Pentagon City/Pentagon Center Updates

Here are updates to the Fashion Center at Pentagon City and Pentagon Center:

Fashion Center at Pentagon City:
461.0625 [  67.0] American Eagle
467.8500 [ d546] Abercrombie & Fitch
467.9250 [ d743] Victoria's Secret

Pentagon Center:
461.2375 [100.0] Marshalls
467.7625 [  67.0] Nordstrom Rack - Staff

Renaissance Arlington Additional Frequencies Found

Yesterday, I found a couple of simplex frequencies in use at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel:

456.6125 [ d712] Banquets?
456.6875 [ d031] Valet

The hotel is licensed for several other simplex frequencies.

See this post for information about previously-identified frequencies.

US Airways Switches to MOTOTRBO at DCA

US Airways has switched to MOTOTRBO at Reagan National Airport. Along with the switch, they have also abandoned 461.1375 and 464.5500, and now use 451.6000 and 452.3250. TRBO was heard yesterday on 460.7000, 460.8000, and 460.8750. The airline is probably using TRBO on 460.7750 as well.

The existing 460.xxxx and new frequencies are under license WPDS307.

For scanner listeners, the abandonment of 461.1375/464.5500 is good news. These frequencies were never licensed, and they were very strong, overpowering other nearby UHF frequencies in the area of the airport. And scanner listeners can now listen to these two frequencies and hear low-powered/itinerant operations, which is what these frequencies were meant for.

These TRBO frequencies join two others at DCA - 460.6500 (Air Canada?) and 460.7250 (United).

Weekend Events

Two big annual events take place this weekend:

• The Washington International Horse Show runs through Sunday at the Verizon Center. Organizers typically use common UHF rental frequencies (464.5000, 464.5500, 464.6000, 464.6250, 464.6500, 464.7000, 464.7250, and 464.7500). Sometimes these frequencies are used as repeaters. Last year, organizers also used a few other UHF business frequencies. Verizon Center staff uses MOTOTRBO radios, which cannot be monitored with current scanners.
• The Marine Corps Marathon is Sunday at 8 AM. See this post for full details.

Marine Corps Marathon

The Marine Corps Marathon is this Sunday. This is one of Washington's biggest annual events. The race begins at 8 AM in Arlington, winds its way through the District, and concludes back in Arlington. Events don't wrap up until late in the afternoon. Here are some of the trunked systems to monitor:

• Primary operations for the Marathon will probably be on site 403 of the 14C Project 25 trunked system. Talkgroups are typically in the 63xxx range. For the past several years, most transmissions have been unencrypted. Only in one recent year (2007) were they almost entirely encrypted.
• Arlington County typically uses numerous talkgroups on its Project 25 trunked system. Look for several police, fire, emergency management, and coordination talkgroups to be active.
• DC also plays a large role in race operations, particularly with medical calls. Look for one or more of the DCFD Special Events talkgroups to be active on the District's trunked system. (MPD also uses talkgroups for traffic control - usually SOD and MPD 3 - but those are now encrypted.)
• Virginia State Police handles traffic control on I-395 and the 14th Street Bridge. Last year, they were on talkgroup 6149 on the Arlington site of STARS.
• The Metro system is obviously used very heavily on race day. Transit Police use one or more of the Tac channels for crowd control at various stations.

Here are conventional frequencies that were active last year:

• 123.0250 [ CSQ] Helicopters Air-to-Air
• 162.2500 [173.8] Capitol Police (Channel 4)
• 166.7250 [127.3] Park Police (Channel 1)
• 169.7750 [NAC 4C5] George Washington Parkway
• 451.7750 [ d205] Crystal City Security

Weekend Events

Another weekend of sports:

• Howard University has their homecoming this weekend. The football game is Saturday at 1 PM at Greene Stadium. Howard uses MOTOTRBO for most operations.
• The Capitals play Saturday at 7 PM at Verizon Center.
• DC United plays Saturday at 7:30 PM at RFK Stadium.

Arnold & Porter FCC App

Arnold & Porter, a law firm located at 555 12th St. NW in DC, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for a repeater on 463.3625, and simplex on 463.6750, 464.0000, 464.7000, and 464.9750. The frequencies are coded for both analog and MOTOTRBO operation.

555 12th St. currently uses 451.3000 [ d263] under license WQGB997.

Colgan Air FCC App

Colgan Air, operating as United Express out of Dulles Airport, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for repeaters on 451.1000 and 451.7000. The frequencies are coded for both analog and MOTOTRBO operation.

(Colgan had an application pending in late August for the same frequencies, but that app is marked inactive. This new app replaces it.)

National Public Radio FCC App

National Public Radio, located at 635 Massachusetts Ave. NW in DC, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for four simplex frequencies: 464.5750, 464.7500, 464.9250, and 464.9750.

Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication Finds

Here's what I found at Sunday's dedication of the Martin Luther King Memorial:

DC Trunked System Talkgroups:
2096 DCFD Special Events 1
33584 Department of Health Tac (primary use)
33872 Emergency Management Agency (sometimes patched to analog 59216)
34448 Department of Health
35600 Traffic Management Center

Joint National Capital Region Talkgroups:
2146 Traffic/pedestrian control

166.7250 [127.3] Park Police (Ch. 1)
453.4750 [146.2] Red Cross

WMATA talkgroup 58032 was also active briefly; unknown if it was used for the event.

