multipleshotsfiredmultipleshotsfiredhttp://www.multipleshotsfired.com/blog/2012-02-20T02:14:06ZSquarespaceScanning the United States Secret Servicehttp://www.multipleshotsfired.com/blog/2012/2/19/scanning-the-united-states-secret-service.htmlBill Gillam2012-02-19T22:49:00Z2012-02-19T22:49:00ZWith Obama coming to Everett last week I decided I would try my luck with listening to their radio communications. A quick google of "secret service frequencies" will bring up several websites with lists of all kinds of frequencies. I dumped about 100 frequencies into both of my PSR-800 scanners and hoped for the best. During the landing of Marine Squadron One and Air Force One there was some activity on several channels- but during the event so much was going on I didn't really get a chance to see how much I was picking up from the Secret Service. 

After I got home I downloaded all the audio from both scanners for review. I had at least an hour of radio communications from the Secret Service, however all but a minute or two were encrypted transmissions. Some times a transmission would begin encrypted, then switch to open, but it was sketchy at best. 

In the end it was of limited value, only getting partial exchanges is not really too rewarding. Not sure it would be worth doing again, but I had to give it a try. Here is a sample of some of the communications I was able to capture unencrypted:

]]>Arlington residential fire arson- subject booked for Murder 2 and Arson 1http://www.multipleshotsfired.com/blog/2012/2/19/arlington-residential-fire-arson-subject-booked-for-murder-2.htmlBill Gillam2012-02-19T20:49:30Z2012-02-19T20:49:30ZThe residential fire I blogged about on Wednesday was determined to be arson, news reports indicate the victim was strangled prior to the fire being set. A 22 year old Arlington man was arrested Friday, charged with 2nd Degree Murder, and 1st Degree Arson, no bail. A review of the Snohomish County Jail daily booking register shows a 22 year old from Arlington booked under these charges. A subject with the same last name is listed as a 2008 graduate of Arlington High School.

Apparently he was renting a room in the residence.  

]]>My Encounter with Air Force Onehttp://www.multipleshotsfired.com/blog/2012/2/17/my-encounter-with-air-force-one.htmlBill Gillam2012-02-18T03:21:55Z2012-02-18T03:21:55ZLike all first term Presidents, President Obama wants simply one thing- a second term. So with that in mind he made a quick cash run up the west coast this week to grab an estimated $8 million in donations. That may sound like a lot of money, but it adds up quick when you charge people $35,800 to have dinner with you, or $17,900 for lunch. But with the economy running this strong, who can't afford something like that? Nobody would expect any type of favor in return for such modest donations. 

Being a fan of aircraft I figured it would be worth a try to see if I could get some video of Air Force One and the various support vehicles and aircraft. 

Unfortunately Paine Field sits on top of a slightly elevated area- so there are no vantage points from a distance. Your only hope is to get in close, and today the Secret Service attempted to make that impossible. Every access point was shut down, simple viewing locations behind the fence line were off-limits. One of the deputies I spoke with said that the Secret Service wants, "nobody to be able to view AF1 from the airport". That makes it tough to get a good shot.

About 45 minutes before Obama arrived, a group of 7 helicopters arrived from the South: Marine Squadron One. They had two "Marine One" Presidential helicopters, and the rest appeared to be escort/gunship helicopters. They looked and sounded like something from the film "Apocalypse Now":

At this point, a lot of folks started to show up where I was (south end of the runway near the DEM and old Fire Station). Parents bringing kids, Boeing workers, and just curious folks wanting to see the President land. I should point out there were no signs indicating the area I was at was closed, or off limits in any way. So people started setting up tripods, kids were getting excited and the anticipation began to build. 

That all came to a halt when a deputy came up to the fence and told everyone they had to leave, and if they were seen again "it would be a problem". His orders came from the Secret Service. So everyone had to disperse, absolutely nobody would be able to see Air Force One with their own eyes today. I pulled back and parked out of visual range of the officers. At this point King County's Guardian One started to orbit the area.

I thought it was odd that King County's Helicopter was being used at Snohomish County's airport, rather than Snohomish County's Snohawk 1 or even Snohawk 10. But this was clearly not a day to question authority. As I sat 100' from the fence I was not supposed to look at, I listened to the scanner traffic. A couple things noted here: the Secret Service frequencies you can get off the internet work great- they are very active, but they are 95% encrypted so it's pointless to listen. So I was listening to the PSOPS N3, N4 and Everett 4 talkgroups while I monitored Paine Field approach. A few minutes passed, and I heard Air Force One on final approach. At this point people began walking back toward the fence. The excitement began to build again. I grabbed my tripod and cameras and walked back toward the fence area and to what, I assumed, would be a certain death from the security detail.

To my surprise, I was able to actually get some decent shots of Air Force One as it made the turn at the end of runway 16R. I waited for the flashbangs, teargas and rubber bullets but it was remarkably calm. The sheriff's deputies were looking at all of us (probably 30 or so) and let us get what we wanted- pictures. I grabbed some video as well:

After that I got the hell out of there. In talking with some of the other scofflaws who wanted to take felonious photographs of Air Force One, it was clear this was some of the most extreme security anyone had encountered. Several of them had been to other visits from AF1 and never had this type of insane restrictive security. I consider myself lucky to survive the event, and the officers who let us get these pictures deserve a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.

