The Potomac School FCC License

The Potomac School, located in McLean, was recently licensed by the FCC for a repeater on 461.7500.

Bowie State University FCC License

Bowie State University was recently licensed by the FCC for repeaters on 461.3750 and 463.7000. The frequencies are coded for both analog and MOTOTRBO operation.

Weekend Events

• The AT&T National Golf Tournament continues through Sunday at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda. Montgomery County Police and Fire/Rescue will probably use the Special Events and/or Public Safety Coordination talkgroups on the county trunked system. Congressional uses several VHF frequencies; see my Montgomery County page for those. Organizers will probably use a slew of UHF business repeater and simplex frequencies. MOTOTRBO may see some use on these frequencies.
• The Smithsonian Folklife Festival continues this weekend; see previous post.
• DC United plays Saturday at 7:30 PM at RFK Stadium.

E&A Protective Services-Bravo FCC App

E&A Protective Services-Bravo, which provides security at the Department of Transportation Headquarters, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for a repeater on 462.1750, and simplex on 452.0625, 452.1875, 452.6375, 457.0625, and 457.6375. Contract security at DOT Headquarters presently uses 463.5500 [ d723] (R).

Baltimore Washington Medical Center FCC App

Baltimore Washington Medical Center, located in Glen Burnie, MD, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for repeaters on 463.8750 and 463.9250. The frequencies are coded for both analog and NXDN operation.

MOTOTRBO Data Integrated into Website

I've started to integrate MOTOTRBO data (color code, slot, group) into my website. MOTOTRBO has been around since the fall of 2007, and many businesses in the Washington area have switched to it. There are also a handful of MOTOTRBO Capacity Plus systems in the area; these are being added to RadioReference, and linked to my website.

Most of the MOTOTRBO data is on the Washington, DC page.

MOTOTRBO is a TDMA digital format that Motorola targets to businesses and small public safety agencies. No scanner on the market can monitor MOTOTRBO, but the Java program DMRDecode can be used with a discriminator-tapped scanner to obtain the MOTOTRBO parameters. The Digital Speech Decoder (DSD) program (for Windows and Linux) can be used with a discriminator-tapped scanner to listen to MOTOTRBO voice transmissions.

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival began today, continues through July 1, and then runs again from July 4-8. Organizers have used a wide variety of radio systems in past years. Last year (and in 2004), they used the National Mall site of the DC Area Federal SMR system. Because this is an LTR Passport system, it is not trackable with scanners, but is able to be monitored conventionally. In other years, organizers have used UHF business frequencies. Search the 451-453 MHz and 461-470 MHz bands. Also look for Park Police on 166.8500 [127.3].

National Capital Barbecue Battle

The National Capital Barbecue Battle is Saturday from 11 AM to 10 PM and Sunday from 11 AM to 7:30 PM on Pennsylvania Ave. between 9th and 14th Sts. Look for DCFD on one of their Special Events talkgroups, and DC Department of Health on one of their talkgroups. Organizers use UHF business channels. Here is what they used in 2010, the most recent year monitored:

461.1250 [ d365] Production
461.5250 [ d546] Stages/Hospitality
463.7250 [ d306] Gates/Box Office (Channel 2)
464.2750 [ d445] Beverage (Channel 1)
464.9250 [ d632] Safeway Tent
466.1750 [ d503] First Aid (Channel 7)

Potomac Hospital New Frequency

Potomac Hospital is using 462.2750 [ d606] (R) for engineering. The hospital has previously been identified using 462.0750 [ d365] (R) for security.

Potomac Mills Update

Here is an updated list of Potomac Mills frequencies:

