Va Beach Civilian and Mil Air info

[LeSueurC]

So recently got into listening to the air side of scanning, had one of those Maxx-Tennas in a box from recently moving to VB from James City County and put up in the garage. New house is located in the Ocean Lakes neighborhood, before I moved to James City, I grew up in Portsmouth , so the area isn’t new to me, just the air scanning part is very new and trying to get the hang of it. Have some questions, have gotten frequencies from RR, Airnav, and the Hampton Roads Scanner Page @kc4jgc

Have seen GiantKiller numerous times, have heard Fentress Touch and Go’s, heard APP/Dep from ORF, NAS Oceana, have heard the Sector frequencies that aircraft use when entering airspace over Norfolk. Have managed to hear ORF, NOB Chambers Field, and Oceana and my favorite is catching the VBPD Helo talking with Oceana Tower to transit their airspace.

What exactly is GiantKiller? right now I’m hearing it on 251.3 and just sounds like a one sided conversation about entering airspace, mostly she’s referring to Cherry Point and Wilmington areas of NC

-What are some other good channels to add? Currently using a SDS-100 with Austin Condor antenna and the exterior antenna is hooked up to a PRO-197.

-When the planes are using the Sector channels for different altitude’s, why do I only hear the planes and not the tower?

133.825 is listed as Washington Center on the Hampton Roads Scanner Page, it’s also a Sector frequency for Norfolk, from what understand they’re categorized by altitude, Low, High, Super High. I’ve been using FlightAware and finding the aircraft

I also have a bunch of channels listed as “ Discrete”, are these the equivalent of “ Talkaround” or chit-chat channels for the Navy pilots?

Also have seen numerous channels listed as Ground Control Approach, what’s the difference between that and an Approach channel at ORF or any other civilian airport?

Have seen Unicom on some of the smaller regional, executive and municipal airports, what exactly is Unicom?

Also any other pertinent information relating to the area I should be aware of or any other channels or tips is greatly appreciated.

 

[Eugene]

Hey. Giantkiller is the term for Fleet Surveillance radar. It is used for radar control through NAS Oceana airspace and also for any practice air combat in the warning areas off the coast. I have a list of frequencies at home I can send later (I am at work now). As far as Washington center sectors, the controller is remoted through what's called an RCAG. The one for Norfolk is located in Whaleyville in Suffolk. The Yorktown super high is remoted somewhere in Yorktown. There is also one remoted at Cape Charles for Eastern Shore stuff. I can sometimes hear the Whaleyville one (designated as Norfolk) from Portsmouth on a good day.

Any ATC facility such as Norfolk, which is class C airspace has a tower which usually controls All landing traffic within 5 miles and all departing traffic. Before handed off to tower or after takeoff, they are handed off to an "approach" or "departure" controller which give radar vectors and advisories and maintain positive control. For Norfolk this extends out to about 14,000 feet (or just about over my house which is about 6-7 miles from Norfolk for airliners or for civil aircraft until service is terminated by request or they get out of their area of control.

Unicom is used for smaller airports with out ATC (or after midnight for Newport News Williamsburg airport). It is a common frequency which all aircraft arriving, departing, or remaining in the pattern use to announce position and intention. A good site to go to is AirNav. For airport, type KORF for Norfolk and click sectional and it will give break down of frequencies and radar areas and Warning areas.

Hope this helps.

Eugene KG4AVE

 

[Eugene]

Also GCA or ground control approach is mainly used at military airports. The controller actually guides the aircraft to touchdown by calling out whether they are above/below glidepath or left/right of glidepath.

Eugene KG4AVE

 

[LeSueurC]

Also GCA or ground control approach is mainly used at military airports. The controller actually guides the aircraft to touchdown by calling out whether they are above/below glidepath or left/right of glidepath.

Eugene KG4AVE

Thanks, appreciate the info. Yes whenever you get a chance send them over. Also what is the difference between the VHF and UHF channels? I’ve heard the same conversation on both channels it seems?

