Monitoring Military Air

[BMT]

When asking for help with monitoring MILAIR, please tell us about your equipment and where you live. Then we have an idea how to help.
I you live in an apartment or the basement of a high rise, you might have problems.
The search button is your best friend. True searching for freqs is time consuming and BORING!! Do I search everyday?? You better believe it, I have 1 scanner everyday searching 225-399.9 and 138-144 AM mode.
If you don't have any idea of what might be stationed in your area, GOOGLE for info about Air Force, Air National Guard and Army National Guard.
BRAC might change a lot of what of what your are hearing right now in the next 5 + years.

A great place for Callsigns,Tail Numbers,Unit and type of aircraft is the base fuel frequency. Aircraft have a card for charging fuel to their aircraft much like your gas credit card.

BMT

 

[eorange]

Along those lines...

I will be visiting Orlando in July. Without asking for too much, what would be the best UHF/VHF freqs for mil air activity? I went there a few years ago and tried to listen to the Pinecastle bombing range, but didn't hear anything. That time it was a business trip and so my scanning opportunities were limited.

This time it will be for vacation, so I'll be outside nearly all the time during the day and night. Any pointers would be GREATLY appreciated! I always read about how much activity there is in Florida, so now I want a taste too!

 

[FoeHammer]

I have been into monitoring the milair band on & off for a few years now,...
Im afraid to ask .......whats BRAC?

Im guessing it wont be monitor freindly : ( sigh ,....everytime I put out a ton of $ cash on a upgrading my radios , a new mode, form of encryption, or band comes out ,....when will I ever learn ....

 

[ka3jjz]

Base Realignment and Closing, if memory serves (if not exact, it's close...); and yes, as it sounds like, it ain's scanner friendly in all cases (if your base is getting more units instead of losing them, I guess it's a blessing...) 73s Mike

 

[ka3jjz]

I will be visiting Orlando in July. Without asking for too much, what would be the best UHF/VHF freqs for mil air activity? I went there a few years ago and tried to listen to the Pinecastle bombing range, but didn't hear anything. That time it was a business trip and so my scanning opportunities were limited.

This time it will be for vacation, so I'll be outside nearly all the time during the day and night. Any pointers would be GREATLY appreciated! I always read about how much activity there is in Florida, so now I want a taste too!

Eric, you did look at the Wiki and found the Florida Milcom Yahoo group, right? And milcom, of course - not to mention our own Florida forum?

Just checking 73s Mike

 

[ka3jjz]

When asking for help with monitoring MILAIR, please tell us about your equipment and where you live. Then we have an idea how to help.

Yep, totally agree on this. Both things are really necessary in order to give advice, particularly long-range.

I you live in an apartment or the basement of a high rise, you might have problems.

Quite true, unless you get up nice and high in the apartment or can afford to get there in a high rise - milair would be quite problematical in these conditions. However, I've been doing OK on the third floor of a 3 story condo with antennas in the attic...

The search button is your best friend. True searching for freqs is time consuming and BORING!! Do I search everyday?? You better believe it, I have 1 scanner everyday searching 225-399.9 and 138-144 AM mode.
If you don't have any idea of what might be stationed in your area, GOOGLE for info about Air Force, Air National Guard and Army National Guard.
BRAC might change a lot of what of what your are hearing right now in the next 5 + years.

While it's entirely true that BRAC might cause some headaches (or perhaps solve them) insofar as milair is concerned, there are several things you can do to get you off the tarmac. In fact, I wrote a short thread on the subject in this forum (it's one of the stickies), as well as put some resource suggestions in the Military Monitoring Wiki.

You said it yourself correctly - searching such a wide swath of frequencies will quickly lead to frustration. What you really need to do is to open your horizons a bit.
Your local airport (if it's big enough, and/or on any military routes), ARTCC and refueling freqs (if any of those are in your area - and we don't know that, nor what gear you're using <AHEM>) are all real good starting points. We've got links for those.

Equipment and antennas will always play a big role in milair reception. That little stick antenna on most base models or the ducks on the HTs simply won't do it unless you're real close. Choosing the correct coax is also a very big issue.

Take some time to read through some of the resources provided - education is cheap, spending money on receiving equipment that frustrates you is not.

73s Mike

 

[Gilligan]

Several years ago, there was a list of like 100 or 200 "top military air freqs" on a website. If I remember, it had a red font against a tan background. I used to get a lot of hits in my area from this list, but I can't seem to find it on the net anywhere. It also had the 20 "button" channels on many aircraft listed below the 100/200 freqs. Channels on this list included weather, NORAD, and aerial refueling. Anybody remember it? Thanks

 

[timmer]

I'm not certain but I think Monitoring times had that "top 100" list printed in one of their issues several years ago. You might try and check their website to see if it is still available.

