MILITARY CALLSIGN LIST EXPANDED!

I have just done a BIG update to the Military Callsign List.
Where known I have added confirmed Air to Air/CP frequencies.
If you can provide any updates to the list please feel free to contact me at: ohioscan@gmail.com and we will add them with the next update.

Enjoy,
Mark

THE THUNDERBIRDS ARE IN TOWN!

This coming weekend is the 2007 Vectren Dayton Air Show at James M. Cox Dayton International Airport. The main attraction this year is the U.S.A.F. Thunderbirds. Here is a list of frequencies to keep a scanner on for activity. Some of these were last confirmed at the 2005 show:


AERONAUTICAL:

123.150 Common Discrete Channel
126.150 Airshow Control
130.500 Brazilian Air Force
130.650 Brazilian Air Force
132.250 Brazilian Air Force
140.400 Thunderbirds "T-BIRD OPS"
141.850 Thunderbirds "VICTOR 2", Air to Air
142.575 Thunderbirds Air to Ground (NBFM)
143.850 Thunderbirds "VICTOR 1" , Air to Air/PA System
235.200 Thunderbirds Control/Communications Cart
235.250 Thunderbirds "UNIFORM 1" / Solos/
322.950 Thunderbirds "UNIFORM 2"
316.700 * DAY Approach/Departure /Fly-Bys/
384.550 Air Show Control UHF


GROUND SUPPORT (NBFM):



148.1250 Civil Air Patrol
216.7275 Thunderbirds Audio Program
216.9750 Thunderbirds Pilot Audio
397.3750 ISR 04 (used by USAF Cadets for support)
413.2750 DCS 431 Thunderbirds Maintenance
413.3250 DCS 503 Thunderbirds Maintenance
467.8500 Food Operations
469.5000 DCS 732 Ground Support
469.5500 DCS 072 Food Operations
901.5000 Thunderbirds Cart Headsets
905.3500 Thunderbirds Cart Headsets


* = Correction

Search the 413 - 414 MHz band for more Thunderbirds ground activity some of which will be analog and some P-25 digital.

Please post any active frequencies you can confirm in our comments section!

AERIAL REFUELING FREQUENCY UPDATE

There have been several frequency changes to area Aerial Refueling Routes (AR). Frequencies in RED are new. Make note of these and program your scanners accordingly. Do not forget, you can use the comment section to post any activity you are hearing on these.



AR Route     Primary   Secondary   Entry     Exit     Controlling Center

AR-217	283.9000	282.7000	298.9500	294.6500	CLEVELAND
AR-218	274.4500	282.7000	299.2000	379.2000	CLEVELAND
AR-219	305.5000	282.7000	363.1000	288.3000	CLEVELAND
AR-220	274.4500	282.7000	299.2000	291.6500	CLEVELAND
AR-315 E	343.2500	236.6500	353.6500	257.8500	INDIANAPOLIS
AR-315 W	343.2500	236.6500	317.6700	291.6200	INDIANAPOLIS
AR-455 E	336.1000	291.9000	293.2200	290.5500	INDIANAPOLIS
AR-455 W	336.1000	291.9000	290.5500	377.1200	INDIANAPOLIS

A Dry Spell

Apologies for the long dry spell. Things have been rather slow around here Milair-wise, on top of that I am now working day shift for the summer so that has cut into my monitoring time.

RNLAF training continues on 143.8750 and 138.3500.
I have also noticed the 121st ARW out Rickenbacker ANGB has been quite active lately on 238.800.

Please feel free to let us know what you are hearing in the comments section below.

The Flying Dutchmen in Ohio Skies

On Tuesday May 8th in the 9 - 11 AM time frame we heard the first training session flown by the Royal Netherlands Air Force over the Buckeye State. We were unable to catch a callsign, but there seemed to be at least 3 pilots using a combination of Dutch and accented English. Nearly all of the communications took place on the 178th FW Air Tactical frequency of 143.875. The RNLAF Squadron 306 training over Ohio has begun!

ROYAL RECEPTION

This coming Saturday May 5th presents a chance for some interesting monitoring for our area.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip will be attending the 133rd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

The current trip itinerary is for her to travel on a chartered Boeing 777 (most likely British Airways). The published schedule does not mention any stopovers in Lexington, but she does own a horse farm in the area. Arrival via Norfolk, VA may be Friday evening or Saturday morning at either Lexington or Louisville or both.

If the 777 is flown by the Royal Air Force No. 32 Squadron it may be using the callsign "KITTYHAWK", followed by several numbers, then followed by "ROMEO" to signify a Royal Family Flight. KITTYHAWK is the callsign of RAF Royal Squadron.

