Cain Gets SS Protection

News reports are indicating that Herman Cain, GOP candidate for President, has started receiving protection from the US Secret Service.

“Secretary Napolitano at the request of the Cain campaign consulted with congressional advisory committee which today authorized protection for Cain.” – George Ogilvy, Secret Service spokesman.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/68638.html


http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/herman-cain-to-get-secret-service-protection-nancy-pelosi-ribs-perry-the-bubble-primary-the-pm-note/

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/herman-cain-u-s-secret-service-detail-unruly-reporters-hounding-officials-article-1.979787

hhttp://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2011/1118/Herman-Cain-receives-Secret-Service-protection

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2063085/Herman-Cain-gets-Secret-Service-Protection-receiving-death-threats.html

At this point, only President Obama and Cain are receiving protective details from the Secret Service. No reports from the field of any call signs or radio traffic related to this detail.

Denver / Laramie Area Federal Logs

I recently traveled to Denver and drove up to the Laramie, WY area for work. While driving I was able to log some federal activity.

163.6250 MHz, 151.4pl - ICE repeater at Denver International (DEN), used by TSA
165.2875 MHz, N650 - BATFE
166.3000 MHz, 110.9pl - Rocky Mountain National Park
166.5875 MHz, N301 - CBP at Denver International (DEN)
167.4625 MHz, N167 - FBI, north of Denver?
167.7250 MHz, N385
167.9250 MHz, N555 - Western Area Power Administration (WAPA)
172.9000 MHz, N001 - TSA at Denver International (DEN)
418.6750 MHz, 156.7pl - DEA F4

Once north of the Denver area, I came across some federal channels that are apparently a trunked site that is part of the statewide WyoLink system. This site is called the Cheyenne Water Tank site:
169.6250 MHz, N1A3
169.7125 MHz, N1A3
169.7750 MHz, N1A3
170.0750 MHz, N1A3
170.3625 MHz, N1A3

Came across this VHF trunked system belonging to F.E. Warren AFB in Cheyenne. The listing for this system at Radio Reference shows only one site for this system in Cheyenne, but I picked up a second site as well:
138.1625 MHz, N150
138.2625 MHz, N150
138.4625 MHz, N150
138.8875 MHz, N150, P-25 System 154, Site 001

138.3375 MHz, N151, P-25 System 154, Site 002

And finally, while driving through the Cheyenne area, came across these conventional channels:
165.1125 MHz, NDEA
173.4625 MHz, NDEA
Yes, the P-25 NAC showed as "DEA". The frequencies are used by the Wyoming Air National Guard, so my guess is someone at the radio shop had a sense of humor.

Federal Spectrum Under Scrutiny

http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/125416

Over 1500 MHz worth of frequency spectrum assigned to the federal government is being considered for broadband data use.

While many of these chunks of radio spectrum are used for non-voice data, links and video surveillance, the 406.1 to 420 MHz band is heavily used for both federal and military trunking and conventional radio systems. Keep an eye out for upcoming changes in this band...

Atlantic City, NJ

During a recent trip through the Atlantic City, NJ area, I came across a few new federal frequencies:

163.1000, N167 - FBI, might be regional task force. This channel is active is many places across the country right now.
163.2250, 100.0pl - US Fish & Wildlife Service running surveillance on roadside fish sale. At one point  the channel was called "FARA Local" or something that sounded like that. Any ideas?
164.5625, N293 - US Coast Guard, NET 117.
165,1375, CSQ - NJ Air National Guard at ACY. Sounds like aircraft maintenance.
167.7750, N9C5 - DHS ICE Regional network
168.7500, N167 - FBI
172.2125, N9C5 - DHS ICE Regional network
172.8125, D754 - FAA or ANG - Patched to ACY ground.
172.9000, D315 - FAA Tech Center at Atlantic City International Airport. This is the analog portion of a mixed-mode repeater.
172.9000, N315 - FAA Tech Center, this is the P-25 side of the repeater.
173.4875, N293 - Someone at ACY, heard a "Clear To Lauch" message for ANG F-16's.
173.7875 - Unknown
345.0 MHz, AM - US Coast Guard helicopter ops.

Another POTUS Bus Tour

President Obama starts another bus tour of North Carolina and Virginia, beginning next Monday in Asheville, North Carolina;

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20111012/NEWS01/310120043/Obama-revisiting-Asheville-part-bus-tour?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage

Unknown if the Secret Service will be using the mega-buses they recently purchased for these bus tours.

Although I have family in Asheville and visit there often, I will miss this event...

Atlanta P-25 UHF System

Over a month ago I was working north of Atlanta and found what appeared to be a multi-site, P-25 trunked system in the federal 406-420 MHz UHF band.

There are two UHF systems in the Atlanta metro area currently - a 4 site Motorola Type II system operated by the Federal Protective Service and used by Dobbins Air Reserve Base, and another Motorola Type II system operated by the Bureau of Prisons.

This new system is showing that it has 4 networked sites on the air. The site info I have so far:

System ID - 3B9
WACN - BEE00
NAC - 3B1
Site 101 - 406.1125, 407.8125, 409.3000, 410. 0375
Site 102 - 408.8375
Site 103 - 406.7750, 408.4375, 408.6375
Site 104 - 408.8375
(Yes, both sites 102 and 104 show the same frequency for the control channel. They must be located far enough apart to re-use some frequencies.)

Traffic monitored so far has only used two talk groups, TG 100 and TG 200. The users are still unknown but traffic so far is mostly security checks to various building numbers. Radio procedure sounds possibly military. Also the broadcast band plan of the trunked system shows a 380 MHz channel level, so more circumstantial evidence of it being possibly DoD.

While there are several US Army installations around the Atlanta area, including Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem, they were reported to be using the FPS trunked system. Monitoring of the FPS trunked system showed no connectivity or patches to this P-25 system.

