Bureau of Prisons Changes

I have been seeing reports of changes occurring in some of the US Bureau of Prisons (BoP) UHF radio systems in use at federal prison facilities. In some cases some frequencies have been changed, in others the entire system seems to have been replaced.

Most recently I heard from a source in Southern California that the Metropolitan Correctional Center San Diego may have a new radio system going on line. A new Motorola control channel was heard on the air on 408.6125 MHz, with a System ID of F008. Later the control channel moved to 410.0000 MHz with the same System ID.

The original MCC trunked system in San Diego uses these frequencies:
System ID 6426
408.3000
411.0250
412.5759
414.1250

It would appear that the system is being replaced to conform with the federal UHF 9 MHz channel offset, with repeater outputs being at the low end of the spectrum, and the repeater inputs being +9 MHz.

Also, reports of a new UHF trunked system have been reported on Radio Reference. A control channel has been heard on 406.2125 MHz in the Fresno County area. The control channel is reporting a System ID of EE2B. Not confirmed but the speculation is that it will be used by the new FCI Mendota:

http://www.bop.gov/jobs/index.jsp

http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2008justification/exhibit300/bop_fci_mendota_ca.pdf

DEA News

A couple of items regarding the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

First, a reader sent me this link:

http://www.ok.gov/okwin/documents/OKWIN%20-%20Executive%20Committee%20-%20Meeting%20Minutes%20-%20%2807.22.11%29.pdf

This is a document containing the minutes from a meeting of the Oklahoma Wireless Information Network (OKWIN) Executive Committee. In these minutes, the DEA requested access and talk groups on the new statewide radio system. This quote appeared in these minutes:

"The DEA currently has UHF frequencies to conduct daily business. They really want to use the system for interoperability, but see the benefits of using the system for day-to-day business so it would be “nice to have.” The DEA coverage is limited in the NW and SE areas of Oklahoma, just as the OKWIN system is limited. So there is no great increase in coverage area for them. Also, the DEA plans on using a new VHF system planned in the future and then only maintaining a presence on the OKWIN system for interoperability."

This triggered some questions about the DEA moving to a VHF radio system. I think they are referring to the DEA's participation in the federal VHF Integrated Wireless Network (IWN), of which the Department of Justice is the primary user. The DEA is using the IWN in areas that it is operational. (In the Pacific Northwest, the DEA had their UHF radios taken away years ago.) But in areas that are not served by the IWN (which is most of the country), they not only remain on UHF, but have started to migrate to new P-25 UHF frequencies.

Which brings us to the second item, and updated list of the UHF P-25 channels that listeners in Texas and other Gulf states are hearing:

409.6250 MHz, N156 - Possible new F1
409.6750 MHz, N156 - Possible new F6
409.8125 MHz, N156 - Possible new F7
409.8250 MHz, N156 - Possible new F8
409.9000 MHz, N156 - Possible new F9
409.9500 MHz, N156 - Repeater, possible new F10
410.4125 MHz, N156 - Repeater/simplex, new 11?
411.1250 MHz, N156 - Simplex 1?
411.1750 MHz, N156 - Simplex
412.2000 MHz, N156 - Simplex 2?
413.9750 MHz, N156 - Simplex 3?
414.2000 MHz, N156 - Simplex, possible new 4 or 5
414.4500 MHz, N156 - Simplex, possibly new 5
418.3250 MHz, N156 - Simplex or possible input to 409.3250 repeater (not heard)
418.6250 MHz, N156 - Input to 409.6250 repeater
418.6750 MHz, N156 - Input to 409.6750 repeater
418.8125 MHz, N156 - Input to 409.8125 repeater
418.8250 MHz, N156 - Input to 409.8250 repeater
418.9000 MHz, N156 - Input to 409.9000 repeater
418.9500 MHz, N156 - Input to 409.9500 repeater

It's also possible that the DEA will be going to the nomenclature of NET and TAC channels that many other DoJ agencies are now using. The NET channels will be repeaters and TAC channels being simplex.

