Dalai Lama Visit

The Dalai Lama is attending an environmental conference in Portland, Oregon this week. The Department of State Diplomatic Security Service was handling the motorcade & security for the visit and was heard using 409.5250 MHz, N293.

Arlington TX Logs

Spend a few days in the Arlington, Texas area and logged a bit of federal activity while there:

165.2125, N001 - US Secret Service MIKE - Bush (43) Protection Detail at Rangers game
165.3750, N001 - US Secret Service CHARLIE
167.2625, N167 - FBI
168.3375
170.6750, N167
170.9375, N167 - FBI
171.6125, N167 - FBI
172.9000, N001 - TSA at Dallas Love Field
173.6000, N156 - DEA VHF repeater
173.7000, N156 - DEA VHF repeater
173.7250, N156 - DEA VHF repeater
173.8125, N167 - FBI

I will be back in June and try for some more catches then...

More VHF DEA?

When in the Dallas - Ft. Worth area, I stumbled upon some additional VHF frequencies that might be DEA related.

While the DEA continues to utilize the UHF federal spectrum for it's primary communications, there have been some VHF federal channels that are utilizing the same P25 NAC of N156 that their UHF channels use. These frequencies have been noted in multiple areas of the country, but mostly in North Central Texas. The guess at the time is these are used for interoperability with other federal agencies, or perhaps a local task force. Confirmation is difficult, as all the communications have been encrypted. And so far, the only evidence that this activity is DEA related is the N156 NAC.

Previous reports have the following frequencies in use, all using the P25 NAC of N156:

173.6000, N156

173.7250, N156

173.8625, N156

In addition, I have heard 173.6750 & 173.7000 MHz used with the same NAC.

Here is a link to the current DEA frequency list:

http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/p/dea-frequency-updates.html

Southern Border Radio Traffic

A recent story on Fox News here linked to a web site that claimed to be posting recordings of clear Border Patrol radio traffic from along the southern United States.

The site, called "Secure Border Intelligence", http://secureborderintel.org/arizona_audio.html, shows links to daily compilations of clear radio traffic along the Arizona border area. My personal experience has shown that the Border Patrol traffic on the newer P-25 digital repeaters in the area is mostly encrypted. But some field units, particularly aviation units, are sometimes not using encryption while working the border.

The group apparently is aiming to show that illegel border crossing activity continues at a hefty pace, despite claims by some in the government that the border is more secure. The archived audio is presented much later than it occurred, so not much real time intelligence can be gleaned from it. But I'm sure this will fan the flames in the controversy over encrypting law enforcement radio traffic and the mobile computer apps that allow users to monitor police radio traffic.

ACY Coast Guard Activity

I had a couple of days to hang out at Atlantic City International (ACY) and caught some Coast Guard helicopter training activity.

On two consecutive days there were 2 HH-65C Dolphin helicopters running air intercept training. Both departed each day from the Coast Guard ramp at ACY. They did not identify themselves by their CG number, which is how I am used to hearing normal Coast Guard air units ID themselves. In this case, they used BOUNCER 1 & BOUNCER 2 as their flight call signs, and used 237.9 MHz and 345.0 MHz as an air-to-air tac channel. On the way back to base, I caught 164.3000 MHz, CSQ as the base aircraft maintenance channel. 412.9750 MHz, N293 (NET 409) was used for radio guard while the birds were in flight.

LAX Stopover Logs

Just some quick logs from a layover at LAX between flights. Plenty of clear traffic during the short time I was listening, even on the FBI nets!

3/21/13
163.1375, N293 - USCG NET 113
163.6750, N217 - CBP Border Patrol
166.9125, N245 - CBP MA-4
167.2250, N374
167.4625, N167 - FBI A5
167.6625, N167 - FBI A7
168.8000, N170 - CBP JIOP
168.8250, N104 - CBP Charlie 100
172.4500, N148 - CBP MA-1
172.9500, N293 - FAA

March Fed Files Correction

In the most recent Fed Files column, there is a list of VHF frequencies at the end of the column that are not identified as to what they are. Sorry that these were not identified more clearly.

These frequencies are allocations available for use by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for their conventional radio operations. These are currently in use, at least until the new UHF P25 trunked system takes over, and even then there will still be some non-trunked channels in use.

Here is a list of the TVA allocations:

40.3100

40.3700

40.4300

40.4900

40.5300

40.5700

40.6100

40.6500

40.6900

40.7300

40.7700

40.8300

40.8700

162.0250

163.0500

163.1250

163.1500

163.1750

163.3750

164.2500

164.4750

164.5750

164.7250

164.7500

166.2250

166.2500

166.2750

166.3250

166.3750

166.6375

166.8250

166.8750

167.0250

167.0750

167.1000

167.1250

167.1500

167.1750

168.2250

168.2750

168.3250

168.4750

168.5750

169.4000

169.6250

169.6750

169.7250

170.0250

170.0500

170.0750

170.1500

171.3875

171.6500

171.7000

171.7500

172.0250

172.4250

172.4500

172.4750

172.5750

172.6250

172.6500

172.7500

173.0500

173.7625

I will have more on the TVA trunked radio project in a future Fed Files.

NBA All Star Game

The NBA All Star game is coming up this week in Houston, Texas. The event is getting some federal agency protection, as many large public events are these days. Some postings on the Houston area scanning lists have some potential activity listed in relation to the All Star activities:

161.2050 MHz, 146.2 - Amtrak Police K9 units
168.5875 MHz, N169 - ICE National Tactical 2
171.4375 MHz, N653 - Federal Interoperability 2 "Patch"
171.6125 MHz, N167 - FBI
171.6875 MHz, N167 - FBI
172.2125 MHz, N167 - FBI
172.2875 MHz, N167 - FBI

More as it becomes available.

Super Bowl XLVII Game Day

Monitoring the game day activities from Super Bowl XLVII. My post is a matter of feet from the Superdowe in New Orleans, and federal activity has been plentiful.

You can check out this CBS News video about Super Bowl XLVII security preparations here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50140183n

More later!

CBP Border Patrol Changes in South Texas

As of the first days of 2013, the CBP Border Patrol along the Rio Grande River in South Texas appears to have migrated over to new frequencies and P25 digital radios.

According to some postings on Radio Reference, here are some of the new Border Patrol operational channels near Brownsville, Texas;

162.2875, NA50
163.0625, NA40
163.4750, NA61
163.5250, NA10
163.6500, NA60
163.9750, NA21
164.4375, NA51
164.7375, NA41
166.9875, N310
168.3875, N312
169.2625, N293 - CBP Air 3
169.5750, NA80
169.6000, NA20
169.6375, NA31 - Weslaco 2
169.6625, NA30 - Weslaco 1
170.1250, NA40
170.3375, NA50
170.4375, NA61
170.5375, NA40 - Harlingen 1
170.9875, NA60
171.1875, NA20 - McAllen
171.1875, NB20
171.3250, NA11 - Rio Grande City 2
171.3250, NA41 - Harlingen
171.6625, NA12 - Rio Grande City 1
171.6625, NA51
171.7125, NA22 - McAllen 2 
171.9625, NA10 - Rio Grande City (?)
171.9875, N311
172.2375, NC20
172.2625, NA21 - McAllen 1
172.7125, NA60
 

Super Bowl XLVII Preps in NOLA

Activity surrounding Super Bowl XLVII continues in New Orleans. There have been some indications of increased federal and military helicopter activity around the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the site of the big game.

Today we had multiple passes of the Department of Energy Bell 412 helicopter with what appear to be sensor pods on each side.

This photo is of a similar helicopter that was spotted overflying the Washington, DC area prior to the Presidential Inauguration.

UPDATE:
Beginning Thursday, 1/31 I finally started hearing some activity on the Federal Interop repeater on 171.4375 MHz, N653, known as "NO FIO", part of the DoJ 25 Cities Project. Many radio tests and some references to the "JTOC" or Joint Tactical Operations Center. I haven't been able to sniff out much pre-game information about the JTOC in New Orleans this year in the local media.

In addition to the many agencies on site here at the Superdome, one interesting one is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Security Police. They are providing K9 support at vehicle checkpoints. The SPR Security vehicles are sporting VHF hi-band antennas, but haven't heard anything specifically from them yet.

Presidential Inauguration Updates

As things get busy in DC for the Presidential Inauguration, you can look for updates at this thread on Radio Reference:

http://forums.radioreference.com/washington-dc-radio-discussion-forum/258164-dc-2013-inauguration.html

I am headed to New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII coverage, so I will try and post some updates from the Big Easy over the next couple of weeks...

FEMA Net in NY/NJ Area?

Back in November, 2012 when I was in the Staten Island area right after hurricane Sandy hit, I noted several UHF FEMA frequencies that had P25 radio traffic right after federal aid started moving into the area. The one frequency that seemed to show the most "hits" was 407.6625, N421.

I'm back in the NYC area and am still hearing a lot of short transmissions on this frequency, but I'm not sure if this is a permanent FEMA repeater in the area, perhaps part of a wide-area FEMA network. I have also heard these same key-ups with no voice on the same frequency in the Atlantic City, NJ area.

The key-ups with no voice may be the repeaters being in a "vote-scan" mode that allows field radios to select the nearest repeater automatically.

UPDATE: Just to clarify, there is encrypted voice traffic on these repeaters, not just voiceless key ups...

UPDATE 2 - On my last two trips to the Atlantic City area, the key ups on 407.6625 are no longer being heard.

US Park Police Prepping for Inauguration

Reports from the Washington, DC area have the US Park Police doing some sort of radio programming changes in preparation for the upcoming Presidential Inauguration. Postings indicated that USPP officers were being notified to bring radios in for re-programming last week. And recently there were some indications that there were some on-air testing of a "Special Events Channel". No indication of what frequency that channel might be, but some speculation that it may be on the NCR IWN trunked system. More as it becomes available.

You can get a preview of possible active radio frequencies for the Inauguration on the latest issue of the Capitol Hill Monitor newsletter. You can find the latest issue here:

http://henney.com/chm/0113/chm0113.pdf 

Inauguration Preparations Underway

The Presidential Inauguration, scheduled for January 21st, has Washington DC area public safety agencies prepping for the upcoming event. Here is some information regarding the Coast Guard and their security zones in the DC area:

http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/28188?c=maritime_port_security

Pittsburgh FPS Update

I have been able to confirm a change in the Federal Protective Service frequency for the Pittsburgh, PA area. Previously they had been using 413.8750 MHz, but they have now switched to 409.4000 MHz, 103.5 PL. Reports are that Philadelphia, PA is also using this same frequency & CTCSS tone.

NNSA DC Overflights

News reports are circulating that the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is doing radiation monitoring flights around the Washington, DC area over the next couple of weeks.

http://nnsa.energy.gov/mediaroom/pressreleases/dcflyover122612

These flights will be using NNSA helicopters equipped with sensors designed to monitor normal background levels of radiation. The NNSA’s Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL) out of Joint Base Andrews will be performing the assessment for local law enforcement of D.C. area.

As far as active frequencies, the NNSA has assignments all over the federal spectrum, so searching might reveal something new. However, I'm not sure how much radio chatter there will be during these flights. You might catch the helicopter on some of the VHF low-altitude VFR aircraft frequencies, possibly using the ENERGY call sign.

Merry Christmas From The Fed Files!

Merry Christmas to all the Fed Files and Monitoring Times fans out there!

406.9125 P25 Mystery in TN

A poster on Radio Reference has linked to a video showing a trunking control channel that was being received in the Springfield, TN area (north of Nashville). The video can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik2GFMKF6sc&feature=youtu.be

There is all manor of speculation over what this is. It is clearly a P25 signal, probably a control channel for a P25 trunking system, but the radio is not displaying the System ID or Site. This is not uncommon on federal P25 trunked sites, as they sometimes utilize a message format that scanners cannot display properly. The trunking information is still viewable with a program like Unitrunker or PRO96COM.

406.9125 MHz is the only site information available, and it's showing a P25 NAC of N005. One posted on the thread seems to indicate that it comes in full strength north and east of Nashville. One suggestion is the Old Hickory dam, but I'm not sure the Army Corps of Engineers would be running a UHF P25 trunked system. Others have suggested a federal prison facility, but there really aren't any near Nashville.

UPDATE!
Further information reveals that this is most likely part of a new P-25 UHF trunked system being built out for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The control channel mentioned above reveals the following:

406.9125 MHz
System ID = 372
WACN = 00001
Site = 505

Reports are that Harris is building this new system throughout the TVA area of responsibility.

FPS Updates

A couple of updates on the Federal Protective Service, part of the Department of Homeland Security.

The FPS had been active on 417.2000 MHz in the Los Angeles area for some time, but recently the frequency went silent. They have moved to 410.8000 MHz, 127.3 PL, part of the reorganization of the federal 406-420 MHz band. They still have not moved to P-25 digital as of this week, when I heard them on the new frequency. Other cities in the Southern California area are reported to be using 406. 2000 MHz, also in analog. The inputs to these new repeater frequencies are +9 MHz, part of this new organization of the UHF band.

In the Pacific Northwest, the FPS has long been active on 408.2000 MHz, in P25 digital and not encrypted. At some point last week, nearly all the transmissions in the Portland, OR area on the FPS primary frequency have been encrypted. An occasional unit will transmit in the clear, but the response from the FPS MegaCenter dispatcher is encrypted.

Word was out that encryption was coming for some time. Some mobile units were occasionaly using encryption, but the dispatchers would usually respond in the clear. Some areas of the country have had encryption on the FPS channels since the switch over to new frequencies or P25 digital. But some areas remain in the clear.