461.3000 [ d043] Potomac Mills - Housekeeping (R)
463.6000 [ d723] Potomac Mills - Security (R)
151.8350 [  74.4] Potomac Mills - Banana Republic
154.5700 [  74.4] Potomac Mills - Gap
154.6000 [ CSQ] Potomac Mills - Finish Line
461.0375 [  74.4] Potomac Mills - Foot Locker (across from Books-A-Million)
461.1125 [  67.0] Potomac Mills - AMC Theater
461.1875 [ d712] Potomac Mills - Factory Brand Shoes
461.2375 [100.0] Potomac Mills - Marshalls HomeGoods
461.4625 [ d265] Potomac Mills - IKEA Operations
462.5625 [  67.0] Potomac Mills - IKEA Housekeeping
464.4875 [  67.0] Potomac Mills - Tilly's
464.5000 [  67.0] Potomac Mills - Nordstrom Rack?
464.5500 [  67.0] Potomac Mills - XXI Forever
464.5500 [  67.0] Potomac Mills - Ann Taylor
464.5625 [203.5] Potomac Mills - Aeropostale
464.5750 [127.3] Potomac Mills - Neiman Marcus Last Call - Loss Prevention
464.6250 [146.2] Potomac Mills - Nordstrom Rack - Loss Prevention
464.9875 [ d464] Potomac Mills - Coach
466.0250 [ d371] Potomac Mills - Nike
466.1875 [ d506] Potomac Mills - Hollister
467.2250 [ d365] Potomac Mills - JC Penney
467.5625 [  71.9] Potomac Mills - IKEA Stockers
467.7625 [  67.0] Potomac Mills - American Eagle
467.8125 [  67.0] Potomac Mills - Costco
467.8500 [ d047] Potomac Mills - Old Navy
467.8500 [ d546] Potomac Mills - Abercrombie & Fitch
467.8500 [ d606] Potomac Mills - Polo Ralph Lauren
467.8500 [ d712] Potomac Mills - Children's Place
467.8500 [  67.0] Potomac Mills - Espirit
467.8500 [173.8] Potomac Mills - Charlotte Russe
467.8750 [ d263] Potomac Mills - Unknown (strong in Fashion District)
467.8750 [ d712] Potomac Mills - Disney
467.8750 [ d723] Potomac Mills - Guess
467.8750 [  67.0] Potomac Mills - AMC Theater Ushers/Primary Operations
467.8750 [  94.8] Potomac Mills - Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th
467.8750 [100.0] Potomac Mills - T.J. Maxx
467.9000 [ d503] Potomac Mills - Unknown (strong in Fashion District)
467.9000 [ d632] Potomac Mills - Bath & Body Works
467.9000 [ d731] Potomac Mills - New York & Company
467.9000 [  67.0] Potomac Mills - Tommy Hilfiger
467.9000 [141.3] Potomac Mills - Starbucks
467.9250 [ d743] Potomac Mills - Victoria's Secret
467.9250 [  67.0] Potomac Mills - AMC Theater Projector Operators
467.9250 [  88.5] Potomac Mills - J. Crew
468.2625 [ d343] Potomac Mills - "CEO" (strong near Nike)
468.8375 [ d155] Potomac Mills - H&M

Market Square FCC App

Market Square, located at 701 Pennsylvania Ave. in DC, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for repeaters on 461.5750 and 464.3250, and simplex on 451.6875, 452.8625, 456.6875, and 457.8625. The frequencies are coded for both analog and MOTOTRBO digital operation. Note that Market Square has used the 464.3250 repeater (with DCS 632) for several years already.

Sailabration Monitoring

Here's what I found on Saturday at the Sailabration in Baltimore:

Baltimore P25 Trunked System Talkgroups:
9016 BFD B3 Support 2
9017 BFD B4 Training 1
9018 BFD B5 Training 2 (Inner Harbor activity)
9019 BFD B6 Event 1 (Inner Harbor activity)
9023 BFD B10 City
9111 BPD Special Events
9133 BPD Special Events
9274 Traffic Reports
9310
9318 K9s/Shuttle Buses
9319 Medical
9320 Shuttle Buses
9323 Shuttle Buses
9324 Marine Channel Patch

451.8000 [ d026] Organizers (S)

Weekend Events

• The Nationals host the Yankees this weekend at Nationals Park. The game times are Friday at 7:05, Saturday at 1:05, and Sunday at 1:35. This is obviously a major series, so expect the crowds and radio activity to be exceptional.
• The Star-Spangled Sailabration is this weekend in Baltimore.

Star-Spangled Sailabration

Baltimore hosts the Star-Spangled Sailabration through the weekend. The Sailabration is a parade of more than forty tall ships and other naval vessels. It also features waterside festivities and an air show featuring the Blue Angels. There are already a couple of forum posts at RadioReference about frequencies the Blue Angels are using, and about active talkgroups on the Central Maryland Area Regional Communications Committee trunked system. The Baltimore City trunked system is likely to be very busy as well. Coast Guard frequencies, the 406-420 MHz band for shipboard trunked systems, and business frequencies for organizers are also good bets.

Monitoring Times 2012 Air Show Guide Posted

The Monitoring Times 2012 Air Show Guide has been posted to the Monitoring Times website. The Guide originally appeared in the March issue of the magazine. The information on the Blue Angels may be helpful for those going to see them in Baltimore this weekend.

Signature Flight Support (IAD) FCC App

Signature Flight Support at Dulles Airport has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for a repeater on 452.4625. Signature has used 460.8250 [118.8] at Dulles before.

