USDA Intercept Concerns

The September edition of the Fed Files column is on voice encryption and security in federal radios. During research, I found this page, from the Department of Management at the US Department of Agriculture:

http://www.dm.usda.gov/ocpm/Security%20Guide/V2comint/Intro.htm#Intercepting

It shows that all federal agencies, from the FBI to the USDA, are at least trying to let their people know about the possibilities of intercepted communications. The page does not specifically mention radio systems, but I suspect most USDA employees don't' deal with radios on a day-to-day basis.

New DEA Frequencies in GA

I have seen reports of activity on some of the new P25 DEA frequencies in west-central Georgia. 406.9750 MHz, N156 was heard used as a repeater. The reporter is listening to other "new" DEA frequencies for activity as well.

Monitoring Times Magazine to Cease Publication

The following is a statement from MT Publisher, Bob Grove W8JHD:

       After 33 years of publishing the most informative and lauded magazine on monitoring the radio spectrum, Judy and I are finally going to retire. We are grateful for the dedicated efforts of our fine staff of writers for the excellent work which has kept MT alive for all these years. While we know the discontinuation of MT, with our December issue, will be a disappointment to our readers and writers alike, we realize that a combination of a down-turned economy, as well as the ready availability of free listening and technical information on the Internet, has reduced sales and subscriptions throughout the market place. I would like to thank you personally for your knowledge, your dependability, and your professionalism in making MT the publication that is most often referred to in the radio monitoring hobby. It is a legacy that we have all inherited.

Warmest regards to all our writers, Bob and Judy Grove

 ---

To all the Fed Files fans out there - The Fed Files column will continue monthly through these last issues of Monitoring Times. I will keep the Fed Files blog active and I am looking into other on-line outlets to provide updates on federal frequency monitoring. Keep watching this blog page for further details over the next

USMS Lost Radios

I have written in the Fed Files column about how the TSA has lost radios in the past, and the stray equipment has show up on eBay. Now if appears that the US Marshals Service has had some radios get away from them as well:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/22/report-us-marshals-lose-track-thousands-two-way-radios/?test=latestnews

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323664204578609720405017446.html 
(Subscription required for the second link)

New VHF Frequencies - Houston

Some new VHF channels were noted in the Houston, TX area recently:

163.8125 MHz,  N864
173.7125 MHz,  N293

There was some speculation that this may be a new US Marshals repeater setup, with various NAC's used on the input frequency. Indications are that this is being used in the Kansas City area. Further research is in order!

New DoD UHF Trunked System in Portland, OR

Although this is usually Larry Van Horn's domain, since it's in my backyard, I thought I would post about it!

A new P-25 trunked system is on the air in the area of the Portland International Airport. The system is apparently in support of operations at the Portland Air National Guard Base on the south side of the field.

Here are the system specifics from PRO96COM:

System ID : 00A
System Name : DOD USAF
WACN : 92195
Tower Number (Decimal): 101
Tower Number (Hex) : T0101
Tower Description : PORTLAND AIR BASE, PDX
Control Capabilities : Data,Voice,Registration
Call Sign(s) :
Timestamp : Fri Jul 05 15:12:18 2013

-Tables
#Format: Table ID,Base Freq,Spacing,Input Offset,Assumed/Confirmed,BandWidth
00,380.00000,0.00625,20.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250

-Frequencies
#Format: Channel,Usage,Frequency,Input Frequency,Hit Count
"00-0012","a",380.07500,400.07500,0
"00-0044","a",380.27500,400.27500,0
"00-0228","c",381.42500,401.42500,0
"00-0312","a",381.95000,401.95000,0
"00-0834","a",385.21250,405.21250,0

* For some reason the system is showing a 20 MHz offset for the input frequencies, but it is actually 10 MHz. I have seen this phenomenon on other 380 MHz DoD trunked systems.

As of this weekend, no radio affiliations were seen, and base operations on other, conventional 380 MHz channels appear to continue as usual. Not sure when this system is slated to become live, but it is on the air and audible throughout northwestern Portland and Vancouver, Washington.

USCG on 167.6250 MHz?

A listener in Michigan is reporting he got a Close Call hit and heard P25 Coast Guard communications on 167.6250 MHz, N293.  Here is the Radio Reference thread:

http://forums.radioreference.com/marine-monitoring-forum/269338-coast-guard-digital.html#post1993308

Even though I have never heard of that frequency being allocated to Coast Guard operations, it could be a new allocation for a special use channel. Some under-used frequencies, especially near border areas, can be utilized by agencies that you would normally not expect.

