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Moved To WordPress

KF4LMT's Monitoring Post has moved to WordPress as KF4LMT's Monitoring Post and Blog. I will leave this Blog up for the foreseeable future, but all of this content has been imported to the WordPress blog, so it is in both places. My other blog, Stray Thoughts, has been incorporated into KF4LMT's Monitoring Post and Blog so the new blog is a combination of both. You'll also find my frequency files from the sidebar here in the Monitoring Information page of the new blog.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Loggerhead Turtle Nesting

Last night, I listened to US Fish and Wildlife personnel monitoring and tracking Loggerhead Turtles nesting along the Georgia Coast. Here at home in Savannah, the activity was most easily monitored on the US Fish and Wildlife Skidaway repeater on 172.450. Others may pick up better activity on other repeaters in the linked system: 169.825, 171.650, and 172.650 (Onslow). If you are a night owl and have a scanner that can monitor P25 digital communications, this can be interesting and definitely something different to listen to; the majority of the Loggerhead Turtle related communications are at night because the turtles nest and lay their eggs at night.

ARES Training Information

This just in from Steve Jonas – K4SDJ, one of the Chatham County ARES Assistant Emergency Coordinators in regards to training necessary to work at the Chatham County Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) and the Chatham County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during an ARES activation:

If you are planning to work at anytime with CEMA, you have to complete the Independent Study Courses, IC-100a “An Introduction to ICS” (http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS100A.asp) and IC-700a “An Introduction to NIMS” (http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is700a.asp) by October of this year. You also have to the the EOC course put on by CEMA. I am working to schedule a weekend one day course in the near future. When you get your certificates. please email me a copy so that I can update your ARES listing in the database.

CARS Offering Amatuer Radio Class in June

The Coastal Amateur Radio Society is offering a Technician Class Amateur Radio License Class on June 1, 8, 15, and 22 followed by a VE Session on June 26, 2010. The classes will be held at the Memorial Health University Hospital Hoskins Building from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM each night. The VE Session will be at 9:00 AM on June 26 at Southside Fire Station 1 on White Bluff Rd in conjunction with Amateur Radio Field Day.

For more information, email me at kf4lmt @ comcast.net and I’ll put you in contact with the instructors Guy McDonald, K4GTM and Kevin Bell, KW4B.

New Blog Service?

KF4LMT’s Monitoring Post may be moving to WordPress. I’ll be trying WordPress out for awhile to see how it works; both the Monitoring Post and Stray Thoughts have been combined into the Monitoring Post. A name change may be in the future as well. The WordPress link is: http://kf4lmt.wordpress.com/

One of the advantages WordPress may have is a better mobile interface via a Blackberry App, which is what I’m using to make this post.

Stay tuned for more.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Another Rescue 21 Frequency in Use in the Savannah Area

Another of the Coast Guard Rescue 21 frequencies is in use in the Savannah Area. CG 107, 150.300 MHz, is being used by Coast Guard Air Station Savannah at Hunter Army Airfield. Over the past couple of weeks, I heard it being used in encrypted mode frequently just before and after one of the Air Station Savannah MH-65s departed from or arrived at the Air Station. Yesterday, there were unencrypted transmissions from the Air Station which finally identified who was using the frequency. It seems that CG 107 may be replacing 345.000 MHz as Air Station Savannah Ops; there has been a reduced amount of activity on 345.000 since the activity on CG 107 started.

This now brings the Rescue 21 Channels in use in the Coastal Georgia area to the following:

CG 107 - 150.300 MHz (P25) - Air Station Savannah
CG 113 - 163.1375 MHz (P25) - Station Tybee
CG 118 - 164.900 MHz (P25) - Station Brunswick
CG 410 - 413.000 MHz (P25) - Sector Charleston Air Ops


Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

W2W Armed Forces Day Special Event Station at the Mighty 8th Air Force Museum Featuring the B-17 "City of Savannah"

This weekend, on April 15, the Coastal Amateur Radio Society will operate a special event station in honor of Armed Forces Day at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler, GA. In addition to recognizing members of our Armed Services for their service and duty, the Special Event will feature the B-17 "City of Savannah" which is on display and being restored at the museum. The special event station will be set up under the left wing of the "City of Savannah" facing out toward the Memorial Gardens. Look for W2W on the amateur HF bands from 1300-2100 UTC on Saturday. If you are in the area, drop by and join the crew operating the station.

Special QSL cards will be issued for the event. Listen for QSL address information to be given by the operators during the event; once I know the QSL address I will also post it here.

