Thursday, July 29, 2010

Jiffy Lube Live Using a VHF Repeater

Jiffy Lube Live (formerly the Nissan Pavilion) is using a VHF repeater on 151.6550 [d071]. This frequency used to be simplex. The input frequency is unknown. The repeater was monitored with a handheld scanner at Reston Town Center.

Fannie Mae LTR PassPort Trunked System

Fannie Mae operates a multi-site LTR PassPort trunked radio system in the DC area. There are multiple sites in Washington; one in Urbana, MD; one in Herndon, VA; and one in Reston, VA. Here are the frequencies for the Herndon and Reston sites:

Herndon: 461.7625, 463.9875, 464.4375
Reston: 461.6625, 463.7375, 464.6875

Note that no scanner can track an LTR PassPort system, but the audio can be monitored.

Hyatt Regency Reston

Here is an updated list of frequencies for the Hyatt Regency Reston, which is located at Reston Town Center:

461.7375 [ d754] Banquets (R)
461.7750 [ d631] Security/Engineering (R)
462.5250 [ d631] Housekeeping (S)

Reston Town Center Update

Spent some time at the Reston Town Center recently. Here are some new/updated frequencies:

464.5000 [ ] Security (MOTOTRBO digital) (S)

154.6000 [131.8] Rave Motion Pictures
461.1125 [ d412] Sephora
467.8500 [ 67.0] Apple
467.8750 [ d165] Pottery Barn
467.9250 [ d743] Victoria's Secret
467.9250 [218.1] Anthropologie

Nordstrom Rack FCC Apps

Nordstrom Rack, which is opening stores at Fair Lakes Promenade and Pentagon Centre on August 26, has two applications (Fair Lakes, Pentagon Centre) pending before the FCC. Both applications call for the same five simplex frequencies:

463.8375
464.6125
464.0875
464.2625
467.7625

Friday, July 23, 2010

Dave Matthews Band Concert Tonight

The Dave Matthews Band plays at Nationals Park tonight. Search the UHF business frequencies for stagehands, audio/visual, etc. CSC Event Staff (which provides crowd control) may use 461.5125 [d152]. CSC also has several other UHF frequencies. Nationals Park staff use MOTOTRBO digital radios (cannot be monitored with a scanner). Try talkgroup 2096 for DC Fire, and talkgroup 21232 for Metropolitan Police.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Georgetown Update

Here are some new/updated frequencies for Georgetown:

461.1125 [d412] Sephora
464.5500 [67.0] Zara
467.7625 [67.0] Apple
467.8750 [118.8] Restoration Hardware

Saturday, July 17, 2010

VRE Trip Report

I rode the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) several times in the past couple of weeks, and was listening to the scanner all the way up and back. I traveled from Fredericksburg to Crystal City. The road channel (161.5500) was very active with location call-outs, defect reports, etc. The dispatcher channel (160.4100) was only active a few times, notably when the train I was riding had door problems. I didn't hear anything on the VRE channel (160.6800).

While it's easy to hear the rail frequencies from the train, listening to public safety is somewhat more difficult than listening on the trip up I-95 in a car. I assume because the VRE cars are made of heavy metal that the radio signals are somewhat attenuated. Nevertheless, the major 800 MHz public safety systems (Prince William, Fairfax, Alexandria, Arlington) were able to be monitored for much of the trip.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Northern Virginia Community College - Alexandria

Confirmed frequencies and tones for Northern Virginia Community College - Alexandria Campus:

857.4875 [203.5] Maintenance (R)
860.4875 [203.5] Security (R)

The other campuses of NVCC use these same two frequencies with different PL tones.

Marymount University Shuttle Frequency

The shuttle service for Marymount University is using 451.8625 [ d606]. Note that the license for this frequency has been terminated.

Washington Kastles/World Team Tennis

The Washington Kastles are playing once again this summer in a "stadium" set up in the City Center parking lot (site of the old convention center). Here are some frequencies in use:

461.5125 [ d152] CSC Event Staff (S)
464.5000 [ CSQ] Organizers (S)
464.5500 [ CSQ] Organizers (S)

More DC Business Finds

Here are some more business frequencies/tones found in DC:

463.6000 [ d072] International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (R)
464.0000 [136.5] Union Center (R)
464.2500 [ d411] Gallery Place - Engineering (Apartments) (R)

Saturday, July 10, 2010

New Business Frequencies Monitored in DC

Here are some new business frequencies that I monitored recently in DC:

462.0125 [241.8] Sirius XM Radio
462.1375 [ d306] DC Health Care Association
463.4250 77 K St. NE (MOTOTRBO digital)
463.5125 [ d754] Constitution Square

Friday, July 9, 2010

Mount Vernon Update

Another update for Mount Vernon: Maintenance/Grounds is using 461.4625 [ d116]. (They used 464.4750 [ d116] previously.) One of the "old" channels, 464.6750 [ d624], remains active with what I believe are tour guides.

