Weekend Events

The holiday weekend is certainly full of events. Here are three highlights:

• Sunday evening: National Memorial Day Concert on West Lawn of the Capitol. The Capitol Police frequencies should be active. Also search both the 162-174 and 406-420 band for additional non-public safety frequencies used on the Capitol grounds. (Inputs to frequencies from 406-411 are 9 MHz higher.) There may also be some use of business-band frequencies by organizers coordinating seating, VIPs, etc. Search 461-470 MHz.
• Sunday evening: "Summer Blast-Off" Concert at Wolf Trap. I have a couple of frequencies for Wolf Trap. 417.9750 [CSQ] (input 411.7750) is used by the Park Rangers. I've been advised that this channel is now P25 digital, however. (Frequencies are supposedly the same.) If anyone can confirm and possibly snag a NAC, it would be appreciated. Wolf Trap has also used 461.4250 [d712] for staff. In addition to this simplex frequency, they are also licensed for 464.8000, 466.4250, and 469.8000 (all simplex).
• Monday at two: The National Memorial Day Parade on Constitution Avenue. In 2006, 151.5125 [173.8] was used for Parade Order/Scheduling, and 156.5150 [d114] was used for Golf Carts/Escorts. These frequencies were in rented radios from Blandchard's USA Radio Rentals. It's unknown if they'll be using the same frequencies, or even the same radio rental provider. Also note that USA Radio Rentals also rents UHF radios, so they might use that band. Check the DC Fire Special Events talkgroups for possible use, as well as MPD's SOD or Citywide 2 talkgroups. Finally, since this parade has many military ceremonial units, check the Ft. Myer trunked system for activity.