For those who would like to hear me talk about federal monitoring with Phil, W2LIE, here is a link to Podcast #142 with yours truly:
https://www.scannerschool.com/federal-scanning-with-chris-parris/
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Federal Scanning with Scanner School
Las Vegas Update
In the July and August columns, I published the frequencies I had logged while spending some extended time in Las Vegas. Here are those frequencies for future reference;
162.8500 N167 FBI
162.9750 N167 FBI
163.0000 N196 TSA Input to 172.9
163.1250 N4CE Hoover Dam NPS -always TG 10636, RID 1
163.2125 N100 Possible IRS TAC - RID 583xxxx
163.3375 N47C BLM law enforcement - input to173.6750
163.6500 N167 FBI
163.7000 N169 ICE
163.7125 114.8 pl Simplex, chat about where to eat
163.8125 N167 FBI
163.8625 N167 FBI
163.8875 N167 FBI
163.9625 N167 FBI
163.9875 N167 FBI
164.3500 Weak analog voice traffic
164.4500 Weak analog voice traffic
164.4750 110.9 pl USFS daily weather reports, input to 172.2750
164.5000 123.0 pl USFS aircraft, fire related
164.5000 146.2 pl USFS aircraft, fire related
164.5000 156.7 USFS aircraft, fire related
164.7000 N68F BLM law enforcement, input to 173.1500
165.0000 103.5 USFS aircraft, fire related
165.3750 N001 US Secret Service CHARLIE, Las Vegas Office
165.4125 D754 Old EPA Lab maintenance, still active
165.7250 N293 US Marshals Service – input to 170.7500
165.7625
165.8250 N293 RID 344xxxx
166.2375 Weak analog voice traffic
166.2750 100.0 Simplex, talking about where to eat again
166.3000 CSQ National Parks Service, Lake Mead NRA Admin
166.3750 110.9 Fire suppression aircraft, NIFC Air-to-Ground 66
166.3750 123.0 Fire suppression aircraft, NIFC Air-to-Ground 66
166.3750 136.5 Fire suppression aircraft, NIFC Air-to-Ground 66
166.4000 US Secret Service GOLF
166.7250 146.2 National Interagency Fire Center, TAC 5
166.7375 N314 RID 515xxxx, 517xxxx
166.7625 CSQ BLM Las Vegas, NIFC Air-to-Ground 23
166.8000 CSQ NIFC Air-to-Ground 06
166.8875 N293 RID 522xxxx
167.0500
167.1375 CSQ Federal Itinerant - fire suppression aircraft
167.1500 107.2 NPS Lake Mead NRA - input to 170.0500
167.2625 N167 FBI A-1
167.3625 N167 FBI
167.4375 N167 FBI A-8
167.5375 N167 FBI D-5/D-6
167.5500 CSQ NIFC Air-to-Ground 42?
167.6625 N167 FBI A-3
167.6875 N167 FBI A-6
167.7125 N167 FBI
167.8625 CSQ VAMC Medical paging
167.8875 Weak analog voice traffic, NIFC Air-to-Ground 48
167.9000 NIFC Air-to-Ground 38
168.0000 NIFC Air-to-Ground 75
168.0250 N61F
168.0250 156.7 Analog voice, radio check
168.2000 146.2 National Interagency Fire Center, TAC 2
168.4000 NIFC Air-to-Ground 22
168.5875 N169 ICE Nationwide TAC 2, RID 628xxxx
168.6125 110.9 Federal Itinerant, fire related
168.6500 110.9 National Flight Following, USFS
168.6750 167.9 NIFC Air-to-Ground 71
168.7750 103.5 USFS SOA (Scene of Action), fire related
168.7750 131.8 USFS SOA (Scene of Action), fire related
168.8375 N293
168.9250 Weak analog voice traffic
169.1500 CSQ NIFC Air-to-Ground 72
169.9125 N300 DHS, RID 628xxxx
170.0500 CSQ NPS Lake Mead NRA
170.4750 110.9 USFS Mt. Charleston
170.6000 N3E8 BLM, Mt. Potosi
170.6000 N68F BLM
170.6250 N167 FBI
170.6625 N167 FBI
170.7500 N293 US Marshals Service, Federal Courthouse, RID 828xxxx
170.8000 N293 US Marshals Service, RID 828xxx
171.4750 103.5 NIFC Air-to-Ground 64
172.2750 CSQ USFS Humbolt-Toiyabe National Forest, Angel
172.6000 N064 BLM, Mt Potosi
172.7500 146.2
172.8750 N293 FAA, Angel Peak
172.9000 N196 TSA @ McCarren Airport - RID 760xxx, 764xxx
173.0500 114.8 BLM, Hayford
173.6250 79.7
173.6750 N47C BLM law enforcement
406.3375 N482 US Postal Inspectors, RID 110xxxx, 871xxxx, 873xxxx
406.9375 DMR US Postal Service, Color Code 1
407.9375 DMR US Postal Service, Color Code 1
409.4000 N940 Federal Protective Service, RID 673xxxx, 675xxxx
413.3125
419.5000 156.7 DEA Local Option repeater
