CBP Customs in Canada

I just returned from a quick trip to Montreal and passed through the US Customs Pre-Clearance at Toronto's Pearson Airport (YYZ). I spotted a CBP Customs officer at the end of the Pre-Clearance area with a VHF Astro Saber radio. While waiting for my departing flight to the US, I listened to see if I could fingure out what they might be using there, but had no success.

I have been told that CBP Customs officers at Vancouver (YVR) use the CBP Customs NET 1 frequency (165.2375 MHz), but I have never caught them while in Canada. Anyone confirmed any usage of VHF channels by CBP at YYZ?

POTUS Visit to Seattle

I was unable to make the trip up to Seattle to monitor the arrival of President Obama on Tuesday, but I did get some reports from folks on the ground there.

Here is what was reported active near Boeing Field, where Air Force 1 arrived;
164.8875 MHz, N001 - OSCAR
165.3750 MHz, N001 - CHARLIE
167.0125 MHz, N001
167.0375 MHz, N001
169.5125 MHz, N001 - WHCA SIERRA

I still have not come up with a standard "name" for the 167.0125 and 167.0375 channels that have been used by the Secret Service for a few years now. They are sometime referred to as POTUS protection detail channels, but they are often used where the POTUS or VPOTUS are not present.

Also, 165,7625 MHz, P25 with a NAC of N167 was reported active at Boeing Field. Unknown who exactly this might have been.

In addition to the conventional channels, there was some speculation as to who might be using the IWN, the federal VHF trunked radio system in the Seattle area. Locals set up to monitor the system activity reported nothing unusual on the trunking sites they were monitoring, but the IWN system very rarely seems to simulcast activity on sites other than the ones the users are affiliated with. Also, although the local Seattle field office of the Secret Service undoubtedly has IWN radios, it's doubtful the traveling POTUS protective detail has access to the IWN on these types of trips.

I did get to hear the departure of the Oregon Air Guard F-15's sent to intercept the incursion of the restricted airspace near Seattle. The alert flight (callsign ROCK) was launched from PDX airport and apparently went super-sonic to get up to there in a hurry, causing all kinds of phone calls about sonic booms and explosions!

US Troops Deployed to Border

National Guard troops are beginning their deployment along the US-Mexico border. Troops will be deployed in Texas, New Mexico , Arizona and California to help support the Border Patrol with border security.

Monitors along the border areas can check for additional frequencies that might be in use by the National Guard troops. I have heard that some troops have received training in the use of the DHS CBP digital radios prior to being deployed.

Previous troop deployments to the border areas in Texas have included some additional antennas being installed at the Border Patrol checkpoints along major highways. The old checkpoint near Laredo, Texas had what appeared to be a military style VHF low-band antennas, most likely for the National Guard SINCGARS radios, operating from 30-88 MHz.

More From USFS Mt. Hood

In past blog posts I have mentioned some changes taking place in the Mt. Hood National Forest and Gifford-Pinchot National Forest areas of northwestern Oregon and southwestern Washington state.

I have been searching through the UHF federal bands lately as new P-25 links keep showing up as the radio work continues. I just installed a new UHF Yagi antenna to try and help pull in some of these UHF frequencies. Here's what I found today:

406.3875 MHz, 136.5 pl - USFS Columbia Dispatch
407.1375 MHz, N482 - US Postal Inspectors, Portland
408.2000 MHz, N107 - Federal Protective Service, Portland
408.8125 MHz, analog carrier
408.9875 MHz, N788
409.1875 MHz, N555 - USFS Columbia Dispatch
410.7875 MHz, analog
412.8375 MHz, analog - May have been US Corps of Engineers
414.0375 MHz, analog, Should be one of the UHF federal interoperability naional calling channels. I heard someone heard finishing a test count, "3,2,1, test out...", but did not catch a PL tone.
416.1375 MHz, N482 - US Postal Inspectors, repeater input

More as the new antenna sucks it in!

Palm Springs Area Update

I spent a few days in the very warm Palm Springs area for work last week. I had only a few brief periods to scan the federal bands and came up with these. Some I have identified thanks to the work of the Southern California listeners who send me updates. A couple I haven't figured out for sure.

