Federal Comms near Cambria County, PA?

[RedPenguin]

Has anyone ever heard any Federal Comms around here?

I'm know in my area (Johnstown) we have a Federal District court and an FBI office. So I'm curious if anyone heard any Federal in the area.

I believe sometimes ATF is in the area and perhaps DEA (fair amount of drugs in area).

 

[SOFA_KING]

Has anyone ever heard any Federal Comms around here?

I'm know in my area (Johnstown) we have a Federal District court and an FBI office. So I'm curious if anyone heard any Federal in the area.

I believe sometimes ATF is in the area and perhaps DEA (fair amount of drugs in area).

Fair amount of drugs, eh? Sounds like a place I would not want to live in, but maybe nearby so I could monitor the fed coms.

Both of those agencies use a set of freqs that are more or less standard nation wide with a few exceptions (HIDTA channels in NY & SE FL for example). I would start with the RR database information on the first thread (sticky) and follow the links to each agency. Many of those should produce some traffic, but not all freqs are the same nation wide, so you have to search. This is the fun part for me, but you have to be dedicated to it to get all the freqs in your area. Some days are slow...some busy, and city areas give you the best chance of getting the freqs while rural areas are harder due to the lack of traffic. It can be dead for months and then a whole team of agents can come in and light up a few freqs for hours. You have to be searching at the right time to get them. PL tones and NAC codes (P25 digital) help identify who you are listening to. More agencies are going digital every day, so you may need that capability or be left out. Encryption is used a lot, but not 100% so there are still things to hear.

This part of monitoring is one of the best kept secrets in the scanning community. This is the hottest stuff to listen to, but not many people are into it, so getting all the freqs in a given area can be a challange. Because there are not many people doing it, it is often up to you. This forum really helps. You can get a sense of what is going on around the country. Often there are trends that apply, or will apply at some future date, to your own area. The more people who search and share, the better for the community.

Phil

 

[N8IAA]

Has anyone ever heard any Federal Comms around here?I'm know in my area (Johnstown) we have a Federal District court and an FBI office. So I'm curious if anyone heard any Federal in the area.I believe sometimes ATF is in the area and perhaps DEA (fair amount of drugs in area).

Have you ever thought about just programming the usual VHF and UHF common to all areas frequencies? 162-166Mhz, and 406-419Mhz? Be suprised what you can hear.
Larry

 

[RedPenguin]

That's what I am doing....

Yes, I am currently just having my scanner (BR330T) just sit there and search.

The reason I asked, was to see if perhaps anyone else from the surrounding area possibly already knew some frequencies to watch out for or some advice for the area.

 

[N8IAA]

The reason I asked, was to see if perhaps anyone else from the surrounding area possibly already knew some frequencies to watch out for or some advice for the area.

Probably better asked in the PA forum. But, fed freqs are not always active. They tend to use PTT cellphones for in close ops. Or, if working with the locals, a frequency not normally used by the PD. One never knows where comms will turn up. Patience is the word when looking for activity in federal and milair monitoring. Been doing both for over 20yrs.
Larry

 

[ecps92]

Expand your search, you will be amazed at what is out there.

162-174 Mhz is best [Mix of NAC Codes and PL's]
406-420 Mhz , many of the older channels are still in use, the newer use a +9 Mhz offset for the input.
and for the Mil-side 137-144 and 148-151.8 is a good search for FM traffic

Have you ever thought about just programming the usual VHF and UHF common to all areas frequencies? 162-166Mhz, and 406-419Mhz? Be suprised what you can hear.
Larry

 

[dropthehammer]

Sorry in advance for the thread hijack,

I am a complete noob, always wanted a scanner and finally pulled the trigger on a BC246T last week. Got it in hand, and with the help of FreeScan SW, easily programmed in the local police/fire/EMS frequencies, and got it up and running.

Today sitting here at work (north of Pittsburgh) for nearly 2 hours unmarked cars, large black SUVs, unmarked vans of every shape and size were coming off the turnpike exit just outside my window. Nothing on the scanner except the usual local police/fire/EMS buzz. Something huge is/was going down and i couldn't get a glimpse.

Frantically tried enteriing all the Fed frequencies i could find FBI/DEA/ATF on here into the scanner with FreeScan, but still not a peep, unmarked vehicles still screaming past.

Just came across this thread and saw the reference above regarding :

"Have you ever thought about just programming the usual VHF and UHF common to all areas frequencies? 162-166Mhz, and 406-419Mhz? Be suprised what you can hear.
Larry"

Questions:
1.) how do you go about entering these ranges into the BC246T?
2.) same question regarding how to enter "ranges" into the BC246T such as those given here:
Federal Bureau of Investigation - The RadioReference Wiki

Many Thanks in advance!

 

[ecps92]

Any luck using those SEARCH paremeters?

Probably better asked in the PA forum. But, fed freqs are not always active. They tend to use PTT cellphones for in close ops. Or, if working with the locals, a frequency not normally used by the PD. One never knows where comms will turn up. Patience is the word when looking for activity in federal and milair monitoring. Been doing both for over 20yrs.
Larry