WICHITA FALLS MAN
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12-29-2025 - 6:00 AM - Good Morning! It's Monday. A chilly night is behind us, and a chilly day is ahead. It's 25 degrees as I write this. Quite a change from the summertime temperatures we've had the last week. School doesn’t resume until January 6, so there is currently no school (151.940 MHz) or school bus (152.360 MHz) radio traffic to enjoy. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 6:15 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 46. North wind 7 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Tonight: Mostly cloudy during the early evening, then gradual clearing, with a low around 22. North northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the evening.
--- 10:00 AM - I see several Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® stations on the POTA spotter web page, but tuning the band reveals that they are all kind of weak at the moment, even for Morse code. I'll check back later when the band conditions are a little better.
--- 10:15 AM - Have you ever driven through the 400 Block of Flood Street? It's barren today, but the 400 and 500 blocks were once home to a theater, a hotel, a doctor's office, a dentist's office, a barber shop, a grocery store, an apartment building, a service station, an adult beverage store, and nightclubs. A few blocks away - in the 200 Block of 7th Street - was the home of the Skip Shooters QSL CB Radio Club.
--- 10:30 AM - The "movie" page in a 1949 issue of the Wichita Falls Times shows a Skyway Drive-In located at the Archer City cutoff. The Azteca Theater at 408 Flood Street, The Falls Drive-In, "just off Iowa Park Road on Sheppard Access Road". (Became the Twin Falls Drive-In.) The Open Air Theater on Iowa Park Road. (Was this an earlier name for the Twin Sheppard Drive-In in the 4000 Block of Old Iowa Park Road?) The Scottic Drive-In on the Henrietta Hwy near the Chicken Shack. The Lisa Theater at 1523 Monroe. The Gem and Texan theaters, locations not given. And our more recent editions, the Wichita, Strand, and Tower Theaters. Also mentioned was Playland Park at 27th & Jacksboro Hwy and the Dancehaven Club at 401 N. Scott.
--- 3:00 PM - There is a lot of chatter on the 147.140 MHz repeater this afternoon. I usually learn something new about Hobby Radio while listening to these conversations.
--- 5:00 PM - In the news - A local bar owner was the victim of an attempted robbery, and his security guard ran and hid behind a vehicle. A man and a dog died in a house fire near Lake Arrowhead. Buc-ee's broke ground on new stores in Goodyear, Arizona; San Marcos, Texas; Benton, Arkansas; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Kansas City, Kansas; and Ruston, Louisiana. A Veron business owner was arrested for the second time on child pornography charges.
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12-28-2025 - 6:00 AM - Good Morning! It's Sunday, and the Wichita Amateur Radio Society will hold its weekly informal net tonight at 8:00 PM on the club's 147.140 MHz repeater. Tune in or check in. There are a couple of NFL games to watch today if you're a fan. I'm not a rabid fan, but I'll probably watch. I have Morse code running in the background, as I do on many mornings. The CB Radio has yet to come alive. Some of the usual weekend scanner targets like the Allred Unit (153.815 MHz) are up and running. It's visitation day at the Allred Unit, so radio traffic might be a little more plentiful than usual. Right now, the Morse code is flowing freely on the Amateur (ham) Radio 40-meter band. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.--- 6:15 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a temperature rising to near 67 by 9am, then falling to around 52 during the remainder of the day. Windy, with a southwest wind 11 to 16 mph becoming north 21 to 26 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 29. Windy, with a north wind 20 to 25 mph decreasing to 7 to 12 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 38 mph.
--- 6:30 AM - Someone online commented that so many NFL games are on streaming services that people need to broadcast the play-by-play in their area on a CB radio.
--- 7:30 AM - Some weekend Wichita Falls radio scanning targets: Walmart (154.570 MHz), Allred Unit (153.815 MHz), Wichita County Jail (155.520 MHz), State Hospital (154.800 MHz) city transit buses (453.5375 MHz), Wichita Valley Airport (122.800 MHz), Kickapoo Airport (122.700 MHz), Wichita Falls Regional Airport / SAFB (119.750 & 122.950 MHz), and the BNSF Railroad (160.920 MHz). Get more scanning targets here!
--- 8:00 AM - If you're in the Wichita Falls area, 132.925 MHz is a very active Air Route Traffic Control Center frequency. Also, hear Wichita Valley Airport on 122.800 MHz, Kickapoo Airport on 122.700 MHz, and the Wichita Falls Regional Airport tower on 119.750 MHz.
--- 9:00 AM - The new Wichita Falls Lofts at Seymour Road and Avenue H is a great location if you're a hobby Radio enthusiast, especially if you're on the third floor. The building itself is located on one of the highest points in town. A simple indoor (or balcony) VHF-UHF antenna will handle local communications from one side of town to the other. If you're on the second floor, you can place an invisible vertical dipole just outside the balcony, against the building, for HF work. Just make sure your signal is clean.
--- 11:30 AM - There has been a lot of chatter on the 147140 MHz repeater this morning. Earlier, 146.520 MHz was busy.
--- 2:00 PM - Headline seen on one of our local news outlets: "Suspect identified after alleged shooting leaves 1 dead." What the heck is an alleged shooting? Either there was a shooting, or there wasn't a shooting. Is a shooting a living entity that might sue someone for libel? News media everywhere have worn out the words 'allege' and 'allegedly'. End of rant.