[ScanIndiana] Need active Military Aircraft Frequencies (long reply)
Matthew C. Payne
[email protected]
Sat, 27 Dec 2003 09:32:49 -0500 (EST)
DeLong said:
> I am asking for active Military Aircraft
> Frequencies around Indianapolis,Indiana for my Bearcat 780XLT.>
Back when ScanIndiana was in its infancy, Scott Richardson posted an
excellent article that he had written on the subject of military sircraft
scanning in Indiana. It was truly of excellent quality, and has been my
reference ever since. I have reposted it below. Scott, I hope this is OK
:-)
Matt
From
Scott Richardson <[email protected]>
Date
1999-11-01 06:18:00
Subject
Indiana Military Scanning
I had a request to post the article I wrote back in 1997 on military
scanning
in Indiana so here it is. Note some of the references to specific web sites
such as Larry Van Horn's Utility World site are now obsolete (hey, two years
in web time is an eternity):
Hello and welcome to the April Edition of the Indiana Scanning Report.
I'm Scott Richardson, the guest columnist for this month. I'd like to
thank Rick Garrett for starting this column and for allowing me to write
this edition. I know this issue is probably a bit longer than Rick wanted,
but there's a lot of information to be presented, so here goes.
In this edition we're going to talk about military scanning with an
emphasis on what can be heard in Indiana, especially military air (milair)
communications. We'll get started with some general background
information on military scanning including general UHF/VHF military
frequency ranges and also what type of scanner equipment is required
to listen to the military. Next we'll go over specifics as to what types of
military communications can be heard in Indiana with frequencies given
for each of these types. Also we'll be giving you some hints and tips on
how to find new military frequencies. Finally we'll wrap up with some
(hopefully) good stories from my own mil-air scanning experiences.
GENERAL INFORMATION
First, what frequencies and frequency ranges need to be monitored in
order to hear military comms in Indiana? I won't go into a great amount of
detail here since there is an excellent presentation of the military UHF/VHF
spectrum on Larry Van Horn's Utility World WWW site at
http://www.grove.net/~larry/milvu1.html. However, in general the
frequency ranges to scan and search for military communications are VHF
low (30-50 Mhz, FM), VHF high (138-144 Mhz, AM & NFM, 148-150.775,
AM & NFM), UHF (225-400 Mhz, AM). From my experience the most
interesting comms appear on the 138-144 Mhz AM band since this is used
quite a bit by Air National Guard units for air-air tactical communication.
The UHF band also contains quite a bit of this air-air chatter as well.
What sort of equipment do you need to listen to military communications
in the VHF low range and up? The quick and easy answer is any
scanner that will tune to the above-mentioned bands and allow the
correct receive mode (AM, NFM, WFM) within that band. I personally
use a Radio Shack PRO-2006 and a PRO-43 since these two scanners
cover all of the above military bands and allow for proper receive mode
selection. In addition these scanners are able to be interfaced to
computers which allows unattended searching and logging of new
military frequencies (at least on the PRO-2006).
An outdoor antenna will dramatically increase the amount of traffic you
can hear. Be sure to mount the antenna as high as possible so that you
can get the longest possible ranges for your intercepts. I use a
Diamond D-130J discone antenna mounted at 30' for a lot of my work,
especially when I'm searching for new frequencies and don't know from
which direction they might originate. The discone provides an
omnidirectional receive capability at the expense of gain. For serious
listening at a known location, I use a standard fringe television antenna
mounted so the elements are vertical to provide the required vertical
polarization. Both antennas are mounted on the same mast and
connected to a rotor so I can point the TV antenna wherever I desire.
Other types of antennas are very useful, such as the log-periodic (LP).
My next antenna will likely be a homemade log-periodic covering the
225-400 Mhz UHF milair band. An LP designed for this band will be
somewhat compact with a boom length of around 4-6 feet, depending on
the exact design parameters chosen (gain, bandwidth ->number of
elements). Also be sure to use low-loss coax such as Belden 9913 if
you're going to listen to the 225-400 Mhz UHF band since cable losses
begin to become significant for long cable runs in this frequency range.
JUST WHAT CAN YOU HEAR IN INDIANA?
