WICHITA FALLS MAN
HOME - ABOUT - DIRECTORY
PAGE 004
07-02-2023 - There's a pilot making traffic pattern reports at Kickapoo Airport (122.700 MHz) in Wichita Falls and his audio is terribly garbled. The only thing I can make out is "Kickapoo" and that's only because he's on the Kickapoo frequency and I know to expect the word Kickapoo. There must be no other nearby aircraft because no one is letting him know he's unintelligible. This is definitely a safety issue.
07-02-2023 - I talked to a trucker - on CB Radio Channel 19 - who was hauling 155 MM howitzer shells. I can't imagine the stuff that comes through town. I can't imagine the trucks with fake signage and hauling something sensitive, hazardous, or expensive and inviting for hijackers. I've transported nukes before - as part of a security detail - but by helicopter.
07-02-2023 - I just heard some APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) data bursts from the International Space Station on 145.825 MHz. I have that frequency plugged into my scanner for no reason other than it exists. I have no means to decode Amateur (ham) Radio APRS information. It's a simple matter to do so, but I'm just not an APRS guy.
07-02-2023 - A few days ago, a car salesperson tweeted that CB Radio was the original car phone. Since she was trying to sell cars on the company Twitter account, I didn't butt in to tell her that Amateur (ham) Radio preceded CB Radio by several decades.
07-02-2023 - The CW (Morse code) contests and special event stations continue across the Ham Radio bands. I'm listening to 20 meters at the moment. The CB Radio band is alive with activity on the "DX" channels. Add to that my busy scanner, picking up activity from the various VHF-UHF concerns around the city.
07-02-2023 - Twitter's brain is still scrambled this morning. Tweetdeck has also crapped out. "Sorry, you are rate limited. Please wait a few moments then try again." That's the message I've been seeing this morning and most of the day yesterday. It's no big deal. I don't need Twitter to enjoy my radios. It's coffee time!
07-01-2023 - "Twitter down" is trending on Twitter and it reminds me of movie "The Day After Tomorrow" when Americans were crossing into Mexico to survive. Today, some people are talking about going back to CB Radio, even after bad-mouthing the service for decades.
07-01-2023 - The Wichita Falls city transit bus drivers have been known to get a little relaxed on weekends and evenings when there is apparently no adult supervision. That's all I'll say about that. Tune in at 453.5375 MHz on your scanner if you're in the Wichita Falls area.
07-01-2023 - Twitter is crapped out this morning. That doesn't happen very often. The CB Radio is still going strong. CB Radio was here long before Twitter and it might be here long after Twitter fizzles out. Maybe.IF YOU ENJOY MY POSTS, please make your next AMAZON purchase using THIS LINK, or any other affiliate link on this site. If you do, I will earn a small commission but it won't cost you extra. You can buy radio stuff or any stuff but, for me to earn a commission, you have to purchase within 24 hours of adding the item(s) to your shopping cart. I'm thanking you in advance because AMAZON, correctly, doesn't identify you to me.
07-01-2023 - I saw yet another post online about bringing back CB Radio. It's kind of hard to bring back something that never left the building. It might have gone to a different floor from the one you last saw it on, but it's still in the building.
07-01-2023 - After 40 years of Morse code, I just learned that the Mission Impossible theme song repeats the letters M I in Morse code. Cool!
06-30-2023 - The best repeater directory is a local ham monitoring 146.520 FM simplex. This will remain the case until those printed and online directories can tell you on which of those 30+ machines you're most likely to get a response.
06-30-2023 - I can't count the number of times I've driven through Mineral Wells on U.S. 281 on the way to Austin or San Antonio. In earlier times it was Ft. Hood. Some years ago, I learned that Newtronics - the maker of Hustler antennas - was in town, just two blocks from the highway. I contacted them once and found out they didn't operate a storefront and sold through dealers only. Today I found out that they are now in Weatherford, Texas. I don't know when that happened.
06-30-2023 - In Wichita Falls, in the late 1960s, our local newspaper printed weekly the names of people who received traffic tickets that week. It was fun seeing your classmates' names, and it made me a more cautious driver. These days, it would take a special edition to cover all the tickets written in a week.
06-30-2023 - The year was 1975 and I was stationed at the now-defunct Savanna Army Depot. One day, I pulled into a service station in downtown Savanna, Illinois. There were still actual service stations back then. Behind the counter was a Johnson "whiteface" CB Radio. The owner told me he kept it on Channel 9 - the emergency channel - and he kept the unit powered up 24/7 to combat moisture. He also said he swapped out the tubes every year just to make sure it was ready to go if needed. Interesting.
06-30-2023 - The radio scanner is alive this morning with our City transit buses (453.5375 MHz), the county jail (152.520 MHz), and the Allred Unit (153.815 MHz) all chiming in. The only thing that would make things more lively would be our local school buses (152.360 MHz). We'll have to wait a month or so for that excitement! On the CB radio, Channel 19 seems to be a little more active with local traffic than usual. The band is open so there's an inconsiderate skip shooter or two in there also. Truckers only ask for one channel but I guess that's too much for some skip shooters.
06-30-2023 - Two CB Radio guys I knew in the late 1960s were headed back to college after a holiday break. They were in adjoining dorm rooms. They planned to put an antenna on the roof and split the coax between their rooms using some sort of diplexer/relay arrangement. I don't remember hearing anything about the project so maybe it didn't go as planned. Or maybe they just swapped roommates so they didn't have to split the signal. Or, maybe one of them smoked the other's radio. Or, maybe they were both smoking something else.
06-29-2023 - From my Allred Unit consultant - The Allred Unit refuses to let go of that last 10-code, 10-25. They've dropped to 10 and now use only the 25 part. You hear it all day long, "Can you 25 with me at (such and such a location)." It sounds silly. It's been this way for so long, I'm guessing that most people out there don't even know it was a 10-code. They say it because they learned it from others who learned it from others, and so on. Allred: just stop it and say the word "meet" instead.
06-29-2023 - Wichita Falls might get two more scanner radio targets on the north side of town. News reports indicate that a Hampton Inn is going up behind the Cracker Barrel on I-44. What is described as a large "luxury RV park" will be constructed nearby. Both places sound ripe for handheld radio use. I'll be looking for frequencies if it happens.