Capitol Police Migrate to New System

According to a press release which was posted on Scan-DC, the Capitol Police migrated to their new Project 25 encrypted system on Wednesday. The old analog channels will remain in use for approximately a month.

Weekend Event

• The Capitals play Sunday at 12:30 PM at Verizon Center.

Central Parking (1225 I St. NW) FCC App

Central Parking, located at 1225 I St. NW in DC, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for DMR simplex on 456.3625, 456.3875, 456.6625, 457.0375, and 457.1875.

Navy Federal Credit Union FCC App

Navy Federal Credit Union, located in Vienna, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for a NXDN repeater on 452.43125.

State Plaza Hotel FCC App

The State Plaza Hotel, located at 2117 E St. NW in DC, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for repeaters on 461.0750 and 463.5000. The frequencies are coded for analog and DMR.

55 M Street FCC App

55 M Street, an office building near Nationals Park, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for a MOTOTRBO repeater on 462.5250, and MOTOTRBO simplex on 452.3750, 452.4750, and 457.3750.

Weekend Events

• Georgetown plays Saturday at 11:30 AM at Verizon Center.
• The Wizards play Saturday at 7:00 PM at Verizon Center.
• The AHL Showcase is Sunday at 5:00 PM at Verizon Center.

National Theatre FCC App

The National Theatre has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for simplex on 456.8500, 457.0250, 457.8500, 466.5375, and 466.8750. The theater has previously used 467.3750 [ d172].

DC Water Blue Plains Treatment Plant FCC License

Ulliman Schutte Construction, which is doing work at the DC Water Blue Plains Treatment Plant, was recently licensed for a repeater on 461.5625 and simplex on 452.5000, 457.5000, 461.6125, and 462.3500.

Swissport Dulles FCC App

Swissport, a cargo and aircraft ground handling company at Dulles Airport, has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for a repeater on 452.2750, and simplex on 451.5125, 457.8875, 457.9875, and 467.1875. The frequencies are coded for analog and MOTOTRBO.

Swissport has used 452.2750 [131.8] for several years, but this appears to be the first time they've licensed the frequency.

Tysons-Area Finds

Three new frequencies found in the Tysons area:

464.6125 [173.8] Tysons Corner Center - Nordstrom Loss Prevention (S)
451.4625 [ d251] McLean Bible Church (R)
464.5250 [  82.5] McLean Bible Church (R)

464.8250 [ d225] (R) was active, but the frequency was weak and had a lot of static. It may be used for a mall/property management.

Weekend Events

• The Wizards play Friday at 7 PM at Verizon Center.
• Georgetown plays Saturday at 1 PM at Verizon Center.
• The Capitals play Saturday at 8 PM at Verizon Center.
• The Wizards play Sunday at 6 PM at Verizon Center.

CityCenterDC Frequencies

On Saturday, I found a couple of frequencies active for CityCenterDC, the mixed-use project near the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. CityCenter recently licensed several conventional MOTOTRBO frequencies.

463.6375 [         ] (MOTOTRBO - Color Code 5, Slot 1, Group 2000) (R)
463.6625 [         ] (MOTOTRBO - Color Code 5, Slot 1, Group 1000) (R)

United Medical Center New Frequency

United Medical Center is using 461.7875 [ d023] for engineering. This frequency was recently added to the hospital's license.

Washington Auto Show Finds

Here's what I found at the Washington Auto Show on Saturday:

451.8125 [ d205] Kia Staff
461.1000 [ d351] Program restockers
462.3750 [ d506]
464.5000 [186.2]
464.9250 [ d546]
469.5000 [146.2] Test drives

464.9250 [ d546] was also active at the 2012 auto show, and at the 2007 State Fair of Virginia for RMC Events. RMC Events is based in Richmond, however, and I didn't see any of their personnel at the auto show.

469.5000 [146.2] was used by personnel coordinating test drives. There were several auto brands offering test drives; the frequency was probably used by one of them.

Radio rentals for auto show staff were from Metrotalk. I didn't find a license for them for any of these frequencies.

Two other frequencies were found at the convention center: 461.7125 [ d712] and 463.3125 [ d743]. I was unable to determine if these were in use for the auto show. There are no plausible FCC licenses for these frequencies in the immediate area.

The convention center's MOTOTRBO Capacity Plus trunked system was very active. Several new groups were found on Saturday that had not been previously identified.

BCD436HP Performance on Metro DC Systems

I had a chance to try the BCD436HP on several DC-area trunked systems yesterday. I was in Pentagon City using the Radio Shack 800 MHz antenna. Here are some observations:

• Alexandria: Good performance.
• Arlington: Excellent performance. The BCD396XT never had problems with this system from Pentagon City.
• DC Project 16: Good performance.
• DC Project 25: Good performance. Interestingly, the scanner did not mute the audio on the encrypted MPD talkgroups. The unit IDs were also displayed.
• Fairfax P25: Decent performance. I believe it was receiving better than the BCD396XT.
• Prince George's: Neither the North site nor the South site was receivable. This is not unexpected, however. I don't think the BCD396XT was able to receive Prince George's either.

Neiman Marcus Tysons Galleria FCC App

Neiman Marcus at Tysons Galleria has an application pending before the FCC. The app calls for simplex on 464.5750, 469.5750, 464.9250, 469.9250, 451.3125, 456.3125, 464.2625, 469.2625, 451.3375, and 456.3375. The frequencies are coded for analog and MOTOTRBO. Other locations of Neiman Marcus have been known to use some of these frequencies in repeater configurations.