Wichita Falls Man
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12-13-2025 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It's Saturday. I'm guessing that a small group of Amateur (ham) Radio Operators will be meeting for breakfast at Pioneer #3 restaurant, as usual. There's nothing of importance on my schedule for today. I might attempt a few "Parks on the Air" Morse code contacts today. If not, I'll still have Morse code running in the background on the old Yaesu 857D. Right now, my Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 6:00 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 61. Calm wind becoming south southeast around 6 mph in the afternoon. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 27. North northeast wind 8 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.
--- 7:00 AM - The CB Radio is already active with signals scattered across the band. The scanner radio is still a little quiet, but I hear a few Amateur (ham) Radio Operators making their presence known. Let's see what the day brings. More coffee, please!
--- 10:00 AM - Years ago, my wife asked me to help come up with a name for her arts & crafts rubber stamping group. My offering was L.A.D.I.E.S. - League of Artists, Designers, Inkers, Embossers & Stampers. Not being able to leave well enough alone, I offered an alternative name in case they didn't like L.A.D.I.E.S. - Bureau of Inking, Tinting, Collaging, Hot-gluing, Engraving & Stamping.
--- 6:15 PM - A good source of entertainment for scanner radio owners is the local school bus operation on 152.360 MHz. You don't have to wait long for interesting radio traffic in my town. Our city transit bus drivers, on 453.5375 MHz, are also good for a laugh now and then, mainly because they think no one can hear them. I'm not about to let them in on the secret world of scanner radio owners. Check out more scanner frequencies here.
--- 6:15 PM - The Local Group is on the air on CB Radio Channel 23. Tune in if you have a CB Radio. Or, listen in if you have a scanner radio. An outside antenna would be helpful.
--- 8:30 PM - While it's on my mind, I'm calling on the City of Wichita Falls to make repairs to 10th Street between Scott and Indiana. The roughness of that block is an abomination of a travesty.
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12-12-2025 - 6:00 AM - Good Morning! It’s Friday! Someone on X, formerly known as Twitter, said "CB Radio lingo" is the official language of truckers, and English will get you nowhere in that field. I don't know about that. I've been using plain language on the CB Radio since 1964, and I've never had trouble communicating with truckers or anyone else. I go out of my way to avoid "lingo" and 10-codes. Plain language is the best approach because you don't need to translate it. Your opinion may vary. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 6:30 - It was in 1976 and 77 when I would climb, in my Datsun B210, to the highest points in San Francisco - Twin Peaks and Mount Davidson - to make CB Radio contacts. These high points were also great for receiving more signals on my AM-FM portable radio with extended VHF receiver coverage. I was interested in that, even more than listening to Dr. Don Rose on KFRC. With an extended VHF tuning range, in the days before scanner radios were popular and affordable, I could listen to commercial entities of all types. I even found the frequencies for car phones. Cordless phones were, as far as I know, not out at that time. I don't remember hearing any. It didn't matter since there was no shortage of scanning targets. Manual spin-the-dial scanning. I'm sure Hobby Radio enthusiasts still use that elevation for one purpose or another.
--- 7:00 AM - CB Radio Channel 6 is starting to come alive, and, not surprisingly, it is a Jamaican station with the wake-up call. Locally, I hear two truckers with shop talk on Channel 1. They're regulars on that frequency.
--- 7:30 AM - I hear what sounds like two truckers speaking Spanish on CB Radio Channel 3 as they pass through town. No, it is not illegal to speak a foreign language on U.S. Radio frequencies. You must provide your call sign in English, or Morse code. But, as we know, call signs are no longer issued for CB Radio.
--- 11:00 AM - I hear faint voices on Channel 19. The voices sound like they're a hundred miles away. As the minutes pass, the voices get louder and more distinct. Finally, I can tell I'm listening to two truckers as they approach the city. As the voices become clear, I hear about Popeye's chicken and other delicacies. After a few more minutes, the voices begin to fade, and the two drivers exit the other side of town. But wait, I hear two more drivers, voices faint, coming to take their place.