I've been a NW Phoenix scanner listener since the RWC was mostly Phase 1, and over the years I've kept a personal cheat-sheet for decoding callsigns and TG assignments across the valley + DPS. A lot of it I owe to the landmark threads on this forum —
KB7MIB's DPS Call Sign Letter identifiers, cellphone's Mesa PD Unit Numbers, WIS262's PHX FD CAD Unit Prefixes, GlobalNorth and caphab1's various deep-dives, the Official PRWN Talkgroups Thread, and Paysonscanner's federal forest work. Can't overstate
how much easier it's made programming my SDS.
But my notes have a lot of "I think" and "someone said once" and I'd love to tighten them up before I retire to the lake house and can't remember any of this.
Below is what I believe to be accurate as of now, organized by agency. ✓ = confident, ? = want confirmed, ✗ = no idea. I'd really appreciate corrections/additions on the ? items. I'll compile responses into a clean cheatsheet and post it back to this
thread as a community reference.
---
AZ DPS
✓ District map: D1 Kingman / D2 Flagstaff / D3 Holbrook / D4 Yuma / D5 Central / D6 Casa Grande / D8 Tucson / D11 Payson-Globe / D12 Prescott / D13 Metro E / D14 Metro W / D18 Metro S.
✓ UHF 460.x for district dispatch, AZWINS 700/800 overlay; CI channels encrypted.
✓ Phonetic prefix/suffix set: Zebra=GIITEM, Mary=Motors (suffix after ~2016), Ranger=Aircraft, David=DUI, Sam=special assignment, Tom=training, Frank=FTO, Victor=extra duty, X-ray=10th in squad, Young=court detail.
? Phonetic → numeric transition: w7das noted in May 2016 that "14xx replaced William," "5xx replaced Charlie," "13xx replaced Edward." Was there an actual changeover date, or was it gradual across 2014-2016?
? D19 and D20: JohnSpartan confirmed 2018-11-07 that D19 = Phoenix Night Watch (replaced D7's night role). AZ165 later mentioned D20. Is D20 still active today? Does it handle East+South together, or split further? Anyone still hearing regular 20xx
callsigns on Metro East or Metro South?
? Sergeant convention: 0-suffix = Sergeant (1410, 1420); Metro+00 = Lieutenant. Still current?
? CI 5 = 460.525 — saw one post referencing "D9 multicasting to CID 5 (460.525)." Is CID 5 currently active or was that pre-2014?
? UHF→700 migration — GlobalNorth's 2024 skepticism was borne out (still hearing UHF). Any insiders with a real ETA? Hearing rumors vs. seeing budget?
✗ New LZ TGs on AZWINS — what talkgroup numbers are allocated for medical helo/LZ coordination? SCANHF mentioned "2 TGs for LZ" in Aug 2024 but didn't list them.
---
Phoenix PD
✓ Precinct numbering: 200 Black Mtn / 400 South Mtn / 500 Central / 600 Desert Horizon / 700 Mountain View / 800 Maryvale-Estrella / 900 Cactus Park. A-deck clear, B/C/D encrypted post-2014 incident.
✓ Beat format per KB7MIB 2019: [channel-digit][beat 10-49][letter suffix], e.g. 912A.
✓ Letter suffix decoder: A/F/J = squad-1 single officer by shift (day/swing/grave); B/G/K = squad-2 single; D/H/L = second single-officer unit; E/I/M = 2-officer squad 1; O (Ocean) = second 2-officer.
✓ Special prefixes: Zebra=gang, Sam=SAU/K9, X-ray=NET, Tom=Motor, Car N=precinct commander, Area NN = LT, Patrol NN = night LT, Charles=Civilian Motorist Assist, Robert=Reserve, Paul=LoJack.
? Is the 2009 SWFD-era letter decoder still accurate after the 2014 precinct consolidation (when 300 merged into 800 and 500 got split)? Did squad letters get reshuffled?
? Sam 51 vs Sam 57 — still SAU vs K9? Or has the numbering drifted?