Your first reaction to this question may be "I don't know, probably
nothing", but you'd be surprised what can be heard from the cornfields
of Indiana. There are several Air National Guard bases, practice
ranges, and military operations areas (MOAs) in Indiana. In addition the
surrounding states have many of these same installations which are
easily scannable from Indiana. Since aircraft operate in these areas at
altitude, their comms are audible for sometimes hundreds of miles,
depending on the altitude of the aircraft and the height of your receiving
antenna. Here's a list of installations that are based in Indiana along
with some frequencies for each. I'm sure that this list is by no means
complete, so if you have any additional areas and/or frequencies, please
e-mail the information to me and I'll make sure it gets added to my list
for redistribution. All frequencies marked with an asterisk (*) have been
confirmed by myself as active and used for the description given.
Otherwise, all unmarked frequencies have either not been confirmed or
nothing has ever been heard on them.
Two very good books to get started in military monitoring are Daryll
Symington's book "Monitoring the Military - Second Edition" or Steve
Douglass' book "The Comprehensive Guide to Military Monitoring". I
highly recommend these two books since they'll give you a good base of
frequencies to get going while you're searching for more on your own.
However, remember that they may be incomplete or rendered inaccurate in
some cases merely because of the passage of time. Frequencies do
change,
some are abandoned and others are added all the time.
MILITARY INSTALLATIONS IN INDIANA
122nd Fighter Wing of the Indiana Air National Guard based in Ft.
Wayne, IN:
The 122nd FW flies F-16 aircraft with the callsign Snake. A lot of their
training operations take place in the Hill Top and Twelve Mile MOAs
located just west of Grissom Air Reserve Base in north-central Indiana.
I've also heard them in the Buckeye and Brush Creek MOAs in south-
central Ohio, in the Jefferson Proving Grounds, and in the Camp
Atterbury range.
122nd Fighter Wing, Ft. Wayne, IN
Frequency Description
* 138.050 Snake training ops - air-air comms
138.300 Air-air tactical in Hill Top MOA
* 138.400 122nd FW ops freq (channel Victor-1)
* 139.750 Air-air tactical in Hill Top MOA
* 141.550 Air-air tactical in Hill Top MOA
142.200 Air-air tactical in Hill Top MOA
255.400 122nd FW approach/departure
* 257.800 122nd FW tower
* 260.600 122nd FW approach/departure
* 284.600 122nd FW approach/departure (channel Uniform-5)
* 289.300 122nd FW CP (command post)
181st Fighter Group based at Hulman Field in Terre Haute, IN:
The 181st FG flies F-16's with the callsign Racer. Many training
operations take place in the Red Hills MOA located in southwestern
Indiana.
181st Fighter Group, Terre Haute, IN
Frequency Description
* 239.000 Tower
* 254.250 Indianapolis Center (Red Hills MOA coord)
280.500 Supervisor of flying
* 288.150 Approach/Departure
* 289.600 Approach/Departure
* 339.800 Approach/Departure
348.600 Ground control
* 392.200 Racer Ops
Atterbury Reserve Forces Training Area
Atterbury Reserve Forces Training Area (Camp Atterbury) is a training
area used by National Guard units, both air and ground. It is located in
south-central Indiana, approximately 30 miles south of Indianapolis. Air
units from all over the midwest, including Toledo, OH, Battle Creek, MI,
Springfield, OH (178th FW), Ft. Wayne, IN (122nd FW), Terre Haute, IN
(181st FG) well as others, come to the range for bombing and strafing
practice. Also there is a significant amount of helicopter traffic from the
Air National Guard base in Shelbyville, IN. The helicopters include UH-1
Hueys, UH-60 Blackhawks, and OH-58 Kiowas. They used to have AH-
1 Cobras at the Shelbyville base, but they were transferred out when the
UH-60's came in within the last year and a half.
The neat thing about this range is that you can call ahead and ask to
observe the air-ground practice from the control tower in the middle of
the target range. I have personally seen A-10s, A-7s (in the old days),
F-4s (again, long ago), F-16's, A-37's practice their art of air-ground
combat from the control tower located in the middle of the range (and
only about 1/4 mile from the strafing targets!). We have been buzzed by
A-10s, F-4s and other aircraft coming extremely close to the tower (100'
up and 50 yds away). The sound of an A-10 strafing with the 30mm
gun is incredibly awesome and makes you jump every time even though
you're ready for the noise.
