121.500 traffic observation

[WB9YBM]

Speaking of area wide chopper Unicom and TV unicom, does anyone know the regularly used freqs. for TV traffic reporters flying in the DC area? IE NBC4, FOX news et al?

Here in the Chicago area I hear a lot of the TV traffic reporters using the 460MHz band for their chit-chat to the TV station...

 

[w2dsx]

I'm not near a General Aviation airport anymore but when I was younger and worked at a FBO that had a busy flight school, we'd have every now and then a pilot have a hard landing and set off his ELT (emergency locator beacon, set off by high g-force) without it being known. Sometimes the mechanics would do so inadvertently. Our unicom was close enough to hear it if it was on our ramp, but sometimes the only warning would be seeing the FAA car with the 4 antennas on the roof go by on the ramps. We'd usually tip off the competition and the ramp rats and CFI's would scurry around with handhelds trying to find the culprit. I taught them the trick of using attenuation (dropping it a tube o' tin foil, removing the whip) to find it on a crowded ramp full of Pipers and Cessnas. If he found it first, there would be hell to pay but if we got to it then it was ok.

Avionic techs were permitted to briefly test them at a certain part of the hour, and no more than 3 whoops. One shop used to use one to announce to their techs on the ramp the coffee truck/roach coach had arrived. It didn't take long for the folks in the tower to pick up wrong time "tests" when that bunch would hurry into their building and the next time the FAA was waiting for them at the truck. They had to get pizza for everyone in the Tower, office and FSS, or eat the fine, and they gladly paid it, LOL.

At some point they were supposed to phase out the 121.5 ELT's and go to 406 MHz, but I don't know if they did that yet.

 

[freqhopping]

Speaking of area wide chopper Unicom and TV unicom, does anyone know the regularly used freqs. for TV traffic reporters flying in the DC area? IE NBC4, FOX news et al?

123.05

Also used for coordination between the police helicopters.

 

[spanky15805]

Yes, it absolutely does matter. If you are IFR, you are going to be talking to ATC. If you are getting VFR flight following, you are going to be talking to ATC. If you are just flying around on your own VFR, you're not talking to ATC. You are not going to switch from the ATC frequency to Guard during an emergency. You're already talking to ATC. Why would you ever risk changing frequencies and hope that a tower somewhere or FSS hears you? There is no FSS or tower that is going to hear you out in the middle of the desert, trust me. You are just relying on other aircraft hearing you on 121.5 at that point.

But like I said, you are not going to switch from the ATC frequency to 121.5. Makes absolutely zero sense.

Second what Alcahuete posted. Chances are, 121.500 is not monitored by a FSS/ATCT (if at all) that would be considered "close" to where the actual emergency is taking place. In 2006-7 time frame, when the FSS's where all closed, the actual ATC you would have heard was in Prescott,(and now Ft. Worth(contracted to Leidos)), 121.500 went to the ARTCC's which the aircraft was already talking to on a RCAG channel. 121.500 ELT's are still out there and will be for a long time. No new ones have been certified by the FAA since 2012(?), don't know if the date is correct but they can be repaired indefinitely or until the FAA mandates that all aircraft switch to 406. Take into account that all aircraft have ADS-B by 2020 that operate in mode "C" airspace . 121.500 ELT and ADS-B combined, they are going to know where you are. Alcahuete, does that look correct? I guess there could be a news helicopter with a 121.5 ELT still out there...

 

[alcahuete]

Second what Alcahuete posted. Chances are, 121.500 is not monitored by a FSS/ATCT (if at all) that would be considered "close" to where the actual emergency is taking place. In 2006-7 time frame, when the FSS's where all closed, the actual ATC you would have heard was in Prescott,(and now Ft. Worth(contracted to Leidos)), 121.500 went to the ARTCC's which the aircraft was already talking to on a RCAG channel. 121.500 ELT's are still out there and will be for a long time. No new ones have been certified by the FAA since 2012(?), don't know if the date is correct but they can be repaired indefinitely or until the FAA mandates that all aircraft switch to 406. Take into account that all aircraft have ADS-B by 2020 that operate in mode "C" airspace . 121.500 ELT and ADS-B combined, they are going to know where you are. Alcahuete, does that look correct? I guess there could be a news helicopter with a 121.5 ELT still out there...

Pretty much all right on. Unfortunately, there are still a ton of 121.5 ELTs out there, because people are too cheap to upgrade their equipment. Aviation is not a cheap hobby, but it is a couple thousand dollars that can absolutely save your life. 121.5 ELTs are SO difficult to track down. You are relying from reports from aircraft and maybe towers (on rare occasion) to pinpoint a general area. I've seen it literally take days to locate wreckage with a 121.5 ELT. The 406 ELTs broadcast a beacon and other information to satellites, and is usually picked up very quickly. There have been instances where a plane has gone down, and in the time it took to pick up the phone and call the AF Rescue Coordination Center, they had already located the aircraft via satellite.

 

[danesgs]

Thx!