Pentagon Center Housekeeping

I'm not certain of this yet, but Pentagon Center housekeeping may use 464.0000 [ d612]. This would be an unlicensed simplex channel. Security uses a repeater on 464.9250 [ d612].

Loudoun County School Buses

Loudoun County school buses use an LTR-Net trunked system. Although scanners can't decode all the data that is passed on these systems, the Loudoun County system can be set up in scanners as LTR, and properly tracked. Here are three of the channels in the system:

461.4125 (1), 463.9625 (12), 452.7375 (14)

Also see the RadioReference page for the system for more details.

Fredericksburg Fire New Channel Plan

Fredericksburg Fire has recently added/changed their channels. Here is the new plan:

154.4150 [ 71.9] Dispatch (Channel 1) (R)
154.4150 [ 71.9] (Channel 2) (S)
158.8350 [203.5] (Channel 3) (R)
158.8350 [203.5] (Channel 4) (S)
159.0600 [203.5] (Channel 5) (R)
159.0600 [203.5] (Channel 6) (S)
155.7150 [156.7] Mary Washington Hospital (Channel 7) (R)
155.7150 [156.7] (Channel 8) (S)
153.8150 [156.7] (Channel 9) (S)

Fairfax County School Buses New Talkgroups

Fairfax County School Buses are using several new talkgroups on the Fairfax County Services trunked system over the past few months. The talkgroups are mostly in the 28xxx range. These appear to be additional talkgroups, not replacements, as the 26xxx and 27xxx talkgroups remain in use. I haven't been able to pin down specific uses for the talkgroups.

Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference Update

In an earlier post, I speculated that an LTR system might be set up for the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC). From monitoring near the convention center yesterday, it appears the conference organizers are instead using MOTOTRBO radios. Several of the licensed frequencies were active as repeaters, including 451.3375, 451.4375, 451.5375, 451.6375, 452.1125, 452.1375, and 452.2875.

July 4 Monitoring

Here's what I found on July 4:

123.0250 [ CSQ] Helicopters Air-to-Air
159.1500 [NAC 653] DC Interop 1 (patched with Arlington talkgroup 26 and DC talkgroup 59968)
165.5375 [146.2] Capitol Police (Channel 2)
166.7250 [127.3] Park Police (Channel 1)
169.2250 [110.9] Capitol Police (Channel 1)
169.7750 [NAC 4C5] Park Service - George Washington Parkway (R)
170.5125 [NAC 4C5] Park Service (R)
172.4750 [NAC 4C5] Park Service (R)
173.5250 [167.9] Capitol Police - Specialized Teams
462.3750 [ 88.5] Red Cross - DC
464.7500 [146.2] Red Cross - Arlington (R)

DC talkgroups:
2160 JHAT
2640 DCFD Fireboats
2672 Unified Communications Center?
2752 DCFD (encrypted)
9840 DCFD Mall Command
16656 MPD SOD
18288 MPD SOD Alternate
20800 MPD Harbor Patrol
33872 Emergency Management Agency
35536 Emergency Management Agency
36688 Medical Bike Teams/Carts
59968 Emergency Operations Center (patched with Arlington talkgroup 26 and 159.1500 [NAC 653])
59984 may be unrelated - discussing illegal gambling

Arlington County talkgroups:
14 SWAT Command
26 Interop (patched with DC talkgroup 59968 and 159.1500 [NAC 653])
36 Fire Command
135 Coordination 1
136 Coordination 2
137 Coordination 3

STARS talkgroup:
6149 Virginia State Police - Traffic Control (dispatcher used callsign WRA534)

Metro talkgroups:
50128 Transit Police Tac 4 (talking about media setting up)
50224 Transit Police Tac 7 (crowd control at unknown station)
50256 Transit Police Tac 8 (crowd control at Smithsonian station)

Thursday, July 8, 2010

JetBlue Airways FCC App

JetBlue Airways has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for a repeater on 463.8625. This is for JetBlue's service from Reagan National Airport, which begins November 1.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

PNC Bank FCC App

PNC Bank, located at 800 17th St. NW, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for a repeater on 452.3000.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Weekend Events

It's a busy holiday weekend:
  • The Nationals play the Mets tonight, tomorrow afternoon, and Sunday afternoon.
  • The Smithsonian Folklife Festival continues through Monday. When I was there last Saturday, I only found two frequencies (461.7375 [d546] and 463.8625 [d503]), but there are probably more in use.
  • The fireworks on the National Mall begin at 9:15 Sunday night. Good things to monitor: Park Police (especially 166.7250 [127.3] and 166.8500 [127.3]), Capitol Police, National Park Service (169.7750, 170.5125, 172.4750, and 172.7500--all Project 25 digital), Red Cross (try 462.375 [88.5]), the DC trunked system (DCFD Special Events, EMA, and MPD SOD/Harbor talkgroups), the Arlington trunked system (try the Coordination talkgroups), and the Metro trunked system. Of course, many of these agencies will be active throughout the day. Also search the UHF business frequencies for organizers working on the Capitol Fourth concert, etc.