Atterbury Reserve Forces Training Area (Camp Atterbury)
Frequency Description
30.100
* 38.900 Range control (ground units) - radio checks
every hour on the 1/2 hour
44.800 FM, heard this freq mentioned by a helo over the
range - haven't confirmed usage.
* 118.600 Columbus, IN tower - used by ANG units
* 124.950 Approach/Departure comms (Indianapolis)
* 126.200 Atterbury Unicom
139.000 EOD
139.125
142.900
* 143.050 Ops
172.800 Range ops
173.000 Range ops
* 173.200 Range ops
173.400 Range ops
* 173.5625 Fire/Crash
* 259.400 Training net - I've heard range control calling bomb
hit locations back to the aircraft dropping them.
266.500 USAF
295.100 Command post
* 317.800 Approach/Departure comms (Indy ARTCC)
* 383.300 Training net - This is the most active freq used
during air-ground ops
Jefferson Proving Grounds
The Jefferson Proving Grounds (JPG) is located in southeastern Indiana
and is used by many Air National Guard units from the midwest for air-
ground training. I have heard many of the same units work this range
that also practice in the Camp Atterbury range (178th FG, 122nd FW,
180th FG). I've been hearing a considerable amount of night operations
in the JPG lately. There has been use of an IR pointer at night, either
used by a ground unit or air unit, to mark targets for the aircraft. I'm
unsure if this pointer is something new they're trying out, or if it's been
around a while. If anyone has info regarding this, please let me know.
I've also heard what I believe was an aircraft acting as a spotter or
target designator for visiting aircraft. This could be possibly an exercise
scenario involving a Forward Area Controller (FAC) whose responsibility
it is to point out targets for strike aircraft and also to help guide the
strike
a/c to their targets.
The range has many different types of targets available. I've heard
reference to SAM sites, trucks, runways, gun emplacements, and other
targets that I can't recall offhand. In addition to the frequencies listed
below, a lot of activity can be heard on the VHF tactical channels used
by the squadron/unit/group.
Jefferson Proving Grounds
Frequency Description
141.400
142.900
143.7625
165.0600
165.0625
165.110
165.1125
173.460
307.100 Range coordination (Indianapolis ARTCC)
* 343.000 Training net - Most active frequency during
training ops. This is the only JPG freq that
I've ever logged any traffic on. Other traffic has
been logged on VHF air-air tactical channels for
the visiting aircraft.
390.100 Range coordination
413.875
413.950
415.000
As you see I have a lot of unknown uses for many of these frequencies.
If anyone has confirmed uses for any of these, please let me know.
Army Air National Guard base at Shelbyville, IN
The ANG base at Shelbyville, IN is home to the 38th Aviation Brigade.
They fly mainly UH-1 Hueys, UH-60 Blackhawks and OH-58 Kiowas.
They used to have several AH-1 Cobras, but those were sent to
Grissom when the UH-60's arrived. Most of the operations you hear are
flight ops to and from Camp Atterbury. They also will do a lot of local
flying around Shelby county and some of the surrounding counties.
Some of their operations in the past have consisted of drug spotting,
where they are funded by the Feds to fly over fields in Indiana to search
for marijuana patches being grown illegally.
Here are the preset frequencies I obtained from a UH-1 during an open
house about three years ago:
ANG Shelbyville UH-1 Preset Frequencies
Frequency Description
41.500 Ops - NFM mode
234.600 Preset 9
235.400 Preset 15
239.000 Preset 8
* 241.100 Preset 1 - This is the most often used freq
241.200 Preset 2
242.400 Preset 18
* 255.400 Preset 12 - FSS Terre Haute
255.800 Preset 17
257.300 Preset 3
263.300 Preset 4
269.400 Preset 14
272.700 Preset 13
* 307.100 Preset 16 - Indianapolis ATC
317.900 Preset 6
341.800 Preset 10
343.900 Preset 5
348.600 Preset 20
354.000 Preset 7
355.500 Preset 11
* 383.300 Preset 19 - Atterbury range control
Here are some frequencies obtained from a Shelbyville-based UH-60
during an open house and air show at Grissom ARB in July 1996.
