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Hobby Radio and other Wichita Falls, Texas content. I post something on most days. I can't guarantee it will be what you want to read, but I guarantee you'll get your money's worth! I make no such claim about your time, which is non-refundable in our present state of technology.
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05-21-2025 - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - National Current Ops / Monitoring – May 20-21, 2025
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• Severe Weather – Southern Plains to Mid-Atlantic – FINAL
Hazard Monitoring:
• Severe Thunderstorms – Middle Mississippi Valley, Mid-Atlantic
• Heavy Rain/Flash Flooding – Central Appalachians
• Rain/Thunderstorms – Southern Plains, Lower Mississippi Valley, Southeast
Atlantic:
• Disturbance 1: Low (30%)
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• Request: Expedited Major Disaster Declaration – KY
• Request: Expedited Major Disaster Declaration – MO
Event Monitoring:
• No significant events
05-21-2025 - The CB Radio (27 MHZ) band was screaming when I went to bed last night, but it's quiet this morning at 6:00 AM. At 7:00 AM, I hear faint suggestions that it's coming alive again. However, it's still quiet enough to allow easy local communications for truckers and others.
05-21-2025 - From my corrections consultant - Whenever I worked one of the gun towers, I would sometimes imagine what I would do if someone attempted to land a helicopter inside the fence to extract an inmate. Would I wait for the helicopter to take off and cross over the fence before firing? There would probably be other inmates on the ground to consider. What about buildings and cars in the area? Would I aim for the pilot? Would the tail (anti-torque) rotor be better? Knock out the anti-torque (tail) rotor, and that flight will end. I think I'd just aim for the inmate since deadly force is authorized to prevent an escape. The pilot would be collateral damage. You know, the old "play stupid games, win stupid prizes" theory. If you're familiar with the skin on small aircraft, you'd know it's not stopping an AR-15 round at close range. No sparking bullets like in the movies! Tune in to Allred daily operations at 153.815 MHz on your scanner radio.
05-21-2025 - The year was 1982, and I was sitting in the FCC Field Office exam room in Dallas. The occasion was my first attempt at becoming a licensed Amateur (ham) Radio Operator. My plan was to take the Technician written exam and the five words-per-minute Morse code test. I had been practicing my code diligently in the weeks leading up to the exam. I decided to try the 13 words-per-minute test first. Why not? My headphones were on, and the code test began. I was stunned! Shocked! It sounded like machine gun fire! I sat there, motionless, unable to jot down a single character. The examiner came over, lifted one side of my headphones, gave a listen, and said, "It's there; I hear it." Smart ass! I shook off that defeat and passed the five words-per-minute code test and the Technician Class written exam. Two months later, I passed the 13 words-per-minute code test and the Advanced Class written exam. Two months later, I passed the 20 words-per-minute code test and the Amateur Extra written exam. That was 42 years ago, and I'm glad I got all the testing out of the way in short order.
05-21-2025 - 6:10 AM - If you're in line at Starbucks at Kemp & Kell in Wichita Falls, leave now and drive across the street to Frank & Joe's Coffee in Parker Square. You can go to Starbucks tomorrow! Dine Local!
05-21-2025 - 6:00 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 95.8% Kemp: 100.0% Kickapoo: 98.4%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 98.0% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (97.1%) to determine drought stage.
05-21-2025 - 6:00 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 11,513 Megawatts.
05-21-2025 - 6:00 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 92. South wind 7 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Tonight: Clear, with a low around 65. South wind 7 to 10 mph.
05-21-2025 - 5:45 AM - Good Morning! It's Wednesday. The CB Radio is quiet so far, so I'll tune in to some CW (Morse code) on the 40-meter Amateur (ham) Radio band while my coffee is brewing. Walmart should be coming alive on 154.570 MHz. Today is the last day of regular WFISD school bus (152.360 MHz) operations. Enjoy it while you can. If K-Mart was still in town, what frequency would they use, and what would their communications be like? I don't know what Sutherland's is doing radio-wise. If they are using handheld radios, they are beyond my receiving range. Target is another one outside my receive range at the Wichita Falls Radio HQ. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready!
05-20-2025 - At 9:00 PM, the CB Radio band is on fire, with traffic on 25 of the 40 channels. Is CB radio dead? It doesn't sound like it. Most of it sounds like what the FCC used to call non-substantive communications. That may take my mind off another Texas Rangers loss. Tomorrow is the last day of the regular school year. I would like to know if the school bus (152.360 MHz) drivers will hit the nearest bar for a celebration. I would.
05-20-2025 - Do you remember when you could monitor the Sheppard Air Force Base Security Police on the cheapest Radio Shack scanner radio? I don't remember the frequency, but I remember, back in the early 1980s, hearing the main gate report that someone was shooting bottle rockets at them from the apartments that once stood just outside the gate. Those were the days. I know who fired the bottle rockets, but I'll never tell!
05-20-2025 - At 3:00 PM, two truckers are having a knock-down-drag-out fight on CB Radio Channel 19. I don't know what started this one. It's CB Radio. I accept the good, the bad, and the ugly of this fantastic, unregulated, crazy radio service! Your CB Radio love and appreciation might vary.
05-20-2025 - I wish I had a dollar for every minute I've spent daydreaming about winning a huge Powerball or Mega Millions, buying Radio Shack at its weakest moment, and rebuilding it from the ground up. I would take it back to its Hobby Radio roots. Over 8,000 stores? Ten would be plenty. Cell phones? Don't be silly! I heard the name is attempting a comeback. I do not have high hopes.
05-20-2025 - From Central Oklahoma Radio Amateurs - The next All Ham Dinner will be held Thursday, May 22, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. This dinner will be at Pickles Steakhouse, 1201 S Meridian, Oklahoma City, OK 73120. Map to Location — Click Here. No RSVP is needed; show up, get your meal, and join the fun in their banquet room. At this meeting, we’ll talk about the upcoming Ham Holiday, Texoma Hamarama, and Enid hamfests, with a summary of OKCMM 2025, and the start of OKCMM 2026!
05-20-2025 - On CB Radio Channel 19, two truckers commented unfavorably on the "yard ornaments from Hell" (my description) stored on N. Beverly just south of Old Iowa Park Road. The truckers were probably going to, or coming from, the nearby plastic pipe yard.
05-20-2025 - From the U.S. Federal Communications Commission - N THE MATTER OF BISCAYNE TOWING & SALVAGE, INC. EB issued a Notice of Harmful Interference for operating an Icom IC-F5061 VHF tranceiver that was interfering with 156.8 MHz (VHF Marine Channel 16). . by NOHI. EB. The interfering signal was emanating from an Icom VHF transceiver that was transmitting short burst tones approximately every 30 seconds. The Icom IC-F5061 VHF transceiver with FCC ID AFJ297900 was subsequently reset and the interference ceased. Section 80.89(a) of the Commission’s rules states that “[s]tations must not engage in superfluous radiocommunication.” 47 CFR § 80.89(a). At the time of the investigation, the Agent determined that the Icom VHF radio transceiver at 1750 North Bayshore Drive in Miami, Florida was continuously transmitting an unmodulated signal with no authorized purpose for the transmissions.