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Southern California Monitoring Association
Seth Hettena The After-Action Report Mar 04, 2026 A new shortwave numbers station appeared the day the bombs fell. Nobody knows who’s running it. A mysterious shortwave radio station began broadcasting strings of numbers in Farsi on the day Israel and the United States first struck Iran. It hasn’t stopped since. Numbers stations, as they’re…
A troubling incident involving unauthorized transmissions on public safety radio channels in Pittsburgh is drawing national attention within the radio monitoring community. Over several days in early March 2026, an unknown individual broadcast threatening and hateful messages over a public safety radio channel used by Pittsburgh police and emergency services. For scanner listeners and radio…
The Brief LOS ANGELES – A police pursuit in downtown Los Angeles ended in a crash early Wednesday morning (March 4, 2026) after officers responded to reports of gunfire at the Produce Market District. Two officers and the suspect were injured in the crash. What we know: Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department responded just after…
More than fifty years after its debut in the jungles of Vietnam, the North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco remains very much alive in the skies—though in missions its original designers could hardly have imagined. Conceived in the 1960s as a rugged counter-insurgency aircraft and forward air controller, the twin-boom turboprop earned fame in Southeast Asia,…
Los Angeles, CA – March 2, 2026 — A United Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was forced to return to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) this morning after reporting a possible engine issue shortly after departure. United Flight UA2127, bound for Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), departed LAX at approximately 10:15 a.m. local time with 256…
New Airspace Rules Impact Police, Media, and Emergency Aircraft The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has enacted new airspace restrictions affecting helicopter operations around Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), creating significant changes for aviation operators and public-safety agencies across the Los Angeles area. The move has effectively limited or prohibited many helicopter flights inside portions of…
A late-December copper wire theft at a major City of Los Angeles communications site exposed a vulnerability in municipal infrastructure, temporarily knocking a citywide radio system offline and forcing officials to curtail parking and traffic enforcement operations for safety reasons. The incident occurred at a prominent radio communications tower located in Elysian Park, just north…
One year has passed since the catastrophic Southern California wildfires that devastated Pacific Palisades and Altadena, forever changing neighborhoods and leaving a lasting mark on Los Angeles County. While headlines have faded, recovery continues—and for the radio monitoring community, the fires remain a textbook example of how communications, interoperability, and monitoring play a critical role…
The United States is not the only place where pirate broadcasters appear to be thriving. Law enforcement agencies in China have uncovered pirate radio stations operating in big cities and provinces using equipment that could disrupt communications between pilots and air traffic controllers, according to a state media report. A lack of regulations controlling the…