Unfortunately, I was unable get the preset numbers to go along with
each freq:
ANG Shelbyville UH-60 Helicopter Frequencies
Frequency Description
118.6000 Columbus, IN tower
119.0500
120.9000
121.9000
122.1000
122.4000
122.5500
123.0500
124.4000
124.9500
125.3500
126.2000 Atterbury Unicom
127.1500
128.7500
132.5000
134.8500
139.0000
139.2500
236.6000
239.0000
241.0000
241.1000
242.4000
255.4000
255.8000
257.8000
269.4000
272.7000
284.6000
285.4000
295.7000
307.1000
317.8000
343.8000
343.9000
354.0000
383.3000 Atterbury range control
Grissom Air Force Reserve Base, Peru, IN
Grissom Air Force Reserve (AFRES) Base is located near Peru in north
central Indiana and is home to the 434th Air Refueling Wing. They fly
KC-135's and KC-10's with the callsign MASH. Each summer there is
an open house and air show at this facility. Many types of aircraft are on
display and they even had a B-2 bomber flyby last year. It's a great
opportunity to get aircraft preset freqs, and the best thing of all is it's
all free. This year (1997) the show is on June 7.
Grissom ARB, Peru, IN
Frequency Description
120.0000 Departure (Chicago ctr)
* 121.0500 Approach
* 121.0500 Departure (Chicago ctr)
* 133.7000 Tower
271.8000 ATIS
* 275.8000 Ground
* 295.7000 Tower
311.0000 Command Post (from Ted Moran)
* 318.2000 Approach
321.0000 Command Post (from Ted Moran)
* 324.3000 Clearance delivery
* 344.6000 Weather
* 351.1000 Departure (Chicago ctr)
* 363.8000 Approach
* 372.2000 PTD
MOAs (Military Operations Areas)
Indiana has three MOAs within its boundaries. Up north, there are two
MOAs that lie immediately to the west of the Grissom ARB. First is the
Hill Top MOA, which is the larger of the two. It extends from Grissom
ARB on the east to just beyond Monitcello, IN on the west, and from
central Fulton county on the north to northern Clinton county on the
south. The Hill Top MOA is used often the units of the 122nd FW base
in Ft. Wayne, IN. I've heard a lot of practice air-ground activity,
including simulated night attacks on the city of Logansport for example.
The Twelve Mile MOA straddles the northern boundary of the Hill Top MOA
and covers southern Fulton, northern Cass, and northern Miami
counties. Here are the frequencies I have for these two MOAs. Note
that I list some of the tactical frequencies for the 122nd FW or other
units since they can be active while units are operating in the MOA:
Hill Top/Twelve Mile MOA
Frequency Description
125.375 12 Mile/Hill Top MOA entry/exit (Chicago ARTCC)
* 370.850 12 Mile/Hill Top MOA entry/exit (Chicago ARTCC)
The next section of frequencies for Hill Top/12 Mile MOAs were provided
by Ted Moran, who lives in the Chicago area.
Hill Top/Twelve Mile MOA
Frequency Description
138.300 Air-air tactical, used by 122nd FW, Ft. Wayne, IN
139.700 Air-air tactical, unknown user
139.900 Air-air tactical, unknown user
141.550 Air-air tactical, used by 122nd FW
142.200 Air-air tactical, unknown user
321.300 Past use for 12 Mile & Hill Top MOAs
350.350 12 Mile/Hill Top MOA OPS UHF primary
The third MOA in Indiana is the Red Hills MOA which lies in the
southwestern portion of the state and covers most of Knox county and
parts of Pike and Gibson counties. The bulk of the MOA extends over
into Illinois. It is used by units of the 181st Fighter Group based in Terre
Haute, IN.
Red Hills MOA
Frequency Description
128.300 Entry/exit control - Indianapolis ARTCC
254.250 Primary (freq provided by Ted Moran)
259.400 Aux freq (freq provided by Ted Moran)
284.650 Entry/exit control - Indianapolis ARTCC
Be sure to listen to the air-air tactical frequencies used by your favorite
air unit since they will be active while they are operating in any given
MOA.
That about covers the scanning of military installations based in Indiana,
now let's see what lies just outside of Indiana that can be easily heard.
Note that what I will present here will be from an Indianapolis viewpoint,
since that's where I live. However, if you live at one extreme of the
state, say near Chicago, then you may be able to pick up a lot of action
at MOAs up in Wisconsin for example.
OHIO MILITARY FREQUENCIES
Let's start with Ohio since there's quite a bit of interesting activity
to be
found there. There is a very large restricted airspace area (R-5503)
located in south-central Ohio. This area contains the Buckeye and
Brush Creek MOAs and is home to a great amount of air-air combat
training ops, air-ground ops, and aerial refueling. I have even heard
AWACS aircraft (callsigns Chalice and Bandsaw) based in Tinker AFB,
OK coordinating air intercepts in the Buckeye and Brush Creek MOAs.