DMAFB Trunked System Update

Just had a chance to monitor some changes at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. They have had a UHF Motorola trunked system there for a number of years, but now have started a separate P-25 UHF system as well.

The new system is using a System ID of 3F6 and the site at the base shows as Site 102. It is not showing as being networked with any other sites yet.

The frequencies are as follows:

409.2750
409.4500
409.5625
410.5625

All frequencies associated with this system were displaying a NAC of 3F0. These 4 frequencies were taken from the original DMAFB UHF system channels. It's unconfirmed, but this may be the start of converting the entire base to a single P-25 trunked system.

The system now has some limited users, and at least one talk group was being heard over both systems. But most of the activity is still on the original base trunked system:

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=3711

Nellis AFB P-25 System Updates

Back in May, I posted some initial reports of an update to the UHF trunked system used by Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. You can find that post here.

I'm now in Las Vegas and have started monitoring and mapping this new system. The first item of note is that this is a separate, true P-25 trunked system and not part of the NNSA Motorola trunked system that Nellis was a subscriber to in the past. Some of the early information had listed this new System ID as "000F", but it is "00F", which indicates that it is a P-25 system (P-25 systems use a 3-digit system ID as opposed to a 4 digit ID used by Motorola Type II systems).

Here are the frequencies in use at Nellis now:

406.5000
406.7875
407.1875
407.3000
407.5000
407.8625
408.1500
408.9625
409.1125
409.5625
409.7125
410.6500

With the exception of 407.1875 and 407.5000, these frequencies were at one time all part of the NNSA Motorola trunked system that serves the entire southern Nevada area. This P-25 system appears to be standalone and is not networked to any other sites.

The original NNSA Site 10 that covered Nellis is now on the air on 408.3875 MHz, and appears to still be in use by a few users.

FEMA Mobile Units

Saw this web page on a recent list posting and thought it was interesting;

http://www.core77.com/blog/transportation/a_tour_of_femas_fleet_19969.asp

It's a nice look at FEMA's Mobile Emergency Response Support (MERS) command units and the various versions and sizes that they come in.

UPDATE: Fixed the messed up link I had earlier.

CBP Announce New MEA

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced today its new King Air 350, twin engine Multi-role Enforcement Aircraft (MEA), providing the Department of Homeland Security unmatched capabilities to patrol the skies along the nation’s land and maritime borders.

Full story here:

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/national/06102011.xml

Another 414.5625 Report

I have monitored some encrypted P-25 transmissions in the Houston area on 414.5625 MHz with a NAC of N168. Others have also heard it in use in the Charlotte, NC area. I've recently received a report of encrypted traffic on this same frequency in the Boston area, however reports are that the NAC was showing N169. It's possible that whatever agency this is has multiple NACs for different repeaters in the area.

Still no indication as to what agency this is...

Royals Visiting California

Members of the British Royal Family will visiting the Southern California area this coming week, and it could make for some interesting monitoring.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will arrive in Los Angeles on July 8. Their schedule calls for several days of travel and appointments around LA and other cities;
http://www.kcoy.com/story/14924375/schedule-released-for-royal-visit-to-california

Both Secret Service and Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security have possible involvement in security operations for the Royal visit, but media reports have mentioned the DoS as being the agency for this trip.

If scanning the visit, be sure and keep an ear on local and CHP channels for activity, and search the UHF federal band (406-420 MHz) for State Department activity. And don't forget there will most likely be some British Royal security presence as well. The last time I ran into British VIP security in the US they were using some 160 MHz frequencies.

