National Interoperability Field Operations Guide, Version 1.4

by U.S. Department of Homeland Security

The National Interoperability Field Operations Guide (NIFOG) is published as a reference guide for public safety radio technicians and communications planners. The waterproof, pocket-sized guide (also available in PDF format) contains radio regulations, tables of radio channels, and technical reference information. This guide is ideal for those establishing or repairing emergency communications in a disaster area.

New content in this valuable resource includes the following:

IP Addresses – Private Networks
Non-routable IP address ranges

N11 Numbers
Telephone services from numbers 2-1-1 through 9-1-1

Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) Filing Instructions

HF – (High Frequency)
Maritime HF and VHF Distress Frequencies
GMDSS International Distsress Channels – for ships and coast stations (Part 80 licensees), not for LMR, not nationwide interoperability channel
HF Disaster Communications
HF Long Distance Communications
Standard Time and Frequency Broadcasts
Standard Time by Telephone
Amateur Radio
Emergency Frequencies
Calling Frequencies
Repeater Coordinators
Frequency Bands
Power Limits

Revised Content

Added FCC rule 90.423 about airborne operation
New name and phone number for FCC STA requests
New phone numbers for ESFs and FEMA HQ
Reordered Interoperability Channels section by band
Color-coded channel charts by band

VHF-low Purple

VHF-high Blue

UHF Red

700/800 Yellow

Mixed bands and Search and Rescue (SAR) Orange

Annotated Mutual Aid channel charts to indicate that they are NOT nationwide interoperability channels and must be specifically licensed
Search And Rescue common channel 155.1600 MHz SAR NFM renamed VSAR16
700 MHz channels now follow ICS-205/217A format

Changed the arrangement of frequencies to match the format used for other bands – easier to determine frequencies for simplex or repeater use

Changed 700 MHz pages to landscape, so the entire Interoperability Channels section has the same orientation
Moved Texas VTAC17 Counties list to follow the VTAC17 map
Three additions to the 25 Cities listing

Nationwide, Newark NJ, and San Diego CA

P25 Digital codes now include decimal values in addition to hexadecimal
Telephone Block Wiring and more.

94 pages, Spiral-bound

First published May 3, 2010

About the author

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a cabinet department of the U.S. federal government with responsibilities in public security, particularly anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management. Major subordinate agencies include Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Secret Service, Coast Guard, and Transportation Security Administration (TSA), among others.