Determine Frequencies on Cross Country

4 Answers

1. 
   

   
   

   Mark Kolber on Dec 04, 2018

   I’m sticking with VFR in this flight, so am not including options such as looking at approach plates.

   If you are using flight following on that cross country, you really just need that first departure controller. They will hand you off to the rest.

   If you are not and need to know who to contact in the middle of nowhere, your best bet is going to be the approach or center frequency listed in the Chart Supplement for a nearby airport (shown in the frequency listing in most EFBs). In lieu of that use the one in the sectional. No joy? Call FSS and ask them.

   This may not apply, but I’ve seen a number of questions like this in which there is an underlying assumption that there is a “right” and a “wrong ” frequency. Your “but they don’t relate to an area” kind of fits that group. Even within a sector which has a Center or TRACON frequency listed, there are multiple frequencies available for ATC to subdivide when conditions require. So, call what you have and if they need you to talk to someone else, they’ll just tell you the right one to call.

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   John Scarry on Dec 04, 2018

   The frequencies for flight following also depend on your altitude. If you fly along the coast at above 8,000 MSL or so, you will get LA Center on 119.05. Below that you will get handed off a lot. After Point Magu, probably Santa Barbara on 125.4, then after SBA 124.15, then after SMX 127.725. About halfway between San Luis Obispo and Paso you will get handed off to Oakland Center on 128.7. I think they handle high and low altitudes until you get to Monterey. Then depending on your route, you’ll get handed off a bunch more into Half Moon Bay.

   Often the same controller will be handling multiple frequencies, so you might hear them say, ”Change to my frequency 1nn.nn”. That’s the only time you can legitimately say, “With you” e.g. “NXYZ With you on 1nn.nn, level x5 thousand”.

   You have plenty of time to dial the frequencies, so just pay attention to all the calls so you don’t miss yours.

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   SFGiants21256 on Dec 04, 2018

   Thank you for the responses.

   John, where did you get the info for those frequencies? Or is that just your experience. How you looked them up is probably the answer to the question.

   This question originated because a friend on another flight had a strange experience. After takeoff he was told to go on a particular frequency (A). After talking to the controller on freq A he was told to call back within 10 min. Within that 10 minute period he will have crossed into another controllers airspace (knowledge based on previous flights on this same route). In that situation, after waiting his 10 minutes, he was already 20 nm outside of the airspace and into the other persons airspace.

   We thought this was an interesting situation.

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   John Scarry on Dec 05, 2018

   I fly up and down the coast a lot so I remember the frequencies. But you can get an idea of what frequencies will be used by looking at the charts and approach plates. For example, approaching Santa Barbara from the East, there is a notation on the VFR sectional that says, “CTC Santa Barbara APP within 20 NM on 125.4 291.1”. You don’t have anything like that coming from the West along the valley, but if you look in the Chart Supplement for the frequencies for Santa Ynez, you can see that the Approach and Departure frequency are 124.15. Santa Maria has the same frequency and it changes to 127.725 in San Luis Obispo. Paso is 128.7 and I usually get changed when I cross the Cuesta grade.

   I don’t think you get a new frequency until Monterey (the only airport along the way is King City and it doesn’t have any IFR approaches, so no frequency is shown). The VFR sectional tells you to contact Monterey Approach on 133.0.

   The higher altitudes are used by IFR traffic and you can look on the IFR charts to see what the frequencies are. I only see two between Camarillo and Monterey, LA Center on 119.05 and Oakland Center on 128.7. The minimum en route altitudes are 6000 MSL and that matches my memory of frequencies I get when on rare occasions I fly above 5500 MSL.

   If you are asked to call back, you might get out of the controllers airspace, so looking at the approach/departure frequencies for the nearest airport would at least get you in touch with a controller.

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