For a list of Secret Service channels, you can check my previous post,
http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/2008/02/secret-service-frequency-list.html

Here is a quick list of possible Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security frequencies. They should be all P-25 digital and utilize a NAC of either N293 or N0F0. Be sure and let me know what you hear active:

406.3750

407.2000

407.5000

407.6000

407.8625

408.1000

408.4000

408.6000

409.1500

409.5250

409.6000

409.6250

409.7000

411.0750

411.1500

411.4250

412.0000

412.2875

415.9000

416.2000

416.2250

417.6000

417.8500

418.0500

418.0750

418.4500

418.5250

418.5750

419.3000

NYC Updates on RR

Some additional, anonymous federal frequencies have been added to the New York City frequency database on Radio Reference:

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?aid=3378

Sifting through the updates, I spotted a couple of interesting items. First, if the contributor is accurate, several VHF P-25 channels that I have caught in the past using a NAC of 864 are identified as being the US Marshals Service, New York. They have been active, but due to encryption, the identity was unknown. Also unknown if this is a NAC used by the USMS nationwide.

Secondly, there are 9 VHF channels listed as being "Federal Interoperability" frequencies. I have noted one or two of these frequencies active during the weekly tests, but some of these are previously unknowns, or used by other agencies. Keep an ear on these and let me know if they are active;

164.4750, N653 (Also used by the National Parks Service in New Jersey)
166.5375, N653* (See Update below)
166.7500, N653
167.3500, N653
167.7875, N653 FI/O 1 (Weekly interoperability roll call tests heard here)
168.6625, N653
171.1125, N653
171.1750, N653 FI/O 2 (Heard during New Years Eve in Times Square events)
172.2875, N653

The frequency of 414.7500 MHz, 82.5pl was also utilized for interoperability tests in the past.

UPDATE!
It slipped past me initially, but I was reminded that the frequency of 166.5375 MHz is actually the input to the BATFE nationwide repeater of 165.2875 MHz. The BATFE uses a NAC of 650 on the repeater output, but uses various NAC's from 650-65A on the inputs. I suspect that they are using 166.5375 MHz, NAC 653 as the input to the BATFE repeater in the area, and the listener assumed that the NAC of 653 meant it was part of the Federal Interop channels.

Also, the inputs for the two known federal interop repeaters are not among the channels that were posted on RR. The input to the 167.7875 MHz repeater is 164.7375 MHz, and the input to the 171.1750 MHz repeater is 162.2875 MHz.

EPA Flys Over Dallas

Apparently in preparation for the celebrations of the Dallas Mavericks NBA Championship, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be doing low-level flights over the downtown Dallas, Texas area;

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43404526/ns/local_news-dallas_fort_worth_tx/t/dont-be-alarmed-low-level-flyovers/

The flights are for sampling air and other environmental readings in order to detect anything unusual that might be released, either intentionally or accidentally.

The next Fed Files column will feature a profile of EPA radio channels. I have not received any information on what the EPA flights in Dallas might be using.

TSA Conducts Multi-State Exercise

If you think the TSA only functions at your local airport, think again:

http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/content.detail/id/536701/TSA-conducting-security-exercise-.html?nav=5002

http://wvgazette.com/News/201006160894

As of Wednesday, June 15th, eports are that this was a multi-state exercise involving the VIPR (Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response) teams. The exercise involved inspections of power and chemical plants, rail terminals and shipping terminals, lock and dam complexes and natural gas pipelines. The exercise also involved local and state agencies as well.

DEA Changes in Dallas

Listener reports from the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex seem to indicate that the DEA is starting to use some of it's new P-25 UHF frequency assignments there.

After many reports from the Houston area and other Gulf regions of the new UHF frequencies, reports are that 413.9750 MHz, NAC156 is in use around DFW. The original UHF channels are also still in use in analog mode as well.

For a complete listing of what's been found on the new UHF channels so far, check out this previous blog post:
http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/2011/02/more-new-dea-uhf-p-25.html

POTUS Visit to Joplin, MO

After the terrible devastation of the tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri, it appears that a presidential visit is on tap for Sunday, May 29th. A TFR has been issued for the area:

http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_1_5046.html

If anyone is in the area and can provide any details of emergency communications in the Joplin region following the disaster, please pass them along to us at the Fed Files!

