Marine Corps Marathon Finds

Here's what I found at the Marine Corps Marathon:

Marine Corps Trunked System Talkgroups (Site 403):
63033 Route
63034 Medical?
63037 Medical
63040 "mascots for 10K finish" "VIP tent"
63041 "VIP Juliet on deck" "post"
63045 Shuttle Buses
63046 Information Technology
63047 "checkpoint"
63049 Start Line/Finish Line

Arlington Trunked System Talkgroups:
3 Police - Traffic Control
4 Police - Traffic Control
7 Police - Division 3
8 Police - Division 2
9 Police - Rosslyn area
10 Police - Unknown
11 Police - Traffic Control
20 Police - Tactical-type units?
21 Police - Tactical-type units?
25 Police - Tactical-type units?
42 Fire - Unknown
43 Fire - "Rosslyn Division"
44 Fire - Unknown
45 Fire - Rosslyn Metro?
46 Fire - Iwo Jima
47 Fire - Transportation
57 Police - SWAT units
58 Police - "suspicious packages" "plainclothes"
61 Police - Encrypted
70 Unknown
135 Coordination 1
222 Unknown - "staging"

DC Trunked System Talkgroups:
2096 Fire - Special Events 1 (Primary)
2112 Fire - Special Events 2 (EMS Liaison Officer)
2128 Fire - Special Events 3 (Transports?)
2592 Fire - Interoperability with MPD
33840 Emergency Management Agency
33872 Emergency Management Agency

Fairfax Trunked System Talkgroup:
1128 MEDCOM (Hospital Roll Call)

STARS Trunked System Talkgroup:
6149 Interop LE 7 (Traffic Control)

Metro Trunked System Talkgroup:
50160 Police - Tac 5 (Crowd Control)

123.0250 [ CSQ] Helicopters
162.2500 [173.8] Capitol Police (Ch. 4)
166.7250 [127.3] Park Police (Ch. 1)
169.7750 [NAC 4C5] George Washington Parkway
451.7750 [ d205] Crystal City Security
453.4750 [146.2] Red Cross
462.4000 [ d226] Red Cross
462.7000 [ 97.4] "aid station" "cots"

Library of Congress Police Patched to Capitol Police

During the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday, the Library of Congress Police frequency (408.1250 [136.5]) was patched to Capitol Police Ch. 4 (162.2500 [173.8]). It's unknown if the patch is temporary or permanent.

Hurricane Sandy Monitoring - Montgomery County

This RadioReference forum thread lists active talkgroups on the Montgomery County trunked system.

Hurricane Sandy Monitoring - Fredericksburg Area

Notes from monitoring today:

• Spotsylvania is using their Disaster Tac talkgroup (00-087).
• Stafford is using their Fire Dispatch 2 talkgroup (4602).
• Fauquier had individual (private) calls on the system; first time I've seen this.
• Rappahannock Sheriff was monitored on 28752; this is probably an alternate talkgroup.
• Talkgroup 30224 on the Fauquier/Culpeper/Rappahannock system appears to be a new talkgroup for Rappahannock, although an exact use could not be determined.
• Charles had a new talkgroup (18896) active. This is probably a Maryland Transportation Authority alternate.
• Charles Fire seems to be coordinating much of their storm response on Tac 4 (17104). 
• The Virginia Department of Military Affairs was active on STARS talkgroup 4524. This is the first time I've seen this talkgroup on the Thornburg site. There was communication about moving from the Fredericksburg Armory to a location in Leesburg.

(I'll update this post with new finds.)

JetBlue Adds Frequency at Reagan National

JetBlue has added a frequency to their license for operations at Reagan National Airport. The airline has been using 463.8625 [210.7] (R). They have added a repeater on 451.2875.

Weekend Events

• The Washington International Horse Show continues through Sunday at the Verizon Center.
• The Marine Corps Marathon is Sunday at 7:55 AM in Arlington and DC.