? Paul (LoJack) — is that still in regular use, or has LoJack/tracker assignment merged with something else?
? Phase 2 TDMA rollout — cellphone flagged TG 2996 (400 precinct) flipped to Phase 2 in March 2021 and then back. Where are we now — are 2991-2996 all Phase 2 today, or mixed?
---
Phoenix Fire (PFDRDC)
✓ WIS262's 2019 apparatus-prefix list — E/L/R/M/BC/DC/SQ/ST/F/U/CR/VS/SI/MS/SKY/LA/MR/WT/BR/AT/AST/PV/Car.
✓ Ambulance vendor codes: W- SWA, AM- AMR, P- PMT, M- Maricopa. + suffix = paramedic on board.
✓ A-1 regionwide fire dispatch on 154.1900 (173.8 PL), K-1 mirrors on RWC, station alerting via Phoenix G2 CAD (not tone-out except Sky Harbor + Tolleson BC).
✓ Apparatus number ranges: PHX 1-75, Sun City 131-133, Glendale 151-159, Tolleson 161-169, Avondale 171-179, Goodyear 181-189, Mesa 201-224, Tempe 271-279, Scottsdale 601-614, Buckeye 701-749.
? CARE7 — Tempe city Crisis Care unit, dispatched by PFDRDC per WIS262. Still the case or did Tempe pull back in-house?
? Car 957 N/S — PFD Special Ops Captains (HazMat/TRT). Same numbering still? Or new IDs?
? New prefixes since 2019 — anything WIS262 didn't document? I've heard a couple of unit labels I can't place.
✗ PulsePoint integration — djewel6 asked in 2018, nobody responded. Is any Valley FD planning to adopt?
---
MCSO
✓ Districts 1 East / 2 SW / 3 NW / 6 Queen Creek. East side (1/4/5/6) frequently patched together; West side (2/3) similarly patched.
✓ Uses badge numbers — no district/shift embedded in callsign.
✓ "Fox" = helicopters. "Car 1" = Sheriff.
✓ TGs: 1001 D1, 1007 D6, 1060 HQ, 1637 Detention.
? D4, D5, D7 — specific coverage areas? D7 = Fountain Hills I think but never seen authoritative. And what does D5 cover — Carefree/Cave Creek?
? Queen Creek PD split 2022 — cellphone noted MCSO D6 went 10-7 in QC 2022-01-11 and encrypted TOPAZ TGs 3840-3851 spun up. What's QCPD's current callsign/unit format?
? Detention (TG 1637) — almost no transcribable audio. Any tone-outs? What's the brevity convention?
? MVD Enforcement TAC — heavy mixed MCSO + DPS + Probation activity on this TG. Is it formally a multi-agency tactical channel or informally shared?
---
Chandler PD
✓ RWC Simulcast C. TGs 2498 Patrol B, 2599 dispatch, A-06 Metro, A-10 Bike, E-11 Explorer, J-16 Jail (all P25).
✗ Beat/callsign decoder — I've never seen it documented. Does CPD follow a Mesa-style NX## pattern, a PPD-style beat+letter, or something else entirely? Public beat map anywhere?
✗ Shift structure — days/swing/mids? Or 12-hour?
? TG encryption status — is the mix of clear/encrypted the same as KB7MIB's 2023-01-28 writeup (Patrol A/B/C Phase 2 clear; most others encrypted)?
---
Glendale / Peoria / Avondale / Surprise / El Mirage / Tolleson PDs (all on RWC Simulcast G)
✓ Glendale: A-1 S Dispatch, A-4 N Dispatch, A-14 Westgate weekend events. Northern Ave = N/S split.
✓ Peoria: A-1 active dispatch, A-4 special events (spring training), A-14 backup (quarterly tested), A-15 simplex.
✓ Glendale pre-2012 had standalone P25, cutover to RWC 2012-02-06.
? Callsign/beat decoders for each — I've never seen published decoders for Glendale/Peoria/Avondale/Surprise in the detail that exists for Mesa PD and Phoenix PD. Does each city have a letter-suffix convention, squad-assignment letters, shift
indicator? Anyone know if their beat maps are public?
