Wichita Falls Pundit
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05-19-2025 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It's Monday. The Rangers lost to the Astros yesterday. Unacceptable! I have nothing on the schedule for today. We have a slight chance of rain, but that's okay because my lawn doesn't need mowing. Wednesday is the last day of school for the WFISD. The City View ISD ends its year on the 22nd. Closed schools mean little or no school radio traffic until the next school year. Not to worry because we have plenty of other radio traffic to enjoy. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready, so I'll enjoy a cup!
05-18-2025 - 11:26 AM - I contacted a station in Blue Licks Battlefield State Park (US-1274) in Kentucky on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program. This brings my POTA hunter count to 529.
05-18-2025 - It's a weekend, which usually means more radio traffic from the James V. Allred Unit due to visitation. Tune in to 153.815 MHz on your scanner.
05-18-2025 - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - National Current Ops / Monitoring – May 17-18, 2025
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• Severe Thunderstorms – Southern Plains to Mid-Atlantic
Hazard Monitoring:
• Severe Weather – Southern/Central Plains
• Heavy Rain/Flash Flooding – Central Plains, Lower/Middle Mississippi Valley
• Critical Fire Weather – New Mexico, Texas
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• No new declaration activity
Event Monitoring:
• No significant events
05-18-2025 - 8:00 AM - CB Radio Channel 6, the "superbowl" of CB Radio, is starting to come alive. I haven't heard anything on Channel 19 yet. On the Amateur (ham) Radio, I see a station in Tuskeegee National Forest making CW (Morse code) contacts on the Parks on the Air® program. I already have that one in the POTA log.
05-18-2025 - From my WFPD consultant - I was driving on Elizabeth, Lucille, or one of those streets when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small kid on the sidewalk wave at me. I waved back at about the same time I noticed that he wasn't waving. He had locked onto me with his middle finger and tracked me with it as I drove by. He looked to be about 5 years old. I was careful not to let him see me laugh.
05-18-2025 - Weekends are usually peak days for radio traffic out of Kickapoo (122.700 MHz) and Wichita Valley (122.800 MHz) Airports. Tune in with your scanner radio. I made one Amateur (ham) Radio two-meter "aeronautical mobile" contact back in my flying days. I've worked a few from the ground. My most memorable was with a Naval aviator in an FA/18 Hornet traveling from the west coast to the Houston area. He said he was using the aircraft radio. Cool! The socond most-cool was a 20-meter contact with the pilot of Boeing 727. I don't know if he was trailing a wire antenna for HF or using one integrated into the vertical stabilizer. I even heard a CB Radio aero mobile on Channel 19. He identified as Waldo Pepper and said he was over Amarillo, Texas.
05-18-2025 - I still haven't found a frequency for Atwoods on Loop 11—the loop that doesn't loop. I've seen their small handheld radios, and the short antennas indicate possibly UHF rather than VHF. I might have to sit in the parking lot and use the "close call" feature on one of my scanner radios to solve the mystery. Also, yesterday, I heard one short transmission on 151.940 MHz. I mentioned earlier that a new entity has started using that frequency. Until then, the only user I've heard there is the WFISD. Since yesterday was Saturday, I'll assume it was not the WFISD I heard, but I can't rule that out completely.
05-18-2025 - The Wichita Amateur Radio Society holds a weekly informal net on Sundays at 8:00 PM on the club's 147.140 MHz repeater. As far as I know, all licensed Amateur (ham) Radio operators are invited to check in. Of course, scanner radio enthusiasts can also tune in.
05-18-2025 - 7:00 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 95.8% Kemp: 100.0% Kickapoo: 98.8%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 98.1% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (97.3%) to determine drought stage.
BUY TWO-WAY RADIOS & SCANNERS!
05-18-2025 - 7:00 AM - ERCOT (Texas) snapshot of grid conditions - ERCOT reports that conditions are normal and there is enough power for current demand with an operating reserve of 10,202 Megawatts.
05-18-2025 - NWS Forecast - Today: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Some of the storms could be severe. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. South wind 9 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Tonight: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10pm, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1am. Some of the storms could be severe. Mostly clear, with a low around 70. South southeast wind 14 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
05-18-2025 - Good Morning! It's Sunday, and we need a couple of Hobby Radio enthusiasts to make a radio contact between Mount Murphy in Wichita Falls and Mount Trashmore in Iowa Park. Why? Because they're there! The Texas Rangers beat the Houston Astros last night. Let's see if they can repeat it tonight. I didn't win the Powerball last night. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
05-17-2025 - This is one of those bad days to work a gate or a building with no A/C at the James V. Allred Unit. The temperature is up, the humidity is smothering, and you can't buy a breeze. Tune in to daily Allred Operations at 153.815 MHz on your scanner radio.
05-17-2025 - At 1:50 PM, our local Skywarn® weather spotters issued an update on the 146.940 MHz repeater regarding a storm headed our way from the southwest. I checked the radar, and it didn't look too menacing. Hopefully, it will pass with little or no noise. UPDATE: The storm fizzled out.
05-17-2025 - At 1:45 PM, I see multiple Parks on the Air® stations on 20 meters on the POTA website, but I can't hear any of them. The CB Radio 27 MHz band is equally as quiet at the Wichita Falls Radio HQ. There is local trucking traffic, but no DX that I can hear. Maybe later.
05-17-2025 - In the early 1980s, a Wichita Falls clothing store on East Scott Avenue had a sign outside that said, "Our prices are lowest because we cheat every third customer". Around 1968, a restaurant billboard ad near North Scott and Sheppard Access Road said "T-Bone, 50¢. With meat, $5.95".
05-17-2025 - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - National Current Ops / Monitoring – May 16-17, 2025
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• Severe Thunderstorms – Southern Plains to Mid-Atlantic
Hazard Monitoring:
• Severe Thunderstorms – Southern Plains, Northeast
• Heavy Rain/Flash Flooding – Northeast
• Critical Fire Weather – Southwest
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• No new declaration activity
Event Monitoring:
• No significant events
Event Monitoring:
• No significant events
05-17-2025 - At 7:45 AM, it appears that we are having a nice VHF-UHF band opening. I heard a station on 146.520 FM simplex from Paris, Texas.
05-17-2025 - In the early 1980s, the WFPD night shift officers working the northside beat had CB radios in their patrol cars. They would chat with each other and any CB Radio-equipped citizens who were awake. MORE!