Las Vegas NNSA TRS Updates?

I am seeing posts over on Radio Reference that there may be changes afoot for the Las Vegas area UHF trunked system operated by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Until recently, the NNSA operated the wide-area UHF trunked system that was utilized by Nellis AFB as a subscriber agency.

Now reports are that a new UHF trunked system has come on the air, using the System ID of 00F, NAC of 00F. Site 1 is reported using these frequencies:

406.5000
406.7875 CC
407.1875
407.3000
407.5000
407.8625
408.1500
408.9625
409.1125
409.5625
409.7125
410.6500

Some replies indicate that this new system is a separate system for military use only and that Nellis will no longer be a subscriber to the NNSA system,

If anyone in the Las Vegas area can keep me posted on this change, please send them along to The Fed Files.

UPDATE:
I took a look at the frequencies that have been posted as part of this new "000F" trunked system and see that most of them were part of the NNSA trunked system site 10, that was assumed to be located and service Nellis Air Force Base. 410.6500 MHz, was logged with some activity in Las Vegas a while back, but was not part of the NNSA system as far as I could tell.

So I'm wondering if Site 10 of the NNSA system is still on the air on any frequencies? They might have migrated the Nellis site off to it's own system, since it was probably the busiest site in the NNSA system.

There was a post on Radio Reference that indicated this was a move towards providing common trunked systems for Nellis AFB, NAS Fallon and US Navy carrier operations. Not sure if this makes any sense, but I have no information on this change as being part of any larger Navy system.

NE Florida USCG

I'm in the Jacksonville, FL area for a while and caught some Coast Guard traffic on both VHF and UHF channels recently.

162.3250 MHz, N293 NET111 - SECTOR JACKSONVILLE with various CG assets. SECTOR in the clear, but field units always encrypted.

412.9750 MHz, N293 NET409 - SECTOR JACKSONVILLE with what seemed to be CG helicopters, usually CG6xxx numbers. Again, SECTOR JAX in the clear with others secure. The NET number was confirmed by the SECTOR JAX radio operator, and also confirms another rumor that the CG UHF channels are being used primarily by airborne assets of the Coast Guard.

TSA - All Frequency Updates Here!

Since I featured a list of TSA frequencies heard at various airports in the March 2011 Fed Files, I decided to post the list here and update it with frequencies that have been sent to me.

I discovered I had several TSA related lists going on the bog, so from now on, this will be the most up to date.

All TSA Updates will be updated to this blog post.

If you have any additional TSA channels you have found active, send them along.

When searching for TSA activity, always assume that the TSA at your local airports will have some of these four frequencies in use:
166.4625 MHz
169.3000 MHz
172.1500 MHz
172.9000 MHz

In addition, here are some of the "secondary" frequencies that have been identified as TSA at various airports:
166.2875  MHz
166.7875  MHz
168.0875  MHz
168.8375  MHz
168.9625  MHz
169.1625  MHz

Here are additional channels that have been identified at various airports as being TSA operations. If the channel is designated with a CTCSS tone, it is an analog channel using voice-inversion scrambling. P-25 channels are noted with the appropriate NAC. The analog channels are usually the security checkpoint screeners using Icom F-50v radios. The additional P-25 channels are usually the operators of the full-body scanners communicating with the checkpoints. The operators of these devices are located in a separate area away from the security checkpoints.

