For this assignment we were tasked to use Radio Reference to search for and analyze FCC licensed frequencies in a given area. I chose to search in Manhattan, and almost immediately stumbled upon New York University’s frequencies. For fun, I decided to review the radio frequency registered at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
New York University
NYU has two frequency licenses, three frequencies, and 120 registered parties over their three frequencies. Both frequency licenses are tagged for “security” purposes, though one is also tagged for “school” purposes. Both of these licenses are registered as Industrial/Business Pool services, which means they are 800 MHz and below operating frequency. While the licensee of these frequencies are listed as New York University, specifically facilities employee Brent Maddox, the contact party is listed as the telecommunications company Gillespie, Proudhon & Associates who I presume NYU has contracted to register and manage its frequencies.
Security & School- License WNNG369
License WNNG369 has the “security” frequency 462.37500 and “school” frequency 463.58750 registered to it. That being said, the parties registered for operation on this license use a range of frequencies within the range of the aforementioned frequencies. The “security” frequency on this license has a repeater duplex setup – this means that it simultaneously inputs and outputs information, presumably from the other security frequency channel. The school frequency has a simplex/ base and mobile setup, where one of its pre-assigned channels share that channel with all other users on the channel. A difference between this license and the other is that this license’s frequencies is that this license’s frequencies operate in DMR, or digital modes, which means they have higher audio quality. 86 of the 120 registered parties use this license, under the callsign under the frequencies’ license number.
Security – License WQVQ656
License WQVQ656 has the “security” frequency 464.20000, and has the alpha tag of “security patrol”. This distinction is confusing, because fewer parties are registered with this license’s callsign. Furthermore, his license operates with FMN, or FM Narrow, frequencies, which have worse sound quality and are easier to access with commercial devices.
USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center – Trunked Site ID 20278
Unlike NYU, the USTA National Tennis Center does not have a conventional license, but a registration of a trunked radio system. Trunked radio systems are a collection portable two-way radios that communicate over a single shared radio channel through multiple repeaters, within different frequencies of the same spectrum band allocated for all trunked systems. At first glance, the FCC documentation on Radio Reference looks the same as NYU’s – unlike NYU, the USTA manages their “license” in-house, with Telecommunications Manager Eugene McLeer listed as both the licensee and contact party. Additionally this entity is registered as a Industrial/Business Pool, albeit a Trunked service, which means it is also a 800 MHz and below operating frequency. I find it interesting that this system uses DMR, and not FMN, because that would indicate that a tennis center has cleaner call quality and security than NYU’s security patrol. Listed as well are the talk groups – command center, media center, and tech services. This presumably indicates the various uses of the radio system.