NTIA Government Master File of Federal Frequency Assignments

[RaleighGuy]

searched for 'nh space' - got 341 hits for New Hampshire - included FAA and UHF military air freqs - plus many local police freqs as mutual aid for CBP (customs border patrol) - did not see USFS repeaters - couple of MARS channels (military ham)

I did a quick look and found at least one...

U N C L A S S I F I E D *** PAGE 1476
CLA CDD FRQ BINSER MBR FOI BUR NET STC EMS PWR NTS AUS AUD RVD EXD
XSC XAL XRC XLA XLG XCL XAD XAP XAZ SPD TME ICI MSD
RSC RAL RRC RLA RLG ACL RAD RAP RAZ
SUP REM
U *** M168.612500 A 113165 M F9 11031 ML 11K00F3E W30.00000 S356 J1233216 111020 160613
MLP 11K00F3E W5.00000 J0765461
ML 8K10F1E W30.00000
MLP 8K10F1E W5.00000
NH BRETTON WOODS WHITEMTN 441223N0712302W 3 C
NH BRETTON WOODS I,NTIA-U 441223N0712302W
THIS FREQUENCY IS AVAILABLE ON A SHARED, NON-PRIORITY, NO PROTECTION *RAD,0050
FROM INTERFERENCE BASIS. NOT TO BE USED FOR LIFE SAFETY OR PROPERTY *NRM,00300,WHITE MOUNTAIN - COMMON USE
PROTECTION COMMUNICATIONS. INCLUSION IN ANY COOP AGREEMENT IS *EQS,LMS
PROHIBITED. AIRBORNE USE PROHIBITED. *MFI,NATURAL RESOURCES
*AGN,CTCSS NONE
*CAN,J0765461,111006,NHIC,M168.612500
*CAN,NHIA NOTING OPERATIONS ON 168.615
*CAN,MHZ IN THE SHERBROOOKE, QC
*CAN,(452230, 715500) AREA. SEE COSER
*CAN,88003053 AS REFERENCE.
*POC,GARY PAUSTIAN,2083734159,160519

 

[krokus]

When searching for an agency's acronym, or abbreviation, start with a space in front of it. That will help, for those that could be in words.

 

[footage]

It's hard to believe IRAC hasn't updated their database schema. It's been the same since at least 1971, with the addition of new fields and new emission designators.

 

[Larry51]

Okay then explain this one used by the USGS, which is the Interior Dept?

U *** M169.925000 A 760709 M F6 FB 11K00F3E W60.00000 J1453291 760422 181029

I was trying to figure out the NTIA's system; that's why I put question marks after what I guessed at. However, I still think I may be right. Let me explain.

My own database shows 169.925 as being used by the Dept. of Agriculture for many years. Looking at the NTIA document, that would account for the "A" after the frequency. I'm guessing that the "F6" refers to the Forest Service Region 6, which is in Oregon and Washington. And if you look further in the NTIA listings for 169.925, you'll see those two states listed as locations where it's used.

By the way, a little trivia: 169.925 was at one time also used by the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) on a shared basis. It was called DELTA frequency. Not sure if they currently still use it.

 

[Larry51]

It's hard to believe IRAC hasn't updated their database schema. It's been the same since at least 1971, with the addition of new fields and new emission designators.

You're absolutely correct. I used the NTIA database in the early 1970's when it was distributed on micro-fiche. The schema was hard to figure out then, and they haven't changed it other than the added fields.

 

[AM909]

Note that the diff between the "printed" page numbers in the document and PDF varies from 4 at the beginning of the listings (print 1 = PDF 5) to 1088 at the end (print 14444 = PDF 15532). 1000 pages of this diff is because print pages 10558–11557 are repeated: PDF 10620–11645 = print 10558–11557; then PDF 11646–12645 = print 10558–11557 (again). I didn't isolate the reason for the other slippage (84 pages).

I tried "save as text" from Adobe Reader, but it only runs at about 50 pages/minute on my machine, and I'd rather not wait 5 hours for it to finish, or worse, crash 99% of the way through, since it doesn't have any options about which pages to save. Perhaps someone with Acrobat or access to their online platform can use the export tools. It's still going to be tough to parse into something useful, but at least searching it should be faster as a text file.