? El Mirage PD — 100% encrypted on my end. Was the callsign format ever documented before encryption?
? Paradise Valley PD — tiny agency (19 radios I've ever heard), 100% clear. What does a day-in-the-life lineup look like? Just one dispatcher + 3-4 officers, or more structured?
---
Mesa PD / Gilbert PD / Queen Creek / Apache Junction (TOPAZ)
✓ cellphone's 2020-02-23 Mesa format: NX## (1=Fiesta, 2=Central, 3=Red Mtn, 4=Superstition) + Adam/Baker/Charlie (mids/days/swing) + beat. Specialty: Falcon helo, Frank bike, George detective, Henry AC, King K9, Lincoln LT, Mary motor, Nora CST, Sam
Sgt, William warrant.
✓ Gilbert PD — most encrypted; Ch 2=TG 3034, Ch 3=3140, Ch 4=3141, Ch 6=3143. Ch 1 theoretically still clear dispatch.
✓ Queen Creek PD split from MCSO 2022-01; TGs 3840-3851 allocated.
? Mesa PD — as of 2026 is literally ANY Mesa PD TG monitorable, or fully dark now?
? Gilbert Ch 1 — still clear as of right now, or flipped?
? QCPD TG 3840-3851 mapping — 3840 = Ch 1? What are 3841-3851? cellphone's 2022 observation didn't enumerate them all.
? Apache Junction PD — on TRWC per RR DB. Callsign format? Bare numbers or Mesa-style district/shift?
---
ADOT Enforcement (CVED)
✓ Callsign pattern: [1-2 digits][letter][2 digits] — 1A60, 1S11, 1L30, 3C42, 1B20, 22B44. Dispatched on AZWINS TG 1109; C2C on TG 1108; patched with 156.120 VHF (South region, 100.0 PL) + historically 154.905 (North — now AZ DFFM Flight Following).
✓ White/black marked SUVs (Tahoe/Explorer) + Impalas. ADOT E&C Division, moved out of MVD.
? Letter decoder — what do A, S, L, B, C mean in the callsign? My guess is A=Adam/patrol, S=Sam/roving, L=Lima/port, B=Bravo/mobile, C=Charlie/commercial. Anyone seen official documentation?
? 1 vs 22 prefix — is 1-digit a region number (North/South/Central) and 2-digit a sub-division (port-of-entry code)?
? 1500 vs 1600 series DPS CVEB — KB7MIB noted in 2016 these conflict with ADOT ECD. Which callsigns belong to whom?
---
Tribal police (Salt River / Gila River / Tohono O'odham / Fort McDowell / Ak-Chin)
✓ Tohono O'odham PD at Desert Diamond Casino West on RWC Sim G, clear.
✓ Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community has multi-site DMR CAP+ (per cellphone 2019-12-31) on 460.0875/460.1125/460.1375/460.1625/453.6250/454.2500 plus separate P25 for PD/Fire.
✓ Gila River PD encrypted; Gila River FD clear.
? Ak-Chin — specifically monitorable freqs? KB7MIB mentioned them in 2019 but no current detail.
? Fort McDowell Yavapai — Ravenfalls 2020 said "on trunking, VHF won't be renewed." On TOPAZ? Their own system?
? San Carlos Apache + White Mountain Apache — what systems? Any interop with Valley agencies during mutual aid?
? Mutual aid scenarios — when does tribal PD appear on RWC G-deck or Ocean-deck, if ever?
---
Federal agencies
✓ BLM Phoenix district: 172.5250 out / 163.0375 in — repeaters at White Tanks, Horsethief, Williams Mesa, Oatman, Vekol, Childs. LE on 165.6000 (NAC 430), 169.8000 (NAC 455), 170.0250 (NAC 656).
✓ FPS 409.4000 (NAC 920) — encrypted.
✓ Secret Service — 164.8875/164.9875/165.375/166.5125/167.0375/168.825 (NAC 001), all encrypted.