 

[ka3jjz]

You are both probably thinking about that Top 1000 HF frequency list that's on the MT website and linked on the Utility Monitoring page. Not really VHF/UHF milair oriented, but still good stuff.

73s Mike

 

[KEVPRO95]

MILAIR for MA

I'm located on Plum Island,MA.

I would like to try my luck in listening to milair in my area.

I'm using a Uniden 785D.

 

[ka3jjz]

Really, there's no luck involved here, Kevin - just having the right gear and knowing where to tune. You didn't say anything about your antenna, but the 785 will certainly do the job.

The 2 sticky threads at the top of this forum will get you started - being on Plum Island, I'm betting you will be able to hear the ARTCC and any UHF-based approach/departure freqs from Logan quite easily. In addition, I know there's at least a couple of Mass. folks on the Milcom list at QTH.net; you can search the archives for Mass.-based listings. That link exists on the web pages article of the Wiki.

By the way, anything that's in blue is a link. When you see something colored that way in the sticky threads, click on it and you'll be taken there.

Here's an example. This is the link to the Boston ARTCC page.

I see our database doesn't have much on Logan Airport. I'd jump over to the Mass. forum and post a question on the UHF freqs Logan (no doubt) has, or an even better resource would be the Scan Mass. site - with its dedicated forums, I have no doubt someone there has the information (and folks, please consider submitting that information on the database!). Airnav may not necessarily have the UHF freqs laid out - sometimes they carry them, other times not.

[edit] Looking at the Frequencies section of the page, I see there's a link for the 'New England Milair Monitoring' wiki page. Another source to check!

73s Mike

 

[MacombMonitor]

I will be visiting Orlando in July. Without asking for too much, what would be the best UHF/VHF freqs for mil air activity? I went there a few years ago and tried to listen to the Pinecastle bombing range, but didn't hear anything. That time it was a business trip and so my scanning opportunities were limited.

This time it will be for vacation, so I'll be outside nearly all the time during the day and night. Any pointers would be GREATLY appreciated! I always read about how much activity there is in Florida, so now I want a taste too!

Did you remember to set the Mode to "AM", not "FM"?

 

[Napalm]

Do what I do. Get two radios that are good for mil-air, both with fast search speeds.

Now in the UK its different, only two or three squadrons use the 140MHz band for comms, so 99% of the time I search the UHF side. I have one radio searching 230-300, and the other 300-399 (with gaps for our TETRA/Airwave system at 395).

Since the 4th of May I've logged 140 frequencies, all in use from my location.

 

[morfis]

Do what I do. Get two radios that are good for mil-air, both with fast search speeds.

Now in the UK its different, only two or three squadrons use the 140MHz band for comms, so 99% of the time I search the UHF side. I have one radio searching 230-300, and the other 300-399 (with gaps for our TETRA/Airwave system at 395).

Since the 4th of May I've logged 140 frequencies, all in use from my location.

Quite a lot more use of the higher VHF in the UK than just "two or three squadrons". Leeming and Valley both use it for their hawks daily. Recently Leeming and Leuchars tonkas also using it. Then there are all the European based F-16s which fly around over here most week days. USAF coronet flights routinely use it.

Does the lower part of the TETRA band not cause you problems as well?

Since 4th May here (not a long way from Rochdale) I've had 572 freqs between 139 and 399.975 MHz in use. Of those 15 were between 139 and 143MHz

Must sort out a better way of logging frequency usage.....

 

[Napalm]

Quite a lot more use of the higher VHF in the UK than just "two or three squadrons". Leeming and Valley both use it for their hawks daily. Recently Leeming and Leuchars tonkas also using it. Then there are all the European based F-16s which fly around over here most week days. USAF coronet flights routinely use it.

Does the lower part of the TETRA band not cause you problems as well?

Since 4th May here (not a long way from Rochdale) I've had 572 freqs between 139 and 399.975 MHz in use. Of those 15 were between 139 and 143MHz

Must sort out a better way of logging frequency usage.....

I rarely scan that part of the band since I get a **** ton of pager QRM. When I get a new radio I'll put it in. By the way my reference to "two or three sqn's" is partly correct. 208/19 and 100Sqn all use it. That's two to three That's all I've heard on there.

I block all of the TETRA allocations out using some b'cast screens, I just failed to mention the other part.

Any chance of sending me that list between 139-143? If you're into mil-air, we probably know each other from another source... PM me or add me to msn or something.

