I recently received some information regarding a controlled burn taking place at the Gulf Islands National Seashore, located along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and the Florida panhandle.
The communications used during this controlled burn were using 168.6125 MHz, in P-25 digital mode, using a Network Access Code (NAC) of N293.
For more frequencies used by the National Park Service, check out the NPS page on the blog site:
http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/p/national-park-service.html
On my recent travels through Arizona, I spotted a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Law Enforcement vehicle that had a large SATCOM antenna on the roof. There was also what appeared to be a multi-band land mobile radio antenna as well.
The large, platter shaped antenna is on the left side, over the drivers head. It is labeled with a number of warning emblems, probably telling you to not touch the antenna while in use.
I did not know that BLM had satellite capabilities, but it makes sense as they often operate in very remote areas, many miles from cell sites.
This is an additional agency that has been confirmed to have access to satellite voice and data communications. This list includes other Department of the Interior agencies, such as US Geological Survey, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), FEMA, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Army Corps of Engineers and Health & Human Services.
There are likely more agencies that can use mobile satellite gear. The NIFOG does list some federal interoperability channels/networks that are available on satellite.
At the top of the Fed Files Blog home page, you should see tabs that will take you to frequency lists of various federal agencies and offices. I have recently added some new tabs to include some frequencies that were requested by some blog visitors.
I have added tabs for the Department of Agriculture, which includes the Forest Service, and a tab for the Department of the Interior, which includes the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Park Service (NPS).
I will be updating and adding some specific listings for various parks and forests soon.
In the December Federal Wavelengths column, I mentioned that most federal law enforcement agencies still have a zone of their frequencies in analog mode available for their use. Many have it labeled as "WB" or wide-band.
This week, I received reports of one such use. The Drug Enforcement Administration has long been noted to still use their TAC channels in analog, especially when an airborne observer was part of the surveillance operations. The reports I have seen have analog surveillance ops going on, and some limited reports of DES encryption being used.
So it might be good to set up some analog searches of federal channels some time!
With the switch over to UHF P25 for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), there have been some airport locations that are revealing some new frequency allocations. I recently discovered a new repeater pairing in Detroit (DTW). They are using 407.7000 / 415.7000 MHz, with a NAC of N13E. I had not seen this pair of frequencies in use at other airport locations yet.
I also heard from a reader who confirmed 411.3375 MHz, N0D2 in use in Rochester, NY (ROC).
I am posting updates on new frequencies and NACs on the TSA page here:
http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/p/tsa-frequency-updates.html
As more airport locations start using the new Motorola UHF radios, some new frequencies are bound to show up, so keep searching!
The newest version of the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide, also known as the NIFOG has been updated. Version 2.01 is now available for download here:
Some changes I noted include a revamped Network Access Code (NAC) assignment for the 700 MHz interoperability frequencies. Also I see some default frequencies listed for deployable trunking systems.
I recently received word that the Federal Protective Service (FPS) in Los Angeles has finally upgraded their UHF repeater to be P-25 digital. The LA operation had been one of the few FPS locations that was still analog as of a few weeks ago.
The LA area repeater is now using 410.8000 MHz, using a NAC of N201.
The Orange County repeater on Santiago Peak is now using 406.2000 MHz, N201.
And encryption was utilized when the radios were updated.
The General Services Administration (GSA) federal building maintenance repeater on 415.2 MHz remains analog.
It appears that one frequency in my June TSM column got cut off.
On page 43 of the June issue, under the map of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve locations in Texas and Louisiana, I listed frequencies that have been confirmed as in use by these facilities. However, the very first frequency should be 164.2250 MHz and not 64.225 MHz.
After my recent trip to LA for Super Bowl 56, I was a guest on Phil Lichtenberger’s Scanner School podcast.
We talked at some length about the whole event and what I managed to hear.
You can listen to podcast #221 at scannerschool.com:
The rollout of the new UHF radio systems for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) appears to be proceeding at a fast pace.
So far we have found the frequencies of 406.7375/415.7375 MHz, P-25 using various NAC's. The P25 radio IDs are in the 8xxxx or 9xxxx range so far, but some radios are just showing a RID of 1.They appear to be using a repeater at the airport, but I have identified a simplex channel of 411.4875 MHz, using the same NAC at one of the airports listed below. More are likely to be found as I get more time at the airports to monitor. I suspect that the simplex channels will be available with multiple NACs in different zones of the radios, similar to what they used in the VHF channel plans.
Lots of questions regarding encryption - Yes the TSA has always had AES encryption available in their radios and the new APX radios are no exception. And like the other radios, the encryption is not forced on, so you will get some clear transmissions.
(NOTE: Corrected the frequency pair listing above which started out as incorrect!)
Here is a list of what we have found active so far. I will update the list as new finds come in.
Airport P-25 NAC
AUS - Austin Bergstrom N061
BOS - Boston Logan N01C
BUR - Hollywood Burbank N06A
COS - Colorado Springs N076
DAL - Dallas Love Field N07C
DEN - Denver International N016
DFW - Dallas/Ft. Worth Int'l N02A
EWR - Newark N03D
GJT - Grand Junction, CO N243
HOU - Houston Hobby N028
HPN - Westchester Co NY N1CB
JFK - New York JFK N02B
LAX - Los Angeles Intl N031,N032
LGA - New York LaGuardia N03A
MCO - Orlando Intl N040
MDW - Chicago Midway N070
ORD - Chicago O'Hare N010
PHX - Phoenix Sky Harbor N046
SAN - San Diego Intl N0E0
SAT - San Antonio Int N0DB
SFO - San Francisco Intl N049
TUS - Tucson Intl N0F0
NOTES:
In addition to the repeater paired frequencies, here are simplex channels that have been confirmed:
409.4875
411.2875
411.4875
411.5375
414.6125
414.6375
414.9125
415.7375
418.4875
419.6875
These channels may be used with multiple NACs at the various airport locations.
UPDATES!
On my latest trip through San Diego, the TSA at SAN airport were using 414.6375 MHz, with a NAC of N0E0. Encryption was not forced, so some clear traffic was heard.
I just noticed a posting from CARMA Chicago that they heard a tone on 406.7375 MHz, N293. Unknown if this is testing for a TSA repeater, but odds are that it is. Also unknown if this is O'Hare or Midway airport.
While traveling through Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) today, I noted that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents in the Terminal 2 checkpoint had Motorola APX-900 radios with them instead of the BK Radios that they have been using for some years now.
I put one of the radios in my backpack into searching the UHF federal band and quickly came up with some encrypted traffic on 406.7375 MHz, with a P-25 NAC of N031.
There may be additional UHF channels in use at LAX, but it will take some time to find them. But this frequency seems to be common for all TSA locations so far. The repeater input is 415.7375 MHz.
For those wondering, yes I was at Super Bowl 56 in Inglewood last week, and there was plenty to hear. I didn't publish what was happening in real time, but will have a full report in the April issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine.
I would normally try and get it in the March issue, but due to editorial deadlines and the fact that the game occurred a week later than in past years, just made it too difficult to get done in time.
I will share a picture of my work space at the stadium for the time I was on site!
Also some of the CBP helicopters that visited the stadium and dodged commercial traffic from LAX!
I have recently received word of the new TSA UHF frequency being heard in the Houston, Texas area.
406.7375 MHz, was heard active with a NAC of N028. The report could not establish if this was from Houston Hobby airport (KHOU) or Houston George Bush Intercontinental airport (KIAH). It might be a common repeater for the area, and each airport may have addtional, simplex P-25 frequencies.
This makes the third or fourth city that has seen the new TSA channel active. Boston is using the same frequency with a NAC of N01C, Colorado Springs is using a NAC of N076. And someone posted on a thread about the TSA in Milwaukee that "Wisconson TSA has gone UHF", but no details were shared.
More updates as they come it!
I have been receiving reports of some recent changes in the Federal Protective Service (FPS) radio channels in multiple cities.
First, listeners were not hearing the normal FPS traffic on 410.8000, 410.7000, or 410.9000 MHz in the eastern Georgia region. After some additional monitoring, it was determined that they had changed their P-25 Network Access Code (NAC) from N270 to N201.
I also received word that a new FPS repeater on 410.8000 MHz, N201 was being used in the Chicago area. This seems to replace the long used FPS channel of 406.7000 MHz, N201.
Nashville, TN has also reported a new FPS presence on 410.8000 MHz, N201 as well, so maybe they are attempting to coordinate everything into a regional or national channel plan.
This may indicate other changes are afoot, so keep an ear on the federal UHF channels for any new activity.
One of the great monitoring locations I have encountered in my travels is O’Hare airport in Chicago (ORD). There is so much going on there, not just with air traffic and airlines, but the public safety and federal operations are always busy. One of the ongoing mysteries for me is what frequencies are being used by which federal agencies at ORD? In particular, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Since the TSA moved to their newer P-25 radios a few years ago, they seemed to be hard to catch at ORD.