Asheville, NC (AVL)
172.9000, N001

Atlanta, GA (ATL)
172.9000, N001

Bloomington, IN (BMI)
172.9000, N001

Boston, MA (BOS)

163.3125, 136.5 PL

166.2875, N001

166.4625, 103.5 PL

168.0875, N003

168.9625, N001

169.1625, N001

169.1625, N003

171.7625, 146.2 PL

172.1500, 103.5 PL

172.1500, 123.0 PL

Chicago, IL O’Hare (ORD)

165.0750, 123.0 PL
165.0750, 131.8 PL

166.4625, 103.5 PL
166.2875, N004
168.9625, N001

169.1625, 123.0 PL

169.1625, N001

169.3000, 136.5 PL

172.1500, 103.5 PL

172.1500, 123.0 PL
172.1500, 136.5 PL
172.9000, 136.5 PL

Cincinnati, OH (CVG)
166.2875, N003 - Scanner operators
169.1625, N003 - Scanner operators
172.9000, N001

Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX (DFW)

168.0875, N004

169.9125, 123.0 PL – TSA Terminal E

170.3375, N001 – TSA “Coordination Center”

170.9375, N004

173.7750, N004

Denver, CO (DEN)

163.6250, 151.4 PL – Behavior Detection Officers using ICE repeater at DEN airport

166.4625, N001 – Scanner operators

172.1500, 123.0 PL

172.1500, 131.8 PL

172.1500, 136.5 PL

Des Moines, IA (DSM)
172.9000, N001 - repeater

Ft. Meyers, FL (RSW)
169.3000, N001
169.3000, 123.0 PL - Checkpoint C
172.9000. N001

El Paso, TX (ELP)
166.2875, N002 - Backscatter X-ray operators
172.1500, N001

Gulfport/Biloxi, MS (GPT)

172.9000, 162.2 PL

Houston, TX Hobby (HOU)

166.2875, N003

169.1625, N001

Houston, TX Bush (IAH)

169.3000, 123.0 PL

Indianapolis, IN (IND)

169.3000, 136.5 PL

172.1500, 146.2 PL

172.9000, 151.4 PL

Jacksonville, FL (JAX)

169.3000, N001

172.1500, 146.2 PL

172.9000, 162.2 PL

Las Vegas, NV (LAS)

166.2875, N002

166.4625, N001

168.0875, N002

168.9625, N001

168.9625, N002

Los Angeles, CA (LAX)

166.7875, 123.0 PL – Terminal 3

168.9625, N001

168.9625, N002 - Scanner operators

169.1625, N001

172.1500, 131.8 PL – Terminal 7

Nashville, TN (BNA)

168.0875, 123.0 PL

172.9000. N001

Philadelphia, PA (PHI)

168.0875, N002 - B Concourse scanner operators

168.8375, N002 - C Concourse scanner operators
171.7625, 131.8 PL - B & C Checkpoints

Phoenix, AZ (PHX)
168.0875, N003
170.1625, N001 - Terminal A Backscatter X-ray operators

Portland, OR (PDX)

169.3000, 146.2 PL – Checkpoint D-E

172.1500, 123.0 PL – Checkpoint A-B-C

(Also using talk groups on the IWN trunked system)

Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)

172.1500, 123.0 PL

172.1500, N001

San Francisco, CA (SFO)

162.2750, 131.8 PL

172.9000, 123.0 PL

172.9000, N001 - Wide area repeater serving San Francisco and Oakland airports

San Antonio, TX (SAT)
172.9000, N001
 
Santa Anna, CA (SNA)
172.1500, 123.0 PL
172.1500, 131.8 PL
172.9000, N001
172.9000, 146.2 PL
172.9000, 151.4 PL


 St. Louis, MO (STL)

164.7875, 131.8 PL - A Checkpoint
169.1625, 123.0 PL

172.1500, N001
172.1500, N004

172.1500, 123.0 PL

Seattle, WA (SEA)

168.6125, N001 - Behavior Detection Officers
172.1500

Tampa, FL (TPA)

166.2875, N001 
168.0875, N004
169.1625, N001
169.3000, N009
169.3000, 123.0 PL
169.3000, 131.8 PL
169.3000, 136.5 PL - Terminal C
172.1500, N001
172.1500, N002
172.1500, N003
172.1500, N004

172.1500, 123.0 PL - Terminal F
172.1500, 131.8 PL - Terminal E
172.1500, 136.5 PL
172.9000, N001 - New wide area repeater
172.9000, N002
172.9000, 151.4 PL - Terminal A
172.9000, 162.2 PL

Tucson, AZ (TUS)
166.4625, N001
169.3000, 123.0 PL


Washington, DC Reagan National Airport (DCA)

172.1500, 136.5 PL
172.9000, N001
172.9000, N013

TSA to TRBO?

