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Actually, I think the Com Cart was 139.815

And I think I did figure out frequency use during the show. I actually figured it out by watching the narration on Kiro 7 by the #8 pilot, who was doing comments on the whole show with Steve Raible live on TV. In the middle of the show, Steve Raible asked about the frequencys and pilots talking to one another. The #8 pilot's response was - The solos have one freq, the diamond formation has thier own frequency, and then they have a "common" freq that is used by all six pilots, and is transmitted on by whomever is one the "showline" at any given time. That way the diamond and solos know when each other are in the flight box.

Kind of makes sense from what I got on the scanner - I'm guessing the "common" freq was 284.25, the diamond freq was 275.35, and the solos were 305.5

They also talked about the com cart - they apparently are on a barge on the log boom! They grade and video tape each performance and also act as safety advisors.

They also said they have a man who actually sits in Boeing Tower, who makes sure they take off at the exact right time. I'm guessing maybe that was 255.20

So that just leaves 237.8 that I'm still not sure about.

So I got all that just from watching the Kiro 7 broadcast! It was a lot more helpful then I thought it would be to watch. At least I'm much more set now for next year (lets hope they don't change thier freqs!)

Happy Seafair,

--Andre..

Nice post Andre. And congratulations to you Intercepties. It's been a long time since a thread has gone to 4 pages. Nice.

-m

I, too, watched the (cable) TV version of the airshow, along with my scanner and frequent glances (and dashes) outside to the deck. I think the TV was running four or five seconds behind reality, which surprised me.

Now that the show is over, I'm going to see what other kind of fun I can have with my shiny, new RS scanner. I know it's sort of asking a group to name a good dessert (since we all have our own individual tastes) but what flats your boat in the Seattle monitoring world?

I think you're pretty close, Andre.

I noted that the diamond would be on 284.25 as soon as they were behind the crowd setting up the next maneuver. They'd stay there until some point and then switch to 275.35 to rendezvous for the next manuever.

The solos stayed on 305.5 typically the entire time they weren't with the delta. They'd call out their ranges and speeds and after crossing the center point, they'd check in with 'Moe' on the barge who would give them an on the spot analysis of the completed manuever. Moe would also provide wind info periodically through the show.

I believe Moe also confirmed ownership of the airspace and the OK to do the high show. I think the lead solo typically recieved that info and communicated it back to the boss.

Com cart mostly talked with someone called 'PAO' or "DAO' about admin stuff. What time the planes would take off, when they could enter the show airspace, what Life Flight traffic they had to worry about and etc. Also mechanical stuff (like when #5 couldn't fly on Friday) or problems with the show (like when #6 missed a rendezvous yesterday and had to 'sit out' a couple of passes)

255.20 sounded mostly like communication between Moe and Bert.

I don't recall the freq, but I heard the regular Boeing Tower controller giving the jets taxi, takeoff, and landing clearances.

Favorite moment: During the Friday show where #6 was the only solo, he forgot to put his gear down for one of the dirty passes. The rest of the guys razzed him about that the rest of the show.

Next year: Two radios wasn't enough to catch every thing. I'll come back with three.

Wow, well you definitely did better then me. I guess having two radios helps! So, based on what you said, I think I had the labeling of 284.25 and 275.35 reversed, so 284.25 must be diamond frequency and 275.35 the common freq? I wish I had a recording of that Kiro 7 broadcast I could listen to again, he explained it pretty well and if I knew that was going to happen I would have taped it! And yeah, Com Cart was talking to the PAO (Public Affairs Officer).

Well should be interesting to watch next year!

I've got a complete Tivo recording of the broadcast. I'll try to grab the audio portion, or perhaps get the video too and make it available.

Not surprisingly, it seems this year's flight path was a bit different than last year's. We're just south of Sayre's pit at 47th and Dakota. Last year, we loved getting shaken to the bone by the fly-overs (as well as being up close and personal with the plane). This year, the planes were turning north or south of us rather than over us. Darn!

It still was loud, so next year I think I'll watch using Bose Noise Cancelling headphones so I can really focus on the audio!

The other really curious thing was that last year we were easily able to observe the condensation (?) that happens around the planes at certain speeds. (I don't know the physics of it...) This year we didn't see any of it. Maybe it's just that we were further from the turning planes, or different environmental conditions (pressure, humidity, speed?) Anyone know anything else about this phonomena?

