WICHITA FALLS MAN

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09-06-2023 - There exists only about a dozen operational "tower" restaurants in the United States. I have yet to do it, but on my next visit to one, I'd like to take along a small handheld scanner with a short "rubber duck" antenna and an inconspicuous earbud type earphone, and listen to the city while awaiting my food order. I wouldn't be ignoring anyone because this would be a solo trip. If there is a separate observation deck, such as in the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio, I might try a 2-meter simplex contact with my tiny - smaller than a pack of cigarettes - Radio Shack HTX-200 handheld radio.

09-06-2023 - Prison gun towers rock! Working in them doesn't necessarily rock, but the wind can make them rock. I listen to the nearby Allred Unit radio on a regular basis. I have reliable information that the towers sway a little in high winds, but not enough to cause concern. That is until you see the four relatively small bolts that hold it to the concrete base. If there's a person near you, check it out on your scanner!

09-06-2023 - In the same 1965 issue of S9 Magazine as mentioned in the post below, was an article about U.S. military personnel in Germany wanting authorization to use their CB Radios in that country. I don't know what happened and when, but when I was there in 1972-4, we, and the Germans, were CB'ing like crazy. The word then was that authorization was possible, as was for Amateur Radio, but I might have known one person who went through the process. He had a full-size ground plane antenna on the roof of government housing. As for the rest of us, and many Germans, it was "handles" instead of call signs. By the way, the guy in government housing generated a complaint from a neighbor about "CB talk" in his stereo system while he was recording some albums to tape. He had the albums, out of their sleeves, laying flat across the sofa. The guy's poodle, all excited about visitors, jumped on the sofa and ran back and forth across the records. Nothing to record = no more CB Radio problem!

09-06-2023 - In the August 1965 issue of S9 Magazine, there is the story of Congressman Frank Bow's House Resolution that asks the FCC to back off the bad idea of prohibiting "hobby type" communications on the CB Radio. The Congressman says too many users have spent a lot of money on radios and were never made sufficiently clear about this prohibition before they bought into the service. I'm not sure when the FCC did back off or if they ever did officially, but we all know it's darn sure a hobby now!

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09-06-2023 - A few years ago, I heard a female trucker chatting with some male truckers on CB Radio Channel 19 as they passed through town. The woman said she worked for Kock's or Koch's Trucking. I'm not sure of the spelling, but I'm sure of the sound of the name because she took great delight in repeating that she "drove for Koch's" and then laughing. The men laughed, too.

09-06-2023 - CB Radio is the only choice for license-free, long-distance communications. Amateur (ham) Radio can communicate over long distances but is not license-free. The Multi-Use Radio Service and the Family Radio Service are both license-free, but not capable of long-distance communications. The General Mobile Radio Service offers neither long-distance communications or license-free use. Each service has its place in the world of Hobby Radio communications.

09-06-2023 - The CB Radio DX channels are alive this morning. I hear plenty of signals on 6, 11, 28, and 38 this morning. Other activity is scattered out around the dial.

09-06-2023 - I'm still tuning around for Morse code on the Yeasu 857D, but I've added the CB Radio and scanner radio to the mix. Some of my scanner targets have been busy all night, but some, like the school buses, city buses, and Walmart, are just waking up. As luck would have it, the city bus drivers are "spirited" already. I'm sure they show up before any actual supervisors do.

09-06-2023 - It was December 1975, and I had rolled onto the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge from the Oakland side. I was just a few miles from my next U.S. Army duty assignment, the Presidio of San Francisco. I had the CB Radio on for the entire cross-country trip. I flipped to Channel 9, gave my call sign, location, and announced that I needed directions to the Presidio. I was answered by an operator representing the San Francisco branch of R.E.A.C.T. (Radio Emergency Associated Communications Teams). Before I reached the end of the bridge, I had clear instructions on how to get to the Presidio. R.E.AC.T. is still around, but I don't think they monitor Channel 9 these days.

09-06-2023 - The most famous Amateur (ham) radio Operator I ever worked was Roy Neal, K6DUE, in 1984 or 1985. Roy was an NBC News aerospace specialist. His call now belongs to the International Space Station Amateur Radio Club 3. The most famous Amateur Radio Operator I ever saw was Jordan's King Hussein, JY1, as he departed the Letterman Army Medical Center at the Presidio of San Francisco, following a physical in 1976. I wasn't a ham then, and I didn't know he was, but I still saw him! Both are Silent Keys.