St. Paul MN Scanning Update

I was recently in St. Paul, Minnesota for some preliminary meetings regarding broadcast coverage of the Republican National Convention in September. While there I found some activity in the downtown area.

164.3375 MHz, 167.9 - US Postal Service operations
165.2375 MHz, 100.0 - DHS Customs & Border Protection NET1
167.2625 MHz, P-25 - Clear testing of what might be some new radio system. probably FBI
167.4375 MHz, P-25
167.6375 MHz, P-25
167.8875 MHz - VA Paging
170.6250 MHz - P-25
170.7375 MHz - P-25
170.7625 MHz, D271 - Unknown agency
171.6875 MHz, P-25
173.8125 MHz, P-25
407.0000 MHz, P-25 - DHS Federal Protective Service

Most of the VHF P-25 was encrypted or too short to confirm it's use. The clear traffic was a lot of testing. I don't know if these are new to the St. Paul area or not.

McCain Campaign Update

As I posted a couple of weeks ago, Sen. John McCain has recently been confirmed as having Secret Service protection as he campaigns across the US. He had previously dismissed the security detail from the Secret Service, but apparently reconsidered as the conventions draw closer.

Now, I have received word of Sen. McCain's Secret Service call sign. It is reported as "PHOENIX", which is appropriate in several ways. This now joins the list of other candidate call signs listed below.

Hillary Clinton - EVERGREEN
Bill Clinton - EAGLE

John McCain - PHOENIX
Cindy McCain - ?

Barack Obama - RENEGADE
Michelle Obama - RENAISSANCE

And even though they are not running for office, there may be convention or campaign apperiances:

President Bush - TRAILBLAZER
Vice President Cheney - ANGLER

Thanks to all the blog readers and listeners in the field for this information!

When Federal Frequencies Get Hijacked?

I was recently working near the location of a Championship Off Road Racing event in Nevada. I discovered that someone at this event was using 169.1125 MHz, simplex, for what sounded like race officials. I don't know exactly who this group was, but they used this frequency for quite a long time before, during and after the racing events. I wonder how they picked this channel and why...

You never know who might show up on some frequencies!