RadioMan763.com
HOME - GET A SCANNER RADIO - MENU
029
04-19-2026 - 6:25 AM - Good Morning! It’s Sunday, and the Wichita Amateur Radio Society will conduct its weekly informal net tonight 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. As I write this, it’s 45 degrees outside, but it’s warm in my “radio shack” with the fireplace video going on the big-screen TV. From the local chatter on the radio, it sounds like the Ham Radio folks who activated Lake Arrowhead yesterday had a successful, if not windy and chilly, outing. I did make one CW (Morse code) contact with them. Right now, I have CW (Morse code) running in the background on the 40-meter Amateur (ham) Radio band, and my Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready!
--- 6:30 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 73. Calm wind becoming south southeast 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 46. South southeast wind 6 to 9 mph.
--- 6:35 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 83.8% Kemp: 96.1% Kickapoo: 87.6%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 85.7% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (85.65%) to determine drought stage.
--- 6:40 AM - NWS Short Range Weather Discussion
--- 6:45 AM - NWS Extended Range Weather Discussion
--- 6:50 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 6,700 Megawatts.
--- 6:55 AM - AVIATION SNAPSHOT - METAR for: KSPS (Wichita Falls Rgnl, TX, US)
Text: METAR KSPS 191052Z AUTO 23004KT 10SM CLR 07/02 A3033 RMK AO2 SLP268 T00720017 $
Conditions at: 1052 UTC 19 Sun Apr 2026
Temperature: 7.2°C (45°F)
Dewpoint: 1.7°C (35°F) (RH = 68%)
Pressure (altimeter): 30.33 inHg (1027.2 hPa) (sea level pressure 1026.8 hPa)
Winds: from the SW (230°) at 4 kt (2.1 m/s, 4.6 mph)
Visibility: 10+ mi (16+ km)
Clouds: sky clear below 12,000 feet AGL
Ceiling: at least 12,000 feet AGL
QC flag: SOME DATA ABOVE MAY BE INACCURATE!!!
9:00 AM - In 1982, I was referred to Dr. Phil to learn biofeedback as a possible relief for the cluster headaches I had been plagued with for ten years. After an interview with Dr. Phil at his office on Fillmore, I was handed off to an associate to learn the technique. I did learn, but it didn't help the headaches. I can see where biofeedback could help in other situations, but I think the cluster headaches were just too painful to overcome. In 1986, I learned that oxygen knocks them out. Well, most of the time.
--- 9:15 AM - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing
--- 11:55 AM - I hear Tim, KK5YZ aeronautical mobile on 146.580 MHz FM simplex making contacts. He's a regular over the Texas skies. He used to fly a Cessna Citation. I don't know what he's flying now, but I heard him say it was bigger. I worked him a few months ago.
--- 2:30 PM - Everyone probably has a personal definition of ignisecond. For me, it was the period between calling my mother stupid and realizing she was holding a 4-foot section of fiberglass fishing rod. It was 1963, a time when licks were not only earned but allowed. I got 22 such licks in high school. All but two (mistaken identity) were earned.
--- 4:00 PM - There was a lot of radio traffic out of both Wichita Valley and Kickapoo airports today. Maybe pilots are taking advantage of the cooler (smoother) air. Tune in to Wichita Valley at 122.800 MHz and Kickapoo at 122.700 MHz on your scanner radio.
--- 8:35 PM - On FRS/GMRS frequency 462.550 MHz, I hear what I believe to be two drivers passing through town, chatting away. I think they're using actual GMRS radios rather than Family Radio Service units because they sound too good. Plus, there is a pleasant absence of the "roger beeps" often heard on FRS "bubble pack" radios.
--- 9:15 PM - Can split-frequency equal split-personality? Consider the case, actually several cases, where you think you know a person from chatting with them on local VHF frequencies, but later find out they are a different person on 80 meters, or "75 phone," as some prefer. I've noticed this more than a few times over the years. I have no idea why they thought no one monitors the HF frequencies - especially 80 meters - especially at night and in the mornings. Just because some of us don't talk there doesn't mean we don't listen there.
--- 9:30 PM - The next time you're in downtown Wichita Falls, Texas, get your binoculars and check out the bullet dents and holes in the flagpole finial atop the venerable First National Building at 8th and Indiana. Retired (old as dirt if they're still alive) cops will tell you that fellow officers used the ball for target practice during boring night shifts back in the "old" days. Shots were indeed fired, but it was hardly target practice on that terrible night! Continue!