 

[reconrider8]

I'll throw this in here. The higher the antenna and the better the antenna the more you will here. I run a dpd miltenna up around 30' and I can hear all kinds of stuff all over eastern nc and va

 

[BM82557]

Thanks, appreciate the info. Yes whenever you get a chance send them over. Also what is the difference between the VHF and UHF channels? I’ve heard the same conversation on both channels it seems?

VHF is civilian UHF is military

 

[LeSueurC]

I'll throw this in here. The higher the antenna and the better the antenna the more you will here. I run a dpd miltenna up around 30' and I can hear all kinds of stuff all over eastern nc and va

I'd love to go taller, but HOA already *****ed about my work truck, only other thing would be up in the attic.

 

[LeSueurC]

VHF is civilian UHF is military

ahhhh makes sense. Also makes sense why Airband receivers that I've glanced were only VHF

 

[dickie757]

The Coast Guard likes to fly around here. Usually, they are coming from Elizabeth City. I dont know any details of where to scan, but it might be a target for you.

 

[LeSueurC]

The Coast Guard likes to fly around here. Usually, they are coming from Elizabeth City. I dont know any details of where to scan, but it might be a target for you.

I searched the forums, found 2 sites with lots of info

Military VHF/UHF Air Radio Frequencies

https://1drv.ms/x/s!ApBk0FyAcV5SgeIahvhTRdAcl_CAjg?e=Fm5uiM

 

[tvengr]

Here are the ATC frequencies for Norfolk International. For any airport with a full-time control tower, Unicom is 122.95. You will need to lockout the ATIS frequency. It is a continuous transmission with airport info. A good source for airport frequencies is AirNav.

Norfolk Intl
120.800	KORF Tower VHF
257.800	KORF Tower UHF
121.900	KORF Ground
118.500	KORF Clear Deliv
122.950	KORF Unicom
127.150	KORF ATIS
118.900	KORF App VHF
335.625	KORF App UHF
353.700	KORF App UHF
125.200	KORF Dep VHF
363.125	KORF Dep UHF
379.100	KORF Dep UHF
125.700	KORF Class C
121.500	Aero Emerg VHF
243.000	Aero Emerg UHF

 

[dickie757]

This one is flying around right now.
No clue what its mission is, but I have never seen this before

Edit....this is the link

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live - aircraft flight history

globe.adsbexchange.com

 

[RichardKramer]

This one is flying around right now.
No clue what its mission is, but I have never seen this before

Edit....this is the link

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live - aircraft flight history

globe.adsbexchange.com

It's part of a military exercise called GLOBAL THUNDER 26. The E6 aircraft transmit EAMs, Emergency Action Messages on AM UHF 311.0MHz and on HFGCS 4724KHz 8992KHz 11175KHz 15016KHz upper sideband (USB).

 

[W4EMS]

Are the EAM messages encrypted by chance?

 

[RichardKramer]

Are the EAM messages encrypted by chance?

Yes; they're usually a string of letters and numbers some of which are test messages, some are actual action messages.
A higher priority message will start with
"SKYKING SKYKING DO NOT ANSWER, MESSAGE TO FOLLOW ".

 

[dlwtrunked]

It's part of a military exercise called GLOBAL THUNDER 26. The E6 aircraft transmit EAMs, Emergency Action Messages on AM UHF 311.0MHz and on HFGCS 4724KHz 8992KHz 11175KHz 15016KHz upper sideband (USB).

And on 323.8 simultaneous with the 311 MHz. The E6 most note worthy mode is the digital (FSKand MSK RTTY) transmission on VLF (usually between 17 and 30 kHz) which are the same message (phonetics) message as on UHF and HF. And. yes, many of us do copy those. Those are transmitted using a very long trailing wire antenna with the E6 fly over a remote area--generally off shore.

