The latest version of the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide (NIFOG) has been released and is available for download at this link:
This guide is extremely valuable to scanner listeners as it lists the standard interoperability frequencies that are used nationwide by local, state and federal agencies.
According to posts on social media from National Scanning Magazine, the Whistler Group, parent company of Whistler scanners, has apparenlty shut down operations. You can read some of the details here: https://natcommag.substack.com/p/scanning-whistler-apparently-out-of-business
For many months now, Whistler scanner users have been complaining about being unable to update their scanners from the on-line Whistler server, and there has been little or no new scanner stock available for some time.
The Whistler scanner line was previously manufactured and sold by the GRE Corp, but some years ago, GRE sold their IP and scanner line to Whistler Group, out of Arkansas.
It remains to be seen if there will be any scanner manufacturers other than Uniden in the market.
Community leaders and citizens in Pendleton County, West Original are growing weary of the longtime restrictions on communications equipment due to regulations surrounding the National Radio Quiet Zone. There are discussions about lifting some of the restrictions or ending the quiet zone altogether:
https://wvmetronews.com/2024/09/04/pendleton-county-leaders-want-an-end-to-radio-quiet-zone/
The area has strict limitations on the amount of power for transmitters of radio signals and RF frequencies. The restrictions have been in place for decades to protect the work of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank, West Virginia.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense are working on plans to upgrade the surveillance blimps along the Southwest border regions.
The status of the aerostat blimps has been in some question since there have been several blimps damaged or destroyed recently. And the DHS has began upgrading the border areas with more ground-based electronic surveillance systems.
An interesting article recently appeared that states the Coast Guard is reducing the service life of their MH-60T Jayhawk helicopters from 20,000 hours to 19,000. It appears that maintenance issues have cropped up in older air frames and the reduction is in anticipation of a rebuild program with Sikorsky Aircraft, a division of Lockheed Martin.
Reports of activity on172.4000 MHz, N088 in the Long Island, NY region. No other information was provided.
For what it's worth, the frequency of 172.4000 MHz is assigned to mostly US Department of Agriculture and Department of the Interior agencies;
Animal/Plant Health Inspection Service
US Forest Service,
Bureau of Reclamation
International Boundary and Water Commission,
National Park Service
Soil Conservation Service
There are a few allocations to the US Army in New Mexico.
I have logged the N088 NAC a few times in Pennsylvania, and around the DC area out by Dulles airport, but not on this frequency.
During a recent POTUS motorcade in Delaware, a listener caught a Close-Call hit on 166.1125 MHz, N001. This has not been noted previously as a Secret Service or White House Communications Agency frequency in the past.
This frequency has no previous records to any federal agency in the NTIA data I have seen, so this may be a new assignment. As to who or what it is used for, remains to be seen.
I recently saw a report of activity noted on 168.2250 MHz, P25 with a NAC of N001 during an Executive Branch Secret Service motorcade.
I have not logged that frequency as associated with the Secret Service or White House Communications Agency before. But I have logged it on previous visits to New York City (FBI) and Pittsburgh (FBI), Nashville, TN (unknown with a NAC of N555) and around the Washington, DC area, where it was in analog with a PL tone of 151.4.
My records have this frequency assigned to multiple federal agencies, including:
Air Force
Army
Bureau of Land Management
Department of Energy
Justice Department - FBI
US Fish and Wildlife
US Geological Survey
Interior Department (Nationwide)
National Park Service
US Post Office
State Department
Anyone hearing this frequency near you?
I have had reports over several years of activity noted on 406.2875 MHz. My records did not have this assigned to any specific federal agency, but monitoring notes from various locations do record some activity on this frequency.
Treasury/IRS Philadelphia, PA DMR
Federal Bureau of Prisons, Butner NC - part of the prison trunked system
Florida - Unknown location using DMR, heard in Orlando
Texas - Unknown location using DMR, heard in San Antonio
Houston, TX - Heard over several years in analog using DCS 205, possible National Guard
Kansas City, MO - Unknown agency using P25 with a NAC of N293
Anyone else hearing activity on this frequency?
It appears that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is attempting to re-brand themselves to help in their investigations.
I found some information about the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Aviation Division and what aircraft are used as well as where they operate from.:
http://dcnewsroom.blogspot.com/2023/12/dea-contract-documents-provide-detailed.html
And some additional information on DEA leases for hanger space:
https://dcnewsroom.blogspot.com/2020/10/atlantic-aviation-hanger-lease-for-dea.html
The DEA air assets are often heard using the FLINT call sign. Some sources believe that FLINT stands for FLying INTelligence.