✓ USFS NTIA dispatch callsigns: KOC 286 Tonto (Phoenix Dispatch), KOC 437 Coconino (Flagstaff), KOC 421/422 Kaibab, KOC 423 Prescott, KOC 435 (or KOG 785) Coronado, KOC 221 Apache-Sitgreaves (Show Low).
? 171.6250 BLM Phoenix LE — KB7MIB cited this from "Hubby's notebooks" but I've never heard it active. Still a real freq or retired?
? CBP Bennie 2 / Bennie 3 — AES-256-Encryption asked about these in 2024-02-24 and never got an answer. Anyone know what they are or what freqs?
? USFWS Colorado River — 164.6250 was used at ~70% of refuges pre-2019 NTIA band allocation. Current freq after the reallocation?
? DEA / FBI / ATF current NACs — 163.900 suspected FBI and 173.1125 NAC 156 suspected DEA have been in threads since 2020, never confirmed.
---
Cross-cutting questions (anyone with experience)
1. Dispatcher shift rotation — how many dispatchers per shift at HPTC (DPS), PFDRDC, and PPD communications? Any public info on shift swap times?
2. New RWC simulcasts since 2020 — KB7MIB mentioned a Tonopah RWC site coming in 2021. Did it? Any other new simulcasts added since then?
3. Radio hardware vendor split — DPS reportedly moved Kenwood TK-830G/890 mobiles + Harris Liberty portables → Motorola APX8000 dual-band starting 2017. Is that rollout complete? Any agencies still on pre-APX hardware?
4. MCSO vehicle-extender radios — are they still in use, or phased out like DPS's RATPACKs?
5. The AZ Scanner Enthusiast Facebook group — eg153wftx referenced it multiple times. Still the active hub for day-to-day chatter? Should I be there too?
---
I know this is a lot. No need to answer all of it — even one or two confirmations helps. Any additions/corrections, tag me or reply in thread and I'll fold them into a cleaned-up consolidated decoder when responses settle. Many thanks to this forum's
long-time contributors — you've made a significant chunk of valley hobbyist life possible. 🙏
(NW Phoenix listener, SDS200 + G5 pager, 6+ years.)
KB7MIB's DPS Call Sign Letter identifiers, cellphone's Mesa PD Unit Numbers, WIS262's PHX FD CAD Unit Prefixes, GlobalNorth and caphab1's various deep-dives, the Official PRWN Talkgroups Thread, and Paysonscanner's federal forest work. Can't overstate
how much easier it's made programming my SDS.
But my notes have a lot of "I think" and "someone said once" and I'd love to tighten them up before I retire to the lake house and can't remember any of this.
Below is what I believe to be accurate as of now, organized by agency. ✓ = confident, ? = want confirmed, ✗ = no idea. I'd really appreciate corrections/additions on the ? items. I'll compile responses into a clean cheatsheet and post it back to this
thread as a community reference.
---
AZ DPS
✓ District map: D1 Kingman / D2 Flagstaff / D3 Holbrook / D4 Yuma / D5 Central / D6 Casa Grande / D8 Tucson / D11 Payson-Globe / D12 Prescott / D13 Metro E / D14 Metro W / D18 Metro S.
✓ UHF 460.x for district dispatch, AZWINS 700/800 overlay; CI channels encrypted.
✓ Phonetic prefix/suffix set: Zebra=GIITEM, Mary=Motors (suffix after ~2016), Ranger=Aircraft, David=DUI, Sam=special assignment, Tom=training, Frank=FTO, Victor=extra duty, X-ray=10th in squad, Young=court detail.
? Phonetic → numeric transition: w7das noted in May 2016 that "14xx replaced William," "5xx replaced Charlie," "13xx replaced Edward." Was there an actual changeover date, or was it gradual across 2014-2016?
? D19 and D20: JohnSpartan confirmed 2018-11-07 that D19 = Phoenix Night Watch (replaced D7's night role). AZ165 later mentioned D20. Is D20 still active today? Does it handle East+South together, or split further? Anyone still hearing regular 20xx
callsigns on Metro East or Metro South?
