Pepsi Bottling Group New FCC License

Pepsi Bottling Group (Cheverly, MD) was recently issued an FCC license.  The plant will be using a single UHF repeater, and five simplex frequencies.

462.0875R

451.6625S

451.6875S

456.6125S

456.6625S

456.6875S

PHI Air Medical Group New License

PHI Air Medical Group, which operates multiple medical helicopters in the Northern Virginia area, was recently issued a license for several frequencies.  It appears PHI will have a UHF frequency for dispatch at each of the airports where their helos are based.

Fredericksburg (Shannon Airport): 460.1125

Leesburg (Leesburg Executive Airport): 462.9625

Winchester (Winchester Regional Airport): 460.1125

Weyers Cave (Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport): 460.1125

Baltimore (Martin State Airport): 453.4250

Manassas (Manassas Regional Airport): 462.9625

Airports Authority New Frequencies

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) was recently issued a new license for several 800 MHz frequencies.  The radio service code is YE, which indicates rebanded frequencies.  These frequencies may replace some of the current 866-869 MHz frequencies in the current MWAA trunked system.

854.0625

854.0875

854.3125

854.3625

854.4375

Saturday Events

There are a couple of events on Saturday in DC to kick off the National Cherry Blossom Festival.  The Smithsonian Kite Festival is on the grounds of the Washington Monument (rain may cause a problem for this event).  Last year, organizers used 462.6375 [  77.0].  The other event is the Opening Ceremony at the National Building Museum.  Here are three frequencies that were used last year:

462.6125 [  67.0] Appeared to be primary channel
462.6375 [  67.0]
462.6625 [  82.5]

These two frequencies are used by the National Building Museum itself:

462.6875 [  77.0] Staff
464.5000 [ d703] Security

National Marathon Saturday

The National Marathon is tomorrow.  This event begins and ends at RFK Stadium.  In previous years, most of the good listening was found on the DC trunked system and amateur radio.  Surprisingly, the race organizers have not used two-way radio since the marathon began in 2006.  Here are some notes from last year:

DC Trunked System talkgroups:

2096 DCFD Special Events 1 (primary)
2112 DCFD Special Events 2
2128 DCFD Special Events 3
2640 Fireboats (water display near South Capitol Street/Nationals Park)
16656 MPD Special Operations Division (street closures)
34448 Department of Health
35536 Emergency Management Agency

146.6100 [  77.0] Amateur Radio Repeater (course updates, etc.)

The following were not active last year, but may be in use:

166.7250 [127.3] Park Police (Ch. 1)

21232 MPD Citywide 2

33872 Emergency Management Agency

35600 Traffic Management Center

Shamrock Fest Frequencies Found

Here are some frequencies found from Saturday's Shamrock Fest at RFK Stadium:

461.5125 [ d152] CSC Event Staff (crowd control/gates)
463.5375 [ d311] Outside Parking/Security
464.3750 [110.9] RFK Stadium
464.5000 [ d132] Organizers
DC Fire used talkgroup 2096 (Special Events 1).

Major Changes to the Fairfax County Page

I've redesigned the Fairfax County page on my website.  Most notably, I've organized and consolidated the business listings.  I've put all the businesses into categories, such as "Hotels," "Retail," "Property Management," "Attractions," etc.  This shortens the length of the page considerably, and makes it easier to find similar frequencies.  No longer is there simply one long alphabetical list of every business.

I plan to slowly do this with more pages, but each one takes a considerable amount of time, so it may be a while before all pages are redesigned.

Volo Aviation FCC App

Volo Aviation, a Fixed Based Operator (FBO) at Manassas Regional Airport, has an application pending before the FCC.  The app calls for five UHF simplex frequencies.

451.3125

451.3625

451.5625

451.6625

452.1125

DC Scanner Enthusiasts Meeting on Saturday

It was announced in the March issue of the Capitol Hill Monitor (see previous post) that there will be a DC scanner enthusiasts meeting this Saturday (March 14) in Takoma Park.  The meeting is at 1 PM at the Savory Cafe (7071 Carroll Ave.).  The restaurant looks to be a little over half a mile from the Takoma Metro station.

New Capitol Hill Monitor Newsletter Released

The March Capitol Hill Monitor newsletter (PDF) has been released.  Topics covered:

Maryland EMS Categories/Priorities

Coast Guard Sector Baltimore

CSX Railroad in DC Area

Marine One Frequency Presets

Speech to Joint Session of Congress (Feb. 24)

Here are some finds from a few hours of monitoring before and during the speech:

159.1500 [NAC 653] encrypted
162.2500 [173.8] Capitol Police Ch. 4 (units in gallery) (R)
164.6250 [ d023] Capitol Police (S)
164.6250 [ d074] Capitol Police (S)
167.0375 [NAC 001] "Omaha"; mostly encrypted
167.4625 [NAC 167] vehicle tag check (unknown if related)
173.5250 [167.9] Capitol Police - Specialized Teams (R)
407.3375 [ d245] "2P North"; "6th floor south side"; "extension 4917"; engineering (probably not related)
407.7875 [ d364] "put in touch with special events"
Other Capitol Police channels active for motorcade coordination, etc.

Fort Myer Trunked System talkgroups:
415 "Defender Main"; "Noble Main"
439 "Guardian"; "RAOC"

DC Trunked System talkgroups:
2096 DCFD Special Events 1
2288 Hospital roll call--count of majors/minors (talkgroup normally Children's Hospital)
16656 MPD Special Operations Division (SOD)
18320 MPD Harbor Patrol

Arlington Trunked System talkgroup:
45 National Medical Response Team - A

Georgetown/George Mason/Springfield Finds

Here are some frequency finds from a trip to Northern Virginia/DC on Saturday:

Georgetown

464.5500 [100.0] Georgetown Inn

461.0250 [ d132] Georgetown Business Improvement District (S)

467.7125 [100.0] Latham Hotel

464.1750 [ d051] Melrose Hotel (S)

George Mason University

464.9750 [ d244] Athletics? (S)

461.5125 [ d152] Patriot Center (CSC Event Staff 2/28/09)
464.5000 [ d031] Patriot Center (microphone test 2/28/09)

463.2750 [  88.5] Patriot Center Operations (Ticket issues/talk about national anthem)

Springfield

464.5500 [  67.0] Comfort Inn Springfield (probably shared with Hampton Inn Springfield)

464.9750 [ d306] Hilton Springfield (S)

464.5250 [ d432] Mount Vernon Unknown ("Dessert Classics cookbooks to be signed")

Lorien Hotel & Spa FCC App

The Lorien Hotel & Spa, which recently opened in Old Town Alexandria, has an application pending before the FCC.  The app calls for five UHF simplex frequencies.

451.3875

451.4125

456.4875

456.5125

456.6875

Aloft National Harbor FCC App

The Aloft National Harbor Hotel, which appears to be opening either April 9 or April 20, has an application pending before the FCC.  The app calls for a UHF repeater on 452.2250.