Wichita Falls Pundit
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CB Radio, Morse code, and Folgers Black Silk coffee. What else could a man need in beautiful Wichita Falls, Texas? Maybe a "Red Draw" at the BAR-L Drive In? As the late Oscar Gamble said, "They don't think it be like it is, but it do!"
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02-28-2028 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It's Saturday, and I might make a trip to our local Farmers Market for some homemade salsa. That's all the work I plan to do today. As you might guess, the CB Radio has yet to come alive for DX. Local radio traffic, aside from a group that meets every evening on Channel 23, is sporadic. It is, however, getting better. We do have highway truck radio traffic, and three truck stops within radio range. We used to have a guy who would sing Channel 19 invitations for a local chrome shop. Let's see what the day brings. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready. UPDATE: I got some salsa!
--- 5:45 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 86. South wind 10 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers after midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around 59. South southeast wind around 9 mph.
--- 5:55 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are as follows: Arrowhead: 82.1% Kemp: 97.8 Kickapoo: 84.3%. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (83.2%) to determine drought stage.
--- 6:00 AM - Sometimes, when I hear profanity on CB Radio Channel 19, I'll pick up the mic and politely ask the person to stop. I remind them there are truck drivers on the frequency, and they're not used to hearing such language!
--- 6:15 AM - According to a story at CE Outlook, a company that tracks the car audio, video, and electronics market, K40 Electronics closed its doors after 40 years in business. K40 was known mainly for radar detectors but also manufactured the K40 CB Radio antenna.
--- 6:25 AM - I attended a meeting of a local CB Radio club in 1970. I don't remember the name of the club. The only thing I remember is one member bragging about his radio kicking out a big 6 watts, and the others giving him a pat on the back. Times have changed.
--- 7:15 AM - The band is starting to come alive with intermittent traffic on Channel 6, the "superbowl" of CB Radio. Yes, DX conditions usually opens and closes with these guys. Channel 6 is wild and crazy. A lot of people think it's too wild and crazy. I think it's a welcome sign that people are alive and having fun. I might change my mind if a "superbowler" moves onto my block, but that has yet to happen. The nearest Channel 6 operators are about 5 miles from me. When they talk locally, they are very polite. One even admonished another for emitting a curse word over the air.
--- 11:55 AM - In the News - Low-cost pet vaccination clinic heads to Texoma, IP teen awaits heart transplant, battles rare condition, Texas man killed in early morning crash in Jack Co., WF opens Conoco dog park with puppy parade, prizes, Savage Boards expanding after partnering with Hospice of Wichita Falls.
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02-27-2026 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It's Friday, and the North Central Texas Simplex Net kicks off tonight at 8:00 PM on 146.580 MHz. The Net Control Station is normally in the Weatherford area. This means you'll need a good (high) outdoor antenna to hear them from Wichita Falls. I'm behind on my Morse code contacts, so I'll try to make a few today. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:45 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 79. Calm wind becoming south southeast 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 54. South southeast wind around 9 mph.
--- 6:00 AM - The FCC sent a warning letter to a person in Illinois for "broadcasting" on CB Radio Channel 19, and "operating in a manner that is inconsistent with Commission rules that are applicable to CB radio stations." The letter reminded the person that, even though individual licenses are not issued for CB Radio, the service is "licensed by rule", and by breaking the rules, he was, in effect, operating without a license. The letter gave the man 10 days to respond.
--- 6:15 AM - In the news - WF Utility Collections relocating to City Hall, Candidates vie for Wichita County Treasurer position, South Carolina man arrested for online solicitation of minor.
--- 6:45 AM - Local Amateur (ham) Radio repeater and simplex communications have been light over the last few days. Or I've had my radio volume turned down. No, the communications have been light. These dry spells happen.
--- 9:00 AM - A truck driver "cat fight" erupted on CB Radio Channel 19 a few minutes ago. I don't know what they were arguing about. It was probably nothing that truckers don't argue about all the time. It didn't last long.:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:
02-26-2026 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It's Thursday, and I've already heard one side of a conversation on Channel 19. The rest of the band is dead, but this guy is making his own band opening. Interesting. Someone online posted the question "What radio service can you hear 10-4, Good Buddy? Of course, people were answering "CB Radio." Let me say that I've been on the CB Radio since 1964, and I have never heard the term "Good Buddy" over the air. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:45 AM - Two truckers are chatting away on CB Radio Channel 19 as they pass through town. The band is still asleep as far as long-distance communications (DX) is concerned, but it won't be long before someone on Channel 6 gives a wakeup call. Will it be the loud "147" in Jamaica? Probably.
