Wednesday, October 08, 2025

Quick Chicago Logs

 


On a recent trip through the Chicago area, I had time to set up one of my radios and do some searching near O'Hare airport. Here is what I logged during a couple of hours of monitoring;

162.0875   N68F   NIFOG LE-01 input    

163.7500   NC02   CBP at ORD airport

165.8500   NC02   CBP at ORD airport

167.0875   N293   NIFOG LE-01

167.5375   N167   FBI Chicago D5/D6 

167.7500   N68F   NIFOG LE-03 

168.1125   N68F   NIFOG LE-04  

169.4125   N293   CBP AIR 11

170.5625   N156   DEA

171.6125   N167   FBI Chicago A7

All of the CBP frequencies that seem to be in use at ORD airport are still a mystery to me. You can near activity that is connected to international flights arriving. There seem to be multiple repeaters that have single inputs, but then they appear to be separate repeaters at other times. And some of these may be used for operations away from the airport proper.  

 

Friday, July 04, 2025

US Coast Guard Renames Districts

The US Coast Guard has officially renamed their operating districts.

The new geographic names, approved by the Department of Homeland Security, are as follows:  

District 1: USCG Northeast District 

District 5: USCG East District 

District 7: USCG Southeast District 

District 8: USCG Heartland District  

District 9: USCG Great Lakes District  

District 11: USCG Southwest District 

District 13: USCG Northwest District 

District 14: USCG Oceania District  

District 17: USCG Arctic District  

The Coast Guard had previously referred to their operating districts by regional numbers, but now will refer to these areas by geographical names. 

https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/4234537/coast-guard-renames-geographic-operational-districts/ 

 


 


Friday, May 09, 2025

OCDETF To Be Ended

 

 

The current administration reportedly is shutting down a Department of Justice task force that has focused on dismantling transnational organized crime networks, drug cartels, and human trafficking rings. The task force was known as the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, or OCDETF. Leaders of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces were given until Sept. 30 to shut down operations,

The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces was established in 1982. The DOJ’s website says the task force has been the centerpiece of the attorney general’s strategy to combat transnational organized crime and to reduce the availability of illicit narcotics in the nation by using a prosecutor-led, multiagency approach to enforcement.

It is likely that this task force may be reorganized under the Department of Homeland Security in the future, but no details are currently available. 

Many scanner listeners will recall that the OCDETF had several radio frequencies assigned to them thru the Department of Justice allocations. They usually appeared in any Justice Department radio programing, but they were known to appear in some DHS agency radios as well. Here are the channels from the FBI D zone:

164.5500         N167   D01 OCDETF, repeater (168.8625 MHz in)
164.5500         N167   D02 OCDETF, simplex

Friday, January 10, 2025

NIFOG 2.02 Released

The latest version of the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide (NIFOG) has been released and is available for download at this link:

https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/NIFOG%202.02_508%20FINAL%20VERSION%2012%2003%202024.pdf

This guide is extremely valuable to scanner listeners as it lists the standard interoperability frequencies that are used nationwide by local, state and federal agencies.