Ka3jjz

Welcome to the Delmarva Milcom starter page. This article will give the novice milcomer living in the DC Metro and Delaware areas a chance to hear frequencies that have known activity. This is by no means a complete list - see the Delmarva Milcom Monitoring article for a much more complete list of frequencies and users.

This list will vary somewhat depending on where you are in the Delmarva. For example it's far easier to hear the BWI TRACON if you're in the flight path or close to the airport. A good antenna, mounted outdoors nice and high, fed with good coax is a must in this game. Unless you are very close, a rubber duck will not bring much success. With the exception of 157.175 (below) all frequencies are in AM.

Our area is covered by the Washington DC ARTCC, often referred to as Washington Center. It's callsign is ZDC and is often referred to this way followed by the site, such as ZDC Coyle or ZDC Hagerstown in threads and logs.

Civilian Air

Potomac TRACON (1)

BWI

• 290.475 South Final
• 317.425 GRACO-Hi
• 282.275 North Final
• 307.900 Baltimore-Low (Shares UHF with WOOLY)
• 291.625 Baltimore-Hi
• 307.900 WOOLY
• 254.350 SWANN-Low

Dulles

• 257.875 LURAY
• 343.775 West Arrival MANNE
• 254.250 BUFFR (Also Westminster 5 Arrival into BWI)
• 343.775 South Arrival BARIN
• 350.200 North Departure ASPER
• 343.775 Final East IADFE
• 338.250 North Arrival MULRR
• 350.200 TILLY
• 239.025 LUCKE
• 343.775 Final West IADFW
• 343.775 North/Northwest Approaches, Southern Departures RCOLA

Reagan (Washington National)

• 306.300 Final East DCAFE
• 257.200 West 9500'& below TYSON
• 335.500 Approach ADWAR
• 322.300 West QJAAY
• 343.700 West 10,000' up to FL 230 FLUKY
• 279.575 Andrews for Arlington Flybys ADWFR
• 269.000 East ENSUE
• 338.200 Final West DCAFW
• 348.725 East 9500' & below KRANT
• 269.500 East 10,000' up to FL 190 DAILY
• 270.275 South East 19,000' down TO 3000' DEALE

Military

Andrews AFB

• 141.550 Special Air Mission (SAM) Command Post Note 2
• 279.575 Potomac TRACON Discrete for Arlington Cemetery Fly-bys
• 335.500 Potomac TRACON Arrival
• 348.725 Potomac TRACON Departure
• 378.100 Special Air Mission (SAM) Command Post

Martin State

• 143.800 Md.Nat Guard 104th Fighter Squadron - Supervisor of Flying ("Raven Ops")
• 347.200 Md.Nat Guard 175 WG CMD POST ("Raven") Command Post (A-10 Thunderbolt "Warthogs" aircraft)
• 384.100 135th Airlift Squadron ("Crab") Command Post/Operations (C-130J Hercules aircraft)

Paxtuxent River NAS

• 250.300 Approach/Departure
• 250.850 Approach
• 281.800 Approach
• 301.200 Approach
• 314.000 Approach
• 318.800 Approach
• 362.600 Approach
• 256.500 Baywatch
• 270.800 Baywatch
• 354.800 Baywatch
• 262.950 Baywatch
• 264.550 Baywatch
• 291.150 Baywatch
• 310.550 Baywatch
• 320.450 Baywatch

Willow Grove NAS (Penn.)

266.80 Approach
341.75 AF Ops
343.00 ANG Ops CP Callsign 'Shortstop'

Huntress (NORAD) Note 3

• 139.700 Can be used during Combat Air Patrol and Falcon Virgo exercises
• 228.900 Occasional use during Combat Air Patrol exercises
• 260.900 Commonly used during Combat Air Patrol exercises

Mid Air Refueling and MOAs

• 238.900 AR-636 Primary
• 319.700 AR-636 Secondary
• 306.900/238.100 AR-636 ARCP/Exit
• 228.000 AR-777 Primary Note 5
• 288.000 AR-777 Secondary
• 237.200 R-5802A/B Kiowa MOA/Bollen Range (Penn.) Primary ops

Other Related

• 126.550 ZDC Guard Dog alternate
• 135.525 ZDC Guard Dog (also used by ARTCC) Note 4
• 139.400 Davison AAF Ops/Metro; also Andrews Navy ops
• 157.175 USCG helos checking in with USCG Baltimore station FM mode callsign Blackjack
• 350.250 ZDC Guard Dog

Notes

Note 1 : Controllers often echo flight instructions and other information from the VHF side to keep military pilots informed of activity in their area
Note 2 : This frequency seems to have numerous problems - planes often call in several times with no response, and shift to 378.1 for initial contact. A simplex remote base has been suspected to be in erratic use.
Note 3 : These frequencies can see activity at virtually any time.
Note 4 : Guard Dog freqs are most used during Combat Air Patrol exercises
Note 5 : These frequencies may have recently shifted with other AR changes happening some time ago