In addtion to these frequencies, here are some Las Vegas Mystery Frequencies to keep and ear on:
118.7000
The frequency of 118.7 MHz is not much of a mystery, but what this frequency is used for can be a mystery. This channel is used as a “company” channel for the JANET flights arriving and departing from Las Vegas McCarran airport that ferry workers to the Groom Lake area, sometimes referred to as Area 51. These white 737 aircraft flights have been the subject of many documentaries concerning Area 51. The flights are operated by a contractor for the U.S. Air Force and are easily monitored as they come and go from Las Vegas. Once they leave the Las Vegas area and head for Groom Lake, the frequencies they switch to are still a mystery to me.
165.4125
This analog repeater has long been heard with various maintenance operations at what sounds like a federal facility. I was never able to catch enough information to place it, but local listeners heard enough to pinpoint to location to the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) laboratories near the UNLV campus. However, the EPA has since shut down their labs at this facility, but the maintenance radio traffic continues. Could another agency or company be leasing the building? It’s unknown and will probably require a drive by of the facility to see if there are new signs up.
167.3625
For probably ten years now, this frequency has been broadcasting an analog carrier continuously for no known purpose. It is an active FBI frequency here in Las Vegas, and the agency does use it in the P-25 digital mode, but that appears to be a separate transmitting location or simplex use. The signal has been known to vanish for a short time, but it always comes back. During my stay in Las Vegas, I noted the analog carrier was off the air twice, but it returned within a couple of hours. Why is this happening? Some had speculated it is a stuck transmitter, others have suggested a spur or harmonic of another radio transmitter somewhere. Why it has a constant carrier on it is unknown.
167.8625
In many areas of the country, the frequency of 167.8625 MHz is likely carrying some form of medical paging data or voice traffic. This was noted some years ago as a nationwide assignment to the Veterans Affairs Medical Centers across the country. And Las Vegas had quite a bit of paging traffic on this frequency for some time, but my most recent visits revealed that the paging transmitter is still operational and identifying itself every so often, there are no paging data or voice messages being broadcast. What happened? Did they move to a commercial paging service, or perhaps found pagers redundant now that everyone has a cell phone?
413.2125
This frequency has been noted by local listeners as emanating from Nellis Air Force Base and is referred to as GIANT VOICE. It is linked to numerous public address speakers around the base and is used for emergency announcements. Reports are various voice tests and data bursts are heard here, but during my stay here in Las Vegas, I did not catch anything on that frequency. It’s possibly too low powered, but I was hearing aircraft on the ground at Nellis, so I think I would have heard that.
413.3125
I came across activity on this frequency during my searches of the UHF band and found something unusual. The frequency seems to carry traffic that sounds a lot like AEGIS encryption. However, this encryption mode is very old and probably not supported by Harris anymore. But who could it be and why are they using an old, outdated digital encryption mode? The old UHF trunked system used by the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) did use AEGIS encryption on frequencies in the 400 MHz band, but that system has been replaced by a new, P-25 digital system in the 380 MHz band. Did someone inherit some older UHF radios and still use them?