FedEx Field New LTR System

FedEx Field has moved some operations to a UHF LTR system. The system appears to have four frequencies, and about twenty talkgroups were noted in use during Sunday's game. The system draws on frequencies from two licenses (WQBM558 and WQBP606), which have always been coded for trunked operation, but were used conventionally. A RadioReference page for the system has been set up; I will add talkgroups to it shortly.

Stafford County Using COG Number 15?

Stafford County has apparently been assigned number 15 in the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments interoperability numbering scheme. Stafford Fire continues to use their legacy radio designators for routine calls; the county will probably only use the 15-series numbers for large-scale mutual aid incidents.

This recent RadioReference thread details the current numbering scheme.

Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police Switched to P25?

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police appear to have switched to Project 25 with encryption on 407.8250. The NAC is 1F2. This NAC is similar to another Treasury Department NAC (1F1) on this list of federal NACs.

Weekend Events

Busy weekend, with lots of sports and the Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication:

• Maryland plays Saturday at 7 PM at Byrd Stadium.
• The Capitals play Saturday at 7 PM at Verizon Center.
• DC United plays Saturday at 7:30 PM at RFK Stadium.
• The Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication begins Sunday at 8 AM. The organizers are using a MOTOTRBO Capacity Plus trunked system. Expect DCFD to be using one or more of their Special Events talkgroups (2096, 2112, 2128). Park Police may use 166.7250 and/or 166.8500.
• The Redskins play Sunday at 1 PM at FedEx Field.

Parkfairfax Using 452.8750 [107.2]

Parkfairfax, a neighborhood of condo apartments in Alexandria, is confirmed using 452.8750 [107.2] (R). The frequency is unlicensed.

Communications Direct Temp Sys for MLK Memorial Dedication

Communications Direct has licensed several simplex frequencies for use at the dedication of the Martin Luther King Memorial (which is this Sunday). However, these frequencies appear to be used as repeaters as part of a MOTOTRBO Capacity Plus system. 461.7875 was already noted in use in August, when the dedication was originally scheduled. Yesterday, MOTOTRBO data was heard on 452.2875; this frequency is probably part of this Capacity Plus system.

Downtown DC Frequency Update

While at the Taste of DC yesterday, I was able to snag several new downtown business frequencies:

• Metropolitan Square at 655 15th St. NW is using 462.5000 [ d632].
• Department of Commerce Headquarters Security confirmed using 452.8750 [ d122] (R).
• The Willard Intercontinental Hotel is now using 464.8750 [100.0] as a repeater for Security. Previously, the hotel used 464.8750 and 469.8750 as separate simplex channels.
• The W Hotel has made some changes/additions to its frequencies. 461.3125 [233.6] is no longer used by Security/Engineering; it's now used by Valet/Bellmen. 465.7125 [167.9] is a new frequency used by Banquets. In addition to Housekeeping, Engineering is also on 466.1125 [107.2]. Nothing heard on 469.2625, which was previously in use. 469.3125 [241.8] is still used by the POV Bar hostesses. Nothing monitored on 463.9875, which is a repeater licensed to the hotel. And no indication as to a frequency for Security.
• 461.1125 [ d032] is probably used by a theater downtown, possibly Ford's.

Red Cross Using 462.4000 [ d226]

The Red Cross was using 462.4000 [ d226] as a repeater at the Taste of DC this weekend. This is a frequency not seen in use by the Red Cross in DC previously. The frequency was used one year at the now-defunct Alexandria Red Cross Waterfront Festival.

Taste of DC Finds

Here's what I found at the Taste of DC, which concludes Monday:

461.2750 [ d516] Electrical
461.5250 [ d546] Unknown
462.3250 [ d252] Finance
463.7250 [ d306] Primary?
464.9250 [ d632] Unknown
466.5250 [ d331] Runners?

461.0375 [ CSQ] Audio/Visual
467.9000 [ d114] Massive Entertainment Event Staff

DCFD probably used talkgroup 2112. EMA used talkgroup 33872 (sometimes with analog simulcast on 59216).

Weekend Events

Moderately busy Columbus Day weekend:

• The Taste of DC returns after a multi-year hiatus. It runs Saturday, Sunday, and Monday on Pennsylvania Ave. between 9th and 14th Sts.
• The Capitals open their season on Saturday at 7 PM at the Verizon Center.
• The Army Ten-Miler is Sunday at 8 AM. It begins in Arlington, winds its way through DC, and ends back in Arlington.

Steptoe & Johnson FCC App

Steptoe & Johnson, a law firm located at 1330 Connecticut Ave. NW, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for a repeater on 452.1250.

AES FCC App

AES, a global power company headquartered at 4300 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for four simplex frequencies:

461.7125
463.3750
466.7125
468.3750

LivingSocial FCC App

LivingSocial, a daily deals company based at 1445 New York Ave. NW, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for five MOTOTRBO simplex frequencies:

451.4375
451.5625
451.5875
456.4375
456.5875

Another Prince William Schools FCC App

Continuing with the recent slew of FCC applications, Prince William County Schools has another one pending.