Air Defense Exercise in Savannah to Take Place in May, More Info

Here is a link to an Air Force article with more info on the Air Defense Exercise to take place in Savannah this month:

http://www.1af.acc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123202876


Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Military Monitoring Recap; April 2010

April was not a good month for monitoring. Between spending time getting the mobile/portable amateur station working with a new antenna, having several amateur radio events, and just not having much time to play radio, I don't have all that much to put in the April 2010 MilCom recap. From Brunswick, almost all of my monitoring time is outdoors because I depend on the mobile scanners and the HTs, so the summer months may lead to shorter logs and recaps because I despise the summer heat (being pasty white, I also tend to burn quickly and painfully...) Anyway, with apologies for being so late, here is the April recap. Hopefully you find it useful.


Hunter AAF
124.975 - Tower
279.575 - Tower
285.425 - Tower
121.800 - Ground
291.675 - Ground
126.200 - Base Ops
345.000 - USCG Air Station Savanah Ops
323.125 - Hunter AAF ATIS
127.525 - Hunter AAF ATIS (New)
77.725 - 224 MI Bn "SUNNY OPS"
127.650 - GCA
143.200 - GCA
307.125 - GCA
317.475 - GCA
406.1625 - Hunter Tower/Base Ops
406.7625 - Hunter POL
415.7625 - Hunter Trans Alert

SUNNY ## (RC-12N, 224 MI Bn)
SUNNY 63 (Cessna 208/U-27, 224 MI Bn)
TESTHAWK ## (H-60, OLR)
COAST GUARD 6510 (MH-65C, Savannah)
COAST GUARD 6542 (MH-65C, Savannah)
COAST GUARD 6545 (MH-65C, Savannah)
COAST GUARD 6565 (MH-65C, Savannah)
ARMY 03774 flight (MH-47G, 160 SOAR)
NAVY 7B 693
PAT 757
TALON 21 (MC-130)


Savannah IAP/CRTC
119.100 - Tower
257.800 - Tower
121.900 - Ground
348.600 - Ground
120.400 - Approach/Departure
353.775 - Approach/Departure
125.300 - Approach/Departure
371.875 - Approach/Departure
118.400 - Approach/Departure
307.225 - Approach/Departure
123.200 - WCM9, Gulfstream
123.575 - Gulfstream Test Ops

GUARD 2028 (UH-60?)
NAVY HP 450 (SH-60, HSL-44)
NAVY HR 506 (SH-60, HSL-48)
GULF TEST ## (Gulfstream Test Flight)


Fort Stewart/Wright AAF
127.350 - Marne Radio
279.626 - Marne Radio
126.250 - Wright AAF Tower
269.275 - Wright AAF Tower


MCAS Beaufort
328.425 - Approach/Departure
292.125 - Approach/Departure
281.800 - Base Ops
264.500 - PMSV
361.800 - VMFA-115 Base
339.500 - VMFA-115 Tac 1
225.675 - VMFA-115 Tac 2
274.500 - VMFA-115 Tac 3
253.100 - VMFA-122 Base
283.400 - VMFA-122 Tac 1
354.325 - VMFA-122 Tac 2
269.700 - VMFA-122 Tac 3
344.200 - VMFA(AW)-224 Base
250.300 - VMFA(AW)-224 Tac 1
258.900 - VMFA(AW)-224 Tac 2
336.225 - VMFA(AW)-224 Tac 3
313.800 - VMFA-251 Base
290.000 - VMFA-251 Tac 1
327.475 - VMFA-251 Tac 2
376.425 - VMFA-251 Tac 3
228.200 - VMFA-312 Base
301.950 - VMFA-312 Tac 1
320.300 - VMFA-312 Tac 2
310.200 - VMFA(AW)-533 Base
299.300 - VMFA(AW)-533 Tac 2
348.825 - VMFA(AW)-533 Tac 3
354.400 - VFA-86 Base
308.925 - VFA-86 Tac 1
363.825 - VFA-86 Tac 2

Note: At some point it seems that VMFA-312 switched to F/A-18Cs
for carrier deployment

NIKEL 3# (F/A-18A, VMFA-122)
BENGAL 4# (F/A-18D, VMFA-224)
TBOLT 5# (F/A-18C, VMFA-251)
CHECK 6# (F/A-18A+, VMFA-312)
HAWK 8# (F/A-18D, VMFA-533)
WINDER ## (F/A-18C, VFA-86)
*NAVY HP 450 (SH-60, HSL-44)
NAVY LL 08 (P-3C, VP-30)
*SUNNY 872