163.6250,N141 DHS BORDER PATROL-INDIO
164.9375,103.5 USFS ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST - ADMIN NET
165.2875,N650 DOJ BATFE NET 1
166.6375,N183 DHS BORDER PATROL-TEMECULA EAST
166.9125,N245 DHS BORDER PATROL-MA 4 SANTIAGO PEAK
166.9750,97.4 DOI BLM?
168.8000,N170 DHS BORDER PATROL-JIOPSP JOINT OPS
169.8750,123.0 USFS-SAN BERNARDINO NF?
169.8750,151.4 USFS-SAN BERNADRINO NF?
170.2250,103.5 ?
171.4750,103.5 USFS-SAN BERNARDINO NF?
171.6250,N153 DHS BORDER PATROL?
172.2250,103.5 USFS SAN BERNARDINO NF-ADMIN NET
172.3750,103.5 USFS ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST
172.9000,N001 DHS TSA @ KPSP
173.7125,167.9 FBI SURVEILLANCE OPS, SOME DES
415.0750,CSQ USFS LINK
419.5250,167.9 RELATED TO 172.7125?

169.8250 P-25

While driving to the airport in Portland, OR today, I came across at least two mobile units talking on 169.8250 MHz, simplex, P-25 NAC293. From the conversations they were definitely not from the area and were looking at maps trying to figure out how to get through Portland on I-84 to I-5 northbound.

This caught my attention because this frequency is part of the assignments used by the US Geological Survey at Mt. St. Helens, (http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/2010/05/usgs-mt-st-helens-frequencies.html). A few times a year, listeners in the Portland area have reported weak P-25 traffic on the USGS channels, but we could never figure out where it was coming from.

No real idea who these guys are with, but one mentioned that one of the vehicles in their convoy was a "full sized truck". One unit also pointed out a "tower" and said that they had "worked on those lines before". Don't know if they meant power or RF type of tower.

The frequency could be any number of agencies, mostly Department of the Interior agencies, including USGS, BLM, Bureau of Mines, etc..

More TRBO Digital on Federal Frequencies

I just received a report of confirmed use of the MOTOTRBO digital mode on 409.7375 MHz, somewhere in the Southern California (LA) area. MOTOTRBO is a propriatory digital radio product sold by Motorola, and appears to be gaining favor with hospitals, casinos and possibly some non-law enforcement federal opertions.

I have not copied any TRBO traffic on that frequency in my past SoCal visits, but have heard what I suspect to be TRBO digital on 407.3375 MHz and 413.5250 MHz, which I highly suspect to be coming from the VA Medical facility along I-5 north of San Diego.

Back in May, while in Las Vegas I heard many transmissions on 406.9375 MHz that sounded a lot like the known MOTOTRBO users in my home area. I've heard several other federal users, including 406.6625 MHz, the Federal Reserve Branch in Chicago, 407.9375 MHz coming from somewhere in the Seattle/Tacoma area, and 409.4375 MHz confirmed as coming from the VA Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington.

USFS Columbia Dispatch Using P-25 Digital

Over the last year or so there have been rumors of upgrades to the radio systems used by Mt. Hood National Forest and Gifford-Pinchot National Forest in northwestern Oregon and southwestern Washington. They have apparently combined some of the radio dispatching and are now identifying as "Columbia Dispatch" in the two National Forests, but so far no new frequencies have been discovered - until a couple of weeks ago.

The two national forest areas utilize VHF repeaters and UHF point-to-point links for radio communications. Recently the frequency of 417.9875 MHz, N68F has sometimes been heard carrying the dispatcher in P-25 digital. The frequency should be paired with 408.9875 MHz, but we haven't heard anything on that link yet. The P-25 NAC of N68F is interesting, as this NAC has previously been identified as being used on the federal interoperability systems.

Despite being a digital link, the VHF frequencies are all still analog. However, this may indicate that they have upgraded the core of the system to digital and can flip the switch at any time!

A while back I found this document on line that lists the frequencies for some of these UHF links:
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=7d3481f79285eab7adb988ff06dfa778&tab=core&_cview=1

According to the frequencies listed on this document, the 417.9875 MHz link is to Mt Mitchell in the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest.

DOJ LEWC Budget

Found this document on the web with some updated information on the Integrated Wireless Network (IWN) and what might be next:

http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2011justification/pdf/fy11-lewc-justification.pdf

It is not noted when this document was released, but a couple of interesting items are listed;

* The Southern California Border Patrol system, formerly referred to as the EVRP (Encrypted Vice Radio Project) when it began, is apparently now apparently considered part of the total IWN project. This document refers to the San Diego IWN, but I have not seen or heard any evidence that this conventional P-25 system of repeaters throughout the southern California border area is using trunking technology yet. But several times the IWN has been described as a combination of trunked and conventional technology.

* Planned expansion of the NCR (National Capitol Region) section of the IWN. Deployment of the IWN in the Baltimore area is scheduled for late 2011.

* System planning and design for the Western Great Lakes and Chicago areas is in the 2011 budget.

* Continued implementation of the IWN Systems Operations Center and Region 1 Regional Management Center for interconnection between the IWN and other networks.