419.5000
This frequency was long noted as the local Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) repeater for the Las Vegas area. For many years it could be heard in use, quite often with little or no encryption. Around 2015, the activity on this repeater stopped, and after some time, everyone assumed it had been taken out of service. But over the last year, several signals have been heard on this repeater that sound like someone playing with a radio and doing test counts. In some cases, the radio was heard using voice inversion, and sometimes you could hear DTMF dialing tones being sent. Local monitors have not determined if someone is knowingly trying to utilize this repeater, or perhaps someone has the input frequency accidentally programmed in an amateur transceiver. In any case they have never apparently offered a call sign when transmitting.
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Federal Trunked System 3CD
Some recent discoveries of new control channels in the federal UHF bands have indicated that these trunked systems are part of a larger trunked system core, using the system ID of "3CD".
This is a single system core that is managed by Motorola Federal Solutions. They call it the Managed Zone Core:
Motorola drops trunked sites as needed and then leases sites on this core to various federal locations or facilities that don't have the budget to build a system from the ground up.
So far, a majority of the sites seem to be at Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers and hospitals. But a number of sites in multiple states are utilized by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
While all these sites and agencies share the system core controller, they are not interconnected with each other. Each operates like it was a standalone trunked system. I do think some of the VA sites in Florida may be networked to each other, as I did hear some testing early on that was identifying various sites for test counts.
System ID 3CD
WACN BEE00
Flavor Phase 2
Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
Tower 1-41 Atlanta, GA
406.1125, 407.8125, 409.3000, 410.0375
Tower 1-42 Chamblee, GA
406.7750, 408.4375, 408.6375
Tower 1-43 Lawrenceville, GA
408.8375, 409.0375, 409.2375
Tower 1-44 Ft. Collins, CO
408.8375, 409.2375, 409.9375, 410.0375
Miami VAMC
Tower 1-33 Miami, FL
408.0000, 409.3250, 409.5125
Orlando VAMC
Tower 1-11 Orlando, FL
406.5000, 407.8625, 408.2375, 409.4375
Coatsville, PA VAMC
Tower 1-66 Coatsville, PA
170.1875, 170.5875, 172.6875
Jesse Brown VAMC, IL
Tower 1-04 Chicago, IL
407.8375, 408.2375
There are probably more federal facilities that may end up using this system core, so keep an ear out for P25 control channels in your area that have the system ID of 3CD!
Saturday, August 22, 2020
RC-26 Aircraft Use In Protests Investigated
Articles in the Air Force Times indicates there was an investigation into the use of Air National Guard RC-26 surveillance aircraft for airborne observations of the protests in various cities around the country.
The bottom line appears to be that the requests for use of the aircraft did not go through the proper authorization needed for this type of operation. The RC-26 aircraft are not considered "intelligence" gathering platforms by the National Guard Bureau.
Monday, August 10, 2020
163.4625 Mystery
OK, blog readers, here's another federal frequency mystery for you...
163.4625 MHz, NAC 001, radio ID of 1, talk group of 1.
Heard encrypted communications in the Seattle area recently. A check of my logs have shown that it mostly appears to have been allocated at various military bases across the country.
I have logged it with various NAC values at some of the Super Bowl games I've been working.
The NTIA allocations seem to indicate military or Department of Energy allocations.
Any guesses?
Saturday, July 18, 2020
West Palm Beach Monitoring
Since Donald Trump became President, there has been much speculation about frequencies in use at Mar-A- Lago, Trump’s compound near West Palm Beach, Florida. Many local listeners have claimed the Secret Service wasn’t using their usual VHF or UHF radio frequencies as none of those had been heard active when the President was on location. However, I had an associate who happened to be in West Palm Beach and just a short distance from the Trump compound. He managed to log quite a few known Secret Service and White House Communications Agency (WHCA) channels active prior to a POTUS arrival, so I think the rumors of a new, super-secret, GHz band radio system in use there may be premature.