There is also a lot of aerial refueling that takes place prior to and after
many of these training and practice operations.
Units found using these areas are the 178th Fighter Group (callsign
Sabre) based in Springfield, OH, the 180th Fighter Wing (callsign Sting)
based in Toledo, OH, the 122nd Fighter Wing (callsign Snake), and also
various refueling aircraft. Listen to their tactical air-air comm
frequencies while they're operating in the MOAs.
Buckeye/Brush Creek MOAs:
Frequency Description
123.925 Entry/exit coordination with Indianapolis ARTCC
138.300
* 261.200 AWACS activity in Buckeye MOA
* 301.600 Air-air refueling freq used in the MOA
The 178th Fighter Group is based at Springfield-Beckley Municipal
Airport, OH and fly F-16 aircraft with the callsign Sabre. The 178th is a
very busy bunch, I hear them pretty much daily performing air-air
combat practice in the Buckeye/Brush Creek MOAs and also in the
Jefferson Proving Grounds and Camp Atterbury ranges performing air-
ground practice. The "Push" frequencies listed below are the preset
numbers for aircraft radios. These "Push" frequency designations were
obtained from an old issue of the American Scannergram which is the
newsletter of the All Ohio Scanner Club (AOSC, http://aosc.rpmdp.com).
178th Fighter Group, Springfield, OH
Frequency Description
* 138.4500 Air-air tactical
* 138.7500 Air-air tactical
* 139.5250 Air-air tactical
* 139.7000 Air-air tactical
* 139.8000 Air-air tactical
* 139.9750 Air-air tactical
* 141.6000 Air-air tactical
* 141.7000 Air-air tactical
141.9750 Air-air tactical
* 142.3000 Air-air tactical
* 143.5250 Air-air tactical
* 143.7250 Air-air tactical
* 230.4000 Push 14
* 251.1000 Push 13
261.4000 Push 2
269.4000 Push 10
* 269.9000 Push 18
* 281.4000 Push 7
* 289.6000 Push 16
* 290.5000 Push 6
301.6000 Used in Sabre ops training
317.5000 Push 12
* 324.5000 Push 5
324.5000 Push 17
* 324.7000 Push 1
* 327.1000 Push 4
* 335.8000 Push 15
* 343.0000 Push 9 - Jefferson Proving Grounds range control
351.8000 Push 8
* 383.1000 Push 3
* 383.3000 Push 11 - Camp Atterbury range control
The 180th Fighter Wing (Ohio ANG callsign Sting) is based in Toledo,
OH. They also fly F-16's and can be heard in the Buckeye/Brush Creek
MOAs as well as in the Jefferson Proving Grounds and Atterbury
ranges. The VHF tactical frequencies in the following list are fairly new
and represent a change from the old set used by the 180th. They are
reprinted here with the permission of the American Scannergram and
were submitted to the American Scannergram by Daryll Symington.
180th Fighter Wing, Toledo, OH
Frequency Description
138.4250 180th FW OH ANG Command Post - V1
139.6250 Air-air tactical - new freq - V7
139.6750 Air-air tactical - new freq - V8
141.6000 Air-air tactical - new freq - V9
143.8500 Air-air tactical - new freq - V10
* 148.1750 Air-air tactical - old freq, now unused
* 148.4500 Air-air tactical - old freq, now unused
* 148.5500 Air-air tactical - old freq, now unused
* 338.9000 Toledo CP - ch 1
348.6000
Next up is Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), located just
outside of Dayton, OH. Believe it or not, I've neglected to do any real
serious scanning of this place up until the last few days. So here's what
I have right now:
Wright Patterson Air Force Base
Frequency Description
* 115.2000 Tower
* 118.8500 WPAFB - Dayton app control
* 122.8500 WPAFB PTD
* 126.9000 Tower
* 230.4000 Flight Tests
236.6000 Tower
251.9000 ASD Avionics
* 252.1000 907th TAG Command Post
* 257.0000 Flight Tests
* 289.6000 Tower
* 327.1000 WPAFB - Dayton app control
335.5000 WPAFB ground
335.8000 Ground Control
* 344.6000 Meteo
* 349.4000 USAF test wing
349.6000 USAF test wing
* 372.2000 WPAFB PTD
379.1000 Ground Control
* 384.8000 Flight Tests
397.0000 Command Post
I also have many other WPAFB frequencies that I didn't list because the
list was pretty old and I questioned their accuracy due to their age.
