Wichita Falls Pundit
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09-03-2025 - 7:25 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 6,334 Megawatts.
09-03-2025 - 7:45 AM - The CB Radio is active locally with traffic on Channels 1, 19, and 23. On a related issue, I thought I had a bad coaxial cable connector at my MFJ Versa Tuner II antenna tuner, when it was actually a loose inductor switch on the tuner that was causing intermittent SWR problems. Also, the rest of the "usual scanner suspects" are up and running: Walmart (154.570 MHz), Allred Unit (153.815 MHz), Wichita County Jail (155.520 MHz), State Hospital (154.800 MHz) city transit buses (453.5375 MHz), WFISD school buses (152.360 MHz), school handheld radios (151.940 MHz), Wichita Valley Airport (122.800 MHz), Kickapoo Airport (122.700 MHz), Wichita Falls Regional Airport / SAFB (119.750 & 122.950 MHz), and the BNSF Railroad (160.920 MHz). Find more local frequencies here!
09-03-2025 - 8:15 AM - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - National Current Ops / Monitoring – September 2-3, 2025
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• No new significant incidents / operations
Hazard Monitoring:
• Severe Thunderstorms – Kansas, Missouri
• Heavy Rain / Flash Flooding – Southwest
• Fire Weather – Pacific Northwest, northern California
• Tropical Activity:
Atlantic:
• Disturbance 1: High (70%)
Eastern and Central Pacific:
• Hurricane Kiko (CAT 2)
• Hurricane Lorena (CAT 1)
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• FMAG Approval: 2-7 Fire, CA
Event Monitoring:
• No new significant events
09-03-2025 - 10:20 AM - What sounds like an oversized load is making its way through town with communications being handled on CB Radio Channel 10.
09-03-2025 - 10:25 AM - From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Economics Daily - 18 percent of private workers who participated in medical care plans had one plan network in 2024 - In 2024, a plan network was available to 99 percent of private industry workers participating in medical care plans. Plan participants typically pay a lower price for using in-network services. Of those participating in medical plans, 18 percent of private industry workers had one plan network and 75 percent had two networks available. Nonemergency services outside the network were available to 78 percent of private industry workers participating in medical care plans. Services provided outside of the network typically carry higher costs to plan participants. For the remaining 22 percent of workers, costs for nonemergency services were the sole responsibility of plan participants. In small establishments with fewer than 50 private industry workers, 18 percent of medical care plan participants had access to one plan network and 74 percent had two networks offered. Out-of-network nonemergency services were available to 78 percent of participants in small establishments. Among medical care plan participants in establishments with 100–499 workers, 18 percent had one plan network available and 77 percent had two networks. Nonemergency services were available outside the network to 80 percent of workers. These data are from the Employee Benefits program.
09-03-2025 - 6:05 PM - The 1977 Wichita Falls City Directory lists 140 people under the heading of Clergymen. With those kinds of numbers, the whole town should make it into heaven! Also in this issue, at an address in a part of town commonly referred to as the "Country Club", a person is listed as a houseboy. That's very Interesting.
09-03 -2025 - Flashback from the 1960s and 70s - McCain's Funny Farm Go Karts, 3408 Sheppard Access Road, and Vaughn's Go Karts & Trampolines, 2611 Sheppard Access Road. Do you remember them? You can still see the McCains' track on Google Maps/Earth.
09-02-1952 - 5:45 AM - Good Morning! It's Tuesday, and the Clay County Amateur Radio Club conducts a weekly Skywarn® practice net at 8:00 PM on the 146.800 MHz repeater. Tune in with your scanner radio. If you're in line at Starbucks, consider leaving now and driving across the street to Frank & Joe's Coffee in Parker Square. You can go to Starbucks tomorrow. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
09-02-2025 - 5:50 AM - Wichita Falls NWS Forecast - Today: Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming north northeast around 6 mph in the morning. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 68. East northeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
09-02-2025 - 5:55 AM- Current National Short Range Weather Forecast
09-02-2025 - 6:00 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 92.4% Kemp: 100% Kickapoo: 95.3%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 96.2% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (93.85%) to determine drought stage.
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09-02-2025 - 6:05 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 8,895 Megawatts.