Here is what was heard in West Palm Beach:
162.7000 N293 US Marshals Federal Courthouse
163.0500 N293 USCG NET 112
163.1125 N169 ICE National TAC 3
164.8875 N001 USSS OSCAR
165.3125 N293 USCG NET 121
165.3750 N001 USSS CHARLIE
166.5125 N001 USSS/WHCA SIERRA/ALPHA
166.7000 N001 WHCA NOVEMBER
166.7375 N0D0 PBI TSA input to 172.1500
167.0375 N001 USSS Presidential Protection Detail
167.4875 N167 FBI A-3
167.6125 N293 US Marshals Service
167.7375 N167 FBI A-2
167.7625 N167 FBI A-1
168.2750 N001
169.1625 N293 CBP AIR 4
169.2625 N293 CBP AIR 3
169.3000 N013 TSA at FLL
169.9125 N167 FBI
169.6000 N200 ICE
170.1625 N375 ICE
170.3750 N200 ICE
170.5500 N001
170.6000 N301 DHS HSI
170.7250 N301 DHS HSI DNET-36
170.7375 N200 CBP
170.7500 N293 US Marshals Federal Courthouse
170.8375 N167 FBI Palm Beach
171.1875 N303 CBP Miami
171.3250 N296 CBP Miami
171.4375 N653 Federal Interoperability
171.6875 N167 FBI
171.7625 N303 DHS HSI
171.9625 N282 CBP West Palm Beach Port of Entry
171.9875 N167 FBI
172.1500 N0D0 TSA @ PBI Airport
172.1875 N167 FBI
172.2375 N301 CBP
172.2875 N167 FBI Miami C-2
172.7125 N283 CBP Port Everglades
172.7625 N200 ICE
173.1875 N301 CBP
173.6500 N156 DEA
173.7250 N650 BATFE
173.9260 N650 BATFE
406.2000 N201 Federal Protective Service (FPS)
407.1375 N482 US Postal Inspection Service
410.8000 N201 FPS
413.0250 N293 USCG NET 411
Ft. Lauderdale Frederal Frequencies
As I was in the Miami
area for over two weeks for the Super Bowl, I spent a fair amount of my down time at my
hotel, which was located in Fort Lauderdale. Even though I didn’t think I would
catch much Super Bowl related communications from there, I figured it would
give me a chance to check out routine federal activity in the Broward County
area.
I set up a couple of
antennas on my hotel room balcony. Many people who spotted my antenna setup on
my Twitter posts wondered what kind of antennas they were and how they worked. I
ended up doing a lot of Coast Guard and marine traffic monitoring as I had a
front row seat at the entrance to Port Everglades.
Here are the active
frequencies I logged from my hotel room monitoring setup:
162.6250 N303 CBP
Miami Area
163.0500 N293 US
Coast Guard NET 112
163.8375 N167 FBI
165.3125 N293 US
Coast Guard NET 121
165.7875 N001 US
Secret Service BRAVO
165.9250
167.3375 N167 FBI
167.5375 N167 FBI
167.6125 N293 US
Marshals Service
167.6625 N167 FBI
167.7625 N167 FBI
167.8625 CSQ VAMC
Paging
168.0000 100.0 pl
168.4625 N68F Federal
Interoperability LE-5
169.2625 N293 CBP
OAM AIR-3
169.2625 N61A
170.1625 N375 ICE
170.2375 156.7 pl
170.3750 N200 ICE
170.6000 N301 CBP
170.7375 N200 ICE
171.1875 N303 CBP
Miami Area
171.3250 N296 CBP
171.3875 N300 ICE
171.6875 N167 FBI
Miami Area
171.7625 N303 CBP
171.9875 N167 FBI
OPS 2
172.1875 N167 FBI
OPS 4
172.2875 N167 FBI
OPS 3
172.4125 N303 CBP
172.7125 N283 CBP
Port Everglades
172.9000 N013 TSA
@ FLL airport
172.9000 N019 TSA
@ MIA airport
173.0750 CSQ LOJACK
data bursts
173.3625
173.6500 N156 DEA
173.7250 N650 BATFE
173.8000 N286 CBP
173.8750 N1D3 EPA or possibly US Capitol Police?
406.2000 N201 FPS
406.3500
407.1375 N482 US
Postal Inspection Service
407.9500
408.0000 N3C0 VAMC
trunked system Miami
408.7500
408.7625
409.5250 N293 US
Department of State (DoS)
409.6000
410.0750 CSQ FAA
Data
410.1000
410.7625 N254 ?
RADIO ID 56693, TG 52976
410.8000 N201 FPS
410.9500
412.6750
412.7250
413.0250 N293 USCG
NET 411
413.4750
418.6750 156.7 pl DEA
418.7000
418.7500 156.7 pl DEA
419.0250
419.5250 156.7 pl DEA
419.8000
Atlanta Federal Frequencies
Late in 2019 I spent a few days in Atlanta for work and logged some active federal channels. Many of these frequencies
were active a year ago when I was in town for the Super Bowl, but there were
actually some new catches as well. Here is what I recorded over my time there:
162.2250 NB10 ICE
162.9250 NB11 ICE
163.7875 N167 FBI
163.8125 N864 U.S.
Marshals Service
164.1625 N293
164.4000 N001 U.S.
Secret Service PAPA
164.7875 N001 TSA
at ATL Airport
165.7250 N293 U.S.
Marshals Service
166.4750 NB10 ICE
167.2125 N167 FBI
167.3875 N167 FBI
167.4875 N167 FBI
167.5375 N167 FBI
167.6750 N293 U.S.
Marshals Service, Federal Courthouse
168.4625 N68F Federal
Interop LE-5
168.8375 N001 TSA
@ ATL Airport
168.9250 N167 FBI
169.3750 NB10 ICE Wide Area Network
169.7375 NB10 ICE Wide Area Network
169.5750 N156 DEA
169.6625 N292
169.8125 N293 MLK
Center Atlanta - Security
169.9125 NB10 ICE
Wide Area Network
170.1000 NB10 ICE Wide Area Network
170.4375 NB10 ICE Wide Area Network
170.6500 N156 DEA
170.8500 N864 U.S.
Marshals Service
171.1875 NB10 ICE
Wide Area Network
171.3250 N281 CBP
172.2625 N293
173.1000 N167 FBI
172.8750 N293 FAA
172.9000 N001 TSA at ATL Airport
172.9750 N003
173.7875 NB10 ICE Wide Area Network
406.1125 N3C1 HHS CDC Site 1-41
406.1375 DMR Color
Code 1 - Postal Service Sorting Center
406.3375 N482 US
Postal Inspection Service
406.5000 N293
406.7750 N3C0 System 3CD, Site 1-42
407.0000 N201 FPS Atlanta Operations
407.0125 N2B5 US Prison Atlanta TRS C92B
407.7250 N482 Postal Inspection Service
407.8125 N3C1 HHS CDC Site1-41
407.8375 N293
408.0000 N293 Security
Patrols, gate checks
408.2500 N2B5 US
Prison Atlanta TRS C92B
408.4375 N3C0 HHS CDC Site 1-42
408.6375 N3C0 HHS CDC Site 1-42
409.2125 N2B5 US
Prison Atlanta TRS C92B
409.3000 N3C1 HHS CDC, Site 1-41
409.4125 N2B5 US
Prison Atlanta TRS C92B
410.0375 N3C1 HHS CDC Site 1-41
410.5250 N2B5 US
Prison Atlanta TRS C92B
410.7375 DMR Color
Code 2, Talk Group 101 - Security
410.8000 N201 Federal
Protective Service
412.9000 N001 Security
Patrols
413.0500 N0F0 Department
of State
413.4750 N201 Federal
Protective Service
413.9500 N201 Federal
Protective Service
413.9875 118.8PL Automated
voice alarms
415.0500 N293 U.S. Postal Inspection Service
415.3375 N482 U.S.
Postal Inspection Service, input to 406.3375
415.5000 N293
416.0000 N270
416.7250 N482 Postal Inspection Service, input to
407.7250
419.8000 N201 Federal
Protective Service, input to 410.8000
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