NYC Federal Interop Tests

I've received some information about weekly testing of the New York City federal interop radio channels. Reports are that 167.7875 MHz, 407.7750 MHz and 414.7500 MHz are all used in these weekly check-ins with various local, state and federal agencies. The input to the 167.7875 MHz P-25 repeater is believed to be 164.7375 MHz and 407.7750 MHz is most likely the input to the 414.750 MHz repeater. The control operator appears to be the FBI New York Communications Center. I also heard a story that even though 414.7500 MHz is a nationwide US Postal Inspectors frequency, two Postal Inspector units who were trying to use this repeater in New York City were chased off the air by the FBI communications operator. I wonder if they leave these frequencies patched all the time, or someone forgot to drop the patch after the interop test?

For more information on the participating agencies and the radio systems involved:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/topics/commtech/25cities/newyork.pdf

MT Reader Only Access

A new feature of the Monitoring Times website is a "Reader Only" access area. Look for a password in each issue of Monitoring Times for access to this area.
I have started uploading some Fed Files documents that you may find interesting, so check the Reader Only area for new files.
For more information, click the link to the MT web site:
http://www.monitoringtimes.com/ and look for the key icon!

SFO DHS Update

On a recent stopover at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), I was searching the federal bands and found that the DHS CBP/ICE repeater on 170.6250 MHz has as an input of 166.2500 MHz!

Anyone for NAC's?

I've been getting some requests from readers for information about the federal use of Network Access Codes or "NAC"s on P-25 digital channels. So far there are few ways for the monitoring hobby to actually read or use NAC's, but since CTCSS or PL tones are going away when radio channels turn digital, maybe a pattern of NAC assignments by particular agencies will reveal itself.

If you are able to decode NACs on federal P-25 systems, consider starting a federal NAC database here at the Fed Files!