Site locations for Boston TRACON

[Stevenme]

I'm looking for the transmitter location(s) for the Boston TRACON frequencies (Logan International Airport (BOS) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference). I live 20mi SW of Boston and I can hear the planes but not the controllers. I know the TRACON facility is located in Merrimack, NH, but I'm guessing the actual transmitters are located closer to the covered sectors. My guess would be all frequencies are at Logan with the possible exception of Lynch (Norwood) and Bedford (Hanscom).

BTW, according to Wikipedia, the Plymouth and Lincoln Sectors recently switched frequencies in order to reduce interference from other nearby facilities (Boston Consolidated TRACON - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). If true (can anyone confirm?) the RR database is out of date.

Thanks!

 

[crayon]

I have not checked these for locational or operational accuracy. If maps.google/bing.com do not show the RCAG site, pan/zoom around a bit.

124.4 - 42 27 06 071 20 10
126.5 - 42 27 06 071 20 10 *and* 42 21 44 071 00 42
119.65 - 42 27 06 071 20 10 *and* 42 21 44 071 00 42

133.0 - 42 27 06 071 20 10 *and* 42 21 44 071 00 42
120.6 - 42 27 06 071 20 10 *and* 42 21 44 071 00 42

124.1 - 42 27 06 071 20 10 *and* 42 21 44 071 00 42
127.2 - 42 27 06 071 20 10 *and* 42 21 44 071 00 42

118.25 - 42 21 44 071 00 42

Hope that helps!

 

[Stevenme]

Interesting, where did you find these coordinates? Is there an FAA database available? Here's what I've found:

42 27 06 -071 20 10 is Hanscom Field in Bedford
42 21 44 -071 00 42 is Logan Intl in Boston

I bet Hanscom is a backup for Logan on all but Hanscom Approach (only freq) and Rockport Approach (not sure why no backup). Can anyone confirm this from actual monitoring?

 

[Stevenme]

Interesting, where did you find these coordinates? Is there an FAA database available? Here's what I've found:

42 27 06 -071 20 10 is Hanscom Field in Bedford
42 21 44 -071 00 42 is Logan Intl in Boston

I bet Hanscom is a backup for Logan on all but Hanscom Approach (only freq) and Rockport Approach (not sure why no backup). Can anyone confirm this from actual monitoring?

I had some time at lunch today, so I stopped by a location near to the airport to verify the location of various frequencies. I was about a mile from the control tower, but I could see it. Any transmission from the airport would be full signal. I didn't hear traffic on all frequencies, just the ones below.

126.500 (Final 1), Strong signal, I'm pretty sure this is at Logan
133.000 (Departure) Strong signal, this also looks to be at Logan
118.125 (Rockport) Fairly strong signal, this might be at Logan but could also be close by
124.400 (Bedford) Controller not heard, not at Logan
120.600 (Plymouth) Fair signal, I doubt this is at Logan, but it is within 5 miles or so

 

[BMT]

ZBW Gardner

Aff3zbwgardner rcag 123.75 low discrete afn new hampshire nhjaffrey jaffrey airport-silver ranch 42-48-18.483n 154098.483n072-00-10.879w259210.879w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 123.75 low discrete een new hampshire nhkeene dillant-hopkins 42-53-54.200n 154434.200n072-16-14.800w260174.800w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 123.75 low discrete gdm massachusetts magardner gardner muni 42-32-59.519n 153179.519n072-00-57.679w259257.679w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 123.75 low discrete ore massachusetts maorange orange muni 42-34-11.997n 153251.997n072-17-18.588w260238.588w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 123.75 low discrete 0b5 massachusetts mamontague turners falls 42-35-28.909n 153328.909n072-31-21.917w261081.917w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 123.75 low discrete 4v8 vermont vtwest dover mount snow 42-55-37.688n 154537.688n072-51-56.353w262316.353w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 134.7 low
aff3zbwgardner rcag 338.2 low discrete afn new hampshire nhjaffrey jaffrey airport-silver ranch 42-48-18.483n 154098.483n072-00-10.879w259210.879w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 338.2 low discrete een new hampshire nhkeene dillant-hopkins 42-53-54.200n 154434.200n072-16-14.800w260174.800w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 338.2 low discrete gdm massachusetts magardner gardner muni 42-32-59.519n 153179.519n072-00-57.679w259257.679w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 338.2 low discrete ore massachusetts maorange orange muni 42-34-11.997n 153251.997n072-17-18.588w260238.588w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 338.2 low discrete 0b5 massachusetts mamontague turners falls 42-35-28.909n 153328.909n072-31-21.917w261081.917w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 338.2 low discrete 4v8 vermont vtwest dover mount snow 42-55-37.688n 154537.688n072-51-56.353w262316.353w

 

[Lynch_Christopher]

Aff3zbwgardner rcag 123.75 low discrete afn new hampshire nhjaffrey jaffrey airport-silver ranch 42-48-18.483n 154098.483n072-00-10.879w259210.879w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 123.75 low discrete een new hampshire nhkeene dillant-hopkins 42-53-54.200n 154434.200n072-16-14.800w260174.800w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 123.75 low discrete gdm massachusetts magardner gardner muni 42-32-59.519n 153179.519n072-00-57.679w259257.679w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 123.75 low discrete ore massachusetts maorange orange muni 42-34-11.997n 153251.997n072-17-18.588w260238.588w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 123.75 low discrete 0b5 massachusetts mamontague turners falls 42-35-28.909n 153328.909n072-31-21.917w261081.917w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 123.75 low discrete 4v8 vermont vtwest dover mount snow 42-55-37.688n 154537.688n072-51-56.353w262316.353w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 134.7 low
aff3zbwgardner rcag 338.2 low discrete afn new hampshire nhjaffrey jaffrey airport-silver ranch 42-48-18.483n 154098.483n072-00-10.879w259210.879w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 338.2 low discrete een new hampshire nhkeene dillant-hopkins 42-53-54.200n 154434.200n072-16-14.800w260174.800w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 338.2 low discrete gdm massachusetts magardner gardner muni 42-32-59.519n 153179.519n072-00-57.679w259257.679w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 338.2 low discrete ore massachusetts maorange orange muni 42-34-11.997n 153251.997n072-17-18.588w260238.588w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 338.2 low discrete 0b5 massachusetts mamontague turners falls 42-35-28.909n 153328.909n072-31-21.917w261081.917w
aff3zbwgardner rcag 338.2 low discrete 4v8 vermont vtwest dover mount snow 42-55-37.688n 154537.688n072-51-56.353w262316.353w

Nice find. However those sites are actually for the Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center located in Nashua, NH.

From my understand I believe that Plymouth Sector and Lincoln Sector have swapped frequencies again. Plymouth Sector is back to their original frequency of 120.600 MHz and Lincoln Sector is back to 127.200 MHz. The Wikipedia entry for the Boston Consolidated TRACON and the RR database are now up to date.


From doing some monitoring at Logan I believe that the transmitters for Final 1 (F1), Final 2(F2), Initial Departure (ID) are located at Logan.

 

[Stevenme]

Those are the lat/longs for the local airports in the sector. For the Gardner RCAG I have 42 32 45.310N 72 03 29.280W. If you use Bing maps you'll see it's a navigation site, but there must also be radar and towers for the various frequencies in use.

Might be worth a visit just to verify it is the Gardner RCAG.