Book Review: The "Top Secret" Registry of U.S. Government Radio Frequencies,
Reviewed by Mr. Icom
The "Top Secret" Registry of U.S. Government Radio Frequencies, by Tom Kneitel
Scanner listening seems to have a certain mystique among phreaks and hackers, particularly in regards to listening to mobile/cordless/cellular phones, and certain government agencies. However, unlike mobile phones, whose frequencies are well known, the feds' frequencies appear to be hidden away from prying ears, probably for reasons of security.
The truth is that fed frequencies are as well known as "regular" frequencies. A company called CRB Research, known for publications on surveillance and electronics, has a book called The "Top Secret" Registry of U.S. Government Radio Frequencies by Tom Kneitel.
This book contains the frequencies, callsigns, and radio codes of every U.S. government agency in existence, including such agencies as the FBI, CIA, DEA, and of particular interest to phreaks, the Secret Service.
Earlier editions of this guide were bound computer hard-copy with everything lumped together and sorted by frequency. This made for something which was difficult to read, and difficult to use. However, it still remained the de facto scanner guide to the feds, and was very popular.
The recently published (1987) sixth edition has eliminated the readability problems, and has added more non-frequency information which makes for an excellent publication.
Inside the 8" x 11", 192-page book, there is an alphabetical listing of the various agencies. Further delving into the book we find that each agency listing is divided into sections containing frequency/frequency use, transmitter locations/callsigns, and, when available, the various codes and slang used by the particular agency. (RAWHIDE will arrive at CURBSIDE rather than PIVOT.)
A particularly interesting section contained the listings for the U.S. Secret Service. Among the frequency/frequency codename/frequency use data was a list containing the codenames used for the presidential staff, first families, and other related information. Did you know that Amy Carter's codename was "DYNAMO"?
The Top Secret Registry is an excellent book and is highly recommended reading for those interested in listening to those who are listening to you. It's available for $16.95 from:
And by the way... here are some rather active federal frequencies (in megahertz):