RC-26 Aircraft Use In Protests Investigated

 

Articles in the Air Force Times indicates there was an investigation into the use of  Air National Guard RC-26 surveillance aircraft for airborne observations of the protests in various cities around the country.

 https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2020/06/18/ig-investigating-air-national-guards-use-of-recon-planes-to-monitor-protests/

 https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2020/08/21/ig-air-guard-intel-planes-surveilled-seven-george-floyd-protests-without-proper-authorization/

 The bottom line appears to be that the requests for use of the aircraft did not go through the proper authorization needed for this type of operation. The RC-26 aircraft are not considered "intelligence" gathering platforms by the National Guard Bureau. 

163.4625 Mystery

 OK, blog readers, here's another federal frequency mystery for you...

163.4625 MHz, NAC 001, radio ID of 1, talk group of 1.

Heard encrypted communications in the Seattle area recently. A check of my logs have shown that it mostly appears to have been allocated at various military bases across the country. 

 I have logged it with various NAC values at some of the Super Bowl games I've been working. 

The NTIA allocations seem to indicate military or Department of Energy allocations.

 Any guesses?

 

 

West Palm Beach Monitoring

 

Since Donald Trump became President, there has been much speculation about frequencies in use at Mar-A- Lago, Trump’s compound near West Palm Beach, Florida. Many local listeners have claimed the Secret Service wasn’t using their usual VHF or UHF radio frequencies as none of those had been heard active when the President was on location. However, I had an associate who happened to be in West Palm Beach and just a short distance from the Trump compound. He managed to log quite a few known Secret Service and White House Communications Agency (WHCA) channels active prior to a POTUS arrival, so I think the rumors of a new, super-secret, GHz band radio system in use there may be premature.

 

Here is what was heard in West Palm Beach:

 

162.7000         N293               US Marshals Federal Courthouse

163.0500         N293               USCG NET 112

163.1125         N169               ICE National TAC 3

164.8875         N001               USSS OSCAR

165.3125         N293               USCG NET 121

165.3750         N001               USSS CHARLIE

166.5125         N001               USSS/WHCA SIERRA/ALPHA

166.7000         N001               WHCA NOVEMBER

166.7375         N0D0              PBI TSA input to 172.1500

167.0375         N001               USSS Presidential Protection Detail

167.4875         N167               FBI A-3

167.6125         N293               US Marshals Service

167.7375         N167               FBI A-2

167.7625         N167               FBI A-1

168.2750         N001              

169.1625         N293               CBP AIR 4

169.2625         N293               CBP AIR 3

169.3000         N013               TSA at FLL

169.9125         N167               FBI

169.6000         N200               ICE     

170.1625         N375               ICE

170.3750         N200               ICE

170.5500         N001              

170.6000         N301               DHS HSI

170.7250         N301               DHS HSI DNET-36

170.7375         N200               CBP

170.7500         N293               US Marshals Federal Courthouse

170.8375         N167               FBI Palm Beach

171.1875         N303               CBP Miami

171.3250         N296               CBP Miami

171.4375         N653               Federal Interoperability

171.6875         N167               FBI

171.7625         N303               DHS HSI

171.9625         N282               CBP West Palm Beach Port of Entry

171.9875         N167               FBI

172.1500         N0D0              TSA @ PBI Airport

172.1875         N167               FBI

172.2375         N301               CBP

172.2875         N167               FBI Miami C-2

172.7125         N283               CBP Port Everglades

172.7625         N200               ICE

173.1875         N301               CBP

173.6500         N156               DEA

173.7250         N650               BATFE

173.9260         N650               BATFE

 

406.2000         N201               Federal Protective Service (FPS)

407.1375         N482               US Postal Inspection Service

410.8000         N201               FPS

413.0250         N293               USCG NET 411

Ft. Lauderdale Frederal Frequencies

As I was in the Miami area for over two weeks for the Super Bowl, I spent a fair amount of my down time at my hotel, which was located in Fort Lauderdale. Even though I didn’t think I would catch much Super Bowl related communications from there, I figured it would give me a chance to check out routine federal activity in the Broward County area.

I set up a couple of antennas on my hotel room balcony. Many people who spotted my antenna setup on my Twitter posts wondered what kind of antennas they were and how they worked. I ended up doing a lot of Coast Guard and marine traffic monitoring as I had a front row seat at the entrance to Port Everglades.

