Charleston Military Trunk Radio Systems and Aircraft Frequency Profile

 

 

While in Charleston, South Carolina, over the Thanksgiving holiday, I had a chance to monitor the military trunk radio systems (TRS) in the area. Due to the holiday, activity was fairly light so I did not make a lot of progress tying up TRS talk group identifications (TGID).

One of the systems is located on the Charleston Naval Weapons Station (NWS) and is a 380 MHz trunk radio system. 

 

Naval Weapons Station Charleston -- System ID: 14c, Site: 206, WACN: BEE00.

 

380.0750c  380.2750  380.4250  380.5750  380.7250  380.8375 380.9375  381.0125  381.0875  381.1750  381.2375  381.3125  MHz

Talk Group IDs on this system used numbers from the 286xx series. TGIDs 28647 and 28653 were noted on both the NWS site and Charleston AFB site. These have been previously IDed as Fire and Law Enforcement dispatch TGIDs respectively. They cover both bases. Some encryption was noted on the law enforcement TGID.

The new critical information uncovered this trip involved the trunk radio system on the Charleston AFB. This system leveraged the existing ELMR system on the Weapons Station when it was placed on the air in 2012.

Unlike the NWS system, the CAFB TRS operates in the US Federal government 400 MHz UHF band. The Site ID fully indicates that it is part of the Navy ELMR system (see article below for confirmation of this fact).

 

Charleston AFB -- System ID: 14c, Site: 270, WACN: BEE00

 

406.1625  406.3625  406.5625  406.7625  406.9625  407.1625  407.3625c  407.5625 407.7625  407.9625  408.3625  409.1625

 

This system used TGIDs from both 286xx and 287xx talk groups. As mentioned above 28648/28653 appeared to be simulcast on both sites.

 

Hopefully in future trips I will be able to nail down some additional information on the TGIDs used on these two systems.

 

In other news from Chuck-town, per the ATIS at KCHS the 135.800 MHz approach/departure freq is no longer used and has been replaced with 119.300 MHz.

 

I confirmed this freq change via NOTAM 06/002

 

06/002 - COM REMOTE TRANSMITTER/RECEIVER 135.8 CHANGED TO 119.3. 01 JUN 15:58 2015 UNTIL
PERM. CREATED: 01 JUN 15:58 2015

Some other freqs noted during our stay included:

 

119.300 Charleston Approach/Departure (p/w 284.000)
120.700 FAA Charleston Approach/Departure (p/w 306.925 317.450)
121.900 KCHS Ground Control
122.100 FAA FSS Anderson Radio (KCHS)
122.200 FAA FSS Anderson Radio (KCHS)
122.500 FAA FSS Anderson Radio (KCHS)
122.950 KCHS Unicom
124.750 KCHS ATIS
126.000 KCHS Tower
127.325 KCHS Clearance Delivery
134.100 KCHS Command Post Palmetto Ops
135.800 Charleston Approach/Departure (p/w 257.100)

 

237.900 USCG - CG Sector Charleston
239.000 FAA KCHS Tower (Local Control)
243.000 USCG - CG Sector Charleston
255.400 FAA FSS Anderson Radio (KCHS) (Nationwide)
284.000 FAA Charleston Approach/Departure (p/w 119.300)
291.650 FAA KCHS Clearance Delivery
306.925 FAA Charleston Approach/Departure (p/w 120.700)
317.450 FAA Charleston Approach/Departure (p/w 120.700)
326.150 USCG - CG Sector Charleston
345.000 USCG - CG Sector Charleston
348.600 FAA KCHS Ground Control
349.400 USAF 437AW Command Post Palmetto Ops
372.200 USAF KCHS Pilot to Dispatcher (PTD)
379.050 USCG - CG Sector Charleston

Finally here is the DoD article published in 2012 regarding the trunk radio system on the Charleston AFB.

 

JB Charleston uses ELMR to bridge geographical gap

by Staff Sgt. Nicole Mickle, Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs

Story at a Glance

• By utilizing the existing Weapons Station ELMR solution to expand on the Air Base, the 628th CS was able to generate an investment savings of $3.5 million. ELMR equipment has been in operational use since Feb. 25, 2012, at the Air Base. • The ELMR System is a non-tactical Navy Installation Command sponsored conformant trunked land mobile radio system. This system is being implemented Navy-wide and will eventually interconnect all Navy sites onto one comprehensive communications network.

7/17/2012 - JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The 628th Communications Squadron recently saved $3.5 million by leveraging the Navy's Enterprise Land Mobile Radio solution at Joint Base Charleston.

By utilizing the existing Weapons Station ELMR solution to expand on the Air Base, the 628th CS was able to generate an investment savings of $3.5 million. ELMR equipment has been in operational use since Feb. 25, 2012, at the Air Base.

Land Mobile Radios are hand-held voice devices, much like a walkie talkie, used to speak on any Ultra High Frequency range over a network of equipment designed to enhance signal strength and quality.

The ELMR System is a non-tactical Navy Installation Command sponsored conformant trunked land mobile radio system. This system is being implemented Navy-wide and will eventually interconnect all Navy sites onto one comprehensive communications network.

"The Navy was utilizing an ELMR network that essentially put the NWS on a grid of other ELMR systems which enabled the master control site to view and route voice traffic to any user on the network," said Tech. Sgt. Nathaniel Swab, 628th CS Transmissions Systems non-commissioned officer in charge. "It enables a user on the Weapons Station to speak with users at other sites such as Norfolk, Va., Jacksonville, Fla. or any other user on the network."

The system change required coordination between the 628th CS and the ELMR master site in Norfolk. The old LMR equipment, used by the Air Base, had to be replaced with equipment that was compatible with the Navy's ELMR system. Once the equipment was installed, the site was added to the network. The Air Base can now connect to the Weapons Station, as well as an entire network of ELMR users worldwide.

"One of the key benefits of the ELMR system is that it offers another means of local communication to be monitored at a long range in case of a disaster scenario," said Swab. "First responders can be aided from afar because a controller can listen to real time on-site responders without having to be in the disaster zone."

ELMRs are primarily used for quick, coordinated responses between first responders and provide centralized communication capabilities via handheld units, mobile and base stations. The ability to relay information between installations in the event of a natural disaster or emergency situation is critical.

"First responders can coordinate operations across one channel for two sites," said Swab. "In the past, the two towers, one located on the Weapons Station and the other on the Air Base, were not able to talk to each other. The ELMR puts both sites on one network. This allows dispatchers to reach first responders at two situations if needed. In the future we are looking at a goal of joining civilian first responders to our extensive ELMR network."

"This was huge in affording first responders and the installation commander the ability to rapidly bridge the geographical gap between the Air Base and Weapons Station to maintain situation awareness and relay critical, crisis information," said Lt. Col. David Joerres, former 628th CS commander. "It's an exciting time to be a cyberspace operator."

 

Where in the world are our aircraft carriers?

This is a current map showing the areas where our carriers are currently situated. Notice the lack of any activity in the Med/Persian Gulf.

 

 

Click on image to enlarge view. Map courtesy of the Reddit
Source info for the map is here: http://www.gonavy.jp/CVLocation.html

Mode-S Hex Hole ADFB2C

Here is a good one to watch for on your Mode-S box. On 1 Nov 2015 Mode-S Hex address ADFB2C was spotted around 2347 UTC. Not sure which box had it but ... the airframe associated with that address reported its altitude as 80,000 feet.