Chicago usually has plenty of federal activity, and here is a listing of what I have caught over my last few visits:
162.0625 NC02 Customs and Border Protection @ ORD
162.8250 NC02 Customs and Border Protection @ ORD
162.9500 NC02 Customs and Border Protection @ ORD
163.1125 N496
163.1375 N293 Coast Guard NET 113
163.4750 NC02 Customs and Border Protection @ ORD
163.6250 NC02 Customs and Border Protection @ ORD
163.6750 NC02 Customs and Border Protection @ ORD
163.7500 NC02 Customs and Border Protection @ ORD
163.7750 NC02 Customs and Border Protection @ ORD
164.2625 127.3 PL Department of Energy - Fermilabs
165.0750 N03D TSA at ORD Airport
165.8500 NC02
166.7375 N03D TSA at ORD Airport
166.8125 N167 FBI
167.5875 N167 FBI
168.0875 NC02
168.8875 N653 Chicago Tactical North (CG-TAC N)
168.9125 N653 Chicago Tactical South (CG-TAC S)
169.5750 N156 DEA
170.3750 N156 DEA
170.5625 N156 DEA
170.6250 N167 FBI
170.7250 N167 FBI
170.8125 N653 Chicago Command North (CG-COM N)
170.8500 N864
170.8625 N167 FBI
171.2875 N293
171.4375 N653 Chicago Command South (CG-COM S)
171.6125 N167 FBI
171.6875 N653 Chicago Command Central (CG-COM C)
172.2125 N653 Chicago Tactical Central (CG-TAC C)
172.6625 NC02 Customs and Border Protection @ ORD
173.1875 N650 BATFE
173.8625 N156 DEA
406.1125 DMR
406.3375 N482 Postal Inspection Service (PIS)
406.6625 DMR-CC1 Federal Reserve Bank Branch
406.7000 N201 Federal Protective Service, Chicago
407.0750 DMR
407.1250 N396 BoP Metropolitan Correctional Center
407.7250 N482 Postal Inspection Service
407.7750 N482 Postal Inspection Service
407.8375 N293
408.2500 N396 BoP Metropolitan Correctional Center
409.9125 N396 BoP Metropolitan Correctional Center
409.9500 N396 BoP Metropolitan Correctional Center
412.9750 N293
Over the last year, there has been some anticipation over the move of the Transportation Security Administration to new radios. They had been seeking new UHF radios to replace their current VHF BK radios used in most airports around the United States.
Today, I received word of some activity on a federal UHF frequency in the Boston, MA area that is likely a new TSA UHF repeater system at Logan Airport.
The active frequency was 406.7375 MHz, NAC was N01C. Radio IDs were in the 839xxx range. Clear testing was heard from locations around the airport terminals. Encryption was also noted.
The frequency is interesting as I have no reports on that frequency use before. It is listed in the NTIA documents as being paired with 415.7375 MHz for repeater use.
More on this as I receive additional reports.
UPDATE 11/23/21 - Colorado Springs, CO is now using 406.7375/415.7375 repeater with a NAC of N076.
And thanks to all my anonymous sources!
The latest version of the Department of Homeland Security National Interoperability Field Operations Guide (NIFOG) is now available for download. You can find this PDF file at this link:
The electronic version is also available at the Apple App store and Google Play for your mobile devices:
Apple
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/enifog/id1231552691
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.saic.eNIFOG&hl=en_US&gl=US
Recent events in the South Florida area prompted requests from readers for information on the frequencies used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
At 1:23 AM on June 24, 2021, a large section of the Champlain Towers South condominium building in Surfside, Florida, collapsed. Nearly 100 people lost their lives in the collapse. The response to the building collapse was massive, with not only Miami city agencies and Florida state agencies responding, but quite a few federal agencies sent teams of personal and equipment in. On June 25, President Biden signed an Emergency Declaration authorizing federal assistance to local and state resources.
FEMA can show up in nearly any federal frequency band, but their primary frequencies of choice these days is in the 400 MHz federal band. All communications are likely P25 digital and encrypted. FEMA has also been observed handing out Motorola DTR710 900 MHz spread spectrum frequency hopping radios in some situations. In addition to the FEMA channels, be sure and keep a watch on the VHF and UHF interoperability frequencies found in the DHS National Interoperability Field Operations Guide, or NIFOG. Radios deployed at disaster sites will have all the NIFOG channels available for use.