 

[andy51edge]

Unfortunately, there are still a ton of 121.5 ELTs out there, because people are too cheap to upgrade their equipment. Aviation is not a cheap hobby, but it is a couple thousand dollars that can absolutely save your life. 121.5 ELTs are SO difficult to track down.

Interestingly enough, at the flight school I used to work at, last year we took delivery of two new planes with dual frequency ELTs, they had the 400mHz transmitter and a 121.5mHz transmitter. All of our new airplanes (2013 onward) have dual frequency ELTs. At my current job (regional airline FO) we only have 121.5mHz ELT's in the tailcone and a pair of PLB's in the cockpit.

As a CFI I only had one ELT go off from a student landing. Weirdly enough, the students landing was good but the shimmy damper failed so the airplane wobbled hard enough to set off the ELT.

The local tower didn't monitor 121.5 but the ARTCC RCAG site 30NM North of the field did. Most of the time the 121.5 beacons would bleed over to the ground frequency of 121.6. If an ELT went off, most of the time one of our mechanic would go out with a handheld radio guessing and checking.

 

[vagrant]

I often hear traffic on 121.5 here in central California.

1. Pilot calling to ground services requesting whatever. I either hear back the notorious "Guaaaard" or another pilot have some fun and in his best female voice impersonation say "Go ahead". When the requesting pilot responds thinking he's gotten through, the hilarity begins.

2. It must be boring some days because I have heard about seven to eight pilots respond with "Guaaard". Often is is a quick guard advisement by another pilot.

3. A favorite is "Captain Randy". He will TX and give his whole landing spiel to passengers. I catch this about once a month, but it may happen more often. His voice is distinct and I have heard him TX other stuff on guard as well.

4. It has been a few years, but one time I heard an incident as a passenger had a heart issue on board. Airline people were calm and cool and another passenger on board was a physician. That whole incident lasted a while on air. Another medical incident that also lasted quite a bit on 121.5 had a few radio patches and a flight attendant relaying details and instructions from a physician on the ground. If I remember correctly, the passenger required an injection. I believe it was a known issue and the passenger had the medication/needle with them.

5. Before I heard the chatter on 121.5 one day, the ANG in Fresno had a "scramble" order over the air on their regular freq. I had to get about four different radios going to cover all the communications of the event. From what I can tell they had to fly out into the Pacific and make contact with a passenger plane that was still flying, but no radio contact and was heading in to San Francisco. On 121.5 I heard the ANG pilots try to raise the passenger plane pilot and advised Oakland Center no reply. The signal got really weak, but I heard the ANG advise they could see the pilots in the cockpit. RX got worse, but eventually it worked out. Apparently there was some electrical issue and the radios failed. The ANG fighter pilots came back soon after.

 

[rfsparkz]

Just need to start this with I have been scanning for 25 years in the NYC area, this includes aviation scannig, I scanned 9/11 and admit I was late to scanning the ATCC stuff. I have since moved to Cape May, NJ a few years ago and experienced some pretty cool stuff, like military aviation. I've had military aviation frequencies in my scanner for years only been hearing them consistently since I moved down to the southern end of NJ. The same goes with 121.5000 I was scanning up by NYC for 25+ years maybe heard it once or twice A YEAR, in southern NJ I hear it a few times a month! They aren't emergencies either, just requests for frequencies. Just wonderi ng if this is more common in some parts of the country over other parts

I live in Ontario about 50 miles north of CYYZ airport. I am in the path of aircraft departing and approaching CYYZ so I often hear random traffic on the 121.5 frequency.

 

[jcj]

Yes, it absolutely does matter. If you are IFR, you are going to be talking to ATC. If you are getting VFR flight following, you are going to be talking to ATC. If you are just flying around on your own VFR, you're not talking to ATC. You are not going to switch from the ATC frequency to Guard during an emergency. You're already talking to ATC. Why would you ever risk changing frequencies and hope that a tower somewhere or FSS hears you? There is no FSS or tower that is going to hear you out in the middle of the desert, trust me. You are just relying on other aircraft hearing you on 121.5 at that point.

But like I said, you are not going to switch from the ATC frequency to 121.5. Makes absolutely zero sense.

^this. exactly.

Here in NJ/NY, during POTUS TFRs, fighter jets can be heard on 121.5 calling stray aircraft that ventured into the restricted area.

^ a part of their intercept protocol. Unfortunately, a general aviation (GA) pilot that wanders into a POTUS TFR is also unlikely to be monitoring guard (121.5) on their #2 radio (not a requirement for GA). On a related note, intercepts in the National Capitol TFR are sometimes done by USCG helicopters. They have an electronic signboard on the side they’ll use to advise the errant GA pilot to come up on 121.5 for intercept instructions.

 

[krokus]

In the Detroit area, I mostly hear "wrong mic" stuff, pilots being advised of a freq they should have dialed in, and the "guarrrrrd" patrol.

 

[CYUL]

“guuuuuuuuuard” made me think of this bit of goodness.


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Wow that was something to listen to. Can't believe that happens on that freq. Terribly unprofessional.

 

[vagrant]

Hilarious. I passed it along to friends who will enjoy it.