Marine Corps Marathon

The Marine Corps Marathon is Sunday morning. Here are some suggested trunked systems and frequencies to monitor:

• Marine Corps trunked system (site 403) - Look for the 63xxx talkgroups to be active.
• Arlington trunked system - Numerous police and fire talkgroups will be active.
• DC trunked system - Look for the Fire Special Events talkgroups to be active.
• STARS trunked system - Talkgroup 6149 (Interop LE 7) has been active in recent years for traffic control.
• Metro trunked system - Look for one or more of the Police Tac channels to be active for crowd control at various stations.
• 123.0250 [ CSQ] Helicopters
• 162.2500 [173.8] Capitol Police
• 166.7250 [127.3] Park Police
• 169.7750 [NAC 4C5] George Washington Parkway
• 451.7750 [ d205] Crystal City Security
• 453.4750 [146.2] Red Cross
• 462.4000 [ d226] Red Cross

Amateur radio operators have used 145.1700, 145.1900, 146.6100, 444.5500, and 449.9750 in recent years.

Washington International Horse Show

The Washington International Horse Show began yesterday and continues through this Sunday at Verizon Center. Organizers typically rent UHF radios. Search 461-470 MHz. Verizon Center staff use UHF MOTOTRBO radios.

Army Ten-Miler Finds

Here's what I found at Sunday's Army Ten-Miler:

JNCR Trunked System Talkgroups:
310 Fort Myer MP Alternate
401 K9 Sweeps/Searches
404 "parked vehicles"
412 "Enforcer"
415 "Legion"
432 "Warrior" "move waves up"
439 Transportation
457 Media
477 "lines" "Legion"
485 "clean up at water point"
22421 Medical
22422 Medical

Arlington County Trunked System Talkgroups:
11 Police - Special Operations Section
14 Police - Emergency Response Unit
25 Police - Unknown
42 Fire - Logistics
43 Fire - Unknown
44 Fire - South Division
45 Fire - North Division
46 Fire - Transportation
50 Fire - Explosive Ordnance Disposal (encrypted)

DC Trunked System Talkgroup:
2096 Fire - Special Events 1

166.7250 [127.3] Park Police (Ch. 1)

Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City Using MOTOTRBO

The Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City is using MOTOTRBO on 461.3500 and 464.4750. The license continues to show a pending application for the change from analog to MOTOTRBO, but the hotel is apparently already using it.

Blanchard Communications FCC App

Blanchard Communications, a radio rental provider based in Annapolis, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for seventy-three UHF simplex frequencies. These frequencies will be used by various groups during Inaugural events in January 2013.

Weekend Events

A busy fall weekend for sports:

• Howard has homecoming events on Friday and Saturday. Police use MOTOTRBO on 461.7000.
• Maryland plays their homecoming game Saturday at 3:30 at Byrd Stadium. Expect the university's trunked system to be active.
• DC United plays Saturday at 7:30 at RFK Stadium.
• The Army Ten-Miler is Sunday at 8:00 AM in Arlington and DC. Look for extensive use of 4xx talkgroups of the Joint National Capital Region trunked system. Arlington's trunked system will also be busy.

One Washington Circle Hotel FCC App

One Washington Circle Hotel, located in DC, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for simplex on 452.0875, 452.4125, 451.5625, 452.7125, 452.1625, and 451.4875.

Ryan Visit to Fredericksburg

Paul Ryan visited Fredericksburg on Tuesday. Here's what I monitored:

159.0600 [203.5] Fredericksburg Fire (Channel 5)
165.2125 [NAC 001] Secret Service Mike (encrypted)
451.8000 [156.7] Unknown - possibly unrelated

159.0600 seems to be Fredericksburg Fire's "special events" channel (it's been in use for a few other recent events). I was surprised to see 165.2125 in use for the Secret Services, as that channel is supposedly for foreign dignitary protection. 451.8000 may not have been for the event - it was used by people talking about how to get back to Interstate 95.