I recently received a report of someone hearing what sounded like MOTO TRBO digital traffic on 172.9000 MHz in the Southeast Florida area. This frequency is one of the primary TSA channels used at airports across the country.

It would be strange for the TSA to move to TRBO digital radios, as they are part of the Department of Homeland Security, which is committed to utilizing APCO P-25 digital modes for federal interoperability and have been using P-25 digital radios since they came into existence. Plus the TSA has recently tested the addition of OTAR (over-The-Air Re-keying) of the encryption keys on their P-25 radio systems.

However, since the TSA also decided a few years ago to start equipping security checkpoint screeners with Icom F-50V radio with analog voice-inversion, I guess anything is possible.

Has anyone else caught what might be TRBO digital on any TSA channels? Looking for updates...

FEMA Deploys to Texas Wildfires? -UPDATE

In a rare move, FEMA has declared the Texas wildfires a "Major Disaster" and deployed a mobile command post to the Mineral Wells, Texas area.

Monitors report that the FEMA CP is probably one of the MERS Teams vehicles. They have spotted a mobile truck with two pneumatic masts that support communications antennas. No mention was made in the reports I saw of any satellite dishes, but most if not all of the FEMA mobile units carry satellite dishes.

Only frequencies heard so far that might be connected to the FEMA deployment were 163.1000 MHz and 866.0125 MHz. More as reports come in...

UPDATE - It appears that the original source now says this may not be FEMA's mobile command post operating on location in Texas, despite that fact that Texas has requested FEMA assistance in the fires:

http://texas.onpolitix.com/news/44593/femas-major-disaster-declaration-rare-for-texas-fires

The mobile units spotted in the Mineral Wells area has been described as not looking like the FEMA MERS vehicles I mentioned above. However, reports continue to indicate plenty of state and federal frequencies are in use in the firefighting efforts. You can follow the updates at this link on Radio Reference:

http://forums.radioreference.com/texas-incidents-breaking-news/141626-n-texas-wild-fires.html#post1523455

UPDATE II - Here are some additional frequencies passed along to me by a source on the ground. These were monitored near the Possum Kingdom Lake fires:

163.1000 MHz, CSQ - Aircraft/direct
166.9375 MHz, CSQ - Air-attack to ground units/main/direct/VERY active
168.0125 MHz, CSQ - Aircraft/direct
168.0500 MHz, CSQ - Ground units/direct
168.1000 MHz, 123.0 PL - Command/operations/repeater and direct/heard from
70 miles away either east or west.
168.2000 MHz, CSQ - Ground units/direct

DoJ Buys E.F. Johnson Radios

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fbi-to-deploy-ef-johnson-project-25-radios-73710702.html

The Department of Justice Wireless Management Office has purchased an unknown number of E.F. Johnson branded P-25 radios. This report indicates these radio will be used primarily by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

NCAA Final Four Houston

From the looks of the on-line posting, the Final Four games in Houston this past weekend were loaded with local and federal radio action. As I posted, a lot of federal law enforcement activities were planned for the weekend of the Final Four games, called by some as "Super Bowl levels" of federal planning.

The folks in and around Houston did a nice job of keeping the scanners going and even posted what they heard in a wiki article on Radio Reference:

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/NCAA_Final_Four_2011

One interesting item that was noted during all the activities was some clear traffic that referenced some Department of Energy personnel involved with federal activities, possible monitoring for radiation levels. There was some activity noted on 171.2000 MHz, analog, and that is a nationwide DoE allocation. I did not see anything noted, but would not be surprised if there was some Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA) activity during the weekend as well...