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Re: [RFI] FCC ID# searches.

To: RFI <rfi@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [RFI] FCC ID# searches.
From: KD7JYK DM09 <kd7jyk@earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2022 12:24:06 -0800
List-post: <mailto:rfi@contesting.com>
"I didn't have to do anything special, Dave. I just typed in KE3 in the grantee box and scrolled down the resultant list until I saw the full ID number. It was about 75% down the list if 116 items that KE3 has certificated. Perhaps you simply overlooked it."

I look up FCC ID #'s, and grantee codes often, sometimes up to several times a day. For at least fifteen years, I can tell you, more often than not, you will NOT get a result with the full number, entered as indicated.

Don't waste you time, life, breath, what-have-you, expecting it to work right the first time, or at all.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes it does, and even then, may not work more than once or twice in a row, or work again an hour, or day later, if ever again. Why? No idea, other than it's something the FCC is running as best they can.

I recommend the following:

I suggest using their "Advanced Search", which is labeled "generic" in their own link:

https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/GenericSearch.cfm

Enter the first three digits of the code.

If that ultimately doesn't work, enter the first five. Although there was a change from 3 to 5 digits in grantee codes, the system doesn't specify which codes, when, or to whom, and five-digit grantee codes on devices are often written as 3, the "norm", then a hyphen, or not. To make matters worse, some legitimate three digit codes were re-printed as five on products. If three doesn't work, try five, and see what happens, and good luck, you still may not get a result.

The rest of the code often doesn't work, even if you find it later, and enter it as the FCC has it in their own database, provided to you. What they say, think, tell, or show you, has nothing to do with you, what you have, what you think, what to expect, what they'll do next, if at all, ever, et cetera... You enter ABC 12345, no results. You enter ABC, and they return ABC 12345, you enter again, since it's clearly there, nothing. Copy and paste, nothing, try again later, maybe something, or not.

I recommend entering the first three digits of the FCC ID#, or grantee code at the top, nothing more, setting the number of results to return to something like 100, 250, or 500, and searching the results with whatever "word find" you have, to find the rest of the unique code. For my browser, it's Edit -> Find In Page.

If that doesn't work, go back, and try the first 5 digits of the code.

If THAT doesn't work, keep in mind, that for the past several decades, the FCC doesn't list everything, and before a certain point, nothing at all. Some time ago, the extent of the "code" on a device was "Accepted", "Type Accepted", "FCC DATA #1" (guess how many items had that?), or anything else on a product that suggested something. And more often, more recently, they've been cutting deals with companies to keep items unlisted, or worse, list the item, and provide nothing more than a notice of confidentiality, so you know it's there, you're just getting boned because some corporate flunky sent a form letter to the FCC requesting they hide their product info, and a comparable FCC flunky said, "OK".

Form letter? Yeah. In old records, you'd see a formally filed request, and review, or hearing transcripts, with case response, as it's all public record. Now, you'll see the same systematic documentation process, with a fill-in-the-blank letter downloaded off the web, sometimes only partially filled, but things like <ENTER COMPANY NAME HERE>, <ENTER JOB TITLE> left on the form, missing signatures, companies that don't exist, dates a few years into the future, partially completed info, et cetera, followed by the FCC approval letter, and rubber stamp watermarks. Dig around enough, and you may find some receipts, 'Confidentiality letter filed - Remittance $300 - Approved', or something to that effect.

It's a real cluster.

Kurt



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