WM1KE's FCC Database Search: How it works
It is actually pretty simple.
It is run on a 3 GHz desktop PC running Fedora (Linux). I am connected to the internet through a common broadband modem (cable). The database is MySQL. The web server is Apache. The main pages are served by my server (wm1ke.us) which is hosted by GoDaddy. The pages make CGI calls to the database which is located in the shack.
A “cron” job runs each weeknight and downloads the database data (about 230 MB, compressed).
A series for custom-written Perl scripts (a programming language) unzips the data, trashes the database structure, rebuilds the structure and then populates all the tables with the appropriate data. The table of ZIP codes was obtained from the Census Bureau's TigerLine database.
There is one Perl script that handles the processing of all the requests. It uses the data submitted on the form to determine the actions to take.
The mapping is done using the Google Maps API. This is an interesting and powerful resource. Unfortunately, it can not handle mapping a large number of hams on one map.
Other choices:
All Hams within a radius of a ZIP™ code
All Hams within a certain County (Province, Territory...)
Known problems with the FCC database (your tax dollars at work)
How this works (DON'T re-invent the wheel...)
Search engine provided by Mike, WM1KE
(http://wm1ke.us).
Mike is hungry
for suggestions. Send them, and any problems you encounter, to: Mike.
This site hand-crafted using gedit,
perl, Fedora
Linux, Apache and MySQL.