Romney Visit to Leesburg

Mitt Romney visited Leesburg last night. This RadioReference thread has information on active talkgroups from the Loudoun trunked system, as well as encrypted Secret Service frequencies.

GRE Releases PSR-800 Beta Firmware to Support P25 Phase II

Today, GRE released beta firmware for the PSR-800 to decode Project 25 Phase II trunked systems. Phase II isn't used in the immediate Washington area, although Loudoun County and Prince George's County use Project 25 Motorola X2-TDMA, which is Motorola's proprietary TDMA solution. See the RadioReference Wiki for information about the different "flavors" of Project 25.

The 700 MHz First Responders Interoperable Radio System Team (FIRST), which will eventually become Maryland's statewide trunked system, does use P25 Phase II. So far, this system is only active in the Baltimore and Eastern Shoe areas.

MWAA Secondary Fire Talkgroups

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) secondary fire talkgroups have recently changed their designations to conform to talkgroup naming conventions of other Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments jurisdictions. The changes have been made to the RadioReference MWAA trunked system page.

Weekend Events

• The Nationals play Friday at 8:30 at Nationals Park.
• The Redskins play Sunday at 4:25 at FedEx Field.

Weekend Events

• The Taste of DC is Saturday, Sunday and Monday on Pennsylvania Ave. between 9th and 14th Sts.
• Maryland plays Saturday at 3:30 at Byrd Stadium.
• The Redskins play Sunday at 1:00 at FedEx Field.

Baltimore County Abandons Analog Systems

Baltimore County has abandoned their two analog trunked systems, in favor of a Project 25 system.

Bloomingdale's (Chevy Chase) FCC App

Bloomingdale's, located at Wisconsin Place in Chevy Chase, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for a repeater on 464.4125. The store was previously monitored using 464.5500 [110.9]. The store also holds a license for several other UHF frequencies.

Emirates Airlines FCC App

Emirates Airlines (at Dulles Airport) has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for a repeater on 452.0500, and simplex on 456.3625 and 457.2875. The frequencies are coded for both analog and MOTOTRBO.

Alexandria Shuts Down Project 16 System

Alexandria has shut down its Project 16 trunked system, and is now using the Project 25 trunked system exclusively.

Frederick County, MD Switches to Project 25 System

Frederick County, MD has switched from a Project 16 to a Project 25 system. The old system is still on the air, but is reportedly only used for data. It should be turned off by December.

Bloomingdale's (Tysons Corner) FCC App

Bloomingdale's, located at Tysons Corner Center, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for simplex on 451.4375, 451.6375, 452.7875, 452.8125, and 452.8375.

Boston Properties (500 North Capitol St.) FCC App

Boston Properties has an application pending before the FCC for an office building at 500 North Capitol St. The app calls for a repeater on 464.9375. The frequency is coded for both analog and MOTOTRBO.

FedEx Field Update

I did some monitoring at Saturday's Virginia Tech/Cincinnati game at FedEx Field. I was able to update several IDs on the FedEx LTR system. Several of the IDs appear to have the same use (e.g. Guest Services/Ushers), but are used for different levels of the stadium.

Even with the LTR system, FedEx is still using at least four conventional repeaters:

452.2750 [ d664] Electrical/Engineering (R)
461.5375 [ d664] Security - Rapid Response (R)
463.5250 [ d664] Parking (R)
464.4750 [ d664] Field Security (R)

The Prince George's trunked system "FedEx" talkgroups were active, although it is difficult to receive them at FedEx because of simulcast digital distortion.

2001 FedEx Field 1 (PGPD outside units)
2003 FedEx Field 2 (PGPD inside units)
2005 FedEx Field 3 (PGFD first aid)

Fairfax County Project 16 System Shut Down

Fairfax County's Project 16 Public Safety trunked system has been shut down. All public safety operations are now on the Project 25 system. The move from two systems to one simplifies things for scanner listeners, although users are reporting more problems with simulcast digital distortion with the P25 system.