--- 6:50 AM - As predicted, it was indeed "147" in Jamaica who opened the CB Radio band this morning, at least in my part of the world. Local trucking traffic is picking up a little. Channel 38, lower sideband is active, though still a little quiet. It will all get better as the day progresses.
--- 3:00 PM - My wife and I went to Sikes Senter Ghost Town Mall today to vote. It looks emptier each time I visit. From there, we went to the Grand Buffet for lunch. While there, my phone rang. The ring tone is a continuous "CQ" in Morse code. Sometimes, someone will recognize it and smile. Not today, though.
--- 6:30 PM - The Local Group appeared on CB Radio Channel 23, as expected. I was watching a painting (art) video on YouTube, so I had the CB Radio volume turned down low. The artist was Australian Richard Muscrave-Evans, who paints with a palette knife. All that scratching is relaxing.
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02-25-2026 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! The State of the Union Address was last night. Some people are happy, and some are not. The CB Radio band is dead at this hour at my location. Things will pick up in a few hours. I sometimes hear local trucking traffic on Channel 1, but I've heard nothing so far. Not even an oversized load moving through town. There's nothing to do but pour my first cup of Folgers Black Silk coffee and wait. I need to spray a few weeds, but it's dark outside!
--- 6:00 AM - A few days ago, I had a power supply quit on me. Not even a two-week notice. It blew a fuze and it took me a few minutes to discover that it was blowing fuses with no load attached. I think it needs to go back to its maker for repair. I have several replacements so it didn't take me off the air.
--- 8:00 AM - Channel 6, the "superbowl" of CB Radio, is coming alive with "147" in Jamaica holding court. If you're a CB'er, you probably know who I'm talking about. I don't know how much power this guy is running, but he has "cut the lips" off local stations before. He's been at it for years.
--- 8:46 AM - I contacted a station in Harvey Gap State Park (US-1220) in Colorado on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
--- 5:45 PM - The CB Radio band is still screaming with strong signals on the usual AM and SSB DX channels. I'd like to buy an AM/FM rig to see if the FM mode is good for local communications. I don't see why it wouldn't be, given that FM is quieter than AM. If I do, you can be sure I'll write about it.
--- 7:00 PM - Locally, a couple of guys are having an extended rag chew, on the CB Radio, talking about this and that. A DX station chimed in to let them know they're reaching the other side of the country. Being license-free and long-distance are two of the best "selling points" for CB Radio. The relatively low price doesn't hurt, either.
--- 9:00 PM - The CB Radio band is flat as a pancake, so I put the President McKinley on 40-channel scan to see if I can detect any local activity. I'll probably be in bed before someone local keys up. That's too bad because these quiet evenings are great for local communication, and there are plenty of channels for most cities not named Los Angeles or Houston.
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No post for 02-23-2026 and 02-24-2026
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02-22-2026 - 6:00 AM - Good Morning! It's Sunday, and the most work I have planned for today is watch a NASCAR race on TV. Maybe. I might find something better on one of the streaming services. I'm not a huge NASCAR fan. I've never attended a race. The closest I've ever been to NASCAR is the In-N-Out Burger across the street from the Texas Motor Speedway, and it wasn't even a race day. As usual, I have CW (Morse code) running in the background on the Yaesu 857D as I try to wake up. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 6:15 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 56. North wind around 7 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 28. North northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
--- 6:30 AM - With all the scanning targets in Wichita Falls, there is always something interesting going on. Radio scanning is cheap entertainment. You buy a radio and, possibly, an outside antenna (recommended) once, and they serve you for decades.
--- 7:15 AM - Railroad radio chatter is up this morning. I'm not what you would call a "railfan", but I still find their comms interesting. I've learned a few things I didn't know about the industry just by listening. Search the 159 to 162 MHz range on your scanner radio.
--- 7:45 AM - The Amateur (ham) Radio HF (High Frequency) bands are loaded with contest traffic this morning. This is normal on weekends. I'm not a "contester", but I do hand out contacts now and then.
--- 8:20 AM - I recently purchased a Champion 9000 Inverter Generator from Home Depot after an "experience from Hell" trying to get one from Lowe's. I might post the story on that one of these days. Let's say I will not be setting foot in Lowe's ever again, unless it's an emergency. The Home Depot sale was perfect from start to finish.