? Sergeant convention: 0-suffix = Sergeant (1410, 1420); Metro+00 = Lieutenant. Still current?
? CI 5 = 460.525 — saw one post referencing "D9 multicasting to CID 5 (460.525)." Is CID 5 currently active or was that pre-2014?
? UHF→700 migration — GlobalNorth's 2024 skepticism was borne out (still hearing UHF). Any insiders with a real ETA? Hearing rumors vs. seeing budget?
✗ New LZ TGs on AZWINS — what talkgroup numbers are allocated for medical helo/LZ coordination? SCANHF mentioned "2 TGs for LZ" in Aug 2024 but didn't list them.
---
Phoenix PD
✓ Precinct numbering: 200 Black Mtn / 400 South Mtn / 500 Central / 600 Desert Horizon / 700 Mountain View / 800 Maryvale-Estrella / 900 Cactus Park. A-deck clear, B/C/D encrypted post-2014 incident.
✓ Beat format per KB7MIB 2019: [channel-digit][beat 10-49][letter suffix], e.g. 912A.
✓ Letter suffix decoder: A/F/J = squad-1 single officer by shift (day/swing/grave); B/G/K = squad-2 single; D/H/L = second single-officer unit; E/I/M = 2-officer squad 1; O (Ocean) = second 2-officer.
✓ Special prefixes: Zebra=gang, Sam=SAU/K9, X-ray=NET, Tom=Motor, Car N=precinct commander, Area NN = LT, Patrol NN = night LT, Charles=Civilian Motorist Assist, Robert=Reserve, Paul=LoJack.
? Is the 2009 SWFD-era letter decoder still accurate after the 2014 precinct consolidation (when 300 merged into 800 and 500 got split)? Did squad letters get reshuffled?
? Sam 51 vs Sam 57 — still SAU vs K9? Or has the numbering drifted?
? Paul (LoJack) — is that still in regular use, or has LoJack/tracker assignment merged with something else?
? Phase 2 TDMA rollout — cellphone flagged TG 2996 (400 precinct) flipped to Phase 2 in March 2021 and then back. Where are we now — are 2991-2996 all Phase 2 today, or mixed?
---
Phoenix Fire (PFDRDC)
✓ WIS262's 2019 apparatus-prefix list — E/L/R/M/BC/DC/SQ/ST/F/U/CR/VS/SI/MS/SKY/LA/MR/WT/BR/AT/AST/PV/Car.
✓ Ambulance vendor codes: W- SWA, AM- AMR, P- PMT, M- Maricopa. + suffix = paramedic on board.
✓ A-1 regionwide fire dispatch on 154.1900 (173.8 PL), K-1 mirrors on RWC, station alerting via Phoenix G2 CAD (not tone-out except Sky Harbor + Tolleson BC).
✓ Apparatus number ranges: PHX 1-75, Sun City 131-133, Glendale 151-159, Tolleson 161-169, Avondale 171-179, Goodyear 181-189, Mesa 201-224, Tempe 271-279, Scottsdale 601-614, Buckeye 701-749.
? CARE7 — Tempe city Crisis Care unit, dispatched by PFDRDC per WIS262. Still the case or did Tempe pull back in-house?
? Car 957 N/S — PFD Special Ops Captains (HazMat/TRT). Same numbering still? Or new IDs?
? New prefixes since 2019 — anything WIS262 didn't document? I've heard a couple of unit labels I can't place.
✗ PulsePoint integration — djewel6 asked in 2018, nobody responded. Is any Valley FD planning to adopt?
---
MCSO
✓ Districts 1 East / 2 SW / 3 NW / 6 Queen Creek. East side (1/4/5/6) frequently patched together; West side (2/3) similarly patched.
✓ Uses badge numbers — no district/shift embedded in callsign.
✓ "Fox" = helicopters. "Car 1" = Sheriff.
✓ TGs: 1001 D1, 1007 D6, 1060 HQ, 1637 Detention.
