lafd55
Member
We have an Arsenal Fire Department up in Albany that Is clear using p25 UHF. I'm sure there is no federal fire departments that are encrypted, lol.
why listen to federal scanner frequencies
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ecps92
Member
lafd55
Member
what Agency/Freq/Tones ?
I'll look at my scanner today for them and their tones. If I don't NF2G might have them...
For me in my area of WV I usually hear National Park Service and the National Guard,none of the other exciting stuff some of you guys listen to(FBI,DEA,etc)
photopro
Member
why listen to federal scanner frequencies?
OldDeadOne thank you for your contribution.It's nice to know that enthusiasts will answer questions that they actually know somethin about.
OldDeadOne thank you for your contribution.It's nice to know that enthusiasts will answer questions that they actually know somethin about.
ecps92
Member
mikepdx
Member
95% ?? Where does that figure come from?
Because a great many aren't encrypted.
USFS
NPS
BLM
FWS
BIA
to name just a few...
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zzdiesel
Member
I get a lot of FBI traffic here locally, but 99% of it is encrypted. I hear the DEA in Little Rock often. They must have a repeater around NE Ark. It comes in nearly full strength and is usually in the clear.
ecps92
Member
We all need to remember the OP, altho claiming 95% encryption keeps asking [multiple threads] for Federal Frequencies in Ohio.
Tried to get him to Search, but I feel like a dentist pulling teeth
Tried to get him to Search, but I feel like a dentist pulling teeth
photopro
Member
ecps92 you must have your brains somewhere other than your head.I was just asking if anybody had federal frequencies in my area.After all isn't that what a forum is for.An exchange of information between members. I don't expect any reply ecps92 or if you do you're really stupid.
n1das
Member
I witnessed a perfect example of this back in 1988. I was living in Durham NH at the time and close to the University of NH (UNH) campus. The Democratic Presidential Debates were held at UNH during the 1988 presidential campaign. I recall there were a large number of democratic candidates. The US Secret Service was very busy there, using channels Tango and Charlie. Because there were so many protectors for so many protectees, there was not enough of their newer radios with encryption available. The "newer" radios at the time were Motorola MX300 series bricks. Because there were not enough newer radios to go around, they dug out their pile of older and ancient Moto HT220 series bricks...not encryption capable at all. The end results was that more than 90% of all the radio chatter was in the clear. It was a nice monitoring treat during that time.
Very true, but all this technology is limited by the human error factor.
In any large scale event that occurs in minutes or maybe seconds, there is still the issue of response time to establish "secure" comms. In the minutes or maybe hours before this happens,there will be some maybe all comms in the clear.
During this time we can learn a lot! Even after a command post is set up, event briefing, radio checkout, there will still be some on encypted tg's transmitting in the clear because of not hearing the "beep".
Even after all this is established, half traffic in the clear is better than none at all!
73,
n9zas
photopro
Member
nidas,lep, and gewecke thank you for making the question that I posed a real forum burner.What I need now is a resource to obtain federal government frequencies in the Northeast Ohio area.Any of you three gentlemen able to give me any answer to that query?
N1BHH
Member
You want frequencies? You can look in the database and the wiki. But most importantly you will need to do some detective work on your own. Use the SEARCH feature on your scanner. It does give you results, but it will take some time, though. It took me some time to find federal frequencies with my first tunable VHF radio back 35-40 years ago and it wasn't until the scanner came along that the searching became more easy, I didn't have to spin the dial anymore and the radio would find them faster.
lafd55
Member
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UHF is anything that falls between 300 MHz and 3 GHz.
VHF is anything that falls between 30 MHz and 300 MHz.
So technically speaking, most scanners really only have two bands.
Some will cover a small portion (25 to 30 MHz) of the HF band though.