---12:15 PM - The latest Hobby Radio craze is Meshtastic. From Wikipedia: "Meshtastic is a decentralized wireless off-grid mesh networking LoRa protocol. The main goal of the project is enabling low-power, long-range communication over ISM radio bands." Locally, it's quite the "buzz" among Amateur (ham) Radio operators. It sounds like fun.
--- 4:00 PM - 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 with your scanner radio or check in if you're a Ham Radio Operator.
--- 5:00 PM - There's a lot of radio traffic coming out of Kickapoo Airport this afternoon, as area pilots take advantage of the good weather. The air should be smooth. Tune in to Kickapoo at 122.700 MHz and Wichita Valley at 122.800 MHz on your scanner radio.
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02-21-2026 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It's Saturday, and other than playing on the radio, I have no real plans. As usual, I start the day with CW (Morse code) running in the background. The CB Radio band has yet to open, and I hear no local traffic on Channel 19. Of course, 99% or truckers pass through town without saying a word on the radio. There is an Amateur (ham) Radio group that meets informally at a local restaurant on Saturday mornings. Let's see what the day brings. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 6:40 AM - I have the CB Radio on 40-channel scan, and Channel 6, the "superbowl", is trying to come alive. That channel will be booming in an hour or so. I'm not a Channel 6 operator, but I enjoy listening from time to time.
--- 7:45 AM - Long before there were WiFi wardrivers, looking for open WiFi connections, there were scanner radio wardrivers, looking for interesting VHF and UHF signals to monitor. One of the biggest prizes was the old cordless telephones in the 47-49 MHz range. Those were the days.
---- 8:00 AM - Some Amateur (ham) Radio Operators don't realize how much noise (a radio or TV in the background) their microphone picks up. I'm listening to one such operator on the two-meter band with background music. No one he talks to ever mentions it, so it's not a big deal to many. I'm in the listening mode 99% of the time, so it's not a deal-breaker, just something I've noticed.
---- 1:15 PM - Have you ever heard kids playing with those Family Radio Service walkie-talkies? What I hear, more than anything, is a battle of the "roger" beeps. For me, that takes most of the fun out of listening. Your love or hate of "roger" beeps might be different from mine.
--- 2:00 PM - In my city, the Multi-Use Radio Service is gaining in popularity. Almost every weekend, I hear several guys chasing rabbits, deer, wild turkeys, or something. I have no idea what they're chasing, or if they ever catch whatever it is. They can get frantic. I don't know if MURS falls under the "illegal to disclose content" FCC rule. CB Radio and Amateur (ham) Radio do not. Either way, if I didn't identify the radio users, no disclosure took place. That's my opinion.
--- 3:00 PM - Today, I received a QSL card from an Amateur (ham) Radio Operator confirming our contact on 146.580 FM simplex while he was aeronautical mobile in a Cessna Citation jet last month.
--- 5:00 PM - I finished the second season of Landman today. It was pretty excellent. The only thing that would have made it better would have been much more two-way radio communication. Was there any at all? I can't remember any.
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02-20-2026 - 7:30 AM - Good Morning! It's Friday, and I'm off to a late start this morning. I forgot the weather forecast and was a little surprised at the 30-degree reading this morning. We won't be back above 70 degrees again until Tuesday. It's too cold to go skinny-dipping this morning, so I'll stay inside and play on the radio. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 7:45 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 62. Northeast wind around 10 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 37. East southeast wind 6 to 9 mph becoming west northwest after midnight.
--- 8:00 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are as follows: Arrowhead: 82.3% Kemp: 98.1 Kickapoo: 84.5%. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (83.4%) to determine drought stage.
--- 9:00 AM - From the U.S. Federal Trade Commission - Amazon recently sent automatic refunds to millions of eligible Prime customers following a $2.5 billion settlement. Eligible Prime customers can submit a claim if they did not get an automatic refund in 2025.
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02-19-2026 - 5:00 AM - Good Morning! It’s Thursday, and I still have nothing interesting on today's schedule. Due to the warm weather we’ve been having, I decided to put down some pre-emergent on my lawn a few weeks early. I might already be too late. There is a hamfest (Amateur (ham) Radio swapfest) on March 7, 2026, at the Betcha Bingo Hall, 2420 W. Irving Blvd. Irving, TX 75014. The hours are 8:00 AM TO 2:00 PM. Tickets are $5.00. It is sponsored by the Irving Amateur Radio Club. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:15 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 71. West wind 11 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Tonight" Mostly clear, with a low around 37. West northwest wind 6 to 9 mph becoming east northeast after midnight.
