Lots of Frequencies Found Yesterday

I found many frequencies and talkgroups yesterday at the National Marathon, Cherry Blossom Festival Opening Ceremony, Smithsonian Kite Festival, Nationals Exhibition Game, and the new retail center DC USA. (Yes, I made good use of the Metro All-Day Pass!)

I've posted everything I found on my website.

Since the Nationals home opener is tonight, I'll go ahead and put what I found last night for Nationals Park here:

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)
464.5500 [167.9] Fireworks Coordination?

DC Trunked System Talkgroups:
2096 DCFD Special Events 1
16656 MPD Special Operations Division (brief use 3/29/08)
20176 MPD unknown use (discussion about unloading buses--3/29/08)
21232 MPD Citywide 2 (street closures, traffic coordination)
34512 Traffic Management Center/Department of Transportation?
35536 Emergency Management Agency
35600 Traffic Management Center/Department of Transportation

Metro Trunked System Talkgroups:
50224 Police Tac 7 (crowd control at Navy Yard Station)
58032 (discussion about escalators at Navy Yard Station)

Donovan House Hotel License

The Donovan House (formerly a Holiday Inn) is scheduled to open tomorrow. They recently licensed one repeater and seven simplex frequencies.

National Harbor Will Use MOTOTRBO

Here's another one I probably should have included on the MOTOTRBO list: National Harbor. They just received their license for two repeaters yesterday. These frequencies will probably be used for security/maintenance of the overall National Harbor development. Note that the centerpiece of National Harbor, the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, is already using a UHF LTR system. Obviously, the two MOTOTRBO frequencies are completely separate from the LTR system.

National Harbor opens April 1.

Hilton Garden Inn Courthouse (Arlington) New Application

The Hilton Garden Inn Courthouse in Arlington has an application for three simplex frequencies.

MOTOTRBO in DC

Here's a quick summary of who's using/will be using the digital MOTOTRBO format in DC:

• Verizon Center: confirmed in use on "old" 461.xxxx freqs. (They need to update their license to show that they're using MOTOTRBO!)
  

• Nationals Park: confirmed in use. The license for the stadium lists six repeaters, and twelve simplex frequencies. Because MOTOTRBO repeaters can actually carry two simultaneous conversations, the Nationals may have as many as 24 channels.

• Newseum: this new museum, opening April 11, will use three repeaters, and eight simplex frequencies.

• Howard University: confirmed in use on 461.7000. Unknown if 461.7000 [118.8] continues to be used.

• Howard University Hospital: confirmed in use on 461.4625.

There are also a couple of property management companies that are using MOTOTRBO according to their licenses. Since they generally only use a single relatively low-powered repeater, I haven't listed them here.

The Perfect Storm of Scanning

This weekend is shaping up to be a busy one for scanning in DC. On Saturday, we've got the National Marathon, the Opening Ceremony of the Cherry Blossom Festival, the Smithsonian Kite Festival, and a Nationals exhibition game. On Sunday, the Nationals play their first real game at Nationals Park. There will be plenty to listen to on the scanner.

The organizers of the National Marathon have relied on cell phones/Nextel the previous two years. I'm not sure if they'll be using radios this year. Most of the good listening has been DC Police and Fire. Several hams also help out with the race, so look for some amateur radio frequencies to be active.

The Opening Ceremony of the Cherry Blossom Festival will again be at the National Building Museum. Last year, the organizers used FRS/GMRS radios. I believe NBM security uses a low power simplex business frequency.

The Kite Festival is on the grounds of the Washington Monument. The one previous time I've attended, organizers were using FRS/GMRS.

Finally, there will be lots to listen to with the opening of Nationals Park. Unfortunately, we won't be able to listen to stadium personnel, because they've installed a digital radio system called MOTOTRBO for the stadium. No scanner can decode this digital format. But there's still the DC Police and Fire to monitor. Last year, MPD used talkgroup 21232 (Citywide 2) and DC Fire used talkgroup 2096 (Special Events 1). Also, CSC (an outfit which provides security/crowd control) might continue to use analog radios. Look for them on 461.5125 [ d125].