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Author Topic: Super Bowl Military Air Comms  (Read 30541 times)

Offline av8tor172

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Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« on: January 30, 2014, 10:02:23 AM »
I have been getting questions about Military Comms relating to the Super Bowl. Here's what I know so far about Super Bowl activity.

TFR's, (Temporary Flight Restrictions) starting well before they go into effect we can bet there are going to be aircraft flying CAP (Combat Air Patrol) missions over the NJ/NY area, you can bet the house on that!

This is right from the FAA, nothing secret about it, in fact the FAA wants ALL pilots to know this ahead of time.  The 1st TFR goes into effect on 2/2/2014 at 17:00Z and lasts until 2/2/2014 at 21:59Z. This 1st TFR looks to be just right around the stadium, from the surface up to 5,000'.  The minute that TFR expires a 2nd TFR will go into effect on 2/2/2014 at 22:00Z and lasts until 2/3/2014 at 04:59Z. This 2nd TFR looks to be about a 30 mile ring around the stadium from the surface up to 18,000'.

Any plane who wonders into the TFR will be warned on frequency 121.5 MHz to leave the area or be intercepted or shoot down. That message might also be transmitted on 243.0 MHz.  These are the 2 aviation emergency frequencies.  I strongly suggest you keep these programmed in your scanner!

I'm just guessing there probably will be an AWACS flying AICC overhead controlling CAP aircraft.  If you have known AWACS freqs for your area, this will be a good start.

Most CAP missions are flown around 20,000' plus/minus.  Also these fighters will need to be refueled, so again your known air-refuel freqs might have some activity.  Most air-refuel missions are conducted no higher than 26,000' but higher than what CAP aircraft will be flying who are on mission.

At the altitude the CAP planes will be flying they will be in New York Center airspace.  However I don't know if they'll need to communicate with ZNY controllers or not, AWACS might coordinate airspace issues with ZNY.  However the ZNY UHF freqs for your area might be worth programming in: http://milaircomms.com/artcc_zny.html

I am sure there will be US Coast Guards assets in the area as well, 345.000 MHz is a common freq they use, but any known USCG freq could be used.

So far I do have reports of F-16's out of Andrews AFB have been flying training missions in the area, they have been on 143.600 MHz AM There have been some Customs Border Patrol (CBP) flying the area using 260.9000 (A well known NORAD frequency).  I also had a report of 30 military aircraft were flying high-altitude circles around the Elmira NY area the other day, don't know if any connection to the Super Bowl.

A scanner during this time placed in search mode will be worth its weight in gold!  Granted it will be hard to search the entire UHF MilAir band with 1 scanner, but 1 scanner in search is better than nothing.  If you have 2 scanners, use 1 to search 225.000-302.500 and the second to search 302.500-380.000 there by splitting the workload. You will want to search in AM mode and use 25 KHz steps.

Searching is more important than anything! A few years ago I stopped scanning banks of freqs.  I now use a minimum of 8 Uniden BC-780XLT scanners, each searching a different 20 MHz section of the UHF MilAir band.  With this setup I can cover the entire 225-380 range in about 8 seconds!  Here is an article I wrote on searching: http://milaircomms.com/scanner_search_mode.html

Another important item you might not know unless you do a lot of MilAir scanning is if you hear a pilot say "PUSH TO" your ears should perk up!  Listen for the numbers that come after the phrase "PUSH TO"  that will be a frequency he will be changing to.

Back in 2005 the Super Bowl was held in Jacksonville FL, about 100 miles north of me (I am in the Daytona Beach, FL area).  I posted to my website the audio I recorded from the CAP missions during the game.  You can find them here: http://milaircomms.com/audio_library.html scroll about half way down the page and you'll see "Super Bowl Combat Air Patrol Comms".  You might want to take a listen so you'll know what you can expect to hear.

If you hear comms on the MilAir bands, please spot them on the MilAirComms Spotter Network (http://milaircomms.com/mil_air_spotters_network.html) so that others can enjoy.  Also monitor the Spotters Network for freqs other users spot.  If everyone contributes a little it will add up to a lot of fun!

Wow, I started typing and was only going to say a few things, here I almost wrote an entire article...Oh well, I hope it helps in your Super Bowl Military Scanning Experience....

Thanks
George
www.MilAirComms.com



Offline av8tor172

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2014, 10:03:20 AM »
Earlier this morning I made a post on Super Bowl Military comms.  It looks like some of what I said was confirmed by a very reliable source via an email response I just received.  Due to who this source his I can't reveal who he is, hope you understand.

