[FedCom] USS Whidbey Island, LSD #41 in Maine (again!), this time in Camden

[Loren Fields]

The USS Whidbey Island, LSD #41, is back off the coast of Maine, this

time in Camden for Windjammer Days.

Some might remember that there was only an errant radar system (PAVE 
PAWS) operating in the amateur UHF range in July of this year at the 
Lobster Festival in Rockland. LSD #41 was then anchored off the breakwater in 
Rockland harbor.

I came upon the USS Whidbey Island today (Monday) quite by accident 
while taking the family to Mt. Battie (a.k.a. Camden Hills State Park). 
I saw the ship anchored, and commenced scanning. (This is why one has 
the scanner crash kit along on quick trips!)

The primary commo utilized was between the roaming “Anchor Watch” patrol 
boat to the actual vessel itself. I found this by scanning 454-458 MHz 
(thanks, Bill!) and nailed them at 456.600 MHz with a 103.5 pl tone. 
Another freq was open squelch on 457.725. There was NO sort of system 
attached to this; no Motorola, LTR or EDACS. The scanner that was 
covering this (Pro-97) had “Unknown” display read on both the Mot. & 
EDACS, however.

380-400 MHz was dead.  406-420 was another band I scanned, with open 
squelch on 408.575, 408.1125, 414.71875, 417.1125, and 417.7875.

I did catch some weird, open-squelch popping noises on 427.00625 and 
430.075. 409.825 had a two-tone beeping. This could have been an FAA 
beacon of some sort, given the short line-of-site to Owls Head Airport.

There was also a strapping P-25 encrypted signal on 169.9875. I doubt 
this was related to the USS Whidbey Island, but who knows...there was 
also open squelch on 168.550.

I intend to go over Tuesday afternoon/early evening if the USS Whidbey 
Island is still anchored there. Monday's trip was cursory at best, being 
armed with only a Pro-96 & two of my Pro-97's, with the VX-7R as back-up.

Best to the Group,

Loren

BTW, Remember BNAS and the Blue Angels this upcoming weekend, 5-7 SEP 
’08 in Brunswick, ME. Interested parties are encouraged to contact me 
"off list" if you'd like to be part of a concerted scanning effort.

http://www.greaterstateofmaineairshow.com/