09-02-2025 - 6:35 AM - Wichita Falls area railfans, be sure to plug these BNSF frequencies into your scanner radio: 160.620, 160.920, 161.010, and 161.130 MHz. The BNSF Railroad is very active on the radio.
09-02-2025 - 7:30 AM - The CB Radio has been dead this morning. Even Channel 6, the "superbowl" is dead. The band is so dead, I had to make sure the antenna was connected. Antenna tuner: Yes, it's connected and set to the correct settings. Perhaps everyone is exhausted from the holiday yesterday. I doubt that. Let's see what the day brings.
09-02-2025 - 8:00 AM - A nice place for lunch in the 1980s and 90s was the Chef's Grill. The address was 107 Oil & Gas Building, 813 8th Street. You entered from the alley on the east side of the building. Unusual, but the food was good. Another favorite was Callaway's BBQ on 10th Street between Scott and Indiana. You can still see the name on the window.
09-02-2025 - 8:10 AM - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - National Current Ops / Monitoring – September 1-2, 2025
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• No new significant incidents / operations
Hazard Monitoring:
• Heavy Rain / Flash Flooding – California, Southwest
• Fire Weather – Pacific Northwest, northern California
• Tropical Activity:
Atlantic:
• Disturbance 1: High (70%)
Eastern and Central Pacific:
• Hurricane Kiko (CAT 1)
• Tropical Depression Twelve-E
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• No new declaration activity
Event Monitoring:
• No new significant events
09-02-2025 - 8:20 AM - Not long ago, a fellow Ham Radio Operator asked me what I thought about a certain aspect of the Extra Class portions of the ham bands vs the other portions of the bands. I had to think for a moment, then I realized that I had no idea where the Extra Class portions of the bands were located, and I told him so. I'm an Extra. I have no need to know. Only those who, by virtue of having a lower-class license, need to know where not to tread. Another reason I didn't know is that I completed all my testing within the first four months of my Ham Radio adventure, and I didn't own an HF rig until I passed the Extra exam. So I had no experience in avoiding the Extra Class portions of any band. For the record, I don't believe in "incentive licensing". I think there should be a single license, “Amateur Radio Operator”, for all.
09-02-2025 - 8:35 AM - CB Radio reached a peak in usage in the late 1970s and early 1980s. One might call it somewhat of an explosion, due to the popularity of CB Radio-themed movies of the time. After the explosion of activity, CB radio began a slow decline over the next decade or so. When cell phones became affordable, CB Radio usage took a big plunge. It took a significant plunge because a substantial bubble had been created by those movies. I think usage went back to its pre-movie level. Those who came to the hobby because of those movies didn't know what pre-movie usage was, and many thought the hobby had been decimated. It had not. In my opinion, those who abandoned CB Radio weren't true radio hobbyists. If they were, they would have held onto those radios as did the rest of us. But there was still a downside. When the dust settled, there was a large percentage of post-movie operators still active who had been taught by the likes of Burt Reynolds that it was acceptable to talk like an idiot on the CB Radio. The hobby has not recovered from that damage. This is my opinion. Yours might be vastly different.
09-02-2025 - 8:45 AM - I was reviewing some 1960s issues of S9 Magazine, the Citizens Band Radio Journal. Most issues have a section on FCC enforcement actions. There were a lot of fines handed out for "Non-Substantive Communications". Just what is that? Does that mean talking about things that have nothing to do with radio? Talking too much about business? Not talking enough about business? Or does it simply mean agitating, stirring up trouble, and/or making silly noises on the radio? Maybe I can locate the FCC regs that were in effect during that time. The FCC would have a "field day" with such a charge these days!
09-02-2025 - 10:45 AM - From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Economics Daily - Overall, 64.2 percent of the U.S. population worked in 2023, up from 63.8 percent in 2022. In 2023, the percentage of women who worked at some time during the year increased by 0.5 percentage point to 59.4 percent, and the percentage of men who worked was up by 0.4 percentage point to 69.2 percent. Men continued to be more likely to work than women. People of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity were more likely to have worked in 2023 (67.2 percent) than people who are Asian (65.6 percent), White (64.2 percent), or Black (63.0 percent). The proportion of people who are White that worked at some time during the year increased by 0.5 percentage point from the prior year, while the proportions for other groups were little changed. These data are from the Current Population Survey.