On July 20, 1984, REC Networks started as California Comments, a recorded telephone service that provided "talk radio over the phone".  Over the years, REC would go on to  recording over 200 audio "output" programs for the phone lines as well as  interactive voice "chat" services.  In the late 90s, REC would start advocating for  a citizen's right to access the airwaves.  Today, REC Networks is going strong as one of the leading forces in LPFM providing advocacy, professional services and technology solutions. 

The FCC has made a decision in the Orange County, CA MX Group #34 which involved four LPFM stations seeking to operate on 104.7 in Orange County and nearby Corona, California. 

Within this group, two of the applicants had filed a time share agreement to aggregate their points.

A Petition to Deny was filed by LC Media, LP.  LC Media is the licensee of two full-power co-channel stations on 104.7.  All 4 LPFM applicants are the appropriate distances from the full power stations.  

REC's broadcast database inquiry site FCCdata.org has been expanded to now also include amateur radio license records in the USA.  Amateur radio records will be presented in a look and feel similar to the broadcast radio and television results in FCCdata.  

Inquiries can be done in several ways:

The Federal Communications Commission has issued a Public Notice announcing a rulemaking number for REC's LP-250 proposal.  Comments are now being accepted between now and June 15, 2015.  

Comments can be filed through the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System or through their simplified ECFS Express system. 

Items proposed in RM-11749 include:

• The ability for existing LPFM stations to upgrade LP-250 based on technical availability without geographic restrictions such as those proposed in previous versions of LP-250.
• Allowing minor moves up to 11.1 km for LP-100 stations and up to 14.1 km for LP-250 stations. 
• Removing the contour overlap requirement for LPFM commonly-owned FM translators.
• Add additional protections for LPFM stations in respect to FM translators.
• Relief for the local programming requirement for LPFM stations on time share agreements.

For more information on LP-250 and the actual LP-250 proposal, visit http://LP250.com

The REC Radio History Project has completed the latest FCC History Card compilation.  This time, 32 stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and in surrounding rural communities have been archived back with basic engineering and ownership data which in some cases, dates back to the early 1920s.  

From the first days of radio until the late-1970s before the advent of computers, the Federal Communications Commission and its predecessor the Federal Radio Commission kept basic licensing records on 3x5 index cards similar to an old card catalog in a library.  As a part of the FCC's move to their current facility in the late 1990s, the cards were transferred to microfilm and subsequently destroyed.  Over the past few years, the FCC has made some of these microfilm records available to the general public.  Currently, only AM records are available and those are limited to "K" call letters as well as some "W" calls (WA through WF and some WG).  This is a project that is on an "time available" basis and with the latest cuts at the FCC, we are not sure how this will impact their conversion of the microfilm to public access.