSL (Horizontally polarized) */ /* Positions 290 - 294 -- Antenna Rotation (reference azimuth) */ /* Positions 295 - 297 -- Antenna Make */ /* Positions 298 - 311 -- Antenna Model */ /* Position 312 -- Blank Space */ /* Positions 313 - 360 -- Blank Space */ (October 2004) The original description follows: ____________________________________________________________________________ TV ENGINEERING DATA BASE GENERAL COMMENTS The TV Engineering Data Base is an unofficial secondary source and does not contain official information. It is designed solely for use by FCC Engineers as an aid for processing applications, petitions for rulemaking, and notifications. The various data elements are the minimum deemed necessary for the stated purpose. Its usefulness to any other group or for any other purpose is coincidental. The TV Engineering Data Base contains engineering data for full-service TV stations, television booster stations, Low Power Television (LPTV) stations, and TV Translators. (In using the term "stations", we mean applications, construction permits, and licenses.) In addition, information is included about vacant channels in the Table of Allotments, proposed rulemakings, foreign operations, and land mobile reservations. Each record in the data base is 360 characters in length. The first record is a header record which contains housekeeping information. The last record is a trailer record which also contains housekeeping information. All of the other records are "normal" data base records. All of the information is stored in character format; floating point numbers and integers are not used. Accordingly, the numbering is for the beginning of the field and the length of the field is in characters. TV Engineering Data Base Page 2 26 April 1999 HEADER RECORD The header record contains a field to identify it as the header, the date of last update of the entire data base, and an indication of whether certain fields are metric or non-metric (meters or feet). Following is a description of the data elements in the header record: Data Element Begins Length Description Header indicator 1 10 This indicates that this is in fact the header record. Although the header record is the first one in the data base, this is also an indicator. It has the following value: 00000001bb where bb represents two spaces. Unused 11 14 This is extra space for future use. Last Update Date 25 6 This is the date of last update of the entire data base. It is in the format of YYMMDD. Distinguish this from the date of last update field in each record. The date of last update field in each record refers to the date of last update of that record, while this date of last update field in the header record refers to the date of last update of anything in the data base. Metric Indicator 31 1 This is "M" if certain fields are metric, and anything else if these fields are not metric. The fields are the Height Above Average Terrain and the Radiation Center Above Mean Sea Level. "M" indicates that the values for these fields are in meters, while anything other than "M" indicates that the values for these fields are in feet. Unused 32 167 This is extra space for future use. Text 199 62 A comment indicating that this is the TV Engineering data base. Unused 261 100 This is extra space for future use. TV Engineering Data Base Page 3 26 April 1999 TRAILER RECORD The trailer record contains a field to identify it as the trailer and the date of last update of the entire data base. Following is a description of the data element in the trailer record: Data Element Begins Length Description Trailer Indicator 1 10 This indicates that this is the trailer record. Although the trailer record is the last one in the data base, this is also an indicator. It is equal to "99999999bb" where bb represents two spaces. Unused 11 14 This is extra space for future use. Last Update Date 25 6 This is the date of last update of the entire data base. It is in the format of YYMMDD. Distinguish this from the date of last update field in each record. The date of last update field in each record refers to the date of last update of that record, while this date of last update field in the header record refers to the date of last update of anything in the data base. Metric Indicator 31 1 This is "M" if certain fields are metric, and anything else if these fields are not metric. The fields are the Height Above Average Terrain and the Radiation Center Above Mean Sea Level. "M" indicates that the values for these fields are in meters, while anything other than "M" indicates that the values for these fields are in feet. Unused 32 167 This is extra space for future use. Text 199 62 A comment indicating that this is the TV Engineering data base. This also includes the number of records in the data base. This can be used to determine whether any records were lost in copying. Unused 261 100 This is extra space for future use. TV Engineering Data Base Page 4 26 April 1999 DATA ELEMENTS Following is a brief description of the remaining data elements in the TV Engineering Data Base. The description includes the name of the data element, its starting position in the record, its length, and a definition of the element itself. Data Element Begins Length Description Channel 1 2 The TV channel number, ranging from 2 through 