That's all I have for Ohio military frequencies for now. Of course I'm
always on the lookout for new frequencies and corrections to the ones I
currently have.
KENTUCKY MILITARY FREQUENCIES
Now let's move on to Kentucky military frequencies. I'm afraid I don't
have a whole lot of information here, since I haven't really spent a lot of
time listening for traffic down that way. However, I do have some
presets from an AH-64 helicopter based at Ft. Campbell, KY that I
obtained at the Grissom ARB open house last year:
Ft. Campbell AH-64 Apache Helicopter Frequencies
Frequency Description
33.2000
35.0000
36.9000
75.2500
118.1000
121.8000
122.2000
126.2000
129.0000
129.1000
129.2000
129.3000
139.3000
141.0500
143.3000
143.4000
149.8500
229.0000
229.1000
229.2000
229.3000
241.0000
242.4000
255.6000
267.3000
275.8000
280.9000
302.2000
344.6000
367.3000
372.2000
ILLINOIS MILITARY FREQUENCIES
I also don't have much information for Illinois, however Ted Moran kindly
allowed me to reproduce his list of Illinois Frequencies here:
Miscellaneous Illinois Military Frequencies from Ted Moran
Frequency Description
126.200 O'Hare pilot dispatch
138.200 Springfield, IL F-16's air-air tac
138.300 Springfield, IL F-16's air-air tac & Command Post
138.575 Springfield, IL F-16's air-air tac
139.700 Springfield, IL F-16's air-air tac
139.900 Springfield, IL F-16's air-air tac
141.575 Springfield, IL F-16's air-air tac
157.050 Glennview USCG Air Station Helos
242.400 Illinois Army National Guard Helicopters air-air
257.900 Howard MOA Primary UHF (Central IL)
267.800 Michigan ANG Battle Creek Flight Ops tac
282.800 Glenview USCG Air Station Helos
287.300 Springfield, IL F-16's Command Post "Illini ##" or
"Viper ##" flights
348.900 O'Hare KC-135's Command Post
"Happy ##" flights
372.200 O'Hare pilot dispatch
376.100 Milwaukee WI KC-135 "Upset ##" flights
381.800 Glenview USCG Air Station Helos
321.500 Common alternate channel for IL ANG refueling ops
322.800 Common alternate channel for IL ANG refueling ops
372.300 Common alternate channel for IL ANG refueling ops
392.200 Common alternate channel for IL ANG refueling ops
MICHIGAN MILITARY FREQUENCIES
I don't have much here, but here's some more freqs generously donated
by Ted Moran:
640 A/B MOA (and Associated Restricted Areas) (Over Lake Michigan)
Frequency Description
252.975 Former Secondary, appears out of service
283.775 Secondary "BROCHURE"
283.800 Secondary for a/c without 25 Khz step radios
291.900 640B Refueling Secondary
298.775 Primary "BROCHURE"
298.800 Primary for a/c without 25 Khz step radios
305.500 640A Refueling Primary
319.850 Phantom East
320.900 640A and 640B Refueling Secondary
322.450 Phrost East
348.650 Phantom West
355.550 Phrost Secondary
370.950 Phrost West
377.050 Phantom Secondary
AERIAL REFUELING FREQUENCIES
Although there are no aerial refueling tracks that go over Indiana, there
are many in the surrounding states that are easily heard from Indiana.
Pri denotes that this is the primary frequency used by the refueling track,
and sec is the secondary frequency used. All entry/exit points for aerial
refueling are controlled by the ARTCC controlling agency for the region
in which the track lies.