Both Louisville International Airport - Standiford Field (KSDF)and Blue Grass Airport (KLEX)in Lexington are controlled by Indianapolis Center (ZID). We will have to chance to hear them on ZID frequencies and approach frequencies for Lexington and Louisville.

Click on the links to the right for Indianapolis Center frequencies, here we list the approach frequencies for KSDF and KLEX:

LEXINGTON - KLEX

120.150 -- Approach/Departure (040-220)
120.750 -- Approach/Departure (221-039)
125.000 -- Approach/Departure
259.300 -- Approach/Departure (040-220)
298.900 -- Approach/Departure (221-039)


LOUISVILLE - KSDF

123.675 -- Approach/Departure West
132.075 -- Approach/Departure East
134.150 -- Approach
327.000 -- Approach/Departure


Expect this aircraft to be handled in the same manner as Air Force One.

RNLAF Units at Springfield

We have more information on the RNLAF units now based at Springfield-Beckley (KSGH).


The Dutch pilots being trained at KSGH are members of the 306th Training Squadron based at Vokel Airbase. However, the F-16s are a mixture from various other Royal Netherlands Air Force squadrons. In particular the first wave of aircraft are from the 322nd and 323rd Squadrons based out of Leeuwarden Airbase. The current Dutch aircraft present at KSGH should be:

J-208 -- F-16BM
J-623 -- F-16AM
J-209 -- F-16BM
J-367 -- F-16AM
J-369 -- F-16AM
J-010 -- F-16AM




Frequencies from the RNLAF aircraft we should be monitoring are:


306th Training Squadron "Hawks"




142.975 V13
142.275 V16
142.075 V17
142.475 V18
143.275 V19


322nd and 323rd Squadrons

129.275
140.125
140.225
140.575
140.625
142.025

Locally in the Netherlands the 306th Sqn are known to use the following callsigns:

BOXER, CONDOR, NAF306, RAZOR, REBEL, ROVER and SPIDER.

A big THANK YOU to Marcel for passing along the above information!

Get your receivers programmed and let the monitoring begin!!

Major Exercise Scheduled: ARDENT SENTRY/NORTHERN EDGE 2007

Beginning next week in the April 30 through May 10, 2007 time frame. A major federal exercise will take place in FEMA Region 1 (CT, MA, ME, NH RI, VT). The Military code name is: "ARDENT SENTRY/NORTHERN EDGE 2007" and it will simulate a landfall by Hurricane Yvette. This should still pose a listening opportunity for those of us in and around Ohio.

Keep an ear on the NORAD NE Sector frequencies:

228.900 -- HUNTRESS (NORAD NE SECTOR)
234.600 -- NORAD BLUE 34
252.000 -- NORAD BLUE 11
254.475 -- HUNTRESS
260.900 -- HUNTRESS
265.000 -- NORAD BLUE 14
271.000 -- NORAD BLUE 15
282.600 -- NORAD BLUE 17
288.400 -- NORAD BLUE 19
293.600 -- HUNTRESS
295.800 -- NORAD BLUE 20
300.125 -- NORAD BLUE 40
319.750 -- HUNTRESS

Others to try are:

Civil Air Patrol, National Guard, Air National Guard and the SHARES frequencies on HF. These are just a few, you may want to set up a receiver in search mode to find others.

THE FIRST WAVE HAS ARRIVED!

Half a dozen F-16s of the Royal Netherlands Air Force arrived at KSGH on Tuesday. 15 Dutch Technicians arrived at WPAFB on Tuesday as well. Eight more jets are expected for a total of 14. Official ceremonies to begin the deployment are scheduled for Tuesday April 24th, although we should expect training activity to begin any day now.

Darryl, KB8BKU notes hearing RAMP OPS on 149.0375 from Springfield-Beckley MAP (KSGH). Darryl notes this seems to be a low powered repeater and is hard to hear from his QTH 15 miles west and using a 9db gain antenna.

He notes the same level on 163.3750 PL 71.9, but has not determined the use of it yet.

The RNAF training deployment is here to stay for at least the next three years. Talks to extend the deployment beyond the original three year deal are underway.

180th FW Night Operations

The 180th FW out of Toledo are conducting night ops in Brush Creek MOA as of 10:00 PM Thursday. They are using their standard callsign STING on the following:

139.6250 -- Air to Air
141.6000 -- ACM
291.7250 -- Cleveland Center
338.9000 -- 180th FW Command Post

Wright-Patterson AFB Trunked System Decoded!