83. If the channel is below 10, a leading zero is included. Sequence Number 3 6 The sequence number uniquely identifies each record. If the records in the data base are sorted by sequence number, then a listing that is, more or less, in order by state and city results. The records are ordered by country, with U.S. first, Canada second, and Mexico third. Within each country, the records are ordered by state according to the two-character abbreviation. Within each state, the records are ordered by city. And within each city, the records are ordered by channel. The values of the sequence numbers, although not the sequence itself, are subject to change; therefore, only the sequence, not the values, should be relied upon. Service Class 9 2 This indicates the type of record. The allowable possibilities are: TV A full-service television station or application. DT A full-service DIGITAL television station or application. TX A translator or low-power television station or application. TB A television booster station or application. TR A NTSC proposed rule-making to amend the Table of Assignments. DR A Digital proposed rule-making to amend the DTV Table of Allotments. TA A vacant channel in the Table of Assignments, or a channel which has been used in a city other than the one in the Table. In TV Engineering Data Base Page 5 26 April 1999 the latter case, a "TA" record shows the city in the Table, and a "TV" record shows the station in the other city. LM A channel reserved for Land Mobile use. Unused 11 6 This is extra space for future use. Country 17 1 A one-letter field indicating which country the station is located in. "A" is for the U.S., "C" is for Canada, and "M" is for Mexico. State 18 2 A two-character abbreviation for the state (province in Canada). City 20 20 The city in which the station is licensed or proposed. Latitude Degrees 40 3 The degrees portion of the latitude. North Latitude is positive; South Latitude is negative. The plus sign is implied while the minus sign is explicitly specified. Latitude Minutes 43 2 The minutes portion of the latitude. Latitude Seconds 45 4 The seconds portion of the latitude. Fractions of a second may be specified; if so, the decimal point is specified. Otherwise, the field is right justified. Longitude Degrees 49 4 The degrees portion of the longitude. West longitude is positive; East Longitude is negative. The plus sign is implied while the minus sign is explicitly specified. Longitude Minutes 53 2 The minutes portion of the longitude. Longitude Seconds 55 4 The seconds portion of the longitude. Fractions of a second may be specified; if so, a decimal point is specified. Otherwise, the field is right justified. Border 59 1 This indicates whether the coordinates are sufficiently close to an international border that an agreement with a foreign country is applicable. For U.S. stations, the value is "C" if it is sufficiently close to Canada and "M" if it is sufficiently close to Mexico. TV Engineering Data Base Page 6 26 April 1999 For Canadian stations and Mexican Stations it is "A" if they are sufficiently close to the U.S. It will be blank if the station is not close to a border. Call Sign 60 8 The Call Sign of the station or application. For applications and construction permits which do not have call signs, a value of "NEW" is used for full-service stations, and "NEW-T" is used for translators and low-power stations. This will be blank for vacant assignments, land mobile reservations, and some rulemakings. Unused 68 8 This is extra space for future use. File No. Prefix 76 6 The prefix to the file number, right justified. The dash between the prefix and ARN is not included in the data base. App Ref No (ARN) 82 8 The application reference number, or the numeric portion of the file number. This is left justified. Unused 90 21 This is extra space for future use. Status 111 6 The status of the record. For a record with a service class of TV or TX, possible values for the first three characters are: APP Application CP Construction Permit LIC License The last three characters include these possibilities: MOD Used with "CP " to show a construction permit modification. GID Granted by an Initial Decision in hearing. DID Denied by an Initial Decision in hearing. With a service class of TR, the following are possibilities: ADD A proposal to add a channel. DEL A proposal to delete a channel. TV Engineering Data Base Page 7 26 April 1999 The status will be blank for records with a service class of TA or LM. Offset 117 1 The frequency offset. Possible values are: Z Zero offset. + Positive offset. - Negative offset. N No offset. The values of "Z", "+", and "-" can be used with any service class. However, the value of "N" is used only with a service class of "TX" or "TB". For service class "DT", the offset is blank. There is a distinction between zero offset and no offset. Operations with zero offset and no offset ideally have the same center frequency. However, the frequency tolerance for zero offset stations is much more strict than the frequency tolerance for no offset stations, and zero offset operations can take advantage of a lower interference ratio compared to no offset operations. Eff Rad Power 118 4 The visual Effective Radiated Power (ERP) in kilowatts. This is right justfied and a decimal point