Honest about our origins & intentions

We built this for you, and we'll tell you exactly how.

If your station already has an identity here that you never set up, you deserve a straight answer about why. Here it is, with nothing hidden.

Where your identity came from

Every licensed US station, AM, FM, LPFM, translators, HD, already has a RadioDNS identity in this directory. We computed it from the public FCC license database: your call sign, your frequency, your facility. It's dormant and unclaimed until you say otherwise. We didn't take anything that's yours, a call sign maps to a name the same way for anyone who does the math. We just did the math for the whole country, first, and made it free.

What we are, and what we're not

UndertowIQ is a neutral custodian running an open, standards-compatible RadioDNS namespace, including the first coded standard for analog AM (which the official spec never defined). We are not the official RadioDNS organisation, and we don't pretend to be. Where the official standard already defines something, we use it and resolve through to it, we add coverage, we don't fork the world. The whole thing is reproducible from public data by anyone, including you.

Our promise, in writing

• ✓Claiming your station is free. Always. There is no fee to claim, verify, or run your identity.
• ✓Your call sign and brand are yours. Claiming is opt-in and verified. Don't want it? Do nothing and nothing happens.
• ✓You can leave anytime. The standard is open and reproducible, self-host it, take it to another provider, or ask us to release it. No lock-in.
• ✕We will never charge you to "unlock" your own identity. Not now, not ever. That's the line, and it's the whole reason this page exists.
• ✕We won't sell your data or hold your identity hostage. Full stop.

Then why pre-build it at all?

Because a directory that only works after everyone signs up never gets built. So we surveyed the whole map, marked every plot, and left it open, the land is ready and neutral, free to settle, no rent. If it's genuinely useful, stations claim it because they want to, not because they're cornered. If it's not, it costs you nothing and changes nothing. We'd rather earn it.

How to claim, or walk away

Look up your call sign and claim it in a couple of minutes on the claim page, verify an email, we review, and it's live: you control your logo and what's on air from one dashboard. Want to see the whole standard first? It's all documented on the standard page. Want out? Email us and we release it. That's it.