Weekend Events

It's a busy weekend, especially downtown and in Arlington:

• The Washington International Horse Show continues through Sunday at the Verizon Center.
• The Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert rally is Saturday from 12-3 on the National Mall from 3rd to 7th St. Check for Park Police on the usual frequencies, 166.7250 and 166.8500. DC Fire will probably use one or more of the special events talkgroups (2096, 2112, 2128).
• Saturday is also Howard University's homecoming. University Police use MOTOTRBO, which is unmonitorable with scanners.
• The largest event is on Sunday, the Marine Corps Marathon. It begins at 8 AM, and traverses Arlington and the District. There is almost too much to monitor for this event. Arlington Police and Fire will be very active. The Marines will most likely use the 63xxx-series talkgroups on this 380 MHz trunked system (site 403). Most of these talkgroups were encrypted in 2007, but they were mostly in the clear in 2005, 2008, and 2009. Serveral DC talkgroups will see extensive use as well, particularly the DCFD Special Events channels, as well as MPD SOD and/or Citywide 2. Listen for Park Police on 166.7250 and 166.8500. Keep an ear to the Metro trunked system for updates about the transit system. Virginia State Police/VDOT will help with road closures, and they'll probably be on the Arlington site of STARS. Amateur radio operators have used several 2 meter frequencies in the past. See my Arlington page (under "Special Events") for a listing of frequencies monitored in previous years.

Washington International Horse Show

The Washington International Horse Show began yesterday and continues through Sunday at the Verizon Center. Here's what I found last year:

464.6250 [127.3] Inside Operations? (Channel 1) (R)
464.7250 [192.8] Outside Operations? (Channel 3?) (R)

In previous years, the organizers have used several more channels. Search the typical frequencies used by Bearcom Rentals (464.5000, 464.5500, 464.6000, 464.6250, 464.6500, 464.7000, 464.7250, 464.7500 and +5 MHz).

USA Science & Engineering Festival

Here are frequencies found today at the USA Science & Engineering Festival. The radios were rented from Bearcom.

464.6250 [ d432]
464.6500 [ d143] (Channel 7)
469.5500 [ d306]

Weekend Events

A few weekend events:

• The Capitals play Saturday at 7 PM. The team is also holding a street festival all day on F Street in front of the Verizon Center.
• DC United plays Saturday at 7:30 PM.
• The Army Ten-Miler is Sunday at 8:00 AM. In previous years, communications have been on this JNCR trunked system. Arlington County's trunked system will also be very busy, and Virginia State Police will be using STARS (Arlington tower).

George Washington University FCC App

George Washington University (Mount Vernon campus) has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for a repeater on 452.3875.

Weekend Event

Only one notable event this weekend: the Redskins play at FedEx Field in a nationally-televised game at 8:20 PM on Sunday. See the Prince George's page for frequencies.

New Talkgroup on JNCR - Indian Head

A new talkgroup (22420) popped up today on the JNCR - Indian Head site. There was not much traffic, so it was impossible to determine who was using it. This is the first time a 224xx-series talkgroup has been seen.

Hotel Helix FCC App

Hotel Helix has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for five simplex frequencies:

461.5375

463.4875

466.5125

466.5875

466.8375

Stonewall Jackson 20-Mile Ambulance Run

The Stonewall Jackson 20-Mile Ambulance Run is an annual race in Spotsylvania County, VA. Here are some talkgroups that were in use yesterday:

00-087 Disaster Tac
02-023 Sheriff Tac 2
04-121 Parks & Recreation

Richmond Folk Festival

Here's what I found yesterday at the Richmond Folk Festival:

460.9625 [ 88.5] RMC Events (S)
464.5500 [ d624] (Channel 2) (R)
464.6250 [ d223] Golf Cart Transports (Channel 4) (S)
464.7500 [ d031] Operations (R)
Richmond Police and Fire/EMS used talkgroup 36768 (City 1).

Friday Night Football

I spent some time listening to the Fauquier/Culpeper/Rappahannock trunked system on Friday night. Fauquier deputies were using talkgroups 24688, 24720, and 24752 for details at various football games. Culpeper deputies were using talkgroup 42288.

Spotsylvania deputies usually use talkgroup 02-041 (Patrol 2) for football games. (Even if there is more than one game in the county, they will all use this single talkgroup.)

Weekend Events

Several events this weekend:

• The IMF/World Bank meetings begin Friday and continue through Sunday.
• The Komen 3-Day begins Friday and concludes Sunday at 5 on the grounds of the Washington Monument.
• The Capitals play at Verizon Center on Saturday at 7.
• DC United plays at RFK Stadium on Saturday at 7:30.
• The Redskins play at FedEx Field on Sunday at 1.

United Airlines Switching to MOTOTRBO

United Airlines, which uses 460.7250 at many airports around the country, appears to be switching their radio operations to MOTOTRBO digital. They are keeping the same frequency, but adding the emission designator for MOTOTRBO to their licenses. I've confirmed that digital is in use at Philadelphia. The license for 460.7250 has been modified recently to allow for MOTOTRBO at Reagan National, and a quick check of the FCC database shows that they've modified several other licenses for MOTOTRBO use at various airports. United uses a 900 MHz analog trunked system at Dulles (one of their hubs), and as far as I know, there have been no changes to that. The 460.7250 frequency is typically only used at airports where United does not have major operations or is not the dominant carrier at the airport.

Virginia State Fair Finds

I know it's not in the DC area, but here are some frequency finds from yesterday at the Virginia State Fair in Caroline County, VA:

STARS talkgroups:
6124 VSP Traffic Control
6125 VSP Traffic Control/Parking Lots
6162 VSP/Medical - Interior (Mobile Site)
6385 Brief Use (unknown user)

451.2375 [ d411] Towing
451.3375 [ d411] Parking (Channel 2)
451.4375 [ d411] Electrical/Engineering
451.5375 [ d411] "ID tags"; "shoplifter"
451.6375 [ d411] Trams (Channel 5?)
452.3125 [ d411] Beverages/Beer Garden
464.3250 [ d346] Parking (RMC Events?)
464.3250 [ d546] Parking (RMC Events?)

One Nation Rally Tomorrow

The One Nation Rally is tomorrow from 12-4 on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial. Expect the usual frequencies/talkgroups for these big rallies to be in use. For Park Police, try 166.7250 and 166.8500. For MPD, try talkgroups 16656 and 21232. For DCFD, try talkgroups 2096, 2112, and 2128. For the organizers, search the UHF business frequencies, particularly 461-470 MHz.