Callsign lookup
Callsign lookup opens a profile for any callsign: FCC license details, when and where the station
was last heard, a year-long activity heat map, and who hears it. Profiles are public and each has its
own link, such as longlines.io/call/KK4PWJ.
Why you’d use it
Section titled “Why you’d use it”You want to know when a friend is usually on the air before setting up an alert. Their profile’s When they’re on the air chart shows spots by hour of day in UTC, and Bands shows where to listen.
How it works
Section titled “How it works”A profile covers one base call. KK4PWJ/P, KK4PWJ/QRP and W4/KK4PWJ all open the KK4PWJ
profile, and the page address changes to the base call. Also heard as lists up to 5 other forms
the station was spotted under.
The profile counts spots from every source except APRS-IS: POTA, SOTA, WWFF, WWBOTA, DX Cluster, RBN and logged contacts. It runs from when Long Lines started collecting.
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Header | The call, its country flag, the license name, class and state, Get alerts, Share and QRZ |
| Last heard | Frequency, mode, band, source and time of the latest spot; On the air now if it was within 30 minutes; the park or summit and spotter |
| Figures | Spots (all time), Days on the air, Heard from (countries and continents), park, summit and other reference visits |
| Activity over the past year | A heat map of spots per day. Pick Past 12 months or a single year (on desktop). Shading is relative to the period shown. |
| License | Name, class, status, granted and expiry dates, state. From the FCC Universal Licensing System, refreshed weekly. |
| Activity, Last 30 days, When they’re on the air | Spots per month, per day, and by hour of day (UTC) |
| Bands, Modes | Where and how the station operates |
| Where they’ve been spotted | Parks, summits, WWFF references, bunkers and islands, most recent first, with a US state map |
| Heard from | The countries of the spotters and skimmers who heard it. Self-spots don’t count. |
| Hunting | Spots this station posted for other activators |
| Heard by | The spotters and skimmers that picked it up in the last 7 days, with best SNR |
| Recent spots | The newest 25 spots from the last 7 days |
License data is FCC only. A non-US call shows “No FCC record. This looks like a callsign issued outside the United States.” Long Lines never shows street addresses.
A profile can be up to about 20 minutes old: Long Lines caches it for 15 minutes, and your browser for 5 more. Times are UTC, except the Recent spots table when you’re signed in with Show spot times in UTC off.
Limits
Section titled “Limits”Lookups are limited to 30 a minute per visitor, shared with reference pages, reference searches and public group pages. Over the limit you see “Too many lookups. Try again in a minute.” Going back to a page you opened in the last 5 minutes doesn’t count.
Set it up
Section titled “Set it up”- Open Callsign lookup.
- Type a callsign in the search box (it says “Callsign, like KK4PWJ”) and select Look up. Or select one of the Busy this week chips, the most active activators from the Stats page.
- To get alerts for the station, select Get alerts for KK4PWJ, pick a source and select Continue. A new connection opens with Callsign is KK4PWJ. Signed out, the button says Sign in to get alerts.
- To send someone the profile, select Share.
When it doesn’t work
Section titled “When it doesn’t work”“KK4PWJ! isn’t a valid callsign.” The lookup takes letters and digits in up to three
/-separated parts, at most 20 characters.
“Long Lines hasn’t heard KK4PWJ on the air yet.” No spot of that base call has reached Long Lines. If the station posted spots for others, the Hunting card still shows.
“No FCC record found for this callsign.” The call has a US prefix but isn’t in the weekly FCC load: it’s new, expired, or mistyped. A hidden profile shows the same.
Today’s activity looks low. The heat map and charts include today, but the profile can be 20 minutes behind.
I want my profile hidden. There is no setting for this. If the profile footer shows a contact address, email it; the operator hides calls by hand. A hidden call shows the not-heard page and drops out of the band map, reference pages and Stats top lists.