 

[es93546]

Why would the NTIA release this information? Federal frequency info was classified or at least made unavailable by President Reagan shortly after taking office. Bob Grove, if some of you can remember, put together a book of all the federal frequency assignments about a year prior. I'm thinking that this can't be a comprehensive, all inclusive listing. With more than 15,000 pages it will take some time for me to find anything that I know about, such as Forest Service radio systems in California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, to compare to listings in this information.

I'm wondering if this info is legit. I imagine it will take a lot of snowy days this winter to get around to looking through this document.

 

[Larry51]

Why would the NTIA release this information? Federal frequency info was classified or at least made unavailable by President Reagan shortly after taking office. Bob Grove, if some of you can remember, put together a book of all the federal frequency assignments about a year prior. I'm thinking that this can't be a comprehensive, all inclusive listing. With more than 15,000 pages it will take some time for me to find anything that I know about, such as Forest Service radio systems in California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, to compare to listings in this information.

I'm wondering if this info is legit. I imagine it will take a lot of snowy days this winter to get around to looking through this document.

I used this same NTIA database back in the early 1970s when I was in the military. It was all on micro-fiche and we would receive boxes with updates several times a year. All of the entries were either unclass or classified at the secret or confidential level. The classified entries included frequencies for all the federal law enforcement & intelligence agencies plus most of the military. I verified most of the federal law enforcement listings as being very accurate. The overall classification of the database was secret and therefore unavailable to the public. This was long before Reagan's time.

The .pdf version that we're seeing now is the result of a FOIA request and lists only the unclass entries.

 

[footage]

Why would the NTIA release this information? Federal frequency info was classified or at least made unavailable by President Reagan shortly after taking office. Bob Grove, if some of you can remember, put together a book of all the federal frequency assignments about a year prior. I'm thinking that this can't be a comprehensive, all inclusive listing. With more than 15,000 pages it will take some time for me to find anything that I know about, such as Forest Service radio systems in California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, to compare to listings in this information.

I'm wondering if this info is legit. I imagine it will take a lot of snowy days this winter to get around to looking through this document.

This is legit. I FOIAed the same file a few years back and it's pretty much the same. Most of the assignments listed are pretty innocuous and are releasable because they're used by non-Fed entities as well or non-Fed entities have reason to know them. I think it's less than 10% of the total Government Master File.

 

[zerg901]

POC number probably means Point of Contact and telephone number

It appears that -

'ML' is the same as FCC ULS "MO" (mobile radio or portable radio)

"FL" is same as FCC ULS "FB" (fixed base)

"MA" seems to be 'mobile aviation'

"MLP" seems to be 'mobile land portable'

"FX" seems to be same as FCC ULS 'FX1" (fixed station on input channel to repeater)

"PRD" might be input channel 'paired' with repeater output channel

---------------

here is an apparent input listing in the database - Oregon - maybe 164.825 is input to 173.775 R

U N C L A S S I F I E D *** PAGE 3 CLA CDD FRQ BINSER MBR FOI BUR NET STC EMS PWR NTS AUS AUD RVD EXD XSC XAL XRC XLA XLG XCL XAD XAP XAZ SPD TME ICI MSD RSC RAL RRC RLA RLG ACL RAD RAP RAZ SUP REM

U *** M164.825000 A 760658 M F6 FX 11K00F3E W60.00000 J1666221 760422 210223

ML 11K00F3E W60.00000 I7613071

MA 11K00F3E W10.00000 J1201183

MLP 11K00F3E W5.00000 J0694581

FX 8K10F1E W60.00000 J0301576

ML 8K10F1E W60.00000 I9558686

MA 8K10F1E W10.00000 I8345068

MLP 8K10F1E W5.00000

OR LONG MEADOWS GUARD STA UMATILLA 455641N1173706W KOE 584 08GCOLLINEAR 01221H0009T ND 1 WA OREGON BUTTE I,NTIA-U 460636N1174046W 08GDIPOLEARRY01944H0006T ND *RAD,0080 *NRM,00300,UMATILLA - POMEROY NET *EQS,LMS *RPT,R *MFI,NATURAL RESOURCES

