2015 Miramar Airshow freqs

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mike619

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Hi does anyone have a list of freqs that will be used for the 2015 Miramar Airshow?
 

kma371

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Well since it hasn't started yet, we don't have any.

Suggest you take a look at the wiki and look for any headliners that are supposed to be at the show. Plug those in and listen a few days before during practices and report back as to what's in use.
 

teufler

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The normal; tower frequencies are a start. Usually the Air Boss is there. If the Blues are flying, there are several lists on RR or Wiki that states what has been monitored.
 

jmarshl

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So far I hear:
Angles Solo 237.8000
Angles Show 251.6000
Angles Diamond 275.3500
Fat Albert 305.9000
 

jmarshl

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I picked up the label from a posting several years ago. It sounds almost like a mix of the lead pilot on DIAMOND saying PULLLLLLLL with input from other pilots on SOLO. There is a little TOWER type traffic thrown in. It is very short range and intermittent.
 

K6CDO

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Today was practice day, Bill. So what John (and the guys in my shop) was hearing was the Blue Angels team as they did their routines and established their ground-based reference points.

[Our shops are directly under a couple of the routines, and I understand our 120' tower is one of their reference points.]
 

inigo88

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Can you be more descriptive on "show?" What were you hearing?

The Blue Angels have three UHF frequencies they use during a show (excluding Fat Albert). Each frequency has a preset memory channel in the comm radio on the F/A-18 and are switched constantly during the show depending on the aircraft's location and function. They are:

"Show Box" - Used by either the Diamond, the Opposing Solos or the Delta (Diamond+Solos) when they are in show center. (I seem to recall Miramar using a different freq so 251.6 may be correct, but they normally use 284.25 MHz.)

"Diamond" - Used by the Diamond formation outside the show box while they're maneuvering behind the crowd (setting up for the next maneuver).

"Solo" - Used by the Opposing Solos outside the show box while they're maneuvering behind the crowd.

You can think of show box as what's going on where you're supposed to be looking, while diamond and solos are the "back stage" operations that keep the show going.

All the above can be found in this monitoring times article:
http://www.monitoringtimes.com/0312airshowguide.pdf

If you really want to nerd out, the communication radios in the legacy hornet are controlled via the Up Front Control panel directly below the heads up display in the photo below. This panel also controls the autopilot, navigation, IFF, etc.

FA-18D-Cockpit-Night-Attack-S.jpg


On each side of the panel there's a volume/channel select knob above a small LCD that says "Comm 1" and "Comm 2". The LCD shows the current preset memory channel for that communications radio, which is Ch "1" on Comm 1 and Ch "17" on Comm 2 in the photo. There's another LCD display above the numeric keypad which says "1 -- 348.600", displaying the frequency for the memory preset Ch 1 which is currently selected on Comm 1. Note that the frequencies for preset memory channels vary by squadron (and probably even mission) and this is only an example of the user interface.

The pilot can switch back and forth between "Comm 1" and "Comm 2" using a rocker switch on the throttle, allowing instant access to two radio frequencies without needing to take their hands off the throttle and stick.

F-18throttle.jpg


Since there are exactly three frequencies used by the Hornets during a Blue Angels show, I'm of the opinion that the Diamonds have "Show Box" in Comm 1 and "Diamond" in Comm 2, while the Solos have "Show Box" in Comm 1 and "Solos" in Comm 2. This allows them to switch frequencies so rapidly with the throttle rocker switch without having to take their hands off the controls to adjust the preset memory channels on the UFC.
 

kma371

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I'm quite aware what the terms are but different people have different meanings, especially since he got his description from somewhere else. I'm trying to make sure his description was accurate so the DB could be updated.
 

inigo88

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If he got it from somewhere else, it's obvious what the three frequencies are. Glad jmarhsl enjoyed it.
 

kma371

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If he got it from somewhere else, it's obvious what the three frequencies are. Glad jmarhsl enjoyed it.

Wasn't obvious to me...hence why I asked.

As you quoted, "Show box" is the more common term, which is what I'm used to. I wanted to confirm it's accuracy.
 
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inigo88

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Wasn't obvious to me...hence why I asked.

As you quoted, "Show box" is the more common term, which is what I'm used to. I wanted to confirm it's accuracy.

Well that's funny... the label he picked up from a previous post was my post in this thread:
http://forums.radioreference.com/san-diego-metro-area-discussion/251150-blue-angels.html

I have it labeled "Show Box", for what it's worth. :)

In the past they used 284.25 MHz for Show Box, so when I wasn't hearing any of the show center traffic I started signal stalking until I found it.

inigo88 said:
I was at the Miramar Airshow today (saturday). The usual Blue Angels diamond and solo frequencies were active again this year, BUT the show box frequency was noticeably absent. I finally found it about 10 minutes into the show using signal stalker.

251.60 - Show Box (crowd center)
275.35 - Diamond
237.80 - Solos

The usual Comm Cart A & B channels were still active, and Air Boss runs the show on the VHF & UHF Miramar Tower freqs. I'll do a more complete write up later.

Guess I never did that write up... Happy monitoring this weekend!
 

mike619

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305.90 is also the 3rd MAW freq used for a lot of military helicopters both Navy and Marines.
 
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