Well, thanks to the effort of several area listeners the new WPAFB TRS has been decoded! I discovered today it is NOT a true P-25 system as it is still running at 3600 Baud. The SysID of 2B1C remains the same. It appears that the talkgroups remain the same, the main change is the switch to digital voice and new frequencies. Here is the set up you need
for your digital scanner to track the system:

Base: 406.3500
Offset: 380
Step: 12.50 kHz

FREQUENCIES:

408.76250
408.96250
409.16250
409.36250
409.56250
409.96250
410.16250
410.36250
410.56250
410.76250

Wright-Patterson AFB TRS is now DIGITAL!!

It appears that the Wright-Patterson AFB Trunked Radio System has finally switched to digital as several listeners have noted a change since Friday March 30. We have been expecting this to happen since 2004, not sure why it took so long.

Here is what Darryl Trump, KB8BKU has monitored in analog mode on Saturday March 31st:

408.7625 Control Channel
408.9625
409.1625
409.3625
409.5625


When I get an opportunity to get over that way I will check it further with my Pro-96 and Trunker to gather more information
on it.

Dutch Air Force Due

16 Pilots and 14 F-16s are due to arrive any day now at Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport (KSGH). Keep an ear on the local aero frequencies for their arrival.





118.850 ---- Dayton Approach/Departure (091-180) /327.100/
120.700 ---- Springfield-Beckley Tower /291.7750/
256.700 ---- Indianapolis Center
281.400 ---- Indianapolis Center Merwyn RCAG Low
290.500 ---- Indianapolis Center London RCAG
317.625 ---- Indianapolis Center

If anyone knows any of the callsigns used by the Dutch Air Force, or any frequencies they may use, please post your comments.

BACK IN ACTION

I have the IBM ThinkPad 760ED and Probe v7 back up and running. I'm slowly getting the frequencies back into it, up to 205 so far.


Here is what is being heard as of 10:20 AM local this morning:




138.3500 --- CLAW (flight of 4), 178th FW OHANG Springfield V14
139.5500 --- CLAW Air Tactical in R-5503
143.8750 --- CLAW Air Combat Maneuvers
240.3500 --- 123rd ACS Blue Ash coordinating CLAW flight
316.7000 --- CLAW wkg Dayton Approach
291.7750 --- CLAW w/ Springfield Tower RTB


Afternoon session as of 1:15 PM:

142.5500 ---- COACH 21 - 24 (Flight of 4) Air Tactical
240.3500 ---- COACH w/ BLUE ASH for ACM (this may possibly be Uniform 15 in their radios)

My Opto OS456 and Probe

Apologies for the long dry spell. My main equipment for scanning
the multitude of military frequencies for many years has been my
Pro-2006 w/OS456 board installed and running Probe v7 on my
IBM Thinkpad. Well, back in late January I came home from work
to find the IBM Thinkpad displaying the BSOD or
"Blue Screen of Death". The hard drive died and thus all my data.
Now on all my other computers I keep everything backed up.
However, since I only used that one for running Probe 24/7
I never took the time. So....basically since then I have only
been doing intermittent milair listening using my Pro-96
and Pro-97 handhelds, and running Trunker on Ohio MARCS
sites with the 2006 and desktop computer.

A few days ago, I picked up another IBM Thinkpad from a friend,
so as soon as I can get Windows 98 loaded on it (it has Win95)
and Probe reloaded I'll be back up and monitoring Milair 24/7
once again.

If you ever find a Pro-2006 with an Opto OS456 board
pre-installed up for sale, jump on it! This has to be one
of the best scanning set-ups ever designed.

NEW Frequency for the area 240.3500 MHz

For the past week or so, area monitors along with myself have
caught a new frequency active; 240.3500 MHz is BLUE ASH CONTROL. This is being used by the 123rd Air Control Squadron, Ohio Air National Guard based at Blue Ash Municipal Airport in Cincinnati for Air Combat Maneuvers (ACM) for R-5503A/B Brush Creek and Buckeye MOAs. This new frequency is providing some great listening for the area, and should become even more active when the 178th begins training the Dutch pilots in May.

Springfield-Beckley Activity To Increase

There will soon be more to listen to in the skies over southern Ohio.
The Dutch government recently signed a letter of agreement with the United States. This will have Ohio Air National Guard pilots of the 178th Fighter Wing at Springfield-Beckley MAP training 16 Dutch Fighter Pilots each year beginning in May through 2010. US Senators Mike DeWine (outgoing) and George Voinovich (incumbent) worked on adding the new mission to the 178th. This will add 105 full time jobs and help bring millions of dollars into the local economy. Base workers will maintain 14 Dutch jets at Springfield. In June of 2005 the base was saved from the BRAC by basing a unit of military analysts there where they will review different types of data like satellite imagery. This should provide us military monitors in Ohio with some interesting listening for the next three years.