 

[LeSueurC]

This one is flying around right now.
No clue what its mission is, but I have never seen this before

Edit....this is the link

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live - aircraft flight history

globe.adsbexchange.com

I catch a RCH279 coming into Oceana from Andrew AFB Sunday night, my house was right on there flight path

 

[n4jri]

So recently got into listening to the air side of scanning, had one of those Maxx-Tennas in a box from recently moving to VB from James City County and put up in the garage. New house is located in the Ocean Lakes neighborhood, before I moved to James City, I grew up in Portsmouth , so the area isn’t new to me, just the air scanning part is very new and trying to get the hang of it. Have some questions, have gotten frequencies from RR, Airnav, and the Hampton Roads Scanner Page @kc4jgc

Have seen GiantKiller numerous times, have heard Fentress Touch and Go’s, heard APP/Dep from ORF, NAS Oceana, have heard the Sector frequencies that aircraft use when entering airspace over Norfolk. Have managed to hear ORF, NOB Chambers Field, and Oceana and my favorite is catching the VBPD Helo talking with Oceana Tower to transit their airspace.

What exactly is GiantKiller? right now I’m hearing it on 251.3 and just sounds like a one sided conversation about entering airspace, mostly she’s referring to Cherry Point and Wilmington areas of NC

-What are some other good channels to add? Currently using a SDS-100 with Austin Condor antenna and the exterior antenna is hooked up to a PRO-197.

-When the planes are using the Sector channels for different altitude’s, why do I only hear the planes and not the tower?

133.825 is listed as Washington Center on the Hampton Roads Scanner Page, it’s also a Sector frequency for Norfolk, from what understand they’re categorized by altitude, Low, High, Super High. I’ve been using FlightAware and finding the aircraft

I also have a bunch of channels listed as “ Discrete”, are these the equivalent of “ Talkaround” or chit-chat channels for the Navy pilots?

Also have seen numerous channels listed as Ground Control Approach, what’s the difference between that and an Approach channel at ORF or any other civilian airport?

Have seen Unicom on some of the smaller regional, executive and municipal airports, what exactly is Unicom?

Also any other pertinent information relating to the area I should be aware of or any other channels or tips is greatly appreciated.

Lotsa stuff here, and some good answers already.

Be GLAD when you hear aircraft, but not the ground. Civilian VHF and military UHF ATC freqs are simulcasted, so if you're near the ground site, you'll hear civilian aircraft being addressed on military freqs. Compare freqs 126.400 and 282.375 (RIC Approach). If you don't hear the ground station on a UHF freq, that's your best indication that you'll hear only military traffic.

A couple good freqs for Giantkiller:
238.1 - entry/exit for W386 (off the Eastern Shore) - heaviest use by Air Force
238.9 - entry/exit for W387 (off the mouth of the bay -- this houses a refuelling track)
361.3 - entry/exit for W72 (off the coast of Virginia Beach & the Outer Banks) - heaviest use by Navy
Also watch 360.600, which is an outer-western Norfolk Approach freq. Often used by planes returning to Langley from Farmville or Evers MOA's.
PM or email me and I'll pass along some stuff. Also check out the Mid-Atllantic MilAir group. (subgroup in the Military Monitoring Forum)

73/Allen (N4JRI)

 

[n4jri]

Oops, I see you're in VA Beach now. Also plug in 266.8. That's the main overhead for Oceana, 'Button 5'. Parallel civilian traffic on 123.9

73/Allen (N4JRI)

 

[vavolff]

@LeSueurC welcome to VB, I see our HOA ave you a warm welcome! You'll get hooked on military aviation in no time. All the info here is spot on, and the frequencies @n4jri passed along are the ones you want. He also mentioned an air refueling track, that would be AR 636. I've taken a screen shot of AR 636's info straight from the USAF Area Planning manual (AP1B) and will post it below for everone. Saves time on typing lol. AR 636 isn't heavily used, but it's a real treat when you can catch some action.

Bonus: These two frequencies are tied in with New York MWARA/LDOC, basically the folks who coordinate/control lon haul aircraf over the ocean and in places where ATC is very limited to non exisent. Pilots under LDOC control can use tthese when close to shore instead of using he HF radio. We get quite he line of aircraft moving up and down the East Coast, so give it a try. I haven't dedicated any time to monitor them, so unsure how frequently they are used.

129.90 Virginia to Canada
130.7 NC to Florida

If you still need Washingon Center ATC frequencies/info, lemme know! You're alwas welcome to send me a DM if you need more VB info. That goes for everone!