Radio frequency range description list?

GNU Radio
1

Hi,
Has anyone created a machine parsable file that lists radio frequencies
and what is covered by that range?
At the simplest level I am thinking of something that would include
country code, a frequency range and the identifier to what that range
is, and possibly a string indicating typical data encoding. The idea
being when using a UI, such as Gqrx you would be able to have a label
identifying what sort of data you should be seeing and in other cases
use this information for automatically loading the right
configuration(s) for handling that frequency range.
Andre

2

Hi,
In the absence of any existing solution I am interested in trying to put
something together, possibly as a GitHub project?
Although a Wiki could be used, my focus is on a solution that is machine
parsable, so any application could make use of it. I am not sure the
best file format to use, but currently three come to mind: - xml -
json - csv
From looking at some documents that list frequency allocations, I figure
that the files would be split into individual files, that cover the
allocation by ITU region, country and other group, with the footnotes
being in files separate to the allocation list, so that they could
eventually be localised if need be. Something like:
frequency-allocations/ itu_region1.txt itu_region2.txt eu.txt
uk.txt us.txtfootnotes/ ca.txt us.txtrules/ us.txt The fields
I am thinking of are, at this point - frequency range - footnotes -
rules - service type - service category - data format
This is a first stab, so any feedback would be useful. One thing that I
seem to be struggling with is how best to specify information that would
make it clear which data encoder/decoder to be using. For example, I can
imagine an application detecting that you have selected a frequency
range that corresponds to GPS and brings a view that shows the GPS data
in a human readable form or that you are in a range that represents
broadcasts TV and brings up a view that shows the broadcast data.
It may also be useful to have a list of channels, according to service
type?
Please let me know what you think.
Andre

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2013 01:13:17 +0000
Subject: [Discuss-gnuradio] Radio frequency range description list?

Hi,
Has anyone created a machine parsable file that lists radio frequencies
and what is covered by that range?
At the simplest level I am thinking of something that would include
country code, a frequency range and the identifier to what that range
is, and possibly a string indicating typical data encoding. The idea
being when using a UI, such as Gqrx you would be able to have a label
identifying what sort of data you should be seeing and in other cases
use this information for automatically loading the right
configuration(s) for handling that frequency range.
Andre

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3

Hi Andre,

I think it would be a mistake to consider a no reply on this list as a
general no to your question. Clearly, there must be such databases out
there, otherwise maintaining things like the US Frequency Allocation
Chart [1] or the ITU-RR [2] would be a nightmare. How you get the
source of those publications I do not know. There are also smaller
databases embedded in various SDR and other receiver software out
there that could be a starting point.

I foresee two significant challenges in implementing your idea:

  • Most of the spectrum is allocated for multiple uses
  • Allocations are in most cases made for specific uses but they do not
    necessarily imply a specific configuration

I think it will be a big help for you to narrow down the scope as much
as possible.

[1]

[2] http://www.itu.int/pub/R-REG-RR

4

On 2013-04-02, at 11:03, “Tom R.” [email protected] wrote:

I have a feeling other regulators, like OFCOMM, specifically, have
similar databases available for access.

Also look at www.tvfool.com. It’s specific to TV signals, but there
might be something the learn from it.

I think you should definitely pursue this project and see where you
get. As Alex said, there’s overlapping services, geographical
differences, and, I’m sure, just random things in there that are going
to make it hard. Which is probably a large part of why no one has done
it before. But maybe it just needs a bit of hacker mentality.

Hi Tom,

I’ll look into these APIs and see what they have to offer.

From looking at the charts there are overlapping services, as you
indicate. My approach would be to ignore this detail, focusing on the
providing the data in an appropriate format, and the let someone else
deal with how their program works out which data is being transmitted.

I am sure the first version of the data files will need to be improved
on, but i believe its easier to correct something concrete, than imagine
work yet to be done. I’ll start off small and see what happens.
Hopefully I don’t get discouraged.

Regards

Andre

5

On Tue, Apr 2, 2013 at 10:51 AM, Alexandru C. [email protected]
wrote:

I foresee two significant challenges in implementing your idea:

  • Most of the spectrum is allocated for multiple uses
  • Allocations are in most cases made for specific uses but they do not
    necessarily imply a specific configuration

I think it will be a big help for you to narrow down the scope as much
as possible.

[1]
File:United States Frequency Allocations Chart 2011 - The Radio Spectrum.pdf - Wikipedia
[2] http://www.itu.int/pub/R-REG-RR

The FCC is doing a much better job providing this kind of information,
too. See the Spectrum Dashboard:
http://reboot.fcc.gov/reform/systems/spectrum-dashboard

There are APIs for automating access to their databases. I’ve hacked
around with this some, both with PHP and Python (and simple wgets),
and it’s not bad; usable at least. But translating the data here into
usable information is going to be a trick.

I have a feeling other regulators, like OFCOMM, specifically, have
similar databases available for access.

Also look at www.tvfool.com. It’s specific to TV signals, but there
might be something the learn from it.

I think you should definitely pursue this project and see where you
get. As Alex said, there’s overlapping services, geographical
differences, and, I’m sure, just random things in there that are going
to make it hard. Which is probably a large part of why no one has done
it before. But maybe it just needs a bit of hacker mentality.

Tom

6

In earlier times www.ero.dk had some good charts and tables for Europe,
but
now it was included in the cept.org website, and I guess the information
may
be still there, but deeply buried somewhere…

Ralph.

There are certainly charts and tables of this data, but from what I have
seen
they are either in non-machine parsable format (PDF) or they are targeted
at
commercial entities or government organisations.

If there is already something corresponding to what I looking for, that is
machine parsable and suitable for open source use, then I will gladly
shift my
focus to what already exists. I don’t want to duplicate effort if I don’t
need
to.

If you know of any open source software that already has a data file of a
sort,

Hi Andre,

  • Most of the spectrum is allocated for multiple uses
  • xml
    itu_region1.txt

would make it clear which data encoder/decoder to be using. For
example, I can imagine an application detecting that you have
selected a frequency range that corresponds to GPS and brings a view
that shows the GPS data in a human readable form or that you are in a
range that represents broadcasts TV and brings up a view that shows the
broadcast data.

It may also be useful to have a list of channels, according to service
type?

7

I have made a first attempt here:

If you have any ideas on how to improve on this, please let me know.
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2013 01:13:17 +0000
Subject: [Discuss-gnuradio] Radio frequency range description list?

Hi,
Has anyone created a machine parsable file that lists radio frequencies
and what is covered by that range?
At the simplest level I am thinking of something that would include
country code, a frequency range and the identifier to what that range
is, and possibly a string indicating typical data encoding. The idea
being when using a UI, such as Gqrx you would be able to have a label
identifying what sort of data you should be seeing and in other cases
use this information for automatically loading the right
configuration(s) for handling that frequency range.
Andre

_______________________________________________ Discuss-gnuradio mailing
list
[email protected]
https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss-gnuradio

8

Hi Alexandru,

There are certainly charts and tables of this data, but from what I have
seen they are either in non-machine parsable format (PDF) or they are
targeted at commercial entities or government organisations.

If there is already something corresponding to what I looking for, that
is machine parsable and suitable for open source use, then I will gladly
shift my focus to what already exists. I don’t want to duplicate effort
if I don’t need to.

If you know of any open source software that already has a data file of
a sort, then I would be interested in knowing.

Regards

Andre

Sent from my tablet