--- 5:30 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are as follows: Arrowhead: 82.8% Kemp: 98.4 Kickapoo: 85.0%. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (83.9%) to determine drought stage.
--- 6:00 AM - I have never owned a CB Radio with an FM mode, but I’ve been thinking of getting one. I’m thinking that FM would be great for local communications, one reason being the FM capture effect. To put it simply, in the FM mode, an interfering FM signal has to be much stronger to be heard than an interfering AM signal. If I remember correctly, in the FM mode, for a signal to interfere, it must be at least 50% as strong as the signal you’re trying to hear. In the AM mode, that interfering signal needs only to be 1% as strong to make its presence known. This is why the FAA uses AM - they want interfering signals (a pilot with an emergency) to be heard. When I’m trying to talk to someone across town on the CB Radio, I do not want to hear collisions from weak signals. Of course, your opinion of what you want to hear or not hear may vary.
--- 6:30 AM - I’m listening to two area Amateur (ham) Radio Operators on the 147.140 MHz repeater. They have been going for about 15 minutes now, and there has been no mention of radios, antennas, or related equipment. I’m pleasantly shocked!
--- 1:18 PM - I contacted a station at Katy Trail State Park (US-1766) in Missouri on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
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02-18-2026 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It’s Wednesday. The Clay County Amateur Radio Club net arrived on time last night, but I didn’t monitor the proceedings because an interesting conversation was underway on the local simplex frequency, 146.520 MHz. I have no real plans for today. I can’t find the correct socket I need to remove the anode rod from my water heater, so I had to order one online. When it arrives, I’ll flush the water heater and replace the anode rod. For now, my Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:45 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. West wind 5 to 15 mph becoming south southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 52. South wind 11 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
--- 6:00 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are as follows: Arrowhead: 82.7% Kemp: 98.4 Kickapoo: 84.9%. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (83.8%) to determine drought stage.
--- 6:15 AM - We must have a UHF "band opening" this morning because I'm listening to a conversation on a distant General Mobile Radio Service repeater on 462.5750 MHz. Tune in with your scanner radio. As far as I know, there is no GMRS repeater in or near Wichita Falls. I could be wrong. Either way, this one is distant. A GMRS license is required ($35 for 10 years), but there is no test involved. While we don't have a local repeater, we do have locals using the "simplex" (direct communications) GMRS frequencies. If the world goes dark, radio hobbyists will still be communicating.
--- 6:30 AM - Before our two new high schools opened, my wife and I toured the Legacy High School. We noticed the R.O.T.C. Instructor and asked him about the gun range. He responded that the school's plans did not include a range and that they had to travel to Hirschi to use the range there. I thought that was interesting. Unknown if one will be added to the Legacy location.
--- 6:40 AM - According to a story on Texoma's Home Page (KFDX), a power outage at the Wichita Tower at 7th & Indiana affected the City Planning and Building Inspections, Finance, Utility Collections, and Public Works offices. I guess I’m behind the times, because I didn't know the City had offices there. I'm guessing this began during the renovations of Municipal Auditorium.
--- 7:00 AM - According to Texoma's Home Page, the Circle M Bakery on Old Iowa Park Rd. is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Everyone should stop by and buy 40 donuts! Maybe 4? The article reports that the "M" is for Marilyn, the founder.
--- 6:00 PM - Parachutes, Transistor Radios, Marbles, and a Yo-Yo - Today, school kids show off their new cell phones. When I was a school kid, the thing to show off was an AM pocket transistor radio emitting "I Want To Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles. The fact that a telescoping antenna was not needed to receive local AM broadcasts added to their stylish appearance. A leather case, made just for that model, added to the appeal. I never saw a kid in class listening to their radio with an earphone. We knew the rules. More!
--- 9:00 PM - I’m listening to a group “rag chewing” on 146.520 MHz, a simplex frequency. I also have Morse code running in the background on 40 meters via the Yaesu 857D radio. There must be a contest going on because the CW (Morse code) portion of the band is jammed with dots and dashes all over the place. Actually, it’s more like dits and dahs. But it's almost bedtime for me, so I’m going to shut it all down and resume in the morning.