More information as it becomes available.

Operation Mountain Guardian 9/23/11

http://www.douglas.co.us/Operation_Mountain_Guardian_Emergency_Exercise.html

Operation Mountain Guardian is a terrorism-based emergency response drill that will be taking place in the Denver area this Friday, September 23rd. The drill involves many public safety agencies in the Denver Metro area and will include participation by federal agencies, including the FBI and Federal Protective Service.

This represents a rare opportunity to monitor the activities of the different agencies and see what is being used for communications. Be sure and keep an ear on the federal interoperability channels, as well as the DoJ "25-Cities" repeaters in the Denver area:

“DEN IO N” 170.6625 MHz (DENVER NORTH)
“DEN IO E” 171.9875 MHz (DENVER EAST)
“DEN IO C” 171.4375 MHz (DENVER CENTRAL)
“DEN IO S” 172.1875 MHz (DENVER SOUTH)
“DEN IO W” 167.2625 MHz (DENVER WEST)

CBP Aquires New Blackhawks

The Customs & Border Protection Office of Air & Marine (OAM) has acquired 4 new UH-60M helicopters that were modified by the US Army at their Aviation and Missile Research Center at Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama:

http://blog.al.com/huntsville-times-business/2011/09/black_hawk_helicopter.html

Mexican Cartel Radio Network

I have encountered news reports in the past that suggested some of the Mexican drug cartels were utilizing a wide-area, encrypted radio system to outsmart both the Mexican and US authorities. It appears that the Mexican military was able to take down this network:

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2011/09/marines-dismantle-los-zeta.html

http://gizmodo.com/5840412/mexican-commandos-just-took-down-this-secret-drug-cartel-radio-grid

9/11 Anniversary Alerts

With the 9/11 10-Year Anniversary coming up tomorrow, many are speculating about the heightened security around the country, including federal and military installations.

There are news media reports that some "unsubstantiated yet credible" threats that have caused some increase in local, state and federal law enforcement activity. Keep searching the federal frequency bands for possible activity over the next 48 hours or so...

New USCP Radio System

The US Capitol Police are one of the federal agencies in the Washington, DC area that are still running analog radios. They have received some criticism for not yet upgrading to the federally backed APCO-P25 digital standard. But there appears to be change on the way.

A bid has been posted from the US Navy in Lakehurst, NJ for a multi-channel VHF P-25 system:

https://www.fbodaily.com/archive/2011/01-January/15-Jan-2011/FBO-02359641.htm

This system is part of the USCP radio modernization program and will be used by the US Capitol Police in the DC area. Some frequencies have been posted that are related to this new system:

Channel Number Transmit Receive
1 169.5750 162.2500
2 169.8375 162.6125
3 170.1375 162.8000
4 170.3750 163.1625
5 170.5750 163.6000
6 171.0000 164.0125
7 171.4125 164.3250
8 171.7875 164.6125
9 172.3875 164.8125
10 172.6875 165.0375
11 172.9625 165.5375
12 173.1625 165.7750
13 173.4750 166.2250
14 173.8125 166.4250

In addition to these trunked system frequencies, the bid proposes some "Travel Channels" to be used outside of the coverage of the DC system;

Travel 1: TX 168.3500 RX 163.1000

Travel 2: TX 173.5250 RX 166.4500

Travel 3: TX 173.8750 RX 166.4750

Unknown P-25 UHF System

I'm down in the Norcross, GA area with the PGA Championship Golf TV coverage this week, and started picking up a UHF trunked system I have no info on.

I'm getting a control channel on 406.7750 MHz, P25 System ID of 3B9, WACN BEE00, Site 103. It shows connected to Site 101 (406.1125), Site 102 (408.8375) and Site 104 (408.8375). I'm thinking there might be some military connection as the tables show a 380 MHz band available.

It's not coming in super strong up here northeast of Atlanta, but it is consistent. None of these frequencies or system information shows up in Internet searches or Radio Reference.

My first thought was that they could be upgrading the Federal Protective Service trunked system in Atlanta to P-25. It is also a 4 site UHF system. But, when I drove up from the airport last week I don't recall coming across these trunked sites in my initial scan/search of the federal bands.

Anyone want to take a guess at who or what this system is and where it's located?

Border Activity

In addition to DHS Border Patrol traffic, some listeners have reported activity that may be related to National Guard support of border enforcement.

From Eagle Pass, Texas comes a report of 391.0500 MHz, P25 with a NAC of N500. The report says the traffic is encrypted full time and not from Laughlin AFB.

Reports also mention some unknown type digital traffic in the 380-400 MHz bands that are not P-25, and rumored to be coming from Piedras Negras, Mexico.

UPDATE!
An alert reader pointed out that there is a wide-area TETRAPOL trunked system used by the Mexican Federal Police Forces, which may account for the unknown type digital traffic in the 390-400 MHz band.

Upcoming POTUS Bus Tour

An upcoming bus tour of the Midwest US has been announced by the White House. President Obama will embark on a three-day tour from August 15 through 17. The administration said Wednesday that the trip had long been planned, but wouldn’t outline an itinerary:

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/175185-obama-plans-august-bus-tour-of-midwest

There is a line in the story that mentions that the "Secret Service purchased two armored buses for its fleet earlier this year". This could be an interesting opportunity for some listeners along the bus tour route to see what they have incorporated in these buses for communications.

UPDATE:
Apparently the buses mentioned in the above article were purchased from this company:
http://www.hemphillbrothers.com/

They list several political tours as well as some federal government agencies as clients.

NOT the Presidential Tour bus, but an interesting possibility:









UPDATE 2!

Well, not much reported from monitoring the POTUS bus tour of the midwest, but did get a real picture:

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