WICHITA FALLS MAN
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01-18-2026 - 4:45 AM - Good Morning! It's Sunday, and the Wichita Amateur Radio Society will conduct its weekly informal net on the club’s 147.140 MHz repeater. Tune in with your scanner radio. In an earlier post, I mentioned people saying “good ideal” instead of “good idea.” I’m going to add “would of” when you know they meant “would have.” These are people who, in my humble opinion, need to read more. The Broncos and the Seahawks were winners in yesterday’s NFL playoff games. Today it’s the Texans vs. the Patriots and the Rams vs. the Bears. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:00 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 61. South southwest wind 6 to 11 mph becoming west southwest 13 to 18 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 29. Light and variable wind becoming northeast 5 to 9 mph after midnight.
--- 6:00 AM - Being a Sunday, there is Amateur (ham) Radio activity to be found across its 25 bands, each band loaded with more frequencies than you’ll ever use. There are nets (on the air meetings), contests, and just plain, old rag-chewing, or ratchet-jawing on just about every subject imaginable. You can tune in the lower frequencies with an inexpensive shortwave radio and a home-made long-wire antenna, and the VHF-UHF frequencies with an inexpensive scanner radio. Join the fun!
--- 7:30 AM - The CB Radio is fast coming alive with traffic on the usual DX channels 6 and 11. Before long, the entire band will be alive. You need a CB Radio, even if you don't want to use it. Stick it in a closet. It's an inexpensive source of license-free, long-distance communications. You can make an antenna out of wire, if necessary. YouTube is loaded with information.
--- 11:09 AM - I contacted a station at Sycamore State Park (US-1995) in Ohio on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
--- 8:00 PM - The Wichita Amateur Radio Society's weekly informal net kicked off at 8:00 PM as expected and generated a lot of check-ins. Tune in with your scanner radio.
--- 8:30 PM - It’s 8:30 PM on Sunday, I’m watching the Rams-Bears football game, and I get an email saying a postcard I bought on eBay is out for delivery. A postcard. On Sunday. Madness.
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01-17-2026 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It's Saturday, and a day to rest up from my 19-day ordeal with the Wichita Falls Lowe's store. I'll be writing about it later. Maybe. The temperature will drop to faucet-dripping levels tonight and again on Sunday night. There are two NFL playoff games today, and I guess I’ll watch them. I gave up on sports a few months ago, so I didn't watch much of the early NFL season. I'll probably renew my $100 Victory Plus subscription, which covers 150 of the 162 games. I have no plans to leave the house today. I might try to snag another Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® station or two. Maybe. If you're in line at Starbucks at Kemp & Kell, it's okay if you leave and drive across the street to Frank & Joe's Coffee in Parker Square. Of course, there's always Folgers, and my Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready!
--- 5:45 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: A slight chance of flurries, mixing with sprinkles after 11am, then gradually ending. Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 47. North northwest wind 7 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 21. North wind 8 to 13 mph becoming light and variable. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
--- 6:30 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!
--- 7:00 AM - Someone in Wichita Falls won $2,000,000 in the Texas Lottery Last night. Their long-lost cousins will be coming out of the woodwork. I think I might be related!
--- 7:30 AM - Tonight at the Iron Horse Pub - Marbin with special guests Alien Street - Doors 8:30 PM, Start 9:30 PM - 615 Ohio Street.
--- 7:53 AM - I contacted a station at Don Pedro Island State Park (US-1857) in Florida on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
--- 8:33 AM - I contacted a station at Chito Branch Reserve State Conservation Area (US-5524) in Florida on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
--- 1:00 PM - In the news - Lawsuit filed by City of Wichita Falls against Clay County landowners over Lake Ringgold, Homeless Lives Matter launches Narcan on Wheels van, New mobile showers hitting the streets of Wichita Falls, Wichita Falls man arrested after months-long drug probe.
--- 3:43 PM - Someone has a stuck microphone on the 147.140 MHz repeater, and they're sneezing. I don't hear them on the repeater input, so they're not close to me. It happens from time to time. At 3:58, their mic is still stuck. At 4:00 PM, I think they figured out the problem.