A few months ago, I mentioned in my column that I was using a powered RF multicoupler for some of my scanner setups while on the road. The unit I purchased was made and sold by Cross Country Wireless out of Manchester, England. I have been very happy with the build and performance of the unit and would recommend it.
However, I recently learned that Cross Country Wireless no longer appears to sell much on eBay, where I initially found the company. You can find them at the company web site, https://www.crosscountrywireless.net/ And they appear to have a channel on YouTube as well.
The multicouplers are still shown on the web site as being available, but they seem to refer buys to the eBay listing, even though it is shown as "Out of Stock" on eBay.
I still would like to purchase additional items from Cross Country at some point, so I will have to see how they want to handle small quantity purchases outside the UK now. And if you have any information on anything you have purchased from Cross Country recently, please let me know!
News reports have the Washington, DC headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) moving to a new site in Greenbelt, Maryland. This will involve a move of about 7,500 people from the FBI’s headquarters to the new Greenbelt facility, and the GSA is planning to keep up to 1,000 FBI employees in a federal facility in downtown Washington.
There is controversy in the move, of course. The cost appears to be headed north of $26 million just for the 60-acres of land acquisition and preparation. You can read more about this proposed move in various on line news sites. Here is one that is not behind a paywall:
The US Marshals Service JPATS program is soliciting bids for an upgraded Boeing 737 aircraft to be used for prisoner transports.
http://dcnewsroom.blogspot.com/2023/08/us-marshals-service-to-purchase-boeing.html?m=1
http://www.usmarshals.gov/jpats/index.html
Usually "JUSTICE" call signs are monitored on typical Air Traffic Control VHF aeronautical frequencies where the aircraft are operating. I have not seen any reporting of any special aero or land mobile frequency being used for the JPATS aircraft. On the ground, the US Marshals units will probably be using radios to coordinate prisoner loading and unloading.
I recently received some information regarding a controlled burn taking place at the Gulf Islands National Seashore, located along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and the Florida panhandle.
The communications used during this controlled burn were using 168.6125 MHz, in P-25 digital mode, using a Network Access Code (NAC) of N293.
For more frequencies used by the National Park Service, check out the NPS page on the blog site:
http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/p/national-park-service.html
On my recent travels through Arizona, I spotted a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Law Enforcement vehicle that had a large SATCOM antenna on the roof. There was also what appeared to be a multi-band land mobile radio antenna as well.
The large, platter shaped antenna is on the left side, over the drivers head. It is labeled with a number of warning emblems, probably telling you to not touch the antenna while in use.
I did not know that BLM had satellite capabilities, but it makes sense as they often operate in very remote areas, many miles from cell sites.
This is an additional agency that has been confirmed to have access to satellite voice and data communications. This list includes other Department of the Interior agencies, such as US Geological Survey, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), FEMA, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Army Corps of Engineers and Health & Human Services.
There are likely more agencies that can use mobile satellite gear. The NIFOG does list some federal interoperability channels/networks that are available on satellite.
At the top of the Fed Files Blog home page, you should see tabs that will take you to frequency lists of various federal agencies and offices. I have recently added some new tabs to include some frequencies that were requested by some blog visitors.
I have added tabs for the Department of Agriculture, which includes the Forest Service, and a tab for the Department of the Interior, which includes the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Park Service (NPS).
I will be updating and adding some specific listings for various parks and forests soon.
In the December Federal Wavelengths column, I mentioned that most federal law enforcement agencies still have a zone of their frequencies in analog mode available for their use. Many have it labeled as "WB" or wide-band.
This week, I received reports of one such use. The Drug Enforcement Administration has long been noted to still use their TAC channels in analog, especially when an airborne observer was part of the surveillance operations. The reports I have seen have analog surveillance ops going on, and some limited reports of DES encryption being used.
So it might be good to set up some analog searches of federal channels some time!
With the switch over to UHF P25 for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), there have been some airport locations that are revealing some new frequency allocations. I recently discovered a new repeater pairing in Detroit (DTW). They are using 407.7000 / 415.7000 MHz, with a NAC of N13E. I had not seen this pair of frequencies in use at other airport locations yet.
I also heard from a reader who confirmed 411.3375 MHz, N0D2 in use in Rochester, NY (ROC).
I am posting updates on new frequencies and NACs on the TSA page here:
http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/p/tsa-frequency-updates.html
As more airport locations start using the new Motorola UHF radios, some new frequencies are bound to show up, so keep searching!
The newest version of the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide, also known as the NIFOG has been updated. Version 2.01 is now available for download here:
Some changes I noted include a revamped Network Access Code (NAC) assignment for the 700 MHz interoperability frequencies. Also I see some default frequencies listed for deployable trunking systems.