? D4, D5, D7 — specific coverage areas? D7 = Fountain Hills I think but never seen authoritative. And what does D5 cover — Carefree/Cave Creek?
? Queen Creek PD split 2022 — cellphone noted MCSO D6 went 10-7 in QC 2022-01-11 and encrypted TOPAZ TGs 3840-3851 spun up. What's QCPD's current callsign/unit format?
? Detention (TG 1637) — almost no transcribable audio. Any tone-outs? What's the brevity convention?
? MVD Enforcement TAC — heavy mixed MCSO + DPS + Probation activity on this TG. Is it formally a multi-agency tactical channel or informally shared?
---
Chandler PD
✓ RWC Simulcast C. TGs 2498 Patrol B, 2599 dispatch, A-06 Metro, A-10 Bike, E-11 Explorer, J-16 Jail (all P25).
✗ Beat/callsign decoder — I've never seen it documented. Does CPD follow a Mesa-style NX## pattern, a PPD-style beat+letter, or something else entirely? Public beat map anywhere?
✗ Shift structure — days/swing/mids? Or 12-hour?
? TG encryption status — is the mix of clear/encrypted the same as KB7MIB's 2023-01-28 writeup (Patrol A/B/C Phase 2 clear; most others encrypted)?
---
Glendale / Peoria / Avondale / Surprise / El Mirage / Tolleson PDs (all on RWC Simulcast G)
✓ Glendale: A-1 S Dispatch, A-4 N Dispatch, A-14 Westgate weekend events. Northern Ave = N/S split.
✓ Peoria: A-1 active dispatch, A-4 special events (spring training), A-14 backup (quarterly tested), A-15 simplex.
✓ Glendale pre-2012 had standalone P25, cutover to RWC 2012-02-06.
? Callsign/beat decoders for each — I've never seen published decoders for Glendale/Peoria/Avondale/Surprise in the detail that exists for Mesa PD and Phoenix PD. Does each city have a letter-suffix convention, squad-assignment letters, shift
indicator? Anyone know if their beat maps are public?
? El Mirage PD — 100% encrypted on my end. Was the callsign format ever documented before encryption?
? Paradise Valley PD — tiny agency (19 radios I've ever heard), 100% clear. What does a day-in-the-life lineup look like? Just one dispatcher + 3-4 officers, or more structured?
---
Mesa PD / Gilbert PD / Queen Creek / Apache Junction (TOPAZ)
✓ cellphone's 2020-02-23 Mesa format: NX## (1=Fiesta, 2=Central, 3=Red Mtn, 4=Superstition) + Adam/Baker/Charlie (mids/days/swing) + beat. Specialty: Falcon helo, Frank bike, George detective, Henry AC, King K9, Lincoln LT, Mary motor, Nora CST, Sam
Sgt, William warrant.
✓ Gilbert PD — most encrypted; Ch 2=TG 3034, Ch 3=3140, Ch 4=3141, Ch 6=3143. Ch 1 theoretically still clear dispatch.
✓ Queen Creek PD split from MCSO 2022-01; TGs 3840-3851 allocated.
? Mesa PD — as of 2026 is literally ANY Mesa PD TG monitorable, or fully dark now?
? Gilbert Ch 1 — still clear as of right now, or flipped?
? QCPD TG 3840-3851 mapping — 3840 = Ch 1? What are 3841-3851? cellphone's 2022 observation didn't enumerate them all.
? Apache Junction PD — on TRWC per RR DB. Callsign format? Bare numbers or Mesa-style district/shift?
---
ADOT Enforcement (CVED)
✓ Callsign pattern: [1-2 digits][letter][2 digits] — 1A60, 1S11, 1L30, 3C42, 1B20, 22B44. Dispatched on AZWINS TG 1109; C2C on TG 1108; patched with 156.120 VHF (South region, 100.0 PL) + historically 154.905 (North — now AZ DFFM Flight Following).
✓ White/black marked SUVs (Tahoe/Explorer) + Impalas. ADOT E&C Division, moved out of MVD.