Despite not seeing or hearing much new in the IWN project, there are definitely advances being made.

Federal Cell Phone Jamming

A recent mention in another radio forum lead me to this article from Toronto, Canada:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog20summit/article/821623--g20-security-to-jam-cellphone-signals?bn=1

Although the article is specifically about the use of mobile cell phone jamming "bubbles" at the Canadian G20 events, the same technology surely has been in use at US based events.

There has been much discussion over the years about the WHCA mobile communications vans around the Presidential motorcades and how they have jamming capabilities. There has not been much said in the media about the use of cell phone jammers by the US Secret Service or WHCA and certainly no mention of getting exemptions from federal law forbidding such jamming.

I have not yet been able to confirm or deny the use of cell phone jamming at POTUS events and such. There were rumors of such jamming at the last set of political conventions in Denver and St. Paul, but I had no personal confirmation of any intentional interference of cell systems. There were areas inside the secured buildings that were considered "RF Sensitive" and cell phones were not allowed, however...

Denver Federal Scanning

Just had some short time with the radios during a recent trip to the Denver area. Here's some of what I was able to catch:

162.2250, CSQ - US Postal Service
165.2375, 100.0 - DHS CBP Customs with some OTAR
166.2750 - Mixed mode P-25 and analog, probably US Mint
166.4625, CSQ - Unknown agency doing aerial survellance
166.5875, 100.0 - DHS CBP Customs with more OTAR
167.4625, N167 - Denver FBI
167.6875
168.4625
168.5250 - Unknown agency, heard multiple DTMF tones
169.0000
170.1000, N167 - More FBI?
170.6750, N875 - Unknown agency
170.7500 - US Marshals Federal Courthouse
413.9250 - Federal Reserve

In addition to these conventional channels, heard lots of traffic on the Federal Front Range Trunked system that serves Denver and Buckley ARB. Also caught the UHF system at the Federal Correctional Institution aat Englewood.

Border Patrol Birthday

Today, May 28th, marks the 86th anniversary of the United States Border Patrol. It was originally started in 1924 to combat the illegal entry of aliens, contraband, and the flow of illicit liquor from Mexico and Canada into the United States. The El Paso Border Patrol Sector began operations on July 1, 1924 as the first uniformed division of the Immigration Bureau.

For frequencies that the CBP Border Patrol are using these days, check out this previous Fed Files Blog post:

http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/2007/03/cbp-border-patrol-update.html

Arizona Border Activity

Down in Arizona on a short vacation and have been observing some new and previously unknown frequencies active. The usual CBP Border Patrol and Customs channels are busy as always. But the unknown ones, mostly encrypted, keeping the users unknown for now, but I've got some guesses:

163.6250 MHz, 151.4 pl - Still hearing an analog Border Patrol repeater somewhere.
167.8250 MHz, N293 - Western Area Power Administration (WAPA - http://www.wapa.gov/)
167.9250 MHz, N293 - WAPA
167.9750 MHz, N293 - WAPA
168.8250 MHz - Heard with multiple NAC's of N167, N340 & N710
169.9375 MHz, N330
170.3500 MHz, N340
170.4375 MHz, N230 - Reported as a repeater in Nogales, AZ
173.0500 MHz, N001
173.1875 MHz - Heard with both N001 and N230
409.4000 MHZ, N910
414.9750 MHZ, N115

I suspect the 169.9375, 170.3500, 170.4375 and 173.1875 might be DHS ICE repeaters.

US Fish & Wildlife Activity

Reports from the Georgia Coast are that US Fish & Wildlife Service is active with Loggerhead Turtle tracking and support activities. I have not had much luck catching FWS traffic on the radios, so this information interested me.




Here are some of the active frequencies:
169.8250 MHz
171.6500 MHz
172.4500 MHz - USFWS Skidaway repeater
172.6500 MHz

These repeaters are apparently linked and all activity was reported as P-25 digital (sorry, no NAC data).

USGS Mt. St. Helens Frequencies

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Washington State, the US Geological Survey had an open house at their facility in Vancouver, WA;

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/30Years/CVO_openhouse_flyer.pdf

Thanks to those who were able to attend the open house, here is a list of the US Geological Survey frequencies in use at the Cascades Volcano Observatory:

164.6750 MHz - Link to North repeater
167.0750 MHz, 110.9 - North repeater input
167.0750 MHz, 127.3 - South repeater input
168.4250 MHz - Mt. St. Helens North & South repeaters
169.8250 MHz - USGS simplex

More Federal MOTOTRBO?

I recently came across what sure sounds like another federal frequency using the proprietary MOTOTRBO digital mode.

