ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
People starting off in milair listening in New England have it rough. Websites that were staples for this application pretty much disappeared after 9/11; and even though there are many milair related mailing lists out there, the sheer number of them would be enough to confuse most anyone.
In addition, there is no easy way to track the many frequencies that have or will change due to various events not foreseen since 9/11. These include;
a. A slow transition to narrower spacing in the UHF Milair spectrum;
b. Base closings and reallocations as recommended by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) 2005 committee report;
c. The establishment of new 380 Mhz trunking systems;
d. The loss of the online Dept of Defense Flight Information Publications (FLIPs), as of October 2006 (in fact, the website is warning about this right now).
To address this, and to give newcomers a single place to go, Scott H. (Scan Cape Cod's webmaster) and myself have put up a Wiki page called the 'Scan Cape Cod Military Page'. It can be found at:
http://www.scancapecod.us/wiki/index.php/Scan_Cape_Cod_Military_Page
As it stands now, the Scan Cape Cod Military Page has numerous links that can be used to get started. Scanner reviews, antennas, terminology and much more are all linked here. However, at the bottom of the page, is where you will get started with New England specific information.
This page is far from complete, however. Due to the lack of any onine resources, a single website was used as a source for the state information (with the exception of the Mass. Military page) - and unfortunately, it has a good deal of old data on it. This is where you come in.
You see, the advantage of using a Wiki application is that there is no single webmaster per se. In fact, you (the reader) are the 'webmaster'. There's no waiting to put data up on a page; the language is fairly simple,just to get started. But like many applications, the more you use it, the more complex applications you can build. You don't need to be a programmer type to use the language, but for those of you that are, the Wiki
language has similarities to HTML, VB and C, all rolled into one.
You can download a quick guide to editing a page - with a pretty good outline of the basic commands, and links to much more - on the RadioReference wiki page at:
http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Quick_guide_to_editing_pages
The state-based links are skeleton pages - deliberately. There are 3 categories on each page, but it could very easily be expanded into more. Don't feel constrained to stick to just these 3. For example, 2 airshows happened this weekend; it's entirely appropriate to build a Wiki page for each of them, if desired; or you could use the data gleaned at the shows to update the page. The choice is up to you.
You can get access to the Wiki by registering (free). Once you do, you will notice an area in the upper right corner called 'my talk'. You can think of this area as your own sandbox, where you can test your changes before actually making them public.
This can't be overstated; once the DoD FLIPs are removed in October 2006, sure other publications will continue - but it will become just a bit more difficult than ever to look up previously unknown information online. Airnav has some information, but not all. And while books and CDs are great, it's difficult to update them on the fly. The wiki is exactly the opposite.
What do we need to fill out the pages? Here's just a few ideas;
- A complete picture of the Yankee Military Operations Area and the freqs used by the various groups;
- While we have a reasonable picture of the civil air frequencies used by the Boston TRACON, the UHF side of them is virtually unknown;
- If a Combat Air Patrol exercise is declared for the Boston area, what frequencies are typically used?
Please take the time to look at the page, and perhaps most importantly contribute data on verified users; please don't just repost what is in another publication unless more accurate information is not available. What was heard is much more important than any published list. Remember, things are changing on the milair band; it is hoped that the Wiki become the standard of accuracy for New England Milcom - but it can't do it without your contributions.
73s Mike
In addition, there is no easy way to track the many frequencies that have or will change due to various events not foreseen since 9/11. These include;
a. A slow transition to narrower spacing in the UHF Milair spectrum;
b. Base closings and reallocations as recommended by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) 2005 committee report;
c. The establishment of new 380 Mhz trunking systems;
d. The loss of the online Dept of Defense Flight Information Publications (FLIPs), as of October 2006 (in fact, the website is warning about this right now).
To address this, and to give newcomers a single place to go, Scott H. (Scan Cape Cod's webmaster) and myself have put up a Wiki page called the 'Scan Cape Cod Military Page'. It can be found at:
http://www.scancapecod.us/wiki/index.php/Scan_Cape_Cod_Military_Page
As it stands now, the Scan Cape Cod Military Page has numerous links that can be used to get started. Scanner reviews, antennas, terminology and much more are all linked here. However, at the bottom of the page, is where you will get started with New England specific information.
This page is far from complete, however. Due to the lack of any onine resources, a single website was used as a source for the state information (with the exception of the Mass. Military page) - and unfortunately, it has a good deal of old data on it. This is where you come in.
You see, the advantage of using a Wiki application is that there is no single webmaster per se. In fact, you (the reader) are the 'webmaster'. There's no waiting to put data up on a page; the language is fairly simple,just to get started. But like many applications, the more you use it, the more complex applications you can build. You don't need to be a programmer type to use the language, but for those of you that are, the Wiki
language has similarities to HTML, VB and C, all rolled into one.
You can download a quick guide to editing a page - with a pretty good outline of the basic commands, and links to much more - on the RadioReference wiki page at:
http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Quick_guide_to_editing_pages
The state-based links are skeleton pages - deliberately. There are 3 categories on each page, but it could very easily be expanded into more. Don't feel constrained to stick to just these 3. For example, 2 airshows happened this weekend; it's entirely appropriate to build a Wiki page for each of them, if desired; or you could use the data gleaned at the shows to update the page. The choice is up to you.
You can get access to the Wiki by registering (free). Once you do, you will notice an area in the upper right corner called 'my talk'. You can think of this area as your own sandbox, where you can test your changes before actually making them public.
This can't be overstated; once the DoD FLIPs are removed in October 2006, sure other publications will continue - but it will become just a bit more difficult than ever to look up previously unknown information online. Airnav has some information, but not all. And while books and CDs are great, it's difficult to update them on the fly. The wiki is exactly the opposite.
What do we need to fill out the pages? Here's just a few ideas;
- A complete picture of the Yankee Military Operations Area and the freqs used by the various groups;
- While we have a reasonable picture of the civil air frequencies used by the Boston TRACON, the UHF side of them is virtually unknown;
- If a Combat Air Patrol exercise is declared for the Boston area, what frequencies are typically used?
Please take the time to look at the page, and perhaps most importantly contribute data on verified users; please don't just repost what is in another publication unless more accurate information is not available. What was heard is much more important than any published list. Remember, things are changing on the milair band; it is hoped that the Wiki become the standard of accuracy for New England Milcom - but it can't do it without your contributions.
73s Mike
