Border Patrol - STX area

KevinC

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Del Rio had (or maybe still has) a UHF multicast of one the CBP VHF repeaters. Never figured out the reason. I first got it via Close Call at the Hampton Inn and confirmed it was really there with an APX.
 

ecps92

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So strange as it seems, the 417.075 was stronger than the 169.575 from in town in Freer and did not key up at the same time. I thought maybe it was an image at first as well. Only thing i can think is maybe it’s a remote DEA input to a regional office in Laredo, Corpus or the Valley.
I had thought DEA for Texas had already gone VHF?
Could be, but I only have a note for that freq with DEA for a TF Repeater in NYC only.... it will be interesting once the NAC is captured..
 

rattlerbb01

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The Apache Ranch tower on Mines Road holds both of the following, confirmed by sitting nearby no antenna.

166.5875 NAC 317 Del Río Sector
169.6375 NAC 301 Laredo Sector

Unsure which DNET they are a part of but I have some saved audio I can review later on down the road.
 

rattlerbb01

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166.5875 (317) and 169.9375 (315) are simulcast with Del Río Sector activity. Lots of activity around Crystal City today, and I’m picking it up from Mines Rd in NW Webb County on both towers. 169.9375 will be down this way as well somewhere, but I’m leaning more toward US 83 south of Catarina on one of the big ranches, Galvan, Gates, Piloncillo, etc.
 

rattlerbb01

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It took a little time but our current project is about 3 miles from the GATRRS site 1.18 El Indio. GATRRS/Middle Río Grande techs call this site “Tordillo” since it is on the Tordillo section of the large Briscoe Ranches. It is owned by Maverick County S.O. Del Rio CBP Sector’s 169.9375 NAC 315 is located on this tower, confirmed. It is rather close overall to the Mines Rd site further south, probably about 15 miles, but the topography around this section of the border is very hilly and somewhat scenic so it probably covers quite a bit of territory to the north and east of the site, such as the Faith and San Pedro ranches and on up toward US 277. I can receive it from all directions for tens of miles.
 

rattlerbb01

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Some updates from this week's travels:

Maverick County:
163.625 NAC 300 (Eagle Pass) and 171.2625 NAC 312 (Quemado) are together as D09 Net
163.775 NAC 302 (Eagle Pass) and 171.7625 NAC 311 (Quemado) are together as D10 Net
166.7375 NAC 314 can be heard from Quemado, Uvalde, Bracketville and La Pryor. Stands to reason it may be in between in no man's land.

Val Verde County:
164.3125 NAC 275 is on the Del Rio Hill antenna farm on US 277 south of town
165.9750 NAC 269 is also on Del Rio Hill
170.6750 NAC unknown is also on Del Rio Hill, I could not get DSD to grab the NAC but all I heard was P25 data blocks
169.8750 and 173.4750 are CC's for new site 3.98 on system 4D5, also located on Del Rio Hill
171.9750 NAC 279 is in the direction of Comstock or US 377 N
I also caught a brief signal for 4D5 site 3.114 probably also in the area of Comstock, but I didn't stop to write down the frequency. It's kind of far out there so I doubt I'll get anywhere close to it again.

Hill Country Nets
Net 1 (my own name) consists of:
171.5875 NAC 288 - Rocksprings (Edwards Co)
168.7625 NAC 289 - Double Mtn (Kinney Co)
169.1375 NAC 290 - Uvalde (Uvalde Co)
Net 2 (my own name) consists of:
168.4875 NAC 292 - Rocksprings (Edwards Co)
169.6000 NAC 293 - Double Mtn (Kinney Co)
170.1500 NAC 294 - Uvalde (Uvalde Co)

I compared traffic, unit IDs and watched the spectrum to verify that these were two linked nets, and coincidentally, the NACs seem to line up the same way

Edwards County:
169.8875 NAC 266 is weak to medium strength from Rocksprings. Probably western Edwards Co as I began picking it up between Barksdale and Rocksprings, got a decent signal from west of Rocksprings, but it faded after turning east down SH 41 quickly. Couldn't make a connection between unit IDs or signals with a known net
 

rattlerbb01

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I've logged:
Simplex in Cotulla in 2021.
Simplex in 2017 with a convoy passing through San Antonio following Hurricane Harvey.
I checked through some recordings and I have a clear recording of an agent calling someone on it and referring to it as “Tac 1” in the Quemado area. So probably simplex and widely in use in STX since I’ve heard it multiple times in different areas.
 

rattlerbb01

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169.8875 NAC 266 confirmed on tower 7 miles north of Sonora. Probably Del Rio D-2 Net.
168.9750 NAC 277 fair signal from Ozona, likely to be in Pandale/Juno area where a known CBP tower exists. Probably Del Rio D-4 Net.

I listened for the D-1 Net which covers the I-10 corridor for the Del Rio Sector and got nothing for 2 hours plus. Its more inland from the border so not really surprised.
 

rattlerbb01

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I've added a few more over the last couple weeks from my travels between STX and WTX:

165.8250 NAC 276 - D4 Uplink/Input (heard in Langtry, Comstock and Del Rio)
168.9750 NAC 277 - D4 Juno
166.7875 NAC 278 - D4 Langtry
171.9750 NAC 279 - D4 Comstock
170.6750 NAC 280 - D4 Del Rio
Still hoping to catch Sonora's D4 site, it has eluded me thus far, but "should" have a NAC of 281 to fit their program

162.8500 NAC 264 - D2 Uplink/Input (heard in Del Rio)
169.8875 NAC 266 - D2 Sonora
165.9750 NAC 269 - D2 Del Rio
Still hoping to catch the other 3-4 D2 sites which should mirror D4 as they are both wide nets for Val Verde, Edwards and Sutton coverage

162.8250 NAC 287 - D6 Uplink/Input (heard in Uvalde)
166.7625 NAC 298 - D8 Uvalde

I also got some new hits in the Del Rio general area:
173.7000 NAC 309
171.3875 NAC 304
169.6625 NAC 310
 

K5MPH

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I've added a few more over the last couple weeks from my travels between STX and WTX:

165.8250 NAC 276 - D4 Uplink/Input (heard in Langtry, Comstock and Del Rio)
168.9750 NAC 277 - D4 Juno
166.7875 NAC 278 - D4 Langtry
171.9750 NAC 279 - D4 Comstock
170.6750 NAC 280 - D4 Del Rio
Still hoping to catch Sonora's D4 site, it has eluded me thus far, but "should" have a NAC of 281 to fit their program

162.8500 NAC 264 - D2 Uplink/Input (heard in Del Rio)
169.8875 NAC 266 - D2 Sonora
165.9750 NAC 269 - D2 Del Rio
Still hoping to catch the other 3-4 D2 sites which should mirror D4 as they are both wide nets for Val Verde, Edwards and Sutton coverage

162.8250 NAC 287 - D6 Uplink/Input (heard in Uvalde)
166.7625 NAC 298 - D8 Uvalde

I also got some new hits in the Del Rio general area:
173.7000 NAC 309
171.3875 NAC 304
169.6625 NAC 310
Are these in the clear because here in Brownsville and Valley they are not...........
 

rattlerbb01

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Partiall
Are these in the clear because here in Brownsville and Valley they are not...........
Partial Encryption. You’d be surprised how many agents are running clear. Helicopters are almost always clear. It seems like if a unit is clear and calls “base” they will respond clear. I didn’t hear anything clear on the Val Verde Co D4 network except a helicopter.
 
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