RadioMan763™
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06-26-2026 - 5:15 AM - Good Morning! It’s Friday, and looking at the weather radar, I see a small thunderstorm passing over southern Wichita Falls. Some will have their lawns watered. Our lake levels have dropped slightly since yesterday. The North Central Texas Simplex Net begins at 8:00 PM tonight on 146.580 MHz. The Net Control Station is normally in Weatherford. That fact, and the fact that it’s simplex (no repeater), means that you will need a high antenna to monitor from Wichita Falls. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:20 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. South wind 9 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Tonight: Increasing clouds, with a low around 76. South wind around 16 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.
--- 5:25 AM - NWS Short Range Weather Discussion
--- 5:30 AM - NWS Extended Range Weather Discussion
--- 5:35 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 83.2% Kemp: 97.9% Kickapoo: 90.2%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 90.7% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (86.7%) to determine drought stage.
--- 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 10,780 Megawatts.
--- 6:15 AM - In 1976, I bought a new Datsun B210 car. For some unknown reason, I still have the sales contract. Back then, you had to take the car in for an oil change, and other checks and adjustments, at 1,000 miles and again at 7,500 miles. I wish I still had the owner's manual. I remember, around 1982, getting a "how-to" book from the library and doing a valve adjustment on the parking lot of my apartment building. Up to that point, the most serious car maintenance task I had performed was an oil change. Those were the days. This is the car I abused by driving it through the Great Bakersfield Dust Storm that I mentioned at 2:15 PM in Post #12.
--- 7:30 PM - The year was 1974. I was in the air, somewhere over Germany, in a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter. On the deck in front of me was one of several nuclear warheads being moved to their new home. The ramp was partially open, and I saw the Chinook behind us make an unexpected, but controlled, trip to the ground. After a few seconds, it lifted off and pulled back in behind us. At the same time, our crew chief retrieved a can of hydraulic fluid from a whole case of hydraulic fluid, opened it with a "beer can" opener, and poured it into one of several ports. I thought it was an interesting sequence of events. According to Google AI, during the height of the Cold War in the 1970s, West Germany hosted around 3,500 United States nuclear warheads. Today, that number has plummeted to an estimated 10 to 15 tactical gravity bombs.
--- 8:25 AM - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing
--- 9:10 AM - According to a story at Texoma’s Home Page (KFDX), a car and motorcycle collided at Kell West and Austin. The motorcyclist was killed. According to the story, the car had a stop sign, and the motorcycle did not. I won’t get into who was at fault because there's no way to tell from the article. There is such a thing as “contributing factors” to consider, and the article does not expound on those. Criminal court and civil court don’t always see through the same lens. I gave up my motorcycle endorsement years ago. Skydiving was safer. Your mileage may vary.
9:33 AM - I contacted a station in Bethpage State Park (US-2014) in New York on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
--- 11:00 AM - I miss the daily (weekday) Wichita Falls ISD school bus radio traffic on 152.360 MHz. Be sure you have that loaded into your scanner radio when the new school year begins. It’s cheap entertainment.
--- 1:00 PM - I think more cities should start recognizing the contributions of Amateur Radio Skywarn Storm Spotters. These "hams" donate not only their time but also risk their safety. And let's not forget the expense of fuel and the wear and tear (including occasional hail dents) on their vehicles.
--- 2:05 PM - Some Wichita Falls radio scanning targets: 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!
--- 3:05 PM - UPDATED - Consumer Product Safety Commission Recalls & Warnings
--- 3:10 PM - UPDATED - Federal Communications Commission Actions
--- 4:00 PM - UPDATED: The Economics Daily
--- 4:45 PM - Driving on Old Iowa Park Road today, I saw the graffiti artist’s dream palette - autoracks, those specialized, fully enclosed railcars used to transport automobiles. There were plenty, and they were all decorated.
--- 6:00 PM - According to a story at Texoma’s Home Page (KFDX), the Peach Cobbler Factory will open at 4111 Southwest Parkway on Saturday, July 18. I love peach cobbler. What more is there to say?