*PRD,M173.7750,A 104340 *AGN,CTCSS-H167.9 NAC-$68F *NTS,M014,0035,AGL

*POC,GARY PAUSTIAN,2083734159,210126 *AGN,ELEVATION SOURCE NED 1/3 ARC-SECOND ****************************************************************** U *** M168.625000 A 760664 M F6 FA 11K00F3E W60.00000 J1666275 760422 21

 

[zerg901]

this might be a listing associated with the earlier one that I posted

gonna guess that

"FXR" = repeater that transmits to fixed locations (maybe to ranger stations)

"FBR" = a repeater that transmits to mobile stations

"FAR" = maybe a repeater that transmits to aircraft

F6 = USFS Region 6 (as was posted earlier)

W60.00000 = 60 watts of power

------------------------------

U *** M173.775000 A 104343 M F6

FXR 11K00F3E W60.00000 J1666363 110208 210223

FBR 11K00F3E W60.00000 J0691802

FAR 11K00F3E W60.00000 J1201650

ML 11K00F3E W60.00000

MA 11K00F3E W10.00000

MLP 11K00F3E W5.00000

FXR 8K10F1E W60.00000

FBR 8K10F1E W60.00000

FAR 8K10F1E W60.00000

ML 8K10F1E W60.00000

MA 8K10F1E W10.00000

MLP 8K10F1E W5.00000

WA TALLOW FLAT UMATILLA 461202N1174408W 08GDIPOLEARRY01509H0018T ND 1 WA ROBERTSON FIELD I,NTIA-U 462907N1174027W 08GDIPOLEARRY00722H0006T ND WA RAY RIDGE I,NTIA-U 460653N1172849W 08GDIPOLEARRY01884H0018T ND WA TALLOW FLAT I,NTIA-U 461202N1174408W *RAD,0080

----------------------

here is info from the document in Post 11 that appears to confirm my definitions of FXR FBR FAR

15. STC--Station Class (6 Characters--20 Occurrences)

a. This field is for the Station Class symbol(s) as shown in Sections 6.1.2 (alphabetical by classes) and 6.1.3 (alphabetical by symbols). Enter only one such symbol per entry.

b. Each entry in the STATION CLASS field must also contain a corresponding entry in the POWER field and the EMISSION field.

c. The suffix “R” shall be added to the class of station (STC) symbol only if the station is also a repeater station in a corresponding frequency assignment and its use is reflected in the paired frequency (PRD) field. 29.89-50.00 MHz 138.00-144.00 MHz 148.00-149.90 MHz 150.05-150.80 MHz 162.00-174.00 MHz 406.10-420.00 MHz

For this purpose a repeater consists of a radio transmitter, a radio receiver and coupling between the two so as to retransmit unchanged in intelligence the received signal.1/2008 (Rev. 5/2008) 9-21 9.8.2

d. The station class symbol FL shall be used only when all three land stations, land, maritime and aeronautical mobile, will be in use at some time (i.e., FL to be used only when all three classes, FB, FC, and FA will be used).

e. The station class symbol MO shall be used when all three mobile stations, land, maritime and aeronautical mobile will be in use some time (i.e., MO to be used only when all three classes, ML, MS, and MA, will be used).

f. Each entry of the station class symbols: FL, FA, FAC, FAB, FLU, MO, MOU or MA operating in the bands 162 – 174 MHz and 406.1 – 420 MHz must also contain corresponding Circuit Remarks (REM) information on the maximum aircraft altitude (*NTS,M014, 9.8.2.39k) and commensurate authorized area of operation (*RAD).

g. Each entry of the station class symbol FA operating in the 118 – 136.475 MHz and 225 – 399.9 MHz bands must also contain the corresponding Circuit Remarks (REM) Agency Data (*AGN) information concerning the minimum altitude (FLL), maximum altitude (FLT) and Tailored Service Volume (TSV) as applicable to the assignment. (See Section 9.8.2.39 j)

 

[ArkTex]

I can work on compiling this into Excel or a google sheets document, if anyone would be interested in such a thing.

 

[es93546]

This is legit. I FOIAed the same file a few years back and it's pretty much the same. Most of the assignments listed are pretty innocuous and are releasable because they're used by non-Fed entities as well or non-Fed entities have reason to know them. I think it's less than 10% of the total Government Master File.

"I think it's less than 10% of the total Government Master File." I think you are correct. I didn't see a lot of U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, BLM and USFWS listings as I quickly scrolled. These agencies, federal natural resource/land management agencies, are the agencies that I have the most knowledge of.

"are releasable because they're used by non-Fed entities as well or non-Fed entities have reason to know them." I know that state and local agencies have agreements with federal agencies for the use of federal frequencies for mutual aid purposes. I don't think this is the reason some frequencies are listed in this NTIA listing.

The wording of the letter accompanying the listings is interesting. It more or less says, this is what we are giving you and this is the last we will communicate with you. It is a very terse, and right to the point letter.

 

[es93546]

I used this same NTIA database back in the early 1970s when I was in the military. It was all on micro-fiche and we would receive boxes with updates several times a year. All of the entries were either unclass or classified at the secret or confidential level. The classified entries included frequencies for all the federal law enforcement & intelligence agencies plus most of the military. I verified most of the federal law enforcement listings as being very accurate. The overall classification of the database was secret and therefore unavailable to the public. This was long before Reagan's time.

The .pdf version that we're seeing now is the result of a FOIA request and lists only the unclass entries.

Thanks for your observations and sharing them with us. As you know federal frequency use information after the 1981 decision to withhold it from the public really changed everything. Prior to that, other than federal law enforcement and military frequencies, the information available was very comprehensive. However, agencies that engaged in a lot of mutual aid with state and local agencies, posted the information on their websites as the internet developed in the late 1990's. Some of the information was outstanding until around 2010 when policy changed, mostly as a result of 9-11 type concerns. So it is a far different situation now.

 

[nd5y]

Note that the diff between the "printed" page numbers in the document and PDF varies from 4 at the beginning of the listings (print 1 = PDF 5) to 1088 at the end (print 14444 = PDF 15532). 1000 pages of this diff is because print pages 10558–11557 are repeated: PDF 10620–11645 = print 10558–11557; then PDF 11646–12645 = print 10558–11557 (again). I didn't isolate the reason for the other slippage (84 pages).

I found several un-numbered blank pages. I don't know if there are 84 of them. I think what they did was combine several files into one or something.

If you are a Linux user there is a command line program called pdftk-java that allows you to manipulate PDF documents.
Intall it and then run in a terminal:
pdftk [input filename] cat 1-11645 12646-end output [output filename]

That will remove pages 11646-12645 and create a new file. Make sure you replace [input filename] and [output filename] with the actual file name and whatever you want to name the new file. Without brackets. It doesn't modify the original input file. If you have a relatively fast computer it only takes a few seconds.

I don't know if there is a similar program for Windows.

 

[twosenses]

Note that the diff between the "printed" page numbers in the document and PDF varies from 4 at the beginning of the listings (print 1 = PDF 5) to 1088 at the end (print 14444 = PDF 15532). 1000 pages of this diff is because print pages 10558–11557 are repeated: PDF 10620–11645 = print 10558–11557; then PDF 11646–12645 = print 10558–11557 (again). I didn't isolate the reason for the other slippage (84 pages).

I tried "save as text" from Adobe Reader, but it only runs at about 50 pages/minute on my machine, and I'd rather not wait 5 hours for it to finish, or worse, crash 99% of the way through, since it doesn't have any options about which pages to save. Perhaps someone with Acrobat or access to their online platform can use the export tools. It's still going to be tough to parse into something useful, but at least searching it should be faster as a text file.

Not a CSV/Excel/Google sheet but I ran the PDF through the tool pdftotext starting at Page 5 to extract everything. I made an HTML and a TXT file, both around 50 megs. Should hopefully be easier to search through.

NTIAgovtMasterFile_2021.txt <- Text file
NTIAgovtMasterFile_2021.html<- HTML File

 

[ArkTex]

Update on trying to convert the entire document into a excel workbook.:

currently only on page 16 out of the 15,000 or so. Will try to push through the rest of them, shouldn't take me more than a month to compile them all.

Also, I've been running the coordinates through a little coordinates to address converter to make sure they are correct.

Proof:

NTIA Unclassified Frequency Master List --- - Copy.xlsx

 

[nd5y]

I made an index.

The department is indicated by a 1 to 4 letter code after the frequency.
The document is sorted by this code.
The page numbers are the PDF file page number and not the ones printed at the top and bottom of each page.
The page numbers are ONLY good if you have removed the 1000 duplicated pages (PDF pages 11646–12645).

