Where the data comes from.

ChatterBack is built on open data, plus what members contribute. Credit where it’s due, and how each source is used.

Licences

• FCC Universal Licensing System - the weekly GMRS licence file (public record). We keep callsign, name, state, ZIP, grant and expiry; never the street address. Used to verify GMRS callsigns and count licensees per state.
• Callook - amateur licence lookups against FCC data. Same rule: grid square and state are kept, the address is discarded.

Repeaters

• hearham.live - amateur repeater listings, offered free for use in applications. Imported weekly as unverified until members confirm them. Listings a member has edited are never overwritten by the sync.
• Members - GMRS repeaters and everything “heard it” comes from people on the air. Every edit is logged publicly.

Mesh networks

• Meshtastic public MQTT (mqtt.meshtastic.org) - sampled every few hours; only the default public channel is decoded.
• Liam Cottle’s Meshtastic map - continuous aggregation of the public MQTT feed; US nodes with a position seen in the last week.
• Regional MeshCore analyzers - Tulsa Mesh CoreScope and other CoreScope or MeshMapper regions that coordinators register. Thank the volunteers running observers: that’s where every MeshCore dot comes from.

Weather and conditions

• NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center - solar flux and K-index for band conditions.
• National Weather Service (api.weather.gov) - watches, warnings and advisories, by your location or state, and their polygons on the map.

Maps

• Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Tiles by OpenFreeMap. Rendered with MapLibre GL (BSD). State outlines from the US Census via us-atlas.

Wiki content is CC BY-SA 4.0. If you’re a data source and want something changed about how you’re used or credited, email hello@chatterback.net.