Boston Area Quick Logs

  

Boston has a lot of federal monitoring action so be sure and bring a scanner if you visit there. Here is a quick rundown of what I logged during my stay, as well as some active frequencies that some good friends in the area shared with me during my time in the area:

 

162.2125         N293  

163.2625         N293   VA Medical Center

163.7000         N169   ICE NAT TAC 1

165.3750         N001   US Secret Service CHARLIE

165.7875         N001   US Secret Service BAKER

166.9500         N109   National Parks Boston Area

167.4375         N167   Boston FBI A-5 & BAPERN link

167.4625         N070   Boston FBI

167.4875         N167   Boston FBI Field Office A-2

167.5375         N167   FBI D-3

167.5625         N167   FBI D-4

167.7875         N167   Boston FBI Field Office A-3

167.9500         N109   National Parks USS Constitution

168.7625         N167   Boston FBI Field Office

169.6250         N167   Boston FBI Field Office A-4

170.7750         N319   CBP

171.4375         N167   FBI F-1

172.0750         N167   Boston FBI Field Office A-1

345.0000         AM      US Coast Guard Air Ops Primary

409.5250         N293   Department of State Diplomatic Security

418.7500         N156   DEA UHF F-3

 

As usual, the Boston area did not disappoint when it comes to radio monitoring!

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.  

 

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/ 

 

 

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

 Super Bowl LIX 

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.

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.