 

[morfis]

Since 4th May here (not a long way from Rochdale) I've had 572 freqs between 139 and 399.975 MHz in use. Of those 15 were between 139 and 143MHz

Must sort out a better way of logging frequency usage.....

Ought to qualify this and say that I wasn't including any logging from 143 - 230MHz nor the TETRA allocations (but as milair is still interspersed with that I do still scan it).

 

[KEVPRO95]

Well I have over 100 freqs programmed in, and I'm not hearing anything at all. I programmed normal Boston Center, and local airport freqs too. These are all active. So can someone give me some "active/working" freqs for Massachusetts area?

 

[KEVPRO95]

I found this information:

ZBW W UNKNOWN AR204(NE) 2006/0530 13:00 2006/0530 14:00 240 260 A
ZBW W WARN W105A 2006/0530 13:00 2006/0530 15:30 000 500 A
ZBW W ATCAA LASER NORTH ATCAA 2006/0530 13:55 2006/0530 16:35 180 230 A
ZBW W MOA YANKEE 1 MOA 2006/0530 13:55 2006/0530 16:35 090 179 A
ZBW W MOA YANKEE 2 MOA 2006/0530 13:55 2006/0530 16:35 000 090 A
ZBW W MOA CONDOR 1 MOA 2006/0530 14:00 2006/0530 20:00 070 179 A
ZBW W MOA CONDOR 2 MOA 2006/0530 14:00 2006/0530 20:00 070 179 A
ZBW W MOA DRUM 1 MOA 2006/0530 14:00 2006/0530 23:00 000 060 A
ZBW W MOA DRUM 2 MOA 2006/0530 14:00 2006/0530 23:00 000 060 A
ZBW W MOA SYRACUSE 2A MOA 2006/0530 14:00 2006/0530 20:30 000 060 A
ZBW W MOA SYRACUSE 2B MOA 2006/0530 14:00 2006/0530 20:30 000 060 A
ZBW W MOA SYRACUSE 3 MOA 2006/0530 14:00 2006/0530 20:30 000 060 A
ZBW W MOA SYRACUSE 4 MOA 2006/0530 14:00 2006/0530 20:30 000 060 A
ZBW W ATCAA AKS 1 ATCAA 2006/0530 14:10 2006/0530 16:00 180 490 A
ZBW W ATCAA AKS 5 ATCAA 2006/0530 14:10 2006/0530 16:00 180 490 A
ZBW W MOA FALCON 1 MOA 2006/0530 14:10 2006/0530 16:00 060 179 A
ZBW W MOA FALCON 3 MOA 2006/0530 14:10 2006/0530 16:00 060 179 A
ZBW W ATCAA CHAMPION A ATCAA 2006/0530 14:15 2006/0530 20:00 060 230 A
ZBW W ATCAA SYLVIA SOUTH ATCAA 2006/0530 14:15 2006/0530 20:00 060 230 A
ZBW W UNKNOWN AR206L 2006/0530 15:00 2006/0530 16:00 190 230 A
ZBW W UNKNOWN AR631 2006/0530 15:30 2006/0530 17:30 190 230 A
ZBW W ATCAA LASER NORTH ATCAA 2006/0530 17:55 2006/0530 20:45 180 490 A
ZBW W MOA YANKEE 1 MOA 2006/0530 17:55 2006/0530 20:45 090 179 A
ZBW W MOA YANKEE 2 MOA 2006/0530 17:55 2006/0530 20:45 000 090 A
ZBW W WARN W105A 2006/0530 18:00 2006/0530 20:00 060 500 A
ZBW W ATCAA AKS 1 ATCAA 2006/0530 18:30 2006/0530 20:30 180 490 A
ZBW W ATCAA AKS 5 ATCAA 2006/0530 18:30 2006/0530 20:30 180 490 A
ZBW W MOA FALCON 1 MOA 2006/0530 18:30 2006/0530 20:30 060 179 A
ZBW W MOA FALCON 3 MOA 2006/0530 18:30 2006/0530 20:30 060 179 A
ZBW W UNKNOWN AR631 2006/0530 22:30 2006/0530 23:30 190 230 A

Now it's a matter of having the active freqs for the above information. The information above is for today. Reply with info.

I have a RS Magnet mount antenna. It picks up all local aircraft/airports fine.

 

[MacombMonitor]

Well I have over 100 freqs programmed in, and I'm not hearing anything at all. I programmed normal Boston Center, and local airport freqs too. These are all active. So can someone give me some "active/working" freqs for Massachusetts area?

Did you remember to set the Mode to "AM", not "FM"?

 

[KEVPRO95]

Did you remember to set the Mode to "AM", not "FM"?

Yes it's in AM mode