Overnight Jacksonville Road Trip Radio Report; 22/23 October 2023

On Sunday and Monday, I took an overnight road trip to Jacksonville to see the Jacksonville Zoo and Garden's Jaguar cub, Banks. This weekend was also the Jacksonville Beach Airshow; although I didn't make it to Jacksonville in time to go to the show on Sunday, I did hear some of it on my way down. On this trip, I stayed off I-295 and FL 105 in north Jacksonville near Blount Island and it turned out to be a good choice. I had a third-floor room and could hear aviation communications all throughout Jacksonville, public safety communications from Jacksonville, Baker County, Clay County, St Johns County, and Flagler County, Marine VHF communications from the port and the St Johns Bar Pilots, railroad traffic coming and going from CSX's Moncrief Yard. It was also a good spot for VHF/UHF amateur radio; while I didn't talk on any of the area repeaters, I could hear plenty of them from the hotel on an HT.

Chatham County Fire Department Dispatch Changes

Updated 10/18/23 - New Talkgroups updated based on recent listening.

Beginning Tuesday, 10 October, Chatham Metro Dispatch made significant changes in how the fire departments in Chatham County are dispatched. Previously, Savannah FD had its own dispatch talkgroup and fireground talkgroups, Metro Dispatch had a talkgroup for dispatching the other municipalities' fire departments and a set of fire tac talkgroups, and Chatham Emergency Services dispatched their fire units that covered the unincorporated county on their fire dispatch talkgroup and fire tacs. Now, Savannah FD, the other municipal FDs, and Chatham Emergency Service's fire units are all being dispatched by Metro Dispatch on what was Savannah FD's dispatch talkgroup and what used to be Savannah FD's fireground talkgroups and Metro's fire tac talkgroups have been turned into countywide fireground talkgroups. So far, the paging talkgroups for the municipal fire departments have remained the same, but it sounds like Savannah FD is getting new paging talkgroups. Additionally, the unit numbering system has changed; Savannah FD is still using their previous unit numbering scheme, but the other departments have changed theirs.

Road Trip Radio Report: Columbia, SC - 01/02 October 2023

On Sunday, 1 October 2023 and Monday, 2 October 2023, I took an overnight road trip to Columbia, SC to visit the Riverbanks Zoo. On the way up, I made a stop at the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge's Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive, the Bull Durham Center in Estill, SC, and the Cayce Riverwalk in Cayce, SC. On Monday, I visited the Riverbanks Zoo before heading back to Savannah. On the drives to Columbia and back to Savannah I enjoyed listening to MilCom, Public Safety, and Railroad communications, so this post will detail those as well as providing some information on and photos from the places I visited along the way.

On my last few overnight road trips to Columbia, I noticed that the Riverbanks Zoo had stopped using their UHF analog frequencies and zoo staff appeared to be carrying NXDN portables. I thought they may have moved to the Carolinas FleetTalk system, but I could never find them, so it was time for some research. Prior to this trip, I did a deep dive into FCC licenses for the Columbia area and found a license for a NXDN trunking system licensed to the Zoo.

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; September 2023

The Monthly Military Monitoring Recap consists of frequencies and callsigns that I've heard in use in Coastal Georgia and during my travels (usually around South Carolina and Florida). Special Operations, Intelligence, and real-world Combat Air Patrol information will not be posted. Gulfstream (Savannah) and Boeing (Charleston) flight test frequencies and callsigns are also included as well as US Coast Guard, non-law enforcement FedCom, and civilian medevac callsigns, N-numbers, and frequencies. 

My month of September was a bit of an oxymoron when it came to scanning and monitoring; I didn't have a lot of radio time, but it turned out to be an extraordinary month. Even though I only had a couple of hours to listen to it over the week it took place, the William Tell Air-to-Air Weapons Meet was the highlight of the month. It had been nineteen years since the last William Tell and the first of the revived Meets took place at the Georgia Air National Guard Combat Readiness Training Center/Air Dominance Center at Savannah-Hilton Head IAP. Another highlight was getting to hear some of the recovery communications as the NASA/SpaceX Crew-6 crew returned to earth from the International Space Station. They splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean near Brunswick, GA and Jacksonville, FL so I was able to hear some radio traffic from NASA aircraft supporting the recovery. Other things worth noting from September are: