McCain Now With USSS

I was able to confirm today that Sen. John McCain is now accompanied by a security detail from the US Secret Service. There had been some speculation earlier in the campaign as to who was providing security for Sen. McCain, as he had previously refused Secret Service protection.

Sen. McCain was in Portland, Oregon on a campaign stop, and the Secret Service detail was using 165.3750 MHz (CHARLIE), P-25 mode. I was unable to snag the call sign for Sen. McCain.

Anyone Listening to 165.4250 MHz?

OK Fed Files fans, it's time to help track down a mystery frequency! If anyone has one of the presidential candidates coming for a visit soon, besides the known US Secret Service channels found here,

http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/2008/02/secret-service-frequency-list.html

please check the frequency of 165.4250 MHz for activity. I have received reports of some activity on this frequency during some candidates visits and want to see if it has widespread use.

The frequency is interesting in that it is not a previously known Secret Service channel. In fact in most federal databases it has NO previous users noted.

So if you have room in your scan list, pop that frequency in and let me know what you hear!

Border "Virtual" Fence Scrapped

It appears that the virtual fence built by Boeing is not performing as expected. Details here:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352213,00.html

The story indicates that there will be some additional towers and surveillance devices set up to help control the border area in southern Arizona.

Pittsburgh - New FBI P25

Despite it's slow start in moving towards APCO P-25 digital radio systems, the FBI is starting to make the switch in different regions of the country. I've been spending some time in the Pittsburgh, PA area and can confirm that some new P-25 repeaters have started to make themselves heard here.

The new repeaters are on 165.8250 MHz, 165.8750 MHz, 168.8250 MHz and 168.9250 MHz. The repeaters all seem to have an input frequency of 163.7500 MHz. Mostly encrypted but a few clear transmissions have been heard, all showing a P-25 NAC of 167.

Not sure if these repeaters are replacing some analog equipment, or these are serving a new purpose for the Department of Justice in the Pittsburgh area.

Political Campaign Acitvity - McCain to get Secret Service Detail

News media outlets are reporting that Senator John McCain will discuss Secret Service protection with DHS officials next week. For some time now, candidate McCain has publicly said that he did not want the burden of Secret Service protection.

Despite claiming not to want the protection of the Secret Service, I have seen reports that Senator McCain might have actually had some sort of security detail with him on the campaign trail. But some have reported that he had the US Capitol Police with him, others claimed it was the FBI and one posting even seemed to think the US State Department was somehow involved with security for McCain. I haven't seen any hard data to support any of these theories.

The other political candidates, Clinton (both Bill & Hillary) and Obama, currently have Secret Service protective details. The big question now is what will Senator McCain's call sign be?

Presidential Campaign Activities

Is it just me, or does it seem like this presidential political campaign has been going on forever? Back in June of 07 (!) I mentioned that the media was reporting Senator Barack Obama had been given the call sign of "Renegade" by the US Secret Service:

http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/2007/06/secret-service-call-signs.html

I can confirm this is still the case. During a recent visit to the state of Oregon, Senator Obama's security detail was using 165.3750 MHz, P-25 digital mode. And he is still being called RENEGADE.

The security details are using various USSS frequencies depending on the location and detail requirements:

http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/2008/02/secret-service-frequency-list.html

Las Vegas NNSA Update

It would appear that the UHF federal trunked systems in the Las Vegas area have gone through some channel changes prior to the narrow banding deadline of January, 2008. Last time I was in the LV area I noticed some UHF trunked channels that were not heard before, and this trip I was able to sit down and analyze some of what I am hearing.

I was only able to grab a few of the sites, but here is what is currently in use:

National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Trunked System
System ID = 7526
Motorola Type II, with APCO P-25 voice

Site 004 - Las Vegas DoE Facility
406.9875 - Control Channel
407.3625
408.3625
409.5250
409.9250

Site 006 - Angel Peak, NV
406.1125 - Control Channel
406.5500
409.3000
410.2500

Site 009
407.3500 - Control Channel

Site 010 - Nellis AFB
407.9875 - Control Channel


It also appears that the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) EDACS system has changed some frequencies around. I was able to copy an EDACS control channel on 406.5625 MHz, 408.0500 MHz and 409.9625 MHz. I have not seen these frequencies listed as part of the NTTR system in the past.

More updates on this as I am able to figure them out...