? Letter decoder — what do A, S, L, B, C mean in the callsign? My guess is A=Adam/patrol, S=Sam/roving, L=Lima/port, B=Bravo/mobile, C=Charlie/commercial. Anyone seen official documentation?
? 1 vs 22 prefix — is 1-digit a region number (North/South/Central) and 2-digit a sub-division (port-of-entry code)?
? 1500 vs 1600 series DPS CVEB — KB7MIB noted in 2016 these conflict with ADOT ECD. Which callsigns belong to whom?
---
Tribal police (Salt River / Gila River / Tohono O'odham / Fort McDowell / Ak-Chin)
✓ Tohono O'odham PD at Desert Diamond Casino West on RWC Sim G, clear.
✓ Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community has multi-site DMR CAP+ (per cellphone 2019-12-31) on 460.0875/460.1125/460.1375/460.1625/453.6250/454.2500 plus separate P25 for PD/Fire.
✓ Gila River PD encrypted; Gila River FD clear.
? Ak-Chin — specifically monitorable freqs? KB7MIB mentioned them in 2019 but no current detail.
? Fort McDowell Yavapai — Ravenfalls 2020 said "on trunking, VHF won't be renewed." On TOPAZ? Their own system?
? San Carlos Apache + White Mountain Apache — what systems? Any interop with Valley agencies during mutual aid?
? Mutual aid scenarios — when does tribal PD appear on RWC G-deck or Ocean-deck, if ever?
---
Federal agencies
✓ BLM Phoenix district: 172.5250 out / 163.0375 in — repeaters at White Tanks, Horsethief, Williams Mesa, Oatman, Vekol, Childs. LE on 165.6000 (NAC 430), 169.8000 (NAC 455), 170.0250 (NAC 656).
✓ FPS 409.4000 (NAC 920) — encrypted.
✓ Secret Service — 164.8875/164.9875/165.375/166.5125/167.0375/168.825 (NAC 001), all encrypted.
✓ USFS NTIA dispatch callsigns: KOC 286 Tonto (Phoenix Dispatch), KOC 437 Coconino (Flagstaff), KOC 421/422 Kaibab, KOC 423 Prescott, KOC 435 (or KOG 785) Coronado, KOC 221 Apache-Sitgreaves (Show Low).
? 171.6250 BLM Phoenix LE — KB7MIB cited this from "Hubby's notebooks" but I've never heard it active. Still a real freq or retired?
? CBP Bennie 2 / Bennie 3 — AES-256-Encryption asked about these in 2024-02-24 and never got an answer. Anyone know what they are or what freqs?
? USFWS Colorado River — 164.6250 was used at ~70% of refuges pre-2019 NTIA band allocation. Current freq after the reallocation?
? DEA / FBI / ATF current NACs — 163.900 suspected FBI and 173.1125 NAC 156 suspected DEA have been in threads since 2020, never confirmed.
---
Cross-cutting questions (anyone with experience)
1. Dispatcher shift rotation — how many dispatchers per shift at HPTC (DPS), PFDRDC, and PPD communications? Any public info on shift swap times?
2. New RWC simulcasts since 2020 — KB7MIB mentioned a Tonopah RWC site coming in 2021. Did it? Any other new simulcasts added since then?
3. Radio hardware vendor split — DPS reportedly moved Kenwood TK-830G/890 mobiles + Harris Liberty portables → Motorola APX8000 dual-band starting 2017. Is that rollout complete? Any agencies still on pre-APX hardware?
4. MCSO vehicle-extender radios — are they still in use, or phased out like DPS's RATPACKs?
5. The AZ Scanner Enthusiast Facebook group — eg153wftx referenced it multiple times. Still the active hub for day-to-day chatter? Should I be there too?
---
I know this is a lot. No need to answer all of it — even one or two confirmations helps. Any additions/corrections, tag me or reply in thread and I'll fold them into a cleaned-up consolidated decoder when responses settle. Many thanks to this forum's
long-time contributors — you've made a significant chunk of valley hobbyist life possible. 🙏
(NW Phoenix listener, SDS200 + G5 pager, 6+ years.)
