Super Bowl LIX
Friday, February 07, 2025
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:
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.
Friday, December 13, 2024
Whistler Group Out of Business
According to posts on social media from National Scanning Magazine, the Whistler Group, parent company of Whistler scanners, has apparenlty shut down operations. You can read some of the details here: https://natcommag.substack.com/p/scanning-whistler-apparently-out-of-business
For many months now, Whistler scanner users have been complaining about being unable to update their scanners from the on-line Whistler server, and there has been little or no new scanner stock available for some time.
The Whistler scanner line was previously manufactured and sold by the GRE Corp, but some years ago, GRE sold their IP and scanner line to Whistler Group, out of Arkansas.
It remains to be seen if there will be any scanner manufacturers other than Uniden in the market.
Wednesday, October 02, 2024
End of National Radio Quiet Zone?
Community leaders and citizens in Pendleton County, West Original are growing weary of the longtime restrictions on communications equipment due to regulations surrounding the National Radio Quiet Zone. There are discussions about lifting some of the restrictions or ending the quiet zone altogether:
https://wvmetronews.com/2024/09/04/pendleton-county-leaders-want-an-end-to-radio-quiet-zone/
The area has strict limitations on the amount of power for transmitters of radio signals and RF frequencies. The restrictions have been in place for decades to protect the work of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank, West Virginia.
Thursday, September 05, 2024
CBP Aerostats May Be Upgraded
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense are working on plans to upgrade the surveillance blimps along the Southwest border regions.
The status of the aerostat blimps has been in some question since there have been several blimps damaged or destroyed recently. And the DHS has began upgrading the border areas with more ground-based electronic surveillance systems.
Friday, August 30, 2024
USCG Grounds Helicopters, Shortens Service Life
An interesting article recently appeared that states the Coast Guard is reducing the service life of their MH-60T Jayhawk helicopters from 20,000 hours to 19,000. It appears that maintenance issues have cropped up in older air frames and the reduction is in anticipation of a rebuild program with Sikorsky Aircraft, a division of Lockheed Martin.
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
MYSTERY FREQUENCY 172.4000 MHz
Reports of activity on172.4000 MHz, N088 in the Long Island, NY region. No other information was provided.
For what it's worth, the frequency of 172.4000 MHz is assigned to mostly US Department of Agriculture and Department of the Interior agencies;
Animal/Plant Health Inspection Service
US Forest Service,
Bureau of Reclamation
International Boundary and Water Commission,
National Park Service
Soil Conservation Service
There are a few allocations to the US Army in New Mexico.
I have logged the N088 NAC a few times in Pennsylvania, and around the DC area out by Dulles airport, but not on this frequency.
MYSTERY FREQUENCY - 166.1125 MHz
During a recent POTUS motorcade in Delaware, a listener caught a Close-Call hit on 166.1125 MHz, N001. This has not been noted previously as a Secret Service or White House Communications Agency frequency in the past.
This frequency has no previous records to any federal agency in the NTIA data I have seen, so this may be a new assignment. As to who or what it is used for, remains to be seen.
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