[Scan-DC] Washington Area airport freqs

[Steve Thompson]

It's a matter of methodology and you can organize your lists and scanners 
either way.

To get the absolute most-recent listings, I used the current FAA approach 
plates.  They are organized by AIRPORT, rather than the FAA facility that 
is involved, and I have listed the frequencies the same way in order to 
keep track of which frequencies are used in which areas going in and out of 
the airport.  As I recall from previous issues, the Airport and Facilities 
Directory has them organized the same way.  (That's the book I still need 
to consult.)

A pilot is more concerned about where he's landing rather than who he's 
talking to, which is why the books are organized that way.  He'll flip the 
book open to the name of the airport and then select whatever approach he's 
been given.  We, however, think more in terms of who he's talking to, so we 
think in terms of facilities and communications sectors.

All approach and departure frequencies are, of course, handled by FAA's 
Potomac Tracon, regardless of which airport the plane is landing at or 
departing from.  Most Potomac controllers will be handling flights in 
and/or out of more than one airport.  They also handle Richmond, BWI, 
Davidson, Andrews and probably a few others that I'm forgetting.

I live half-way between IAD and DCA and only pay attention to those 
two.  I, too, have my scanner set up with a separate Scan List for Potomac 
and I hear flights going in and out of BWI, too, on the frequencies that I 
have listed for IAD and DCA.  I've considered setting up separate Scan 
Lists for each airport, with some approach and departure frequencies 
appearing in both Scan Lists (which Win500 makes very easy to do).  I am a 
former pilot and I spent several years flying around in the Washington 
Metro area, which is why I probably think in terms of air traffic flow, 
rather than communications sectors.

As far as scanner organization, I also have on Scan List for nothing but 
Towers.  It has DCA, IAD, Davidson and Pentagon towers in it.  Normally, I 
keep that Scan List and the Potomac Scan list going at the same time.  Why 
did I separate out the towers?  I use it for picking up family and friends 
at the airport.  I click off Potomac and listen only to the tower for my 
passenger's plane.  That way I know when to expect them.

Steve, N4TX


At 01:04 PM 3/19/2009, ka3jjz at netscape.com wrote:
>Comparing the list Steve N4TX sent down, and the listings in the 
>RadioReference database, wiki and Airnav, a few discrepancies showed up. 
>One of the more interesting ones was that these listings weren't shown as 
>part of the Potomac TRACON which was established a few years ago. You 
>would think a FAA manual would have this very important point covered - 
>after all, you will almost always (unless the pilot slips up) call 
>'Potomac', not the actual airport name.
>
>I see it lists Reagan Approach East as 124.55 and 317.425 and North as 
>128.7 and 307.9; these are all well known BWI frequencies, and the VHF 
>freqs agrees with Airnav. I can usually hear the Potomac controller on the 
>VHF side quite easily, and I live about 15 mins from BWI. No way I would 
>hear them from Reagan on indoor antennas, as low in elevation as I am 
>(although to be honest, I haven't paid much attention to what freqs were 
>used from where lately).
>
>It should also note that Andrews shares freqs with Reagan - something 
>that's been well documented in the past.
>
>I am not a pilot, nor do I play one on TV. Perhaps it's time to slap my 
>old 895 on record on those 2 VHF freqs and see if I can still hear Potomac 
>replying. If not, then perhaps they've shifted their coverage area. 
>Stranger things have been known to happen 73 Mike
>
>links editor,Capitol Hill Monitors
>Utility Monitoring Central
>Wiki Administrator, HF Forum moderator, Radioreference.Com
>
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