Basically he says that NY TRACON operates a separate radar position called Yankee CAP from 20,000' to 24,000' just for the purpose of CAP (Combat Air Patrol) missions.  New York Center (ZNY) releases the airspace to them for CAP missions.  They mostly have been use VHF freqs lately since almost all the fighters up there now have VHF capability.

YANKEE CAP comms will be on 124.95 and they'll use 353.75 has a backup.  When leaving or entering CAP airspace, NYZ works them on 125.325, using 282.30 as a backup.  At times Boston Center (ZBW) gets involved with Bangor tankers, VT & MA Air National Guard birds on 134.000 (317.700 backup) and 125.575 (290.350 backup).

During an intercept they will remain on 124.950 or might be switched to an approached sector within N90 (NY TRACON), this could be 1 of many frequencies within NY TRACON based on the sector of the intercept.

HUNTRESS (NORAD) use to directly make the warning calls on 121.500 MHz from a remote site in the area.  However now NY TRACON has been tasked with making those warning calls on 121.500 MHz.  The source states he has never heard the warning calls on 243.000 MHz (here in Florida I've heard them simulcast on both freqs).

HUNTRESS normally uses 260.900 MHz for comms with CAP aircraft. However lately all comms, including refueling now appear to stay on 260.900 MHz.

My source says he has never heard AWACS in support (doesn't mean it can't happen for an event as large as this).  HUNTRESS is slaved off NY TRACON's multiple radar sites in the NYC area making the need for AWACS a none issue.

Hope this helps all those wanting to monitor Super Bowl Military comms.  Please spot what you hear to the MilAir Comms Spotters network, if everyone contributes a little, everyone will be helped a lot.

Thanks
George
www.MilAirComms.com

Offline InterpreDemon

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2014, 12:09:20 PM »
Dave and I have the ability to set up a temporary feed for this, would like to know the suggested frequencies in order of priority. Also, my understanding is that they were going to have a practice run at around 4AM this week. Also wondering if the blimp will be there and who they communicate with while in orbit.

Offline av8tor172

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2014, 12:43:10 PM »
Since I'm not in the New York area I would take a guess based on what others (some pretty high up in the foodchain) are telling me. But based on my last update I posted I would give highest priority to:

260.900 MHz (HUNTRESS - NORAD)
121.500 MHz (intercept/warning calls to TFR intruders)
124.950 MHz (YANKEE CAP controlled by NY TRACON N90)
353.750 MHz (YANKEE CAP Backup)

Secondary priority:
125.325 MHz (ZNY w/military planes in/out of CAP)
282.300 MHz (ZNY w/military planes in/out of CAP backup)

If you do setup a live stream on these please let me know.  I would be glad to put a link from my www.MilAirComms.com to the Liveatc.net page containing info on your stream.

George - Daytona Beach FL
www.MilAirComms.com

Offline InterpreDemon

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2014, 01:21:37 PM »
We'll see what we can do. The practice session was apparently yesterday morning, so that's out, and there is going to be no blimp this year.

Offline MikeNYC

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2014, 02:49:21 PM »
I'll see if I can get these added to the current NYC MilAir feed today or tomorrow, too.

Offline av8tor172

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #6 on: January 30, 2014, 03:43:02 PM »
Here's another freq reported active in the area:
168.8375 MHz but this one is FM, repeat FM.

It is a CBP (Customs Boarder Patrol) aircraft, callsign OMAHA.  I am not sure if 168.8375 is a repeater or not, but here in FL we have several CBP FM repeaters around that frequency. 

Sometimes pretty interesting, sometimes not.  Sometimes encrypted, sometimes not (50/50 shot) But I have heard real-world chases and surveillance on those repeater in the clear many times.

That freq was being used in NYC by CBP aircraft yesterday and today in connection with Super Bowl.

George

Offline MikeNYC

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2014, 05:07:06 PM »
Have added all of those relevant freqs mentioned to NYC MilAir/MISC feed, except 125.325 as ZNY as a lot of irrelevant traffic on it.

Offline av8tor172

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #8 on: January 30, 2014, 05:29:24 PM »
Under what feed / airport should I look for to find these special NYC streamed freqs?

Thanks
George
www.MilAirComms.com

Offline MikeNYC

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #9 on: January 30, 2014, 05:41:19 PM »
George, they're listed under LGA, JFK and EWR, I believe...or go here:

http://www.liveatc.net/flisten.php?mount=nyc_milair&icao=klga

Offline InterpreDemon

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #10 on: January 30, 2014, 07:44:49 PM »
"Here's another freq reported active in the area: 168.8375 MHz but this one is FM, repeat FM. It is a CBP (Customs Boarder Patrol) aircraft, callsign OMAHA."

