Monday, April 14, 2008

The Pope's Visit to DC (Part 3)

More things to monitor:

Nationals Park
Here's a rundown of what's used at Nationals Park. Unfortunately, the primary frequencies are MOTOTRBO, which is unmonitorable. But there are still quite a few analog things to listen to at the stadium. (Note that most of these are simplex, so you'll have to be near the stadium to monitor.)

461.3875 [ d152] CSC Event Staff
461.5125 [ d152] CSC Event Staff
461.6625 [ ] Nationals Staff (MOTOTRBO digital modulation--cannot be monitored)
461.8125 [ ] Nationals Staff (MOTOTRBO digital modulation--cannot be monitored)
461.9875 [ ] Nationals Staff (MOTOTRBO digital modulation--cannot be monitored)
463.7875 [ ] Nationals Staff (MOTOTRBO digital modulation--cannot be monitored)
463.9375 [ ] Nationals Staff (MOTOTRBO digital modulation--cannot be monitored)
464.5000 [114.8] TV? (active 3/30/08)
464.5500 [167.9] Fireworks Coordination?
464.6500 [107.2] TV? (active 3/30/08)

Metro
Metro's trunked system should be quite active, especially before and after the Mass at Nationals Park. The Transit Police have used one of their Tac channels (usually either Tac 6 or Tac 7) for crowd control at busy stations. Tac 6 and Tac 7 are talkgroups 50192 and 50224, respectively. Of course, the Transit Police dispatch talkgroup will be active (analog 2224, digital 49168/57296). Also listen for bus supervisors dealing with rerouting buses. Their primary talkgroup is 24592.

Red Cross
The Red Cross has provided water and medical support at some of Washington's big events in the past, and they may be working for the Pope's visit. They've used 462.3750 [ 88.5]. It's unknown whether this frequency is simplex or repeated. The Red Cross is also licensed for a repeater on 461.4750 and mobiles on 464.2500.

Federal
The Secret Service is coordinating overall security for the Pope's visit, as it does for all visiting heads of state. This Capitol Hill Monitor newsletter (PDF) has an excellent article about the Secret Service. Search the 162-174 MHz and 406-420 MHz bands for other federal activity.

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