OET Experimental Licensing System Search Instructions

The following is a list of fields that may be used to query the FCC Experimental Licensing database, depending on the report option selected. One or more fields may be specified at a time to limit the amount of data returned.


File Number: Fifteen character number given for all applications, used to uniquely identify that application and its purpose.
Confirmation Number: Confirmation Number is given when the administrative portion was initially filed.
Callsign: An Up to 10 Character Station Code.
Applicant/Licensee Name: The name of the applicant or licensee to be queried. This is what's known as a wild card search. To use a wild card search, only enter the portion of the name on which you wish to search, and the application will retrieve records with applicants whose name contains the value entered.
Purpose Of Operation: A brief description of the experiment being conducted under a Special Temporary Authority (STA). The Purpose of Operation appears on the granted authorization. Searches using this field, used along with searches of the Comments field for all other types of experimental authorizations, can be useful for investigating similar types of experiments. This search is case sensitive. In order to obtain complete results it is suggested that the search be performed with all lower case, all upper case, and upper case for the first letter of the first word of the search followed by all lower case for the remainder of the search term. WARNING: Searches using a common word or short phrase may take a long time to run and bring back a large result set, if not limited somehow by use of other search fields.
Comments: A brief description of the experiment being conducted under all types of experimental authorizations other than STAs. The Comments appear on the monthly public notices entitled "Experimental Actions" located on the Web at http://www.fcc.gov/oet/info/, and they are also displayed when the "View Notes" icon is clicked on a row in a result set from a search of the Experimental Licensing System. Searches using this field, used along with searches of the Purpose of Operation field for STAs, can be useful for investigating similar types of experiments. This search is case sensitive. In order to obtain complete results it is suggested that the search be performed separately with all lower case, all upper case, and upper case for the first letter of the first word of the search followed by all lower case for the remainder of the search term. WARNING: Searches using a common word or short phrase may take a long time to run and bring back a large result set, if not limited somehow by use of other search fields.
Disposal Date Range: There are three options when using this search criteria:
  1. Enter only Begin Disposal Date - If only a beginning disposal date is entered, only records granted after the date specified will be returned.
  2. Enter only End Disposal Date - If only an ending disposal date is entered, only records granted prior to or equal to the date specified will be returned.
  3. Enter both Begin and End Disposal Date - If both a beginning and an ending disposal date are entered, records will be retrieved which were granted between the dates specified.
Receipt Date Range: There are three options when using this search criteria:
  1. Enter only Begin Receipt Date - If only a begin receipt date is entered, only records received after the date specified will be returned.
  2. Enter only End Receipt Date - If only an end receipt date is entered, only records received prior to or equal to the date specified will be returned.
  3. Enter both Begin and End Receipt Date - If both a begin and an end receipt date are entered, records will be retrieved which were received between the dates specified.
Frequency Range: There are three options with this search criteria:
  1. Enter only lower frequency - If only lower frequency is entered, only records containing a transmitter using a frequency greater than or equal to the frequency entered will be returned.
  2. Enter only upper frequency - If only upper frequency is entered, only records containing a transmitter using a frequency less than or equal to the frequency entered will be returned.
  3. Enter both lower and upper frequency - If both lower and upper frequency are entered, records will be retrieved which contain a transmitter that transmits between the lower and upper frequency.
  4. Exact Search - If the exact search checkbox is checked, only records with exactly the frequency attributes entered will be returned.
ERP: Effective Radiated Power (=EIRP/1.64)
Emission: Basic characteristics of radio waves comprised of type of modulation of the main carrier, nature of signal modulating the main carrier, type of information to be transmitted, and bandwidth. These characteristics are described in Parts 2.201 and 2.202 of the FCC's Rules. For example, the emission designator of a Frequency Modulated signal transmitted sound and using a necessary bandwidth of 200 kHz would be 200KF3E. This field is an automatic wild card search. For instance, if 'K0F' is entered, the results will include all applications with emissions that contain 'K0F' in them, such as '16K0F3E' and '15K0F7D.'
Scope of Service: Subsection of Part 5.3 of the FCC's Rules (47 CFR 5.3), designated by one or more of the letters a-k, which describes the scope of service that the licensee is operating under.
Exp. Type: Type of experiment that a licensee is conducting, chosen from a dropdown box. Note: this may be blank.
Status: The current status of the applications queried. The valid application statuses are as follows:
  1. All - Selects all applications, regardless of status
  2. Granted - Selects applications that are in effect
  3. Pending - Selects applications that have not been acted on yet
  4. Dismissed - Selects applications that were not approved
  5. Expired - Selects applications that are no longer in effect
Application Type: The type of ELS application on file. The valid values are as follows:
  1. Assignment of License - Application assigning control of a license to another party
  2. Modification of License - Application changing one or more technical parameters of an existing license
  3. New License - Application for an experimental license not previously authorized
  4. Renewal of License - Application requesting extending the term of an existing license
  5. Special Temporary Authority - Authorization for an operation lasting six months or less
  6. Transfer of Control - Application requesting consent to change control of a corporation holding a license
Tx City: Name of the city where the transmitter operates.
Tx State: Name of the state where the transmitter operates.
Coordinate Range: There are three options with this search criteria:
  1. Enter only lower lat/long - If only lower lat/long is entered, only records containing a transmitter with a lat/long greater than the values entered will be returned.
  2. Enter only upper lat/long - If only upper lat/long is entered, only records containing a transmitter with a lat/long less than the values entered will be returned.
  3. Enter both lower and upper lat/long. - If both lower and upper lat/long are entered, records will be retrieved which contain a transmitter located EITHER above the lower lat/long or below the upper lat/long. This isn't a BOX search.