Table of ITU Radio Bands
Band Number
Symbols
Frequency Range
Wavelength Range
4
VLF
3 to 30 kHz
10 to 100 km
5
LF
30 to 300 kHz
1 to 10 km
6
MF
300 to 3000 kHz
100 to 1000 m
7
HF
3 to 30 MHz
10 to 100 m
8
VHF
30 to 300 MHz
1 to 10 m
9
UHF
300 to 3000 MHz
10 to 100 cm
10
SHF
3 to 30 GHz
1 to 10 cm
11
EHF
30 to 300 GHz
1 to 10 mm
12
300 to 3000 GHz
0.1 to 1 mm
Table of IEEE bands
Band
Frequency range
Origin of name
HF band
3 to 30 MHz
High Frequency
VHF band
30 to 300 MHz
Very High Frequency
UHF band
300 to 1000 MHz
Ultra High Frequency
L band
1 to 2 GHz
Long wave
S band
2 to 4 GHz
Short wave
C band
4 to 8 GHz
Compromise between S and X
X band
8 to 12 GHz
Used in WW II for fire control, X for cross (as in crosshair)
Ku band
12 to 18 GHz
Kurz-under
K band
18 to 27 GHz
German Kurz (short)
Ka band
27 to 40 GHz
Kurz-above
V band
40 to 75 GHz
W band
75 to 110 GHz
W follows V in the alphabet
mm band
110 to 300 GHz
If it's not in the database, you will need to run your own searches and figure it out from hours of listening and then submit that info using the submission page so others in your area may also benefit from it in the future. That is what this forum is all about. I'm sure that others would have submitted the info for your area but you may very well be the first to tackle the task.
Some may also be reluctant to submit federal info but you can request that your submissions remain confidential.
As has been pointed out, finding frequencies and then figuring out who a federal user is can be a hard and very time consuming task but that is probably the only way you are going to answer your own questions.
That is half the fun of scanning, searching and figuring out what you have found.
I figured out most of my area stuff many moons ago simply by searching and taking many notes while listening. That was before I ever bought any Police Call books. After Police Call came out, I continued doing my own research but for the business users. Police Call did not cover any business users until the Plus version came out. And yes, I did submit my findings when I knew where to submit them no matter if it was via postal mail, telephone call or dial up BBS.
There was no easy access for accurate FCC data unless you bought Police Call or the FCC Database that Grove sold on 5.25 inch floppy disks and then PERCON came along and you could dial into them (for a significant membership fee) before the internet days. You were always on your own for federal info though.
Tom Kneitel and Artsci Publishing and others released some federal frequency books but most of that data was accumulated from users across the country that submitted their findings directly to them. Much in the same way that RR gets its federal data today.
So I doubt you are going to find what you are asking for without doing some of the homework yourself.
If you find and confirm anything, please submit it for those that will come along behind you.
You covered the agencies I like to listen to. I have them on one list in my scanner and often, mostly in the summer, scan this bank only when I don't want to listen to cops and robbers and 10-28s. I also have the state natural resource agencies and local fire on that list as well. I wore the fire hat more than my law enforcement hat during my career and have pyrotechnical tendencies that exceed those of most arsonists so I like listening to fire agencies, mostly wildland ones. By the way I channeled these tendencies to a positive use. I often say that having a drip torch in your hands is the most fun you can have while standing up.
The traffic for a large National Park or a very active National Forest can be very interesting. They have situations not faced by other agencies. Some of what you hear can be unbelievable, some funny and some sad. As I observed over a career, people make some interesting decisions when they are out of their city element. Fire traffic for these agencies can be the most incredible you can hear. Those listeners in the east probably don't get as much interesting fire traffic, however parks like Great Smokey Mountains and Shenandoah are used heavily enough to make interesting traffic possible and frequent. Parkways such as Blue Ridge and Natchez Trace have had a good share of ranger involved shootings. The Mark Twain National Forest has one of the largest law enforcement workloads on National Forests so if one lives near that NF it should provide some interesting listening.
I should also mention that on heavily used public lands administered by the BLM, such as the California Desert National Conservation Area, traffic can be as frequent and as interesting as the NPS and USFS. The Colorado River District of the Arizona State BLM office can be interesting in the summer as well. The mixture of water and alcohol results in some humorous and very sad incidents. I don't live close within earshot of a National Wildlife Refuge or a Indian Reservation so make any comments about listening to the USFWS or BIA.
lafd55
Member
Pretty much the only agencies who use encryption are departments that do a lot of undercover work and Border Patrol. Even undercover units a lot just use their Nextel Phones too. And can't believe how many units still use the Saber as well. Always see them when watching DEA and in pictures.
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