Minnesota Federal Listings (Lack Thereof)

I was looking around in the database of the federal listings for each state. I was quite surprised to find that there is no link under the "Areawide Frequencies" for the state. After poking around the Wiki I found a wealth of information about federal frequencies in Minnesota. As usual it is difficult to navigate around the wiki to find all the data that exists there. So the question is why is there no link for federal frequencies in the areawide frequency listings for Minnesota? 48 other states have such a link, the only other one without one is Oklahoma. The information is not buried in the county listings either. RR Database policy is to place federal frequencies on their own pages with the link located as I described.

I am contemplating a trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota to visit family and not having federal data on its own page will require I research and enter everything by hand. I am especially interested in listening to the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, all agencies that have multiple units in Minnesota.

Exsmokey said:

...After poking around the Wiki I found a wealth of information about federal frequencies in Minnesota....

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Good morning Exsmokey,

I know you are asking about the DB, but just in case this might help with future Wiki-navigation...

I know this doesn't address your DB questions, but hopefully it makes navigating the Wiki easier.

Hope this helps,

And honestly, there isn't too much federal in Minnesota...
Most federal law enforcement is on the statewide Trunked systems(except the federal reserve who run mototrbo, fps who use uhf, and postal inspectors).
All military in Minnesota is national guard or reserves and are on the Trunked system.
There are some very quiet fed conventional frequencies for the national wildlife refuges and forest service properties, as well as BWCAW.
Army COE on the Mississippi River have a frequency the I haven't ever actually heard, so I think they are using marine band.
There is a metro based vhf channel that civilian dispatch centers have on their terminals called FedCom but it's use is limited to monthly radio checks.
I don't know if that is in the database.


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mmtstc said:

And honestly, there isn't too much federal in Minnesota...
Most federal law enforcement is on the statewide Trunked systems(except the federal reserve who run mototrbo, fps who use uhf, and postal inspectors).
All military in Minnesota is national guard or reserves and are on the Trunked system.
There are some very quiet fed conventional frequencies for the national wildlife refuges and forest service properties, as well as BWCAW.
Army COE on the Mississippi River have a frequency the I haven't ever actually heard, so I think they are using marine band.
There is a metro based vhf channel that civilian dispatch centers have on their terminals called FedCom but it's use is limited to monthly radio checks.
I don't know if that is in the database.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

The Wiki pages have a lot of federal data and it should be displayed on the database. My experience with large areawide trunking systems is that talkgroups for federal agencies are only used to provide patches to VHF and UHF federal agencies or for those agencies to get onto those trunked systems directly, with their day to day ops being conducted on 162-174 and 406-420 MHz's. I doubt that the Border Patrol uses the trunked system and uses the usual VHF frequencies they have around the country, keeping in mind I'm not there to listen to their traffic or search the two bands. If states like Rhode Island and Connecticut have federal pages, it make little sense that a state as large as Minnesota does not.

I just took a look at some additional Wiki pages and found one federal prison buried away in a county. RR Database policy is that federal agencies are to be listed under a federal link in the state areawide frequencies sections of each state. A person who is not familiar with the geography of a state, especially midwest states that have so many small counties, needs to find federal agencies more quickly than they can by hunting around in county listings. State agencies have their own links and not the federal government? Makes no sense.

Area Wide

Yes, I don't see a link for federal in Minnesota; however, going to each county will sometimes yield good results.

I am seeing information regarding federal talk groups and conventional frequencies:

Federal Agencies For the Minneapolis/St. Paul Area Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

There also Federal talk groups on this system:

Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response (ARMER) Trunking System, Various, Minnesota - Scanner Frequencies

Border Patrol seems to be pretty active on their talkgroup (48411). I am far from the border and only see it when they are down here, so I suppose it is possible they only use it when someone is down here.

They are rarely on unencrypted talkgroups that I can hear south of the twin cities. This incident on L TAC 4 being about all I could quickly find: Body found in Rainy River | Duluth News Tribune .

mmtstc said:

Army COE on the Mississippi River have a frequency the I haven't ever actually heard, so I think they are using marine band.

Click to expand...

A number of years back I worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers on the Georgia coast. I was a Survey Tech. The marine navigation routes (profile) are constantly checked for depth.

The Corps had at least one VHF repeater system in place that spanned from the Florida line to Augusta, GA. The only time we would use a Marine radio is to speak to local boaters. The HT's we had were programmed w/ Marine ch 16, along w/ Corps channels. On board the Corps boats we used it was the same way. We stayed off Marine channels for work-related communications.

Keep in mind the Wiki is generally NOT 100% over-the-air confirmed information.

The RR DB should be 100% actually heard information

I have noticed the Region DB Admin's vary on enforcement of the Federal under the State vs Federal under the County..... some only handle enough property (unlike west of the Big River), so it goes under the county Yes, it is a P.I.T.A. when searching.

Then, the other issue is those who WANT vs those who Contribute.
More than once it has been pointed out in a forum, to SUBMIT, and the user slinks off into silence. Especially the ones who are....xyz is not here, why note...

Exsmokey said:

The Wiki pages have a lot of federal data and it should be displayed on the database. My experience with large areawide trunking systems is that talkgroups for federal agencies are only used to provide patches to VHF and UHF federal agencies or for those agencies to get onto those trunked systems directly, with their day to day ops being conducted on 162-174 and 406-420 MHz's. I doubt that the Border Patrol uses the trunked system and uses the usual VHF frequencies they have around the country, keeping in mind I'm not there to listen to their traffic or search the two bands. If states like Rhode Island and Connecticut have federal pages, it make little sense that a state as large as Minnesota does not.