Brunswick/Golden Isles Airport
122.800 - CTAF

CAP 920 (Georgia CAP)
GULF TEST ## (Gulfstream Test)


Charleston AFB
349.400 - Charleston AFB "PALMETTO OPS"
134.100 - Charleston AFB "PALMETTO OPS"
233.950 - PMSV
372.200 - PTD
118.150 - North Field CCT
235.775 - North Field CCT

LIFTER 4# (C-17, 437/315 AW)
JOSA 867


McIntire JNGB
298.300 - 169th FW "SWAMP FOX OPS"
141.825 - 169th FW V14
143.625 - 169th FW V15
141.925 - 169th FS V17

MACE ## (F-16C, 169th FW)
VIPER ## (F-16C, 169th FW)
HEAT ## (F-16C, 169th FW)


Jacksonville IAP
322.400 - Jacksonville App/Dep
351.800 - Jacksonville App/Dep
377.050 - Jacksonville App/Dep
317.700 - Jacksonville IAP Tower
251.250 - 125th FW Maintenance/Ops
273.900 - 125th FW SOF
234.800 - 125th FW Aux 6
253.700 - 125th FW Aux 7
314.200 - 125th FW Aux 8
343.000 - 125th FW Aux 9

FANG (F-15, 125 FW)
SNAKE (F-15, 125 FW)
ROGUE 21 (F-15?, Depot flight?)


NAS Jacksonville/Mayport NS
322.400 - Jacksonville App/Dep
351.800 - Jacksonville App/Dep
377.050 - Jacksonville App/Dep
340.200 - NAS Jax Tower
118.750 - NS Mayport Tower
239.300 - NS Mayport Tower
310.200 - NAS Jax Base Ops
371.350 - VP-5/VP-10 Base

NAVY HP 4## (SH-60, HSL-44)
NAVY HR 5## (SH-60, HSL-48)
NAVY LL ## (P-3C, VP-30)
LANCER ## (P-3C, VP-10)
TIGER ## (P-3C, VP-8)
BANDIT 50 (F-5, VFC-111)
NAVY JA 05


Robins AFB/JSTARS
293.525 - 116th ACW "PEACHTREE OPS"
328.025 - JSTARS Discrete
335.975 - JSTARS Discrete
346.675 - JSTARS Discrete
355.250 - JSTARS Discrete
372.150 - JSTARS Discrete

STARGATE (E-8C backend, 330th CTS)


Ranges/Military Operating Areas
119.225 - Townsend Range
228.400 - Townsend Range
252.900 - Townsend Range
343.750 - Bulldog MOA


SEALORD (USN FACSFAC Jax)
120.950 - North Primary
284.500 - North Primary
267.500 - South Primary
133.950 - South Primary
313.700 - North Secondary
349.800 - W-157 Discrete
376.900 - W-157 Discrete
385.300 - W-157 Discrete


Miscellaneous
364.200 - NORAD AICC
260.900 - NORAD Discrete
143.150 - 23rd FG air-to-air
240.100 - 23rd FG air-to-air

ADORE 31 (E-6)
ADVANCE (JTAC)
BANZAI 0# (A-10, 23rd FG)
DRAGNET (E-3 backend, 966th ACCS)
SENTRY 61 (E-3 frontend, 966th ACCS)


ARTCC
256.900 - Jax Center
269.550 - Jax Center Columbia Low
273.525 - Jax Center Charleston/Metta
277.400 - Jax Center Brunswick Low
282.200 - Jax Center Jekyll Low
282.300 - Jax Center Alma High
285.650 - Jax Center Statesboro High
290.400 - Jax Center Waycross Low
322.500 - Jax Center Savannah Low
351.700 - Jax Center Summerville High
363.200 - Jax Center Allendale Low

323.000 - Atlanta Center Macon
335.650 - Atlanta Center


Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Beachside DX from Jekyll Island

Location: Jekyll Island, GA

What a great afternoon on the radio! I woke up around 3:30 PM this afternoon and headed out to get some early dinner: fried shrimp and clams from Jinrights in Brunswick. After eating, I headed out to Jekyll Island and took up a spot at one of the parking areas along North Beachview to operate the mobile/portable amateur radio station for awhile. I took advantage of the cooler weather today: the temperature was 74 F and the skies clear and blue.


