Callsign Radar

Know which radio licenses near you are about to expire.

The FCC no longer mails renewal reminders. Every Monday, Callsign Radar sends you the licenses in your counties that need renewing, starting with the ones you filed.

Get a free sample for your counties See how it works
Your Monday listKings County, NY
  1. WQRT418Harbor View School District, filed by you6days left
  2. WQPL772Atlantic Avenue Properties14days left
  3. WQGB305Ridgewood Building Services, filed by you55days left
  4. WQKM190Gowanus Freight Co.Lapsed32 days ago
  5. WQNS664Bay Ridge Medical Center, filed by youReneweddrops off next week
Example list. Names are made up. Your sample uses real FCC records.

What slips through today

A radio license lasts ten years. Ten years is long enough for almost everything around it to change.

The date lives in someone's head.
The tech who filed it left years ago. The spreadsheet stopped being updated. The email on file goes nowhere.
Nobody sends a reminder.
The FCC stopped mailing renewal notices. Its search site checks one license at a time and never alerts you.
Your customer finds out last.
Often from a rival dealer who called first. Then they ask why you didn't.
Each miss costs you twice.
You lose the renewal fee. You can lose the radio upgrades and service work that come with the account, too.
Your customer pays as well.
Radios on an expired license run without FCC permission. The FCC's starting fine for that is $10,000.

The FCC's deadlines, and what a miss costs

The renewal window is short. Miss it, and the license ends on its own. The FCC does not send a warning first.

  1. 90 days before expiry

    The renewal window opens. Nobody can file earlier.

    47 CFR § 1.949(a)
  2. Expiry date

    Last day to file on time. With no renewal on file, the license ends that day.

    47 CFR § 1.955(a)(1)
  3. Up to 30 days late

    The FCC has said it will usually still grant the renewal. The licensee can still face a fine.

    FCC order DA 13-158 (2013), ¶ 5
  4. More than 30 days late

    A waiver is not routine. The FCC reviews the case closely and may say no. Then the license stays ended.

    FCC order DA 13-158 (2013), ¶ 6

FCC fines

$10,000
Starting fine for running radios without a license
$3,000
Starting fine for not filing a required form
$25,132
Most the FCC can charge per violation, or per day it goes on, up to $188,491 in total

A starting fine is where the FCC begins. It can go up or down in each case. Source: 47 CFR § 1.80, Table 1 to paragraph (b)(11) and paragraph (b)(10), 2025 amounts. This is a summary, not legal advice.

513

New York business radio licenses ran out last year with no renewal filed.

For 87% of those 513 licenses, the contact on file was a radio firm. The firm that filed them missed the renewal too.

Source: FCC weekly license data, November 1, 2026. Business and public safety licenses with a site in New York.

What lands in your inbox every Monday

Three short lists, sorted by how soon each license runs out.

Licenses you filed

We find every license that lists your firm as its contact. These are your customers. Call them before someone else does.

Open licenses in your counties

Licenses near you that come up for renewal soon. Many were filed by firms that have closed or moved on.

Already lapsed

Licenses whose date has passed with no renewal on file. These customers need help now.

When the FCC shows a renewal filed, the license drops off your list. You never chase one that is already done.

How it works

You set it up once. After that, the work happens every week without you.

Once, at the start

  1. Pick your counties

    Tell us where you sell and service radios.

  2. We find your firm in the FCC records

    We match your firm's name and email domain, in every spelling. One New York dealer we checked shows up under 25 different spellings. You don't upload a customer list.

Then, every week

  1. The FCC posts a fresh copy

    Every business radio license in the country, more than 860,000 of them.

  2. We check it and sort it

    We check the copy is complete. We pull out your licenses and your counties, and drop any license with a renewal already filed. If the FCC file looks broken, we hold your list instead of sending a wrong one.

  3. Your list arrives

    One email, most urgent first. Each license shows the licensee's name, phone and expiry date.

  4. Make the call

    You file the renewal for your customer, as you do today. We never contact them for you.

Doing this by hand, and with Callsign Radar

By handWith Callsign Radar
Finding your licensesSearch the FCC site, one call sign at a timeEvery license that lists your firm, found for you
Knowing what's dueA spreadsheet, if someone keeps it upA sorted list every Monday
Already renewed?Look each one up againDropped from your list on its own
Lapsed licensesFound when the customer calls upsetOn your list the week it happens
New business nearbyWord of mouthOpen licenses in your counties
Your time each weekHours, so it often doesn't happenA few minutes to read one email

One dealer per territory

We sell each territory to one dealer only. Once your counties are taken, we won't sell that list to the shop down the road.

That means the leads on your list aren't being worked by ten other dealers who bought the same email.

To be clear: the FCC publishes its license records for anyone to read. We can't hide them, and we don't try.

What stays yours is the weekly list we build from them, matched to your firm and cleaned of finished renewals.

One price per territory

$199a month for your counties
  • Your Monday list, with all three parts
  • A download of every license on it, for your own records
  • Your territory, kept off the market while you stay

The first 25 dealers pay $129 a month for as long as they stay. Start with a free sample for your counties. No card needed.

Get a free sample for your counties

Questions dealers ask

Where does the data come from?
From the FCC's own license records. The FCC posts a full copy every week. We read each new copy as soon as it comes out.
Can a rival buy my counties?
Not from us, while you stay a customer. They can still look up FCC records by hand, as anyone can.
Do I need to send you my customer list?
No. We find the licenses you filed by your firm's name and email on the FCC record.
Which licenses do you cover?
Business and public safety two-way radio licenses. We leave out ham and GMRS radio.
How do I cancel?
Send one email. Your territory opens to other dealers at the end of the month you've paid for.

See your own counties first.

Tell us your firm's name and the counties you cover. We'll send back a one-page sample with real licenses from this week's FCC data.

Get a free sample for your counties