WICHITA FALLS MAN
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CB Radio, Morse code, and Folgers Black Silk coffee. What else could a man need in beautiful Wichita Falls, Texas? Maybe a "Red Draw" at the BAR-L Drive In? As the late Oscar Gamble said, "They don't think it be like it is, but it do!" When you see news reports of "A Wichita Falls man..." that's usually not me.
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02-19-2026 - 5:00 AM - Good Morning! It’s Thursday, and I still have nothing interesting on today's schedule. Due to the warm weather we’ve been having, I decided to put down some pre-emergent on my lawn a few weeks early. I might already be too late. There is a hamfest (Amateur (ham) Radio swapfest) on March 7, 2026, at the Betcha Bingo Hall, 2420 W. Irving Blvd. Irving, TX 75014. The hours are 8:00 AM TO 2:00 PM. Tickets are $5.00. It is sponsored by the Irving Amateur Radio Club. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:15 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 71. West wind 11 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Tonight" Mostly clear, with a low around 37. West northwest wind 6 to 9 mph becoming east northeast after midnight.
--- 5:30 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are as follows: Arrowhead: 82.8% Kemp: 98.4 Kickapoo: 85.0%. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (83.9%) to determine drought stage.
--- 6:00 AM - I have never owned a CB Radio with an FM mode, but I’ve been thinking of getting one. I’m thinking that FM would be great for local communications, one reason being the FM capture effect. To put it simply, in the FM mode, an interfering FM signal has to be much stronger to be heard than an interfering AM signal. If I remember correctly, in the FM mode, for a signal to interfere, it must be at least 50% as strong as the signal you’re trying to hear. In the AM mode, that interfering signal needs only to be 1% as strong to make its presence known. This is why the FAA uses AM - they want interfering signals (a pilot with an emergency) to be heard. When I’m trying to talk to someone across town on the CB Radio, I do not want to hear collisions from weak signals. Of course, your opinion of what you want to hear or not hear may vary.
--- 6:30 AM - I’m listening to two area Amateur (ham) Radio Operators on the 147.140 MHz repeater. They have been going for about 15 minutes now, and there has been no mention of radios, antennas, or related equipment. I’m pleasantly shocked!
--- 1:18 PM - I contacted a station at Katy Trail State Park (US-1766) in Missouri on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
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02-18-2026 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It’s Wednesday. The Clay County Amateur Radio Club net arrived on time last night, but I didn’t monitor the proceedings because an interesting conversation was underway on the local simplex frequency, 146.520 MHz. I have no real plans for today. I can’t find the correct socket I need to remove the anode rod from my water heater, so I had to order one online. When it arrives, I’ll flush the water heater and replace the anode rod. For now, my Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:45 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. West wind 5 to 15 mph becoming south southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 52. South wind 11 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
--- 6:00 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are as follows: Arrowhead: 82.7% Kemp: 98.4 Kickapoo: 84.9%. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (83.8%) to determine drought stage.
--- 6:15 AM - We must have a UHF "band opening" this morning because I'm listening to a conversation on a distant General Mobile Radio Service repeater on 462.5750 MHz. Tune in with your scanner radio. As far as I know, there is no GMRS repeater in or near Wichita Falls. I could be wrong. Either way, this one is distant. A GMRS license is required ($35 for 10 years), but there is no test involved. While we don't have a local repeater, we do have locals using the "simplex" (direct communications) GMRS frequencies. If the world goes dark, radio hobbyists will still be communicating.
--- 6:30 AM - Before our two new high schools opened, my wife and I toured the Legacy High School. We noticed the R.O.T.C. Instructor and asked him about the gun range. He responded that the school's plans did not include a range and that they had to travel to Hirschi to use the range there. I thought that was interesting. Unknown if one will be added to the Legacy location.
--- 6:40 AM - According to a story on Texoma's Home Page (KFDX), a power outage at the Wichita Tower at 7th & Indiana affected the City Planning and Building Inspections, Finance, Utility Collections, and Public Works offices. I guess I’m behind the times, because I didn't know the City had offices there. I'm guessing this began during the renovations of Municipal Auditorium.
--- 7:00 AM - According to Texoma's Home Page, the Circle M Bakery on Old Iowa Park Rd. is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Everyone should stop by and buy 40 donuts! Maybe 4? The article reports that the "M" is for Marilyn, the founder.
--- 6:00 PM - Parachutes, Transistor Radios, Marbles, and a Yo-Yo - Today, school kids show off their new cell phones. When I was a school kid, the thing to show off was an AM pocket transistor radio emitting "I Want To Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles. The fact that a telescoping antenna was not needed to receive local AM broadcasts added to their stylish appearance. A leather case, made just for that model, added to the appeal. I never saw a kid in class listening to their radio with an earphone. We knew the rules. More!
--- 9:00 PM - I’m listening to a group “rag chewing” on 146.520 MHz, a simplex frequency. I also have Morse code running in the background on 40 meters via the Yaesu 857D radio. There must be a contest going on because the CW (Morse code) portion of the band is jammed with dots and dashes all over the place. Actually, it’s more like dits and dahs. But it's almost bedtime for me, so I’m going to shut it all down and resume in the morning.