Code Department PDF Page#
A Agriculture 5-2671
AF Air Force 2671-3762
AID USAID? 3763-3766
AOTC Architecht of the Capitol 3766-3770
AR Army 3771-4808
C Commerce 4815-7001
CG Coast Guard 7002-7312
CIT Court of Intl Trade? 7312-7313
DHS DHS 7313-7526
DOE DOE 7527-7728
EPA EPA 7728-7781
FAA FAA 7781-10906
FCC FCC 10907-10915
FDIC FDIC 10915-10921
FHFA Fed Housing Finance Auth? 10922-10923
FRS Federal Reserve 10924-10933
FTC FTC 10933
GAO GAO 10934-10935
GSA GSA 10935-10955
HHS HHS 10955-11409
HUD HUD 11409-11412
I Interior 11412-12075
ITC Intl Trade Commission? 12075-12077
J Justice 12077-12416
L Labor 12417-12452
MC Marine Corps 12452-12462
N Navy 12463-12601
NARA Natl Archives & Records Adm? 12601-12603
NASA NASA 12604-13644
NGA Natl Geospacial Intelligence Agency 13645-13647
NGAL Natl Gallery of Art? 13647-13650
NSF NSF 13650-13680
OPM OPM 13680-13685
S State 13685-13689
SEC SEC 13689-13694
SI Smithsonian Inst 13694-13701
SSA Social Security Admin 13702-13741
T Treasury 13741-13748
TRAN Transportation 13749-13798
TVA TVA 13799-13973
USGM Agency for Global Media 13973-13989
USPC ? 13989
USPS USPS 13990
USTR US Trade Rep? 13990-13991
VA VA 13992-14532

 

[ArkTex]

I made an index.

The department is indicated by a 1 to 4 letter code after the frequency.
The document is sorted by this code.
The page numbers are the PDF file page number and not the ones printed at the top and bottom of each page.
The page numbers are ONLY good if you have removed the 1000 duplicated pages (PDF pages 11646–12645).

Code Department PDF Page#
A Agriculture 5-2671
AF Air Force 2671-3762
AID USAID? 3763-3766
AOTC Architecht of the Capitol 3766-3770
AR Army 3771-4808
C Commerce 4815-7001
CG Coast Guard 7002-7312
CIT Court of Intl Trade? 7312-7313
DHS DHS 7313-7526
DOE DOE 7527-7728
EPA EPA 7728-7781
FAA FAA 7781-10906
FCC FCC 10907-10915
FDIC FDIC 10915-10921
FHFA Fed Housing Finance Auth? 10922-10923
FRS Federal Reserve 10924-10933
FTC FTC 10933
GAO GAO 10934-10935
GSA GSA 10935-10955
HHS HHS 10955-11409
HUD HUD 11409-11412
I Interior 11412-12075
ITC Intl Trade Commission? 12075-12077
J Justice 12077-12416
L Labor 12417-12452
MC Marine Corps 12452-12462
N Navy 12463-12601
NARA Natl Archives & Records Adm? 12601-12603
NASA NASA 12604-13644
NGA Natl Geospacial Intelligence Agency 13645-13647
NGAL Natl Gallery of Art? 13647-13650
NSF NSF 13650-13680
OPM OPM 13680-13685
S State 13685-13689
SEC SEC 13689-13694
SI Smithsonian Inst 13694-13701
SSA Social Security Admin 13702-13741
T Treasury 13741-13748
TRAN Transportation 13749-13798
TVA TVA 13799-13973
USGM Agency for Global Media 13973-13989
USPC ? 13989
USPS USPS 13990
USTR US Trade Rep? 13990-13991
VA VA 13992-14532

Do you have a copy of the pdf without the duplicated pages?

I'm trying to index all frequencies so we can easily look them up if needed.

Also could be several listed in the file I linked.

 

[RichardKramer]

This is legit. I FOIAed the same file a few years back and it's pretty much the same. Most of the assignments listed are pretty innocuous and are releasable because they're used by non-Fed entities as well or non-Fed entities have reason to know them. I think it's less than 10% of the total Government Master File.

I have Bob Grove's Federal Freq Assignment book, missing the front cover- it has been used so hard. In the old Police Call books Federal classified freqs were listed as UXX.