Helo to Helo tx

[patrolman123]

I think I read somewhere that conversations between the MSP helicopter and news helicopters can be heard on 123.05. Is this correct and are there any other freq that are of interest.........

 

[CryptoJoe]

I've listened to a few choppers on a 123.something frequency. Baltimore city police, MSP, and news 13. That was a few years ago when I lived over that way.

 

[ka3jjz]

I've also heard some chitchat on 123.1 and 123.475; the latter is occasionally used by the various traffic helos, and can get rather...shall we say...colorful....73s Mike

 

[TinEar]

The helo air-to-air freq is 123.025 where you'll hear the police/medical/news helos working around this area. That freq is reserved nationwide for that purpose. There is also 123.075 which is the DC area control for helos working all over the metro area.

[Edit] 123.075 is a typo. It should be 120.075. See my message below explaining.

 

[ka3jjz]

To be honest, I've never heard the DC helos on 123.075; in the nearly 7 years I worked in the PG county area, I heard 122.75 (I think that's the right freq) used a great many times by news helos, particularly reporting on major accidents on the Wash Beltway.

Yeah, I've heard some helos that weren't SYSCOM on 123.025; but it seems there' s something of an understanding that when SYSCOM needs the freq, the news choppers go elsewhere. As I mentioned before, sometimes it can be ...enlightening...73s Mike

 

[TinEar]

I've never heard them on 123.075 either. But that's only because that was a typo in my message above. It should have read 120.075 as the DC area helo control. That frequency is spotty but active. The problem is that the ground control for it is at DCA along with the fact that the helos are fairly low so hearing it is a problem unless you're closer to DC than I. I just checked Ron's logs and the last time he mentioned anything specific was when Omaha 3 (Customs) was heard there. I would check it anytime the Omaha helo is scrambled along with fighters for a no-fly-zone intruder.

 

[wadeless28]

123.025 is a metro unicom frequency for helicopters. Only the FAA has control of that frequency, not SysCom. This frequency is used for coordination of multiple aircraft from multiple agencies/organizations, including private, operating/transiting in a metro area. It heavily used in the baltimore metro area, even down toward the maryland suburbs of DC.

As a side note, a fair amount of information is passed across this frequency during breaking news events between news helicopters, and sometimes, even some other agencys. It is amazing the amount of cooperation that happens up in air.

Mike

 

[listen13579]

120.75 vs. 120.075

Should 120.075 read 120.75? Isn't 120.75 DCA helo control?

 

[TinEar]

Yes, you're correct, it should be 120.75. I screwed that one up not once, but twice. I think senility is setting in.

 

[Dank]

That explains why I never hard a thing on 120.075.