This listing is comprised of the nationally recognized "National Interoperability Field Operations Guide (NIFOG)" frequencies for the United States, as well as the legacy frequencies that have been given new universal nomenclatures.
Many public safety agencies have some or all of these channels available to them. Their use and availability will depend on each agency. These channels may be used for small or wide area incidents and should be monitored during such multiagency incidents. As such, these channels will NOT be in the normal local database listings unless a different squelch tone is in use for the local area.
Many legacy law enforcement, fire and EMS freq's are known by different names throughout the country, but their use is fairly consistent. The channel names listed here, are listed by their new nationally recognized nomenclature, and are not officially part of the NIFOG. For example, a common law enforcement mutual aid frequency of 155.475 has been known as: National, NLEEF, NLER, LERN, LEEN, LEN, etc. It is now known as VLAW31. Even with the new naming, the older names may still persist when monitoring such channels.
Many channels are also setup for repeater operation. Each of those channels have a corresponding direct channel which is the same as the repeater output. Therefore if you hear a mention of 8TAC91D, it is the same output frequency of 8TAC91. Since the output frequency is the same, the channels with the "D" suffix will not be listed separately.
VTAC17 is the same as Marine Channel 25 and may only be used in areas at least 100 miles from a navigable waterway, and by ground stations only.
Please refer to the wiki article for notes regarding the use of CTCSS tones on Low Band, VHF, UHF, and 800 Public Safety Common frequencies.
Frequencies used commonly are also listed in the "public safety" categories. Although they are listed in the official NIFOG documentation, they are not nationwide interoperable frequencies.
As of April 2019, the current NIFOG revision is 1.6.1A. The database is broken down into its NIFOG format for easier readability.
(In the event of a discrepancy in nomenclature or usage, the current NIFOG found at the US Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency web page will take precedence).
Frequencies
NIFOG
VHF Low Band
VHF National Interoperability
136.5 PL is used on the transmit frequencies for mobile repeaters
VHF Federal Incident Response Interoperability
VHF Federal Law Enforcement Interoperability
LE A and LE 6 - LE 9 are direct channels for LE 1-5
UHF National Interoperability
UHF Federal Incident Response Interoperability
UHF Federal Law Enforcement Interoperability
700 MHz National Interoperability
800 MHz National Mutual Aid
These channels replaced the ICALL/ITAC channels nationwide.
Public Safety Common
VHF Public Safety Mutual Aid Common
These frequencies are not covered by the blanket authorization for nationwide interoperability channels, and a valid FCC license is required for them. Availability is subject to other licensed users in the same area which may be using these frequencies for other purposes (see explanation at the top of the page). CTCSS tone 156.7 is the recommended standard tone, but tones may vary based on local usage.
UHF MED Channels
These frequencies are not covered by the blanket authorization for nationwide interoperability channels, and a valid FCC license is required for them. These are common channels for EMS and hospitals to use for communications. They have also been known to be used for mass casualty incidents. In some areas, organized EMS dispatch centers will use this plan for dispatching and coordinating EMS and hospital resources. PL tone(s) vary by agency and location. Frequencies ending in .xxx5 (12.5 kHz channel centers) must not exceed 11.25 kHz bandwidth (narrowband). Frequencies ending in .xxxx5 (6.25 kHz channel centers) must not exceed 6 kHz bandwidth (ultra-narrowband). Med channels 9/91/92/93, 10/101/102/103 are typically used for dispatching and/or mutual aid. Med 1-10 are the original med channels prior to adding in the 6.25 spaced channels.
700 MHz Deployable Trunked Systems
These channels have been allocated to be used for a field deployed trunked radio system. As listed, the radio/scanner will not track these channels in a normal (trunked) manner and must be scanned conventionally as system ID's and talkgroups will vary on ownership. Channels 5 and 6 are recommended for control channels, and recommended WACN/SysID is $BF7CC/$101 (decimal 257). Agencies are not required to use the recommended WACN/SysID, and must obtain an FCC license or STA for the use of the frequencies. A few of these systems have been implemented around the country.
700 MHz Itinerant
These narrowband low power itinerant channels are designated for low power, on-scene incident response purposes using mobiles and portables by agencies traveling outside their normal coverage area.
700 MHz Low Power
These narrowband low power channels are subject to regional planning, and may be used for purposes such as on-scene tactical channels or vehicular repeaters.