I worked a few stations on 20 Meters before giving the station a test on 80 Meters by checking into the weekly Georgia ARES Net on 3.975:

• 9A5BS, Felix in Zagreb, Croatia
• OP2A, Ivo in Brussels, Belgium
• GM3UEG, Dave on Orkney Island, Scotland

I got a good signal report from Charles, K4GK, net control for the ARES net when I checked in and I heard K4GTM - Guy, KD4PDX - Mark, KB4GNX - Bob, and KI4TYO - Ken from Chatham and Effingham Counties at good levels, I suspect we could have worked each other. I think the HVT400B would work OK for ARES use if the need be.

After the net, I worked some more DX on 15, 17, and 20 Meters. I used the LDG897 tuner to tune the HVT400B's 15 Meter setting for 17 Meters and it worked good enough to make contacts with.

• YV5ZV, Victor in Venzuela on 15 Meters
  
• F6IGS, Gerry in France on 17 Meters
• FM5DN, Leon in Martinique on 17 Meters
• GS3PYE, Lawrence on Island of Harris in Scotland on 20 Meters
• IS0R, a DXpedition on Sardinia (20 Meters)
• ZW7R, a DXpedition on Restinga Island (Brazil) on 20 Meters

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Saturday Afternoon DX and First QSO to Cyprus

Location: Darien, GA

After waking up this afternoon, I decided to head out and try some DX with the mobile/portable amateur radio station. I found a good spot in the Altamaha Waterfowl Management Area in Darien: the Butler Plantation along the bank of the Butler River on US17 in McIntosh County. With the temperature around 90 degrees, the spot near the river provided a nice breeze that made for comfortable operating conditions.





Before trying some DX, I wanted to try working the Coastal Amateur Radio Society special event station W4W, which was in operation to help benefit a wounded 3rd Infantry Division soldier. Even coordinating frequency with Guy, K4GTM, propagation just wouldn't support the contact.

I went on to work 6 DX Stations on 20 Meters from Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, and Cyprus. 20 Meters seemed to be pretty active with DX due to the CQ-M Interational DX contest this weekend. The contact with 5B4AIF was my first contact in Cyprus, so it was a pretty good day on the radio. In the space of just over an hour, I worked:

2014Z - 14.267 - S56DX, Slovenia
2039Z - 14.260 - 5B4AIF, Cyprus
2058Z - 14.239 - S58AL, Slovenia
2103Z - 14.245 - OE6Z, Austria
2106Z - 14.258 - OE3K, Austria
2120Z - 14.248 - 9A4KW, Croatia

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Amateur Radio at the Statesboro Boy Scouts Jamborama

A group of Amateur Radio Operators organized by Philip Neidlinger, KA4KOE set up some Amateur Radio stations at the 100th Anniversary Boy Scouts Jamborama at the Kiwanis Fairground in Statesboro, GA on Saturday, May 1. We demonstrated Amateur Radio to Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts and helped them earn them toward earning their Boy Scout radio badges and Cub Scout pins and belt loops. Several stations were set up, including the Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief Communications Trailer 5-C. Several different types of antennas were used including a military vertical mounted on Philip's truck, a screwdriver type HF mobile antenna on Russ Trio, KA4ZPV's van, and two dipole antennas hung from the Fairground's lamp posts.









Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Not a Bad Day on the Radios

Location: Savannah, GA

April has been a slow military monitoring month for me. First, I've not had as many chances to play radio as I'd like and it seems that when I have had the chances there hasn't been much to hear. Today I've had the opportunity and it's been pretty fun. Overcast skies have kept down Townsend Range activity, but W-157 has been pretty busy with activity from MCAS Beaufort F/A-18s. A couple of flights have also gone to the Bulldog MOA.

I've also played around with ID Tracker on one of the BC-780s to do some recording. I'll be leaving out shortly to do some volunteer work on the B-17 at the Mighty Eighth Air Force museum and I'm going to let ID Tracker run on the 780 with the SUA and Range frequencies in it to see what I miss while I'm gone.