Aerial Refueling Frequencies
Frequency Description
* 235.1000 AR-328 pri - McGhee-Tyson Airport, TN
* 238.9000 AR-203 pri - Offutt AFB, NE
* 246.0000 AR-315 Indpls ARTCC on entry W
253.5000 AR-315 Indpls ARTCC on exit E
257.6000 AR-111 Memphis ARTCC on entry eastbound
* 259.4000
260.2000 AR-318 sec - Chicago O'Hare, IL
AR-101 sec
276.5000 AR-216 pri
* 282.7000 AR-218H sec - Griffiss AFB, NY
AR-218L sec - Pittsburgh Airport, PA
AR-217 sec
AR-217 pri
* 285.5000 AR-111 Memphis ARTCC on exit eastbound
288.9000
* 290.5500 AR-455 Indpls ARTCC on exit E
291.1000 AR-637 pri - St. Louis Lambert, MO
* 291.9000 AR-455 sec - Seymour-Johnson AFB, NC
AR-640B pri - Volk Field, WI
AR-637 pri
* 295.4000 AR-315 pri - Rickenbacker Int'l. Airport
* 295.8000 AR-633A/B pri - McGhee-Tyson Airport, TN
AR-318 pri - Chicago O'Hare, IL
299.1000 AR-315 used by an a/c during refueling
* 301.6000 Used in area R-5503 (Buckeye/Brush Creek MOA)
305.5000 AR-640A pri - Volk Field, WI
* 314.6000
* 319.7000 AR-016 sec - Offutt AFB, NE
AR-111 sec - Tinker AFB, OK
AR-110 sec - Grissom ARB, IN
AR-315 sec - Rickenbacker Int'l. Airport
AR-203 sec - Offutt AFB, NE
AR-328 sec - McGhee-Tyson Airport, TN
AR-633A/B sec - McGhee-Tyson Airport, TN
AR-637 sec - St. Louis Lambert, MO
AR-216 sec
AR-637 sec
* 320.9000 AR-640A/B sec - Volk Field, WI
AR-640B sec - Volk Field, WI
324.6000 AR-101 pri
* 327.6000 AR-110 pri - Grissom ARB, IN
* 336.1000 AR-455 pri - Seymour-Johnson AFB, NC
338.3000 AR-203 Memphis ARTCC on exit northeastbound
* 343.5000 AR-016 pri - Offutt AFB, NE
* 348.9000 AR-111 pri - Tinker AFB, OK
* 352.6000 AR-218L pri - Pittsburgh airport, PA
354.0000 AR-203 Memphis ARTCC on entry NE and exit
* 362.3000 ??? - entrance
* 366.3000 AR-218H pri - Griffiss AFB, NY
372.0000 AR-315 Indpls ARTCC on entry E
* 379.9000 AR-455 Indpls ARTCC on entry E
FINDING NEW MILITARY FREQUENCIES
Part of the fun of military scanning is in searching for and finding new
frequencies. I'll describe a few of the methods that I currently use to
obtain new milair freqs. There are many ways to go about doing this.
First, of course is use the internet. The advent of the MILCOM mailing
list has made identifying and obtaining new frequencies much easier for
many people. In addition there are the rec.radio.scanner and
alt.radio.scanner newsgroups which can be used as well as a multitude
of WWW sites that have military frequencies on them.
Another good way to get frequencies is to take advantage of the
opportunities presented at military open houses, air shows, or local
events that have military hardware on display. For example, two years
ago at the Armed Forces Weekend event at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway during Indianapolis 500 qualifications, I was able to enter a
mobile air traffic control tower and take a look around. Inside there was
a master map of the area around Camp Atterbury along with loads of
frequencies used for that area. Needless to say I did some quick
copying of all the freqs I could find in that tower. Additionally, be sure
to check inside aircraft cockpits for frequency labels around the instrument
panel as well as any frequencies that are set on the radios themselves.
But always be sure to get the permission of the military person(s) that
are overseeing the equipment display before you start copying down
freqs. I've always done this and have never been turned down; I just
explain that I'm an avid military monitoring enthusiast and would
appreciate having their freqs so I can listen in. Besides, if any of those
frequencies were classified, they wouldn't leave them out in plain sight
for the public to see anyway.
The brute force method of finding new freqs is to use the limit search
capability on your scanner. If you're going to use this method, it's very
advisable to have your scanner under some sort of computer control so
that the active frequencies can be logged to a disk file so you don't have
to sit next to the scanner day and night. I have my PRO-2006 interfaced
via a CE-232 to my 486/100 PC. I have written custom control software
for the CE-232 that allows me to log audio via a Sound Blaster card
along with the frequency event information (freq, mode, duration, signal
strength, date, time, etc). I usually let it run all day while I'm at work
and let it record all of the activity on the freqs I'm scanning or freqs that
become active in a limit search. Having the audio along with the freq
and freq events makes it easy to identify what the frequency is being
used for. I've used this software so start a systematic search through
the milair bands beginning with the 225-400 MHz range. I usually set a
limit search so that the time to search that limit range is1-3 seconds.