Also, some are thinking this might be a special channel for interoperability with the FBI, since it falls in the 167 MHz area that we are used to seeing their communications in. However, many of the frequencies in the 167-168 MHz area are not exclusive allocations to the Justice Department or the FBI, and can be assigned to other agencies. Also, there are plenty of existing federal interoperability channels already in the FBI and Coast Guard radios that are available for use by both agencies.

UPDATE! 

Another listener now states that CG Sector Toledo has been using 167.1125 MHz, N293 for some of their operations. The channel has been identified by users as "AG-101".

FBI Frequency Updates Added

At the suggestion of a blog fan, I have started to add FBI frequency updates to the various agency pages at the top of the Fed Files blog. Since the FBI does not operate on a standard, nationwide channel plan, listing the various known FBI channels by US city should provide some idea of what frequencies are used where.

I have just started, so things may look a little sparse for a while, but I will be adding more as I have time. Also, if you have any FBI frequencies for your area, please pass the along and I will add them to the list.

New DEA UHF - UPDATE!

I recently received some information on another new UHF channel associated with the DEA transition to P-25.

412.5750 MHz, N156 has been heard in use in Mississippi as a simplex air-to-ground channel.

UPDATE!

I just received information that there is a new DEA repeater on 406.6000 MHz, N156. It is located in southern Mississippi, specific location unknown as of now.

The DEA list on the top of the blog home page has been updated with this new information.

New York City FIO2

For a while now, I had confirmed that 171.1750 MHz, N653 was officially designated as NYC Federal Interop 2. However, I had never heard anyone using it.

But when I arrived in town this last week, I heard a couple of days of traffic from some group moving around the NYC area. They were a large enough group that they had to take separate ferries when they were using the Staten Island ferry. It sounded like some sort of escort. The only call sign I caught was "1A7", so no idea what agency it was. I did also hear "Topside" a couple of times, but not sure if it was a call sign or just telling someone where they were on the ferry!

Boston Area Mystery Aircraft

Many media outlets are carrying stories about Boston area residents being disturbed by low-altitude, "mysterious" aircraft at all hours. Here is one such story:

http://theaviationist.com/2013/05/12/fbi-planes-boston/

Officially, the FBI and Boston officials are not confirming anything about these flights, but anyone checking the aircraft N numbers, or paying attention to federal radio traffic in the area are pretty likely to figure this one out...

Dalai Lama Visit

The Dalai Lama is attending an environmental conference in Portland, Oregon this week. The Department of State Diplomatic Security Service was handling the motorcade & security for the visit and was heard using 409.5250 MHz, N293.

Arlington TX Logs

Spend a few days in the Arlington, Texas area and logged a bit of federal activity while there:

165.2125, N001 - US Secret Service MIKE - Bush (43) Protection Detail at Rangers game
165.3750, N001 - US Secret Service CHARLIE
167.2625, N167 - FBI
168.3375
170.6750, N167
170.9375, N167 - FBI
171.6125, N167 - FBI
172.9000, N001 - TSA at Dallas Love Field
173.6000, N156 - DEA VHF repeater
173.7000, N156 - DEA VHF repeater
173.7250, N156 - DEA VHF repeater
173.8125, N167 - FBI

I will be back in June and try for some more catches then...

More VHF DEA?

When in the Dallas - Ft. Worth area, I stumbled upon some additional VHF frequencies that might be DEA related.

While the DEA continues to utilize the UHF federal spectrum for it's primary communications, there have been some VHF federal channels that are utilizing the same P25 NAC of N156 that their UHF channels use. These frequencies have been noted in multiple areas of the country, but mostly in North Central Texas. The guess at the time is these are used for interoperability with other federal agencies, or perhaps a local task force. Confirmation is difficult, as all the communications have been encrypted. And so far, the only evidence that this activity is DEA related is the N156 NAC.

Previous reports have the following frequencies in use, all using the P25 NAC of N156:

173.6000, N156

173.7250, N156

173.8625, N156

In addition, I have heard 173.6750 & 173.7000 MHz used with the same NAC.

