WICHITA FALLS MAN

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10-06-2023 - Many years ago, there was an Amateur Radio repeater owner who took the 10-minute station ID requirement a little too literally and had his repeater ID'ing every 10 minutes whether it was in use or not. You can bet that machine was locked out of rotation on my scanner.

10-06-2023 – An Allred Unit Correctional Officer from 19-Building brought "count sheets" to a Lieutenant in 1-Building. The Lieutenant asked about the count sheets from 18-Building. The officer had simply forgotten to get those sheets and offered up the excuse that he thought a "hall porter" (offender) had brought those sheets to 1-Building. The Lieutenant looked at the officer as if he had called his mother a bad name and said "Offenders never carry official unit paperwork!" The officer responded with a "Yes Sir!" knowing that he and the Lieutenant knew that selected offenders routinely carried paperwork from one end of the unit to the other. He said it reminded him of Claude Rains in the movie Casablanca when Rains, as the Police Chief, shut down Humprey Bogart's night club saying "I'm shocked to know that gambling is going on here", just as a croupier hands Rains his winnings. Tune in to Allred at 153.815 MHz on your scanner.

10-06-2023 - A Sheppard AFB pilot made it known that they use the First Wichita (Big Blue) building downtown as a reference for visual approaches to the base. I once flew IFR (I Follow Railroads) from Vernon to Wichita Falls. I didn't have to, but I wanted to count the cars on a coal train.

10-06-2023 - Like clockwork, the Evening Crew are holding court on CB Radio Channel 23. Now, if only the local Ham Radio guys were as enthusiastic about local communications.

10-06-2023 - Do you remember when cable TV first came to Wichita Falls? Do you remember that citizens had to vote on the issue? Both the "For" and "Against" cable TV people were allowed to use two theater screens in Sikes Senter Mall to sway voters to their side. If I remember correctly, the mall only had two screens! I watched at least parts of both presentations. I don't remember what was showing on the "For" screen. All I remember is that on the "Against" screen, they were showing the terrible, sinful things cable would bring to the city like Richard Pryor and others. Yes, they showed a Richard Pryor stand-up routine and I was sold! What were the "Against" people thinking?

10-06-2023 - From my Allred Consultant: A Correctional Officer realized - on his drive home - that he had resigned without having to submit a letter. No letter was needed because he had left 4 marijuana joints on the desk in the gun tower he had just vacated. Listen to Allred at 153.815 MHz on your scanner.

10-06-2023 - Can you believe there was a time, not too many years ago when you could listen to Sheppard Air Force Base Security Police on your scanner? These were also the days before civilians filled many security positions.

10-06-2023 - Good morning! It's coffee time. Someone local has been playing Reveille on CB Radio Channel 19 in the mornings. It's CB Radio, and it's not for the weak at heart! Maybe the Reveille got things started because there is now local chatter Channel 19. I'll leave the CB on for a while, but I'll have the Koch Morse code trainer running in the background at 25 words per minute.

10-05-2023 - I was listening to a contact at 14.009 MHz. They're going at about 30 words per minute. I can only copy half of it, but it's good practice. When they finished, I moved to 14.0475 MHz for an ARRL 20 word-per-minute code practice session on 14.0475 MHz. That's more like it!

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10-05-2023 - That unknown operator is on 151.880 MHz (MURS) again. I still can't hear the station he's talking to. They're on quite often. I still need to raise my VHF-UHF antenna a bit, but I've been waiting on cooler weather. One of these days! MURS remains one of the biggest secrets in Hobby Radio. If only more people knew about it!

10-05-2023 - A school bus driver had a peace-shattering incident this afternoon that rattled him so much that he didn't un-key the microphone for a whole minute after loudly reporting it. I won't go into details, but it's incidents like this that justify the price of a scanner radio! Some folks don't see the entertainment value of a scanner, yet will watch soap operas all day. Listen to our school buses at 152.360 MHz on your scanner.

10-05-2023 - It seems all 7-11 stores in Wichita Falls are now branded DK. It would be great if someone would revive the old Jiffy stores. At one time, we had 16 scattered across the city. That's a figure from a 1977 city directory. There could have been more before they shut down. I do know they were an armed robbery-magnet. The word "Jiffy" could frequently be heard on the scanner radio back in the day. I guess all small stores are targets for thuggery.

10-05-2023 - There's a technical discussion on CB Radio Channel 24 that's so technical I don't have any idea what they're talking about. The only word I recognized was dongle. Sounds obscene, doesn't it?

10-05-2023 - I'm down to #393 on the waiting list for the QCX-Mini QRP CW transceiver. I think I was just over #700 when I ordered it. These are kits. As mentioned before, I could have had the kit delivered in a week, but I'm not building a damn thing! Those days are over. I have other things to do. Put it together and send it to me. I'm in no hurry!

10-05-2023 - It was the early 1990s. I was tuning around the 20-meter Amateur (ham) Radio band when I heard a DX list being assembled. For you non-hams, this is a list to make contact with a DX (foreign) Amateur Radio station. The Net Control Station calls you when it's your turn and you simply make contact with the DX station, exchange signal reports, and that's it. You exchange QSL cards with the DX station either directly by mail or through a QSL bureau. I got on the list and made contact with the DX station when it was my turn. An unidentified station chimed in with "An Extra Class working a list. Shame on you!" He was right, and I was embarrassed. I never did it again. The proper way to work a DX station is to catch them "in the wild" and try to make contact. That's my opinion, anyway.

10-05-2023 - Good morning! It's coffee time again, and our city transit bus (453.5375 MHz) drivers and school bus (152.360 MHz) drivers are up and running. Well, up and driving. Of course, the county jail (155.520 MHz) and the Allred Unit (153.815 MHz) are active 24/7, but there's nothing exciting going on at the moment. The 20-meter Amateur (ham) Radio band is still sleeping, so I'll get my morning dose of CW (Morse code) on 40 meters! The CB Radio is quiet.

10-04-2023 - Although it was National CB Radio Day, I'm closing out the day with, you guessed it, 20-meter CW (Morse code). There are still a few good signals to be found. I'll listen in while I write.

10-04-2023 - The Evening Crew, or the Evening Crew, as I call them, are on the air on CB Radio Channel 23. As you might have read in earlier posts, they're on nightly from 1730 - 1930.