I heard two aircraft using the OMAHA handle coordinate a frequency change on 260.9 today... perhaps this is the "other" frequency they were cryptically referring to. I'll dial it in, too.

Offline av8tor172

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #11 on: January 30, 2014, 08:55:35 PM »
Here in Florida OMAHA's usually will use one of the 168.xxx MHz FM freqs to talk with ground units, usually the 168 freqs are repeaters. We have daily traffic on the 168 MHz CBP repeaters. Some encrypted, some not.  When OMAHA's talking to Military planes or other CBP air assets they usually will use a NORAD freq, 260.900 being most common.

George
www.MilAirComms.com

Offline dave

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #12 on: January 31, 2014, 05:54:42 PM »
We took the 168 stuff out today because it sounded like they had P25 on there and it's too disturbing to try and listen to a mixed analog/P25 channel.

Offline JohnN

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #13 on: February 01, 2014, 05:13:37 PM »
I wonder if there's going to be any Super Bowl chatter on my feed. Think there will be any military ops out of Lakehurst/McGuire? Either way, I'll be sure to be giving a listen tomorrow.

Offline InterpreDemon

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #14 on: February 01, 2014, 08:28:40 PM »
Also took out 138.425 CAP 'cause it was hanging the squelch from time to time.

have about fifteen military frequencies in there, air to air, refueling freqs for AR608 & 636, Giant killer radar and such, but all seems quiet for now, busiest traffic seems to be the NYPD helos.

Anybody with suggestions just post them and we'll dial them in. It's a remotely programmable scanner, so we can try them out in real time.

Offline MikeNYC

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #15 on: February 02, 2014, 11:30:23 AM »
Quote
It's a remotely programmable scanner, so we can try them out in real time.
Nice, what model are you using that's remotely programmable? I'm envious as my site is remote, and I can't change freqs on the fly. Also, where in NYC is your feed located? My feeds are in Chelsea in Manhattan.

Offline av8tor172

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #16 on: February 02, 2014, 11:51:49 AM »
If you have a scanner that is supported by the ProScan software package then you can listen, program or do anything remotely. 

The software supports: BCD996XT, BCD396XT, BCT15X, BC346XT, BC346XTC, BCD996T, BCD396T, BCT15, BR330T, BC796D, BC785D, BC780XLT, BC296D, and BC250D

I personally use Proscan on the BCT15x, and several BC780XLt's  Its nice to add a freq on the fly remotely.  And better yet, you can run as many instances of ProScan on the same computer as you want.  I've had as many as 4 running at the same time, same computer and worked fine.

George
www.MilAirComms.com

Offline InterpreDemon

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #17 on: February 02, 2014, 01:41:18 PM »
It's a 785, and I'm running ScanControl to program it. It's mainly a back-up receiver at my ARINC site on the south shore of Long Island, used to track down interference, test various frequencies and such, but as the scanner has two audio outputs and the record output is selectable for each channel, there's an extra sound card at the site for the record output of this receiver that Dave can patch to when needed, primarily for back-ups or frequency changes at JFK (like when they changed CAMRN last Fall). When not in special use I pull the main audio via a SIP connection to CT and mix it into one of my HF feeds, but I also run Skype on the host computer with a high res macro video camera aimed at the scanner display and set to auto-answer so I can literally call and watch that scanner from my iPod or Kindle, which I do all the time (photo attached).

The whole thing, scanner, Dell SX-260, camera and power supplies is an integrated, portable 3U rack cage, was used originally to evaluate the site and will doubtless be used to evaluate others in the future. Photo is attached with the light shade flipped up so you can see the layout.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2014, 02:50:37 PM by InterpreDemon »

Offline mojobreakfast

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #18 on: February 02, 2014, 04:35:24 PM »
I am in the Boston suburbs and I just heard a bit of YANKEE CAP related chatter on 260.900.

Offline InterpreDemon

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #19 on: February 02, 2014, 04:46:11 PM »
Yeah, sounds like things are heating up a bit

Offline mojobreakfast

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #20 on: February 02, 2014, 04:51:12 PM »
I don't expect to hear much being up in Boston, but it sounded like someone was either going into or departing Barnes as part of the YANKEE CAP. Presumably these would be the F-15's based at Barnes.

Offline RonR

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Re:
« Reply #21 on: February 02, 2014, 07:54:35 PM »
I'm hearing Omaha flights talking to LGA TCA on 126.05

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

Offline InterpreDemon

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Re: Super Bowl Military Air Comms
« Reply #22 on: February 02, 2014, 08:07:10 PM »
I'll add it