Here is a link to the current DEA frequency list:

http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/p/dea-frequency-updates.html

Southern Border Radio Traffic

A recent story on Fox News here linked to a web site that claimed to be posting recordings of clear Border Patrol radio traffic from along the southern United States.

The site, called "Secure Border Intelligence", http://secureborderintel.org/arizona_audio.html, shows links to daily compilations of clear radio traffic along the Arizona border area. My personal experience has shown that the Border Patrol traffic on the newer P-25 digital repeaters in the area is mostly encrypted. But some field units, particularly aviation units, are sometimes not using encryption while working the border.

The group apparently is aiming to show that illegel border crossing activity continues at a hefty pace, despite claims by some in the government that the border is more secure. The archived audio is presented much later than it occurred, so not much real time intelligence can be gleaned from it. But I'm sure this will fan the flames in the controversy over encrypting law enforcement radio traffic and the mobile computer apps that allow users to monitor police radio traffic.

ACY Coast Guard Activity

I had a couple of days to hang out at Atlantic City International (ACY) and caught some Coast Guard helicopter training activity.

On two consecutive days there were 2 HH-65C Dolphin helicopters running air intercept training. Both departed each day from the Coast Guard ramp at ACY. They did not identify themselves by their CG number, which is how I am used to hearing normal Coast Guard air units ID themselves. In this case, they used BOUNCER 1 & BOUNCER 2 as their flight call signs, and used 237.9 MHz and 345.0 MHz as an air-to-air tac channel. On the way back to base, I caught 164.3000 MHz, CSQ as the base aircraft maintenance channel. 412.9750 MHz, N293 (NET 409) was used for radio guard while the birds were in flight.

LAX Stopover Logs

Just some quick logs from a layover at LAX between flights. Plenty of clear traffic during the short time I was listening, even on the FBI nets!

3/21/13
163.1375, N293 - USCG NET 113
163.6750, N217 - CBP Border Patrol
166.9125, N245 - CBP MA-4
167.2250, N374
167.4625, N167 - FBI A5
167.6625, N167 - FBI A7
168.8000, N170 - CBP JIOP
168.8250, N104 - CBP Charlie 100
172.4500, N148 - CBP MA-1
172.9500, N293 - FAA

March Fed Files Correction

In the most recent Fed Files column, there is a list of VHF frequencies at the end of the column that are not identified as to what they are. Sorry that these were not identified more clearly.

These frequencies are allocations available for use by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for their conventional radio operations. These are currently in use, at least until the new UHF P25 trunked system takes over, and even then there will still be some non-trunked channels in use.

Here is a list of the TVA allocations:

40.3100

40.3700

40.4300

40.4900

40.5300

40.5700

40.6100

40.6500

40.6900

40.7300

40.7700

40.8300

40.8700

162.0250

163.0500

163.1250

163.1500

163.1750

163.3750

164.2500

164.4750

164.5750

164.7250

164.7500

166.2250

166.2500

166.2750

166.3250

166.3750

166.6375

166.8250

166.8750

167.0250

167.0750

167.1000

167.1250

167.1500

167.1750

168.2250

168.2750

168.3250

168.4750

168.5750

169.4000

169.6250

169.6750

169.7250

170.0250

170.0500

170.0750

170.1500

171.3875

171.6500

171.7000

171.7500

172.0250

172.4250

172.4500

172.4750

172.5750

172.6250

172.6500

172.7500

173.0500

173.7625

I will have more on the TVA trunked radio project in a future Fed Files.

NBA All Star Game

The NBA All Star game is coming up this week in Houston, Texas. The event is getting some federal agency protection, as many large public events are these days. Some postings on the Houston area scanning lists have some potential activity listed in relation to the All Star activities:

161.2050 MHz, 146.2 - Amtrak Police K9 units
168.5875 MHz, N169 - ICE National Tactical 2
171.4375 MHz, N653 - Federal Interoperability 2 "Patch"
171.6125 MHz, N167 - FBI
171.6875 MHz, N167 - FBI
172.2125 MHz, N167 - FBI
172.2875 MHz, N167 - FBI

More as it becomes available.

Super Bowl XLVII Game Day

Monitoring the game day activities from Super Bowl XLVII. My post is a matter of feet from the Superdowe in New Orleans, and federal activity has been plentiful.

You can check out this CBS News video about Super Bowl XLVII security preparations here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50140183n

More later!