This translates to about a 3-5 MHz range on my PRO-2006. If you set
too wide a range in your limit searches, there's an increased possibility
that you may miss more transmissions that you get. A good rule of
thumb is to set the limits so that the time to search that range is
approximately the length of time you expect an average transmission to
last. For milair comms I've found this to be around 2 seconds or so on
average.
I've found a lot of frequencies just be listening to the freqs I currently
have. Pilots are always changing freqs for one reason or another and
very often they say which freq they are changing to. Usually they'll say
something like "push 3 2 4 point 6", which is a pretty good clue as to
what freq you need to punch into your scanner real quick. Listening to
the UHF air traffic control frequencies will also provide new information
since the regional ARTCCs (Air Route Traffic Control Centers)
coordinate the entry and exit of military aircraft into MOAs, refueling
tracks, etc. Often the aircraft entering the MOA will provide the ARTCC
the tactical freq they'll be using while inside the MOA or other area. So
pay attention and listen closely and you have an excellent chance of
finding new freqs using this method. Recording your intercepts will
make this method easier since you can replay a noisy transmission over
and over until you get all of the info you need (what's the frequency,
Kenneth?) out of it.
INTERESTING THINGS I'VE HEARD WHILE MILAIR SCANNING
One of the fun things about military scanning, just like other forms of
scanning, is you never know when you're going to hear something
extremely interesting or intense. Unfortunately due to the nature of the
activity going on, some of these situations can turn tragic.
In early March I was over at my father's house to deliver my old PRO-34
to him and we were listening to the Indiana State Police frequencies. I
happen to catch bits of a conversation that contained some nebulous
hints that indicated something was going on. The transmissions
contained phrases like "is it still in the trees?" and "is it on federal
property?". Immediately I suspected something like an air crash down at
Camp Atterbury, so I grabbed my PRO-43 and quickly punched in
241.100, which is the primary freq used by the helicopters based at
Shelbyville. I immediately found out that a helicopter had crashed down
at Atterbury and they had gotten all of the soldiers out and were airlifting
them to a local hospital using the medevac helicopters of the National
Guard. It turns out that the helo had engine trouble while flying low level
practice missions over Atterbury and went down with four people on
board. Three of the four soldiers survived, however the pilot was killed.
Another incident I overheard a couple of years ago was a KC-135 tanker
was returning to Grissom ARB and had a refueling drogue wrapped
around their refueling boom. They were calling ahead to the base to
have the fire equipment standing by as they landed. I never did hear the
final outcome, but I didn't hear anything on the news about it, so most
likely all went well.
I've also heard many other in-flight emergencies (IFEs), due to engine
problems, generator problems, bombs stuck on the bomb racks, and a
host of other malfunctions. The thing I've noticed most in all of these
situations is the calm businesslike manner in which the pilots go through
their checklists to handle these emergencies. Most of the time these
incidents end without any accident or loss of life, which is a tribute to the
training that the pilots receive and their professional attitude towards
their job.
IS THERE A BEST TIME TO LISTEN?
At least from my location, I've found that there's a lot of activity to be
heard during every weekday and on weekends. Several times a week
there's activity to be found at night on the Jefferson Proving Ground
range and up in the Hill Top/12 Mile MOAs. I've not heard much night
activity on the Camp Atterbury Range, however there is occasionally
some helicopter traffic returning from Atterbury to Shelbyville during the
early darkness hours. Also, the helicopters based at Shelbyville will do
some local flying after dark just to get their night hours in. In general
I've not gotten many milair hits in the hours of 2200 to 0600 local time,
although there is the occasional night flight passing through the area
around 0200 or so and calling ahead for weather conditions at their
destination.
I've probably rambled on more than enough here so I'll go ahead and
wrap it up for this issue. If anyone has any corrections, additions or
deletions to any of the frequencies or information I've given here,
please, please, please send them to me. I try to keep my frequency
information as accurate and up to date as possible, but there's only so
much one person can do. I'll take any of the information I receive from
you and make periodic updates in future editions of the Indiana Scanning
Report. You can email me at [email protected]
Scott Richardson