Although off-topic somewhat, the fireworks show was spectacular... better than anything I've ever seen.

Hey, that's great Tom! SO - there were two parts in the Kiro 7 broadcast I remember thinking were particularly relevant - the first was maybe 1/3 or so through, where the #8 pilot was talking about the position of the various observers (com cart, Boeing tower etc..) the second was when he started talking about the frequencies (solos, diamond, common). Can you listen to those two sections carefully and see exactly what he said again? That would be great!

And yes, I may be able to shed some light on the condensation above the wing. I believe this relates to what makes a wing "fly" - it's something called "Bernoulli's Principle". The principle is based on how a wing is shaped. Ever notice how the top of a wing is curved, while the bottom is flat? As air strikes the front of the wing, it must go both over and under it. The part of the air going over it must travel a further distance then the air under the wing due to the shape. This causes the air to move faster over the top of the wing then it does under it. This in turn causes an area of lower pressure on top of the wing, which then somewhat "sucks" the wing up (thus creating lift for the aircraft).

Another by product of this lower pressure area is it also decreases the temperature of the air on top of the wing, and as the temp is decreased, the air is able to hold less moisture (warmer air holds more moisture then colder air). Thus, whatever moisture is in the air condensates out. That's what you see. You really only see it when they are pulling sharp turns (i.e. high G turns) on the inboard side of the wings right behind the canopy on either side. The sharp turn increases the "angle of attack" of the wing (angle between relative wind striking the wing and the "flat" or level angle of the wing (called the "chord line")). When the AOA increases (when the pilot pulls the stick back) that makes the wing produce more lift (and the plane goes up!) but when an airplane is rotated 90 degrees to the side (as frequently happens with the blues) it also makes them turn quicker!

Try googling "Bernoulli's Principle" and you'll find a ton more info on it.

Whew.. Sorry for the long post! You asked!

Ah ha! I figured it was something like that. Thanks, andrecs.

Did YOU see any condensation this weekend?

Yeah, I did, it was there ever so often.. Just have to be in the right spot I guess! I know, it does seem every year they change the exact spot they fly over just slightly. Must have something to do with the landmarks they pick out on Thursday? Who knows... And yeah, I heard the fireworks show was great. We had to go home about 5 or so Saturday, and it was just too much work to get the boat out there again just for that (translation: couldn't talk my wife into it!) but maybe I'll plan differently for next year.

Well, they spent most of the time on 284.25. I would call that 'common'. The solos would be on that when with the delta. 275.35 was typically only used by the diamond at the very end of a maneuver before they regrouped for the next.

Ok, so next year maybe I'll go to one of their PR stunts at the Museum of Flight (where all the kids get in line to get thier autograph) but instead of asking for thier autograph I'll explain I'm an amatuer scanning enthusiast and would they please explain what all these frequencys are used for?
:D :D

Condensation
Is a factor the amount of moisture in the air. It was either 1 or 2 years ago that it looked like it would be a low show - then cleared and it was high show with lots of condensation, making for great photo's.

Except for one pass the low solo passes over the lake were a bit higher and I think that the passes over my position by all were just a little higher than past years.

-m

Speaking of photos:

Some photos from our coverage of SeaFair

All-HD this year. Looked great in the control room


We used microwave for 3 of the 18 cameras (plus chopper 7)- triax gets expensive after several miles...


Grass Valley Kalypso HD Switcher...I switched the Airshows and shot the races.


Chopper 7 (camera 7)


SPD's Mule with moblie mesh video feed


SFD's John Deere Gator (and MTS2000)

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flickr | mikegilbertphotography.com

Neat photos, Mike. What band does the tripod-mounted microwave link use? It reminds me of a homebrew 10-GHz Ethernet radio I built a few years ago.

The microwave links operate on BAS (Broadcast Auxiliary Service) channels 1-7 [1990-2110mhz]

I believe chopper 7 uses channel 7 when talking to one of the Microwave RX'ers. The Chopper has a GPS-Guided dual yagi on the belly that tracks the base unit. The base antennas on the towers also have steered antennas.

The fun part is Nextel in their never-ending quest to control all bands is involved in the rebanding of the BAS channels. The new range will be (2025-2110mhz) The positive side is we (tv stations) get free equipment (to a certain extent) to relocate.

I'll post some pix later.

-Mike

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flickr | mikegilbertphotography.com