Here are the active frequencies I logged from my hotel room monitoring setup:

162.6250         N303               CBP Miami Area

163.0500         N293               US Coast Guard NET 112

163.8375         N167               FBI

165.3125         N293               US Coast Guard NET 121

165.7875         N001               US Secret Service BRAVO

165.9250        

167.3375         N167               FBI

167.5375         N167               FBI

167.6125         N293               US Marshals Service

167.6625         N167               FBI

167.7625         N167               FBI

167.8625         CSQ                VAMC Paging

168.0000         100.0 pl          

168.4625         N68F               Federal Interoperability LE-5

169.2625         N293               CBP OAM AIR-3

169.2625         N61A

170.1625         N375               ICE

170.2375         156.7 pl          

170.3750         N200               ICE

170.6000         N301               CBP

170.7375         N200               ICE

171.1875         N303               CBP Miami Area

171.3250         N296               CBP

171.3875         N300               ICE

171.6875         N167               FBI Miami Area

171.7625         N303               CBP

171.9875         N167               FBI OPS 2

172.1875         N167               FBI OPS 4

172.2875         N167               FBI OPS 3

172.4125         N303               CBP

172.7125         N283               CBP Port Everglades

172.9000         N013               TSA @ FLL airport

172.9000         N019               TSA @ MIA airport

173.0750         CSQ                LOJACK data bursts

173.3625        

173.6500         N156               DEA

173.7250         N650               BATFE

173.8000         N286               CBP

173.8750         N1D3              EPA or possibly US Capitol Police?

406.2000         N201               FPS

406.3500        

407.1375         N482               US Postal Inspection Service

407.9500

408.0000         N3C0              VAMC trunked system Miami

408.7500

408.7625

409.5250         N293               US Department of State (DoS)

409.6000

410.0750         CSQ                FAA Data

410.1000

410.7625         N254               ? RADIO ID 56693, TG 52976

410.8000         N201               FPS

410.9500

412.6750

412.7250

413.0250         N293               USCG NET 411

413.4750        

418.6750         156.7 pl           DEA

418.7000

418.7500         156.7 pl           DEA

419.0250        

419.5250         156.7 pl           DEA

419.8000

Atlanta Federal Frequencies

Late in 2019 I spent a few days in Atlanta for work and logged some active federal channels. Many of these frequencies were active a year ago when I was in town for the Super Bowl, but there were actually some new catches as well. Here is what I recorded over my time there:

162.2250         NB10              ICE

162.9250         NB11              ICE

163.7875         N167               FBI

163.8125         N864               U.S. Marshals Service

164.1625         N293

164.4000         N001               U.S. Secret Service PAPA

164.7875         N001               TSA at ATL Airport

165.7250         N293               U.S. Marshals Service

166.4750         NB10              ICE

167.2125         N167               FBI

167.3875         N167               FBI

167.4875         N167               FBI

167.5375         N167               FBI

167.6750         N293               U.S. Marshals Service, Federal Courthouse

168.4625         N68F               Federal Interop LE-5

168.8375         N001               TSA @ ATL Airport

168.9250         N167               FBI

169.3750         NB10              ICE Wide Area Network

169.7375         NB10              ICE Wide Area Network

169.5750         N156               DEA

169.6625         N292

169.8125         N293               MLK Center Atlanta - Security

169.9125         NB10              ICE Wide Area Network

170.1000         NB10              ICE Wide Area Network

170.4375         NB10              ICE Wide Area Network

170.6500         N156               DEA

170.8500         N864               U.S. Marshals Service

171.1875         NB10              ICE Wide Area Network

171.3250         N281               CBP

172.2625         N293

173.1000         N167               FBI

172.8750         N293               FAA

172.9000         N001               TSA at ATL Airport

172.9750         N003

173.7875         NB10              ICE Wide Area Network

406.1125         N3C1              HHS CDC Site 1-41

406.1375         DMR               Color Code 1 - Postal Service Sorting Center

406.3375         N482               US Postal Inspection Service

406.5000         N293

406.7750         N3C0              System 3CD, Site 1-42

407.0000         N201               FPS Atlanta Operations

407.0125         N2B5              US Prison Atlanta TRS C92B

407.7250         N482               Postal Inspection Service

407.8125         N3C1              HHS CDC Site1-41

407.8375         N293

408.0000         N293               Security Patrols, gate checks

408.2500         N2B5              US Prison Atlanta TRS C92B

408.4375         N3C0              HHS CDC Site 1-42

408.6375         N3C0              HHS CDC Site 1-42  

409.2125         N2B5              US Prison Atlanta TRS C92B

409.3000         N3C1              HHS CDC, Site 1-41

409.4125         N2B5              US Prison Atlanta TRS C92B

410.0375         N3C1              HHS CDC Site 1-41

410.5250         N2B5              US Prison Atlanta TRS C92B

410.7375         DMR               Color Code 2, Talk Group 101 - Security

410.8000         N201               Federal Protective Service

412.9000         N001               Security Patrols

413.0500         N0F0               Department of State

413.4750         N201               Federal Protective Service

413.9500         N201               Federal Protective Service

413.9875         118.8PL          Automated voice alarms

415.0500         N293               U.S. Postal Inspection Service

415.3375         N482               U.S. Postal Inspection Service, input to 406.3375

415.5000         N293  

416.0000         N270  

416.7250         N482               Postal Inspection Service, input to 407.7250

419.8000         N201               Federal Protective Service, input to 410.8000

March ARB Trunked System

There have been some changes to the March Air Reserve Base VHF P-25 trunked radio system in Riverside, California. These changes might not be obvious to listeners in the area.

The system is still P25 Phase 1, but it has had a change in some of the frequencies and now is part of the larger US Air Force 3D6 trunked system. 

Here are the specifics of the current system:

System ID : 3D6
System Name : March ARB
WACN : BEE00
Tower Number (Decimal): 1-13
Tower Number (Hex) : T010D
Tower Description : Single Site
Flavor : Phase 1

System Frequencies
138.08750
138.11250
138.13750
138.26250
138.41250
138.51250
138.61250
138.63750
138.68750
138.71250

The system information on March ARB on the Radio Reference site has not been updated to reflect these changes, but here is some information on the USAF 3D6 trunked system: https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=7769
 

FCI Sheridan TRS

I had a chance to stop by the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan, OR this week, so I could check on what type of radio system is in use there. It turns out to be the same system I found last time I was there 6 or 7 years ago.

Even with some federal prison facilities now upgrading or replacing systems with P-25 digital trunked systems, many are still using the Motorola type II trunking. In this case, they are still type II with digital voice. 

Here are the goods on their current trunked system:

Sheridan Federal Correctional Institution
Sys ID - A81C
Voice NAC - $1C5
 
408.8125
409.0125
409.4125
409.9500
410.5250

Scanner Band Plan
Base - 408.8125
Step - 12.5 KHz
Offset - 380

Federal Emergency Frequencies

In the April issue of The Spectrum Monitor, I presented possible frequencies that would possibly be used, particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are some potential monitoring targets for federal agency activity in areas in which federal agencies are supporting public health issues. First is the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). While their day-to-day activity probably does not have many two-way radios involved, they do have emergency response teams and those teams do have radios. Here are the frequencies allocated to HHS;

30.420

30.430

34.050

36.180

36.220

36.250

36.270

36.350

36.750

38.830

40.370

41.350

41.390

41.430 (Nationwide)

41.470 (Nationwide)

41.530 (Nationwide)

41.650 (Nationwide)

41.690 (Nationwide)

41.790 (Nationwide)

41.830

163.0000

163.0750

163.1750

163.2500 (Nationwide Medical Paging Allocation)

163.3000

163.3750

163.7000

164.3000 (Nationwide)

164.5250

164.7000

164.8000

164.9625

164.9875 (Nationwide)

165.0625

165.2625

165.3125

165.3375

166.1000

166.8250

168.0000

168.3250

168.5250

169.6250

170.1250

171.2375 (Nationwide – shared)

171.7250

172.3000

172.7750

407.7000 / 416.7000

408.0500 / 417.0500

409.0000 / 418.0000

410.0250 / 419.0250

410.2000 / 419.2000

410.2250 / 419.2250

410.4000 / 419.4000

410.4250 / 419.4250

411.2250 – Simplex

411.4500 – Simplex

411.8250 – Simplex

413.4500 – Simplex

413.8750 – Simplex

415.4000 / 406.4000

415.8250 / 406.8250

415.9250 / 406.9250

416.9750 / 407.9750

417.6500 / 408.6500

417.7000 / 408.7000

419.1500 / 410.1500

419.6000 / 410.6000

419.6250 / 410.6250

419.8000 / 410.8000

Here is a listing of what was found in an HHS radio channel load at one time and may still be in use. Note the HHS National TAC channels:

409.0000         N293   K2

419.6000         N392   K3

409.2000         N447   K4

418.2000         N744   K6

409.0500         N447   K7

418.0500         N744   K9

409.3375         N447   K10

418.3375         N744   K12

412.8250         N447   K13

412.8500         N447   K14

412.8375         N447   K15

412.8625         N447   K16

412.8500         N068   HHS NTAC 1

413.0500         N068   HHS NTAC 2

413.8125         N068   HHS NTAC 3

417.7000         N068   HHS NTAC 4

In addition to the HHS channels, be sure and listen for activity on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Here are some of the confirmed UHF channels, although FEMA has equipment that can use any VHF or UHF band channels as needed:

138.0250

138.4625

138.6625

138.8875

140.5125

140.7125

141.4500

143.4625

143.8875

148.3000

149.0250

150.4500

150.5125

150.6625

406.2625           N421     FEMA 01/02

406.4500

406.4625

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

407.6625           N421     FEMA 05/06

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

409.2625                         USAR

409.3375

409.4625           N421     FEMA 11

409.6625                         USAR

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

415.2625

415.4625

415.8625

416.2625

416.4500           N421     FEMA INPUT

416.4625

416.6625

417.2875

418.0625           N421     FEMA 08 INPUT

418.3375

418.4625           N421     FEMA 11 INPUT

418.8625           N421     FEMA 05 INPUT

419.2625

419.4625           N421     FEMA 02 INPUT

419.6625           N421

419.8625           N421     FEMA 14 INPUT

In addition to these frequencies, the National Telecommunications and Information Agency (NTIA) has allocated a number of VHF and UHF channels for federal agency interoperability. This allows different federal agencies some common radio channels where none had previously existed. Here are the current NTIA allocated Federal Interoperability frequencies, and these can be found in the NIFOG document I mentioned earlier:

162.0875         1FCAL-35

162.2625         1FCAL-36

162.8375         1FCAL-37

163.2875         1FCAL-38

163.4250         1FCAL-39

164.7125         1FCAL-40

165.2500         1FCAL-41

165.9625         1FCAL-42

165.5750         1FCAL-43

167.0875         1FCAL-35D

167.0875         LE-1

167.2500         1FLAW-36D

167.2500         LE-2/LE-6

167.3250         1FCAL-44

167.7500         1FLAW-37D

167.7500         LE-3/LE-7

168.1125         1FLAW-38D

168.1125         LE-4/LE-8

168.4625         1FLAW-39D

168.4625         LE-5/LE-9

169.5375         1FCAL-40D

169.5375         NC-1

170.0125         1FTAC-41D

170.0125         IR-1/IR-6

170.4125         1FTAC-42D

170.4125         IR-2/IR-7

170.6875         1FTAC-43D

170.6875         IR-3/IR-8

173.0375         1FTAC-44D

173.0375         IR-4/IR-9

           

409.9875         4FLAW-46D

409.9875         LE-10/LE-16

410.1875         4FLAW-47D

410.1875         LE-11/LE-17

410.2375         4FCAL-52D

410.2375         IR-15

410.4375         4FTAC-53D

410.4375         IR-10/IR-16

410.6125         4FLAW-48D

410.6125         LE-12/LE-18

410.6375         4FTAC-54D

410.6375         IR-11/IR-17

410.8375         4FTAC-55D

410.8375         IR-12/IR-18

413.1875         4FTAC-56

413.1875         IR-13

413.2125         4FTAC-57

413.2125         IR-14

414.0375         4FCAL-45D

414.0375         LE-B

414.0625         4FLAW-49

414.0625         LE-13

414.3125         4FLAW-50

414.3125         LE-14

414.3375         4FLAW-51

414.3375         LE-15

419.1875         4FLAW-47

419.2375         4FCAL-52

419.4375         4FTAC-53

419.6126         4FLAW-48

419.6375         4FTAC-54

419.8375         4FTAC-55

419.9875         4FLAW-46

Some areas have had National Guard units activated to provide mostly logistical support for areas heavily affected by the COVID-19 virus. In addition to their normal unit communications, they could be using the frequencies listed above, and you might consider the following frequencies, which are allocated to federal government itinerant use by any federal government agency:

163.1000

163.7125        

167.1375

168.3500

168.5500        

168.6125        

173.6250        

407.5250        

409.0500

409.0750

409.3375

412.8250

412.8375

412.8500

412.8625

412.8750

412.8875

412.9000

412.9125

416.5250

418.0500

418.0750

418.3375