Pentagon City Finds

A few updates to Pentagon City-area frequencies:

461.7375 [ d143] Renaissance Arlington Capital View (R)
467.9000 [ d743] Pentagon Center - Best Buy (this is in addition to 467.9250 [ d506])
464.5500 [  67.0] Pentagon Row - Bed Bath & Beyond
467.8500 [146.2] Pentagon Row - Harris Teeter

Girl Scouts Rock the Mall Recap

Here's what I found at yesterday's Girl Scouts Rock the Mall event:

462.3250 [ d252] Staff
463.3750 [ d047] Audio/Visual?
463.5750 [ d664] "get in touch with driver"
464.2750 [ d445] Production
464.9250 [ d632]
468.6750 [ d223] "accessible seating"
469.3250 [ d143] First Aid

166.7250 [127.3] Park Police (Ch. 1)

DC Trunked System talkgroup:
2096 DCFD Special Events 1

Celebrate Fairfax Finds

Celebrate Fairfax concludes today. Here are talkgroups found yesterday:

Fairfax Project 25 Trunked System talkgroups:
1325 Coordination D1 (Outside Police)
1327 Coordination D2 (Sheriff - Inside?)
1329 Coordination D3 (Fire)
1331 Coordination D4 (Fire)

Fairfax Public Services Trunked System talkgroups:
24272 Coordination A1 (Organizers - Primary)
24304 Coordination A2 (Organizers)
24336 Coordination A3 (Organizers)
24368 Coordination A4 (Organizers)
24400 Coordination A5 (voter coordination at Government Center)
36592 Fairfax Connector Shuttles

Robert Trent Jones Golf Club FCC App

Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, located in Gainesville, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for repeaters on 461.9500 and 463.6750, and simplex on 462.2125.

Prince George's Hospital Center FCC App

Prince George's Hospital Center has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for a repeater on 463.2750.

Celebrate Fairfax

Celebrate Fairfax, which is sort of the county fair for Fairfax County, runs this weekend. The county P25 system, public safety system, and services system will all see activity. Organizers have been using multiple Coordination talkgroups on the services system in recent years. Also check 159.1050 [156.7] (R) for government center operations.

Weekend Event

• On Saturday, there will be a major gathering of Girl Scouts at the Washington Monument. Organizers are expecting up to 200,000 people. Monitor 166.7250 for Park Police, the DCFD Special Events talkgroups, and possibly UHF business frequencies for the organizers.

Arena Stage Additional Frequency

I found an additional frequency for Arena Stage on Saturday: 464.0125 [ d023] (S). 464.4375 [ d032] (S) was previously identified for the venue. Both are unlicensed.

Waterfront Station Frequency Found

Security at Waterfront Station, a mixed-use development at the Waterfront Metro Station, is using 451.5000 [ CSQ] (S). The frequency is unlicensed.

Big & Rich Concert Frequencies Found

Here are frequencies found for the Big & Rich post-game concert at Nationals Park yesterday:

453.9625 [ d114] (S)
464.6750 [ d506] (S)

Note that the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington also uses 464.6750 [ d506] (as a repeater).

Maryland Aviation Administration Trunked System Rebanded

The Maryland Aviation Administration trunked system, which is used at BWI Airport, has been rebanded.

El Salvador/Honduras Soccer Match Frequencies Found

Here are frequencies found at yesterday's soccer match at RFK:

464.1750 [ d212]
464.5500 [167.9]

DC United's frequencies were not as busy as I expected. They mostly used Channels 1 and 2. CSC Event Staff was very busy on 461.5125 [ d152]. DCFD used talkgroup 2112 (Special Events 2) on the DC trunked system.

Holiday Inn Eisenhower Ave. New Frequency

The Holiday Inn at 2460 Eisenhower Ave. in Alexandria is using its new frequency of 452.2125 [ d205]. The frequency was heard in use for the hotel shuttle, in a base/mobile configuration. The hotel is also licensed for five other simplex frequencies.

Race for the Cure Frequencies Found

Here are a couple of frequencies found at the Race for the Cure yesterday. I arrived near the end of the race, so I didn't hear much, but the frequencies appear to be the same ones they've used the last few years.

461.1125 [  71.9] (S)
461.4875 [  79.7] (S)

Herndon Festival

The Herndon Festival concludes today. Here are talkgroups that were active yesterday:

Fairfax Services Trunked System Talkgroups:
24432 Coordination A6
24464 Coordination A7
24496 Coordination A8

Fairfax Project 25 Trunked System Talkgroups:
1319 Herndon Police Tac 4

Weekend Events

• The Nationals play Friday at 7:05, Saturday at 4:05, and Sunday at 1:35 at Nationals Park.
• The Race for the Cure is Saturday at 8:00 AM on the grounds of the Washington Monument. In recent years, organizers have used simplex UHF business frequencies. Also listen for Park Police on 166.7250, and DCFD on one or more of their Special Events talkgroups.
• El Salvador plays Honduras Saturday at 4:15 at RFK Stadium. Look for DC United's frequencies, the CSC Event Staff frequencies, and the RFK repeater on 464.3750 to be active.

Constitution Center FCC App

The Constitution Center, an office building located at 400 7th St. SW in DC, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for repeaters on 461.9000, 464.1000, and 452.0000. The frequencies are coded for NXDN digital, which is not monitorable with current scanners.