In Las Vegas I heard many transmissions on 406.9375 MHz that sounded a lot like the known MOTOTRBO users in my home area. I've heard several other federal users, including 406.625 MHz, the Federal Reserve Branch in Chicago, 407.9375 MHz coming from somewhere in the Seattle/Tacoma area, and 409.4375 MHz confirmed as coming from the VA Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington.

FPS in Phoenix

After searching through the UHF federal band many times during my past visits to Phoenix, I finally caught the Federal Protective Service. They are using 409.4000 MHz, NAC920. Seems like they are not as busy as some areas of the country, so they have eluded my searches in the past. But it just proves the point that you need to have patience when looking for those elusive federal frequencies!

So Cal I-10 Road Trip

I had a chance to drive across I-10 from Ontario, CA to Phoenix, AZ this weekend. I was trying to confirm more of the CBP Border Patrol P-25 system, which continues to be used ONLY in Southern California. As soon as I crossed into Arizona, all the regular Border Patrol frequencies came back in use.

I had the scanners running and logging during the trip, but was not able to positively ID everything. Here is a quick listing of what was heard;

162.2500 N132 PALM SPRINGS AREA
163.5125 131.8
163.5250 114.8
163.6250 N141 PALM SPRINGS AREA
163.6250 N001 CBP BORDER PATROL ARIZONA
163.7000 N001 CBP BORDER PATROL ARIZONA
164.2750 N293 WESTERN AREA POWER ADMIN-PHOENIX
164.7500 85.4 SKIP FROM MEXICO?
165.6000 110.9
166.0125 D114
166.3750 103.5 BLM - SO CAL
166.8500 N310 PHOENIX
166.9125 N245 CBP MA-4 SP - PALM SPRINGS AREA
167.2125 N167 ARIZONA
167.3375 N167 FBI PHOENIX
167.3625 N167 FBI PHOENIX
167.4500 N137 CBP CALEXICO EAST - SO CAL
167.5125 N167 FBI PHOENIX
167.6500 N135 SO CAL (CBP EL CENTRO EAST USES NAC 237)
167.7625 N167 SO CAL
167.7750 N125 CBP BP - PALM SPRINGS AREA
168.0875 N710 SO CAL
168.1750 103.5 USFS
168.4750 100.0 USFS
168.8250 N104 CBP - SO CAL
168.8250 N710 PHOENIX
169.3000 N710 SO CAL - ?
169.8875 N430 ARIZONA/PHOENIX
170.3500 N340 ARIZONA/PHOENIX
170.5875 D156 PHOENIX
170.6000 N133 PALM SPRINGS AREA
171.3250 N410 PHOENIX AREA
171.4750 103.5 SAN BERNARDINO NF
171.6750 103.5 JOSHUA TREE NP?
171.8500 D445 PALM SPRINGS AREA
171.9250 162.2 ARIZONA/PHOENIX
172.9000 N001 TSA PALM SPRINGS / PHOENIX
172.9000 N013 TSA PHOENIX
173.0500 N670 PHOENIX
173.1000 N330 ARIZONA
173.1625 N209 CBP BLUE 1 - PALM SPRINGS CAREA
173.5000 N50B ? ARIZONA
173.5500 N167 PHOENIX
173.7125 N167 PHOENIX
173.7125 N730 PHOENIX
173.8375 N167 PHOENIX
173.8875 N508 SO CAL
173.9375 N340 ARIZONA/PHOENIX

More Coast Guard UHF?-Updated!

I have received information that 412.9750 MHz, NAC293 is being heard around the Boston, MA area. This frequency has been identified in the San Francisco area as being used by the Coast Guard as "NET 409".

Reports are that so far all traffic is encrypted P-25, and this frequency is new to the area.

These new UHF channels are part of a radio upgrade program for Coast Guard law enforcement and homeland security activity. But we still don't have a good handle on other frequencies that might be in use, so keep searching!

UPDATE - Bits and pieces of information continue to come in. First, the frequency of 413.0250 MHz, NAC293 has been heard active in the Southeast Florida area. It has been encrypted full time so positive ID has not been made. From a separate source, I have confirmed that Coast Guard assets in the Miami / Ft. Lauderdale area do indeed have UHF radios installed in them. They have been reported as using "NET 411", but no one has yet confirmed the frequency. Does NET 411 = 413.0250 MHz? We shall see if anyone can connect these pieces.

TSA Analog Radios-Continued

Just spotted a report that the TSA screeners are using 173.0875 MHz in analog with voice inversion at the Bellingham, WA airport (KBLI). This is a new frequency for TSA operations since the addition of the analog "screener" radios started around the first of the year (2010).

The Bellingham airport is also home to Customs & Border Protection Air Marine assets.

I will be expanding on the TSA analog radios in a future Fed Files column.