may be specified. HAAT 122 5 The Height Above Average Terrain of the center of the antenna for horizontal polarization, in feet or meters, depending on the value of the Metric Indicator in the Header Record. This is right justified and may have a decimal point specified. Polarization 127 1 The polarization of the signal from the antenna. Possible values are: blank Polarization is undefined; the service class is TA or LM. H Horizontal polarization only. E Elliptical polarization. C Circular polarization. Directional Ant 128 1 An indicator of whether a directional antenna is used. Possible values are "Y" for Yes, a directional antenna is used; and "N" or TV Engineering Data Base Page 8 26 April 1999 blank, for No, a directional antenna is not used. Beam Tilt 129 1 An indicator of whether beam tilt is used. Possible values are "Y" for Yes, beam tilt is used; and "N" or blank, for No, beam tilt is not used. Zone 130 1 The zone (1, 2, or 3) in which the coordinates are located. Unused 131 2 This is extra space for future use. Not City of Alloc 133 1 Used to indicate when an assignment is used in a city other than the one in the Table of Assignments. It is "Y" to show Yes, if it is used in another city; and "N" or blank to show No, it is not used in another city. If the channel is used in another city, this field will be "Y" in only the TV record; the corresponding TA record will have a comment indicating its use in another city. Unused 134 8 This is extra space for future use. Educ or Comm 142 1 This shows whether this is an educational or commercial operation. It is "E" for educational and "C" for commercial. Last Update Date 143 6 The date of the last update of this record. This is a 6-number field in the format YYMMDD. Cutoff Date 149 6 The cutoff date for an application. It is a 6-number field in the format YYMMDD. Docket No. 155 8 The Docket No. of a hearing or rulemaking associated with this record. App/Lic Name 163 36 The name of the applicant or licensee. Comment 199 62 Comment inserted by the Data Base Management Staff. Unused 261 24 This is extra space for future use. Rad Center AMSL 285 5 The radiation center above mean sea level for the horizontally polarized antenna. This is in feet or meters, depending on the value of the Metric Indicator in the Header Record. TV Engineering Data Base Page 9 26 April 1999 This field is right justified and may include a decimal point. Ref. Azimuth 290 5 The reference azimuth for the directional antenna. It is used to orient the antenna with respect to the tabulated pattern in the directional antenna data base. This field is right justified and may include a decimal point. This is blank if a non-directional antenna is used. Antenna Make 295 3 A 3-character abbreviation of the name of the manufacturer of the directional antenna. This is blank if a non-directional antenna is used. The attached Appendix contains a list of the 3-character abbreviations which are used for the various manufacturers. This list is subject to change, especially concerning additions. Antenna Type 298 14 The type (model number) of the directional antenna. This field is left justified. This is blank if a non-directional antenna is used. Normally, the model number in the data base will be the manufacturer's model number. However, in some cases, the model number will be different. For example, Scala has model HDCA-5 antennas which have different patterns depending on the channel. Therefore, in this data base, a Scala HDCA-5 model number has the channel appended to it. Thus, an HDCA-5 for channel 12 is stored as an HDCA-5-12. Unused 312 1 This is extra space for future use. Reserved 313 12 This space is reserved for FCC internal use only. Unused 325 36 This is extra space for future use. TV Engineering Data Base Page 10 26 April 1999 APPENDIX ABBREVIATIONS FOR DIRECTIONAL ANTENNA MANUFACTURERS Following is a list of 3-character abbreviations which are used in the TV Engineering Data Base for manufacturers of directional antennas. If the abbreviation is less than three characters, it is left justified in the data base. ACA Antenna Corporation of America ACR Acrodyne _ ADC Alan Dick Co., Ltd. ADL Adler ALF Alford ALL Allied AM Anixter Mark AMP Ampex AND Andrews BEN Benco BOG Bogner BT Blonder-Tongue CAR Car-Cim CCA CCA CET Cetec CHA Challenger CM Channel Master COM Composite, designed by the applicant. CUS Cush-Craft DIE Dielectric DIM Dimick EIT Eitel EMC Emcee FAB Fabricated FIN Finco FRE Frees Colinear GAT Gates GE General Electric GI Graybill Industries GOT Gotham HAR Harris HUN Huntley JAM Jampro JER Jerrold JFD JFD KP Kapine KAP Kapline KAT Kathrein KLM KLM LEB Leblanc LIN Lindsay TV Engineering Data Base Page 11 26 April 1999 LS Lone Star Antenna MAR Mark MAT M.A. Thomas MCT MCTV Custom MP Mark Products MUL Multi-Sat MWR Midwest Radio Eng. NW Northwest ODD Oddball, usually designed by the applicant. PRD Prodelin PRO Proline RCA RCA Corp. RFS R.F. Systems RYM RYMSA SAT Scientific Atlanta, Inc. SCA Scala SE Systems Engineering, Inc. SHI Shiveley SIT Sitco SWA Swan SWR System With Reliability, Inc TA Technical Appliance Corp. TAC Taco TAS Tasco TEL Telrex TF Two Finco THO Thomas TT Television Technology TVR TV Recepters UST United States Tower Co. UTC UTC WHI Whit WIC Wickett WIN Wineguard WS Webster Communications Co.