]]>Fatal Residential Fire in Arlington's Gleneagle Developmenthttp://www.multipleshotsfired.com/blog/2012/2/15/fatal-residential-fire-in-arlingtons-gleneagle-development.htmlBill Gillam2012-02-16T03:33:26Z2012-02-16T03:33:26ZArlington Fire responded to a residential fire today around 1:25pm on Silverleaf Place in the Gleneagle development. It was near my office so I ran over and grabbed some pics and video shortly after it was pretty well knocked down. I was monitoring radio traffic on Tac 6 and both the primary and secondary searches of the residence reported "basement first floor second floor all clear" (except a cat) about 30 minutes after the call, so the body must have been discovered sometime after that. [UPDATE- 02-16-12 I've been told the discovery of the victim of the fire was noted during the search but that it did not go over the air]

]]>Another shooting on I-5 in Snohomish Countyhttp://www.multipleshotsfired.com/blog/2012/2/12/another-shooting-on-i-5-in-snohomish-county.htmlBill Gillam2012-02-12T21:15:51Z2012-02-12T21:15:51Z

A little over a week ago there was a shooting on I-5 near Marysville, a woman had her windows shot out by a person in a van who apparently randomly selected her vehicle to shoot at. Early this morning I picked up this call on the scanner for another car being shot at, again on Northbound I-5, this time closer to the Snohomish/Skagit border. I did not hear the conclusion of the incident, only that the "victim" vehicle exited in Mount Vernon. 

]]>Car fire in Arlington this afternoonhttp://www.multipleshotsfired.com/blog/2012/2/8/car-fire-in-arlington-this-afternoon.htmlBill Gillam2012-02-09T02:12:56Z2012-02-09T02:12:56Z

Saturn SL1 apparently caught on fire on Highland Drive in Arlington around 4:15. I grabbed a few seconds of the fire department knocking it down. Nothing too dramatic but it is a sweeps month.. 

]]>UNW's 21st Annual Model Train Show in Monroehttp://www.multipleshotsfired.com/blog/2012/2/6/unws-21st-annual-model-train-show-in-monroe.htmlBill Gillam2012-02-06T15:23:34Z2012-02-06T15:23:34Z

I went to the annual United Northwest Model Railroad Club's model train show in Monroe this weekend to check out the train layouts on display. It's always cool to see all the detail that some of these layouts have on them, and watching them in operation is interesting. There were several HO, N and O scale setups this year, I tried to get video of all the ones running trains. It's a pretty big show with a lot of vendors as well as layouts, highly recommend if you are in the area.

]]>Washington State Patrol aircraft enforcement in Marysvillehttp://www.multipleshotsfired.com/blog/2012/2/2/washington-state-patrol-aircraft-enforcement-in-marysville.htmlBill Gillam2012-02-03T06:26:32Z2012-02-03T06:26:32Z

Weather was good today so the Washington State Patrol wasted little time in getting at least two of their aircraft up for some speed enforcement on I-5. I grabbed a few minutes of video of the operation in Marysville, there were only a handful of patrol cars so it was not as intense as some of the operations I've seen WSP do in the past. The video gives you a good idea how these operations work, with the aircraft picking the speeders out and relaying the information to the troopers on the ground. The speed limit in this area is 60mph, several of the cars pulled over were doing 75 to 86mph.

]]>GRE Super Amplifier Reviewhttp://www.multipleshotsfired.com/blog/2012/1/29/gre-super-amplifier-review.htmlBill Gillam2012-01-30T03:34:54Z2012-01-30T03:34:54Z

Anyone who has tried to bring in a 800mhz trunked system from more than 20 miles out can relate to the issues I have where I am at. I live about 60 miles north of Seattle, which lets me get excellent reception of the north control channels of Snohomish County's trunked system. The south channels are about 20 miles out and the talkgroups associated with them are often choppy or cut out. The Seattle/King County trunked system is something I am lucky to pick up at all, let alone get decent enough reception to monitor communications.

So GRE has a "super amplifier" that is just for this type of problem. It's an inline amplifier that goes on a BNC antenna mount, with the antenna plugging into it. It runs on a 9 volt battery, or AC adaptor. 

I was not sure what to expect with it, but frankly the performance is very good for the size of the thing. I can easily bring in Seattle and South Snohomish County much clearer than I have ever had in the past. I used it with my PSR-800 and Uniden 396t and both showed a noticeable improvement in reception. The battery gets you about 20 hours of run time. Only downside I see is the battery is a bit of a pain to replace, and the added bulk makes it tough to use with the scanner on the run. 

Here is a brief video review of the amplifier I made this morning:

After playing around with it for a few days I recommend it for those who live in rural areas and want to bring in distant systems. 

]]>Snowmageddon Commute This Weekhttp://www.multipleshotsfired.com/blog/2012/1/20/snowmageddon-commute-this-week.htmlBill Gillam2012-01-20T15:02:25Z2012-01-20T15:02:25ZThe crazy weather conditions in western Washington made for some crazy driving conditions the last couple days. Fortunately there were not a lot of folks out trying to get around so it was not as bad as it could have been. Some video showing how bad the roads were:

]]>