Here is a listing of known FEMA radio frequencies that were probably in use in South Florida and can be used in any disaster response. The P-25 digital channels will often be used with a Network Access Code (NAC) of N421, but other NACs have been observed in some situations. All of these can be used as repeater pairs (inputs are usually +9 MHz in the UHF band), or any frequency can be simplex:
406.2625 N421 FEMA 01/02
406.4500
406.4625
406.6500
406.6750
406.7000
406.7250
406.7500
406.8625 National Disaster Medical System (NDMS)
407.0625 N421 FEMA 03/04
407.1250 NDMS
407.2625
407.4500 N421 FEMA 11/12
407.4625
407.5250
407.6625 N421 FEMA 05/06
407.8000
407.8500
407.9000
407.9250
408.0625
408.2625
408.8625 N421 FEMA Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) 01
409.0000 N447 FEMA NDMS
409.0500 N447 FEMA NDMS
409.0625 N421 FEMA 07/08
409.0750 NDMS
409.1500
409.2000
409.2625 USAR
409.3375
409.4625 N421 FEMA 11
409.6625 USAR
409.7250
409.8625 N421 FEMA 05
410.2625 USAR
410.3375 N447 FEMA NDMS
410.4625 N421 FEMA 09/10
410.6625 FEMA Urban Search and Rescue (USAR)
410.8625 N421 FEMA 14
412.4375
412.8250
412.8375
412.8500
412.8625
412.8750
412.8875
412.9000
412.9125
414.9125
414.9375
414.9500
414.9625
415.2625
415.4625
415.6500
415.6750
415.7000
415.7250
415.7500
415.8625
416.0625
416.2625
416.4500 N421 FEMA INPUT
416.4625
416.5250
416.6625
416.8000
416.8500
416.9000
416.9250
417.0625
417.2625
417.2875
417.8625
418.0625 N421 FEMA 08 INPUT
418.0750
418.1500
418.2000
418.2625
418.3375
418.4625 N421 FEMA 11 INPUT
418.6625
418.7250
418.8625 N421 FEMA 05 INPUT
419.2625
419.4625 N421 FEMA 02 INPUT
419.6625 N421
419.8625 N421 FEMA 14 INPUT
I will continue to update my FEMA frequency listings on the Fed Files Blog page, which can be found here: http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/p/fema-frequencies.html
For those who may have missed the discussions on Radio Reference or in the pages of The Spectrum Monitor magazine, there has been a redacted version of the Government Master File of federal radio frequencies made available on line.
The web site Government Attic obtained the unclassified portion of the GMF and posted it on their site. The first page of the PDF file indicate that Government Attic requested the GMF copy from the Department of Commerce through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The request was submitted on May 19 and was released on June 25, 2021.
Here is a link to the file if you wish to download it for yourself:
https://www.governmentattic.org/41docs/NTIAgovtMasterFile_2021.pdf
The released PDF file is 82 megabytes large and contains over 15,500 pages of text information from the GMF, although some have noticed that there are some blank and duplicate pages in this file. It is important to note that this is only a portion of the entire Government Master File, a portion that had been unclassified for release.
Those who are in the know say that this release is only about 20 percent of the entire file. The entire GMF is quite large and is only available to persons or organizations who hold a government security clearance. Sensitive frequencies used by agencies of the Justice Department, Homeland Security, Department of State, etc., are all redacted from this document.
Despite being heavily edited, there are some interesting federal frequencies listed for various offices and agencies that you may not have known about before, so definitely check it out if you have time to look through the file.
Since this version of the GMF extract is a PDF file, your PDF reader program should have a search function built in. I have found that to find a specific frequency, you can search for “M162.5500”, with M standing for Megahertz and K for kilohertz. You can search for city names or federal facility names or locations.
This is not federal or military specific, but interesting none the less.
A recent discovery of a new type of P-25 trunking control channel has sparked some developments in the various monitoring and analysis software solutions.
It seems that a couple of new Harris P-25, phase 2 trunked radio systems for energy companies have started using the same TDMA modulation for the control channel data as is used for the voice frequencies. Traditionally, the control channels in P-25 phase 2 trunked systems have used FDMA modulation for the control channel data. This is potentially a big change for all P-25 trunked system monitoring, although it appears to be an option for newer systems that are being built out now and is not likely to start showing up on existing public safety radio systems.
Here is the Radio Reference forum thread with more specific information on what was found:
The Bluetail Technologies forum also seems to indicate they have added TDMA control channel support for their SDR receivers:
https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/tdma-control-channel-support.429563/#post-3544536