Click to expand...

This one caught me, with a pause moment.
If it is ENC then how do you know, it is the BP ??

Other than someone having access to a Code Plug.....

johnmoe1 said:

Border Patrol seems to be pretty active on their talkgroup (48411). I am far from the border and only see it when they are down here, so I suppose it is possible they only use it when someone is down here.

They are rarely on unencrypted talkgroups that I can hear south of the twin cities. This incident on L TAC 4 being about all I could quickly find: Body found in Rainy River | Duluth News Tribune .

Click to expand...

ecps92 said:

This one caught me, with a pause moment.
If it is ENC then how do you know, it is the BP ??

Other than someone having access to a Code Plug.....

Click to expand...

It was labeled border patrol in the database and the same radios identify themselves as border patrol when not on the encrypted talkgroup.

OK - Thanks

johnmoe1 said:

It was labeled border patrol in the database and the same radios identify themselves as border patrol when not on the encrypted talkgroup.

Click to expand...

Ensnared said:

Yes, I don't see a link for federal in Minnesota; however, going to each county will sometimes yield good results.

I am seeing information regarding federal talk groups and conventional frequencies:

Federal Agencies For the Minneapolis/St. Paul Area Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

There also Federal talk groups on this system:

Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response (ARMER) Trunking System, Various, Minnesota - Scanner Frequencies

Click to expand...

I will repeat my point, federal listings should not be buried in country listings.

ecps92 said:

Keep in mind the Wiki is generally NOT 100% over-the-air confirmed information.

The RR DB should be 100% actually heard information

I have noticed the Region DB Admin's vary on enforcement of the Federal under the State vs Federal under the County..... some only handle enough property (unlike west of the Big River), so it goes under the county Yes, it is a P.I.T.A. when searching.

Then, the other issue is those who WANT vs those who Contribute.
More than once it has been pointed out in a forum, to SUBMIT, and the user slinks off into silence. Especially the ones who are....xyz is not here, why note...

Click to expand...

I don't place complete confidence in the database either. Many people who submit there are not knowledgeable in how radio systems work so we end up with repeater inputs being listed as output or simplex, we end up with UHF link frequencies being listed as primary systems or "simulcast," etc. Sometimes the Wiki pages are written by people who are very familiar with the systems they are writing about.

As for database submissions someone who is computer savvy needs to work up some software that allows a "fill in the blanks" form for submissions. How hard can that be? That question is not a conclusion or comment, it is a question. I know I drag my feet making submissions for a few reasons, but having to remember how to space everything out, especially when submitting only one line of information, takes more time than it should. I spend a lot of time searching on the scanner and an equal amount of time researching various radio systems and then have to waste time trying to remember and place the submissions into the proper format kills my motivation.

Then there is the incredibly obtuse process of writing the Wiki. I think researchers had an easier time with the Rosetta Stone than with the Wiki. Many people might be similar to me, very well versed in radio, but sub par on computer skills.

Like any of use forum users have anything to do with the Database.

You're barking up the wrong tree here, man. Talk to a Database Admin.

I've already barked up that tree numerous times and the results are almost like talking to a tree. My comments were out of frustration and to answer the comments of others.

We are the ones who submit the DATA :roll:
So "USE" [sp] users of the forum, do have some say.

Maybe it will finally get changed, maybe not, but now folks are aware of the issue and will know to look down to the County Level when searching.

sfd119 said:

Like any of use forum users have anything to do with the Database.

You're barking up the wrong tree here, man. Talk to a Database Admin.

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Exsmokey said:

I will repeat my point, federal listings should not be buried in country listings.

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The wikis are editable by all of us. If it bothers you enough to comment in a state forum half a country away I suggest you go ahead and fix it since it clearly has not been enough of an issue for us who are actively monitoring here to do something about. But as mmstc said there isn't a lot of Fed activity here and what there is, a lot is on ARMER. As for borer patrol, that area is quite rural and most of the active members of the Minnesota forum are in the Twin Cities, which is 5+ hours away from the canadian border so I wouldn't count on that being filled in any time soon.

Yes we are well aware of the Editability of a Wiki

However for those who travel and/or take an interest in other State/Commonwealth/Territory Federal monitoring it is a ROYAL P.I.T.A. to drill down into a County for Federal Activity.

However I do understand it the Agency does only cover One county it does make sense, but sadly many do cover more than one County, so it should be moved to the statewide level.

As for BP, there is plenty, NOT on Armer, never reported.
Just look for the $68x and $69x NAC's - all networked for wide-area

wogggieee said:

The wikis are editable by all of us. If it bothers you enough to comment in a state forum half a country away I suggest you go ahead and fix it since it clearly has not been enough of an issue for us who are actively monitoring here to do something about. But as mmstc said there isn't a lot of Fed activity here and what there is, a lot is on ARMER. As for borer patrol, that area is quite rural and most of the active members of the Minnesota forum are in the Twin Cities, which is 5+ hours away from the canadian border so I wouldn't count on that being filled in any time soon.

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ecps92 said:

As for BP, there is plenty, NOT on Armer, never reported.
Just look for the $68x and $69x NAC's - all networked for wide-area

Click to expand...

Then log them and add them to the proper spot. The fact that it's not already there tells me theres a combination of lack of activity, they're on ARMER/encrypted, or lack of interested locally.