Friday, April 25, 2008

What I Listen to on I-95 from Fredericksburg to DC

Since I frequently make the hour trip on I-95 from Fredericksburg to DC, I thought I'd post what I'm listening to (and where) on the drive. I'm almost always listening with the BCD396T scanner with the Radio Shack 800 MHz antenna.
  1. I begin in Fredericksburg scanning five different entities: Spotsylvania County, Fredericksburg, Stafford County, Virginia State Police, and the "Special" system. Spotsy is their EDACS trunked system, plus several conventional frequencies. Fredericksburg is several public safety and business frequencies. Same with Stafford. Virginia State Police is their four dispatch frequencies that they use around the state, plus their Tac and Surveillance channels. (I've also got a few other Virginia state agencies' frequencies in this system, like VDOT.) Finally, the "Special" system is a slew of conventional frequencies. It includes the low-power and itinerant business frequencies, the "local control" channels, common public safety channels that are in use nationwide, and others. There are too many frequencies to list, but maybe that's something for a future post. (The scanner actually takes about three seconds to go through all these frequencies!)
  2. I listen to these five "systems" from mile 130 to about mile 140. At that point Spotsy tends to get fairly weak, so I turn it and Fredericksburg off. After passing Exit 143, I turn on two more systems: Prince William and Quantico Marine Corps Base. Prince William consists of the Motorola trunked system, plus frequencies for Potomac Mills Mall and Prince William Forest Park. Quantico includes their conventional fire frequency (149.3500) and their 380 MHz trunked system.
  3. I keep these systems going until about Exit 160. (I usually turn Stafford off around Potomac Mills, Exit 156.) At Exit 160, if not earlier, I turn on Fairfax County and Fort Belvoir. (I can receive Fairfax well from about Exit 152 on.) Fairfax consists of their Motorola trunked system, and several conventional frequencies. I don't normally listen to the Fairfax Services trunked system on the road. Fort Belvoir is the 380 MHz system used at that base.
  4. I turn Prince William and Quantico off shortly after crossing the Occoquan River. Fairfax and Belvoir stay on at least until I get on I-395. On approaching the Springfield Interchange (at about Exit 166) I turn on Arlington. Arlington consists of both the current Motorola trunked system, as well as the new P25 trunked system. It also includes a bunch of conventional frequencies.
  5. Once through the Springfield Interchange, I might turn on DC, but many times I just leave the scanner on Arlington. DC consists of the 460 MHz Motorola trunked system used by the Metropolitan Police, and the 800 MHz Motorola trunked system used by DC Fire and City Services.
That's about it. I keep the Virginia State Police and the Special system on for the entire drive. So basically the scanner scans those two systems, plus whatever jurisdiction I happen to be passing through at the moment.

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