Another one of the new USCG frequencies has been active this morning as well. CG 107 (150.300) has been active with encrypted digital activity. So far there hasn't been any clear traffic, so I've got no idea who is using it or where it is coming from.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Space Shuttle Discovery Landing

Yesterday morning, I had hopes of getting a visual on the Shuttle Discovery as well as hearing it as it passed off of the Brunswick coast en route to landing at the Kennedy Space Center. Weather conspired against that attempt and it was scrubbed, leading to a 9:08 AM landing at the Space Center. The 9:08 landing path came across south Georgia well west of Brunswick, so I decided to still give hearing it a try. I set the BC-780 in the car on 259.700 AM and opened the squelch, a few minutes later I caught the first of 4-5 transmissions. None of the transmissions I caught were very strong, but they were quite readable. What I was hearing was about 1 second ahead of what was coming across the audio feed from NASA TV and an online scanner that Dan, KF4MND was providing via the 442.700 repeater in Savannah.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Opek HVT400B Mobile HF Antenna

Location: Brunswick, GA

Last week, I ordered an Opek HVT400B mobile HF antenna from R&L Electronics. The best way I could describe the HVT400B is that is a "poor man's" Outbacker. It is a multiband antenna (80/40/20/15/10/6/2/70cm) that uses taps and whip length adjustments to tune. The antenna and a tri-mag mount arrived this afternoon via UPS and I put them on the car this evening to try it out.

Using my FT-897D and LDG tuner (I've yet to try the antenna without the tuner) I worked Europe and Africa on 20 and 15 Meters! The first thing I did was check 40 Meters. I didn't hear anyone calling CQ, so I didn't get a chance to see how it would transmit; it was receiving quite well and I don't expect that there will be any problems transmitting. When I changed the tap for 20 Meters, I quickly came across DK1II, Franz from Germany working DX. I answered one of his QRZ calls and received a 59 report! That's not bad for an inexpensive antenna and 100 watts! I tuned up the band a bit farther and found S58FA, Freddie from Slovenia working DX; Freddie gave me a 57 report. I decided to try 15 Meters next, changing the tap and extending the whip. Almost immediately I came across TL0A in the Central African Republic working stations; he gave me a 55 report, which was the same as the station he worked before me. Once again, not bad for a mobile installation!

I'm looking forward to giving the antenna a try on 80 Meters soon. I'm hoping that it will do well enough to allow me to check in to the weekly Georgia ARES net on 3.975 on Sundays.

So far, I'm quite pleased, this looks like it will be a nice antenna to use for the portable HF station here in Brunswick!

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Air Defense Exercise in Savannah to Take Place in May

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=111208452245392

The military will conduct an air defense exercise in the Savannah area from 16-20 May. The link above has a short 1 minute video about the exercise and gives us a general idea of what to expect from it and what might be involved in it. It is related to a previous exercise held in Savannah during January; there is a link to a Savannah Morning News story on it in a previous blog post.

The SC Army National Guard's 263rd Army Air and Missile Defense Command (263rd AAMDC) will be a player. According to the this article, they will be in Savannah (and the exercise will be from) 10-24 May.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Chatham-Effingham TRS Upgrades to SmartX

Yesterday evening, I heard an announcement on the Chatham-Efffingham TRS that there would be a "cutover" from midnight to 6AM during which there would be coverage issues at the various sites during the night. The first thing that immediately jumped to my mind was rebanding, so I checked the FCC database again but didn't find any new licenses. My curiosity was getting the best of me, so I took a short nap then got up around midnight to hear what I could hear.

It quickly became apparent that this was not rebanding related. Radio techs were discussing what they were doing and I heard several mentions of SmartX. SmartX, from what I read on a Motorola press release I found in a web search, is an upgrade to the system that will allow for a gradual transition to a P25 system:

"An ASTRO 25 system with SmartX supports both Project 25 (P25) sites and SmartZone sites, allowing a combination of analog and P25 digital radios to operate on the network for enhanced interoperability and flexibility. ASTRO 25 with SmartX enables agencies to gradually expand, upgrade or replace RF sites, consoles and subscribers to ASTRO 25."

Additionally, it appears that it will allow the use of both the current system and P25 systems to work together:

"ASTRO 25 with SmartX allows agencies to fully leverage their existing RF sites, dispatch console and subscriber investments, while offering the highest levels of interoperability between legacy and P25 users. Automatically supporting mixed talkgroups with no patching required, SmartX maximizes user interoperability during migration."

It is my guess that this is a signal that we should look for more changes in the not too distant future.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Aircraft Down in SC - Final Update

The word from South Carolina is that there was no aircraft crash. What happened is that Air Traffic Control lost communications with the aircraft. Later, communications were re-established and it was determined that everything was fine and that the aircraft had not crashed.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Aircraft Down in SC - Update

I just got word from a fellow radio hobbyist in SC that the aircraft is down in Jasper County, SC. He mentioned that Jasper County FD and a Coast Guard helicopter are involved in the search; the USCG helicopter is probably 6565, which I have heard Sector Charleston replying to on 157.050. No further info is available at this time.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT