[FedCom] Trying to decide a good freq range to work next

[Steven Donnell WA1YKL]

Hi, As many other monitors have noted, since 9/11, there has been an
extrondinary increase in Mil Air activity in the 138 - 144 MHz range. In our own
searching, we have caught numerous tacitical air-air coms just below 144 Mhz, in
AM mode. What makes this interesting is that we normally think of this part of
the spectrum being used for FM Gnd coms. Although many Mil Air units do have
VHF, VT Air NG comes to mind as an example on 125.125 Mhz. A few of our recent
loggings include: 139.625 and 143.425 MHz(AM). And just last week, we also heard
Mil Air coms on 148.55 MHz( as received on a BC780, and further verified on an
ICR7000). These dont seem to be the normal Combat Air Partols, but are air crews
practicing  w/ some type of laser/IR targeting equipment.  Here in NH they seem
to be usually in the Yankee 1,2 MOA training area, about 25 mi N of Concord. I
figured this out by noting the lat/lons called out for certain targets and
checking that data against my Street Map CD and FAA chart. This is certainly a
LOT more interesting to listen to than your usual air-air refueling ops, and
about as close as most of us will get(or care to get) to listening in on bombing
runs over Bagdad,,,.

So if you are looking for a new freq range to "mine" for Mil Air, try looking in
the 148 - 150.5 area, AM mode.

Steve  DE  WA1YKL


"Jeffery R. SMith" wrote:

> Hello Folks,
>
> I am trying to decide what freq ranges to start working next. Until now I
> have been working Military Air and Ground freq ranges and have put together
> some reasonably decent lists for my area. I am still not done but am at a
> point that I need to start thinking about what to get into next.
> To date, I have followed the above plan and worked 138-144 MHz in AM & FM
> modes. Also I have worked the entire range from 225-400 MHz in AM. I still
> have some identifying to do in the 225-400 range but come the end of
> February I will be looking for another good search range to work. I think I
> have the "Normal" Military Bands covered pretty well for this area and have
> seen numerous posts about Customs getting involved with possible CAP duties
> over major cities.
>
> What I was hoping you folks could do would be to point me toward a couple of
> good freq ranges to work next. I live in southern MD so chances are I will
> not pick up too much traffic from ground bases transmitters in the DC area
> but do pick up quite a bit of the airspace in Maryland as well as Virginia.
> I have all the normal public service type freqs squared away so that is of
> no interest. I am looking into Govt. related comms. Hence my joining the
> discussion group. I can't say that I am looking onto focusing on any one
> particular organization within the Govt. as I have never went after Govt.
> comms before and don't know where to start.