Ra7dio3 Report
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08-17-2025 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It's Sunday, and 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. It's all quiet on the CB Radio, at least at the Ra7dio3 Report HQ. Being Sunday, much of the usual local chatter will be absent. Oversized loads may still make their way through town, with communications taking place on Channel 19. Let's see what the day brings. Also, the Texas Rangers took a 14-2 butt-whipping yesterday. They might try to do it again today! My coffee is ready.
08-17-2025 - 5:40 AM - Wichita Falls NWS Forecast - Today: A slight chance of showers between 7am and 10am, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 10am. Partly sunny, with a high near 96. Heat index values as high as 104. South wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Tonigh: tPartly cloudy, with a low around 76. South southeast wind 6 to 10 mph.
08-17-2025 - 5:45 AM - Current National Short Range Weather Forecast
08-17- 2025 - 5:50 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 93.5% Kemp: 100% Kickapoo: 96.8%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 96.8% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (95.15%) to determine drought stage.
08-17-2025 - 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 14,425 Megawatts.
08-17-2025 - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - National Current Ops / Monitoring for August 16 – 17, 2025
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• Hurricane Erin (CAT 3) – Puerto Rico (PR) / U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI)
Hazard Monitoring:
• Excessive Rainfall / Flash Flooding – Upper Midwest and Caribbean
• Excessive Heat – Midwest and Mississippi Valley
• Elevated Fire Weather – Central Great Basin
• Tropical Activity
Atlantic:
• Hurricane Erin (CAT3)
• Disturbance 1: Low (10%)
• Disturbance 2: Low (20%)
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• Amendment No. 1 to FEMA-4886-DR-NM
Event Monitoring:
• No new significant events
08-17-2025 - 12:05 PM - The CB Radio band is still half asleep. I hear weak signals scattered across the band, but nothing I would consider workable. I haven't heard any local Amateur (ham) Radio VHF or UHF communications today. That's not unusual. Maybe I was away from the radio and missed something. Chances are that I didn't miss anything. When I first got into Ham Radio in 1982, the repeaters were quite busy. Not so much these days.
08-16-2025 - 5:20 AM - Good Morning! It's Saturday and the Texas Rangers continue their little losing streak. The Montague County Simplex Net begins at 9:00 AM on 147.500 MHz. You'll need a good (high) outside antenna to hear this group. Some weekend 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), 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). Get more scanning targets here! My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
08-16-2025 - 5:30 AM - Wichita Falls NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 96. Heat index values as high as 101. South wind 8 to 11 mph. Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 77. South southeast wind 7 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
08-17-2025 - 4:32 PM - I contacted a station in Frank Jackson State Park (US-1401) in Alabama 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program. POTA hunter count: 547.
08-17-2025 - 6:10 PM - CB Radio Channel 6 is booming tonight. That guy in Jamaica who says "I'm gone" a dozen times but never leaves is in there. It's a different world. Meanwhile, the Local Group is active on Channel 23.
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08-17-2025 - 8:00 PM - The Wichita Amateur Radio Society weekly informal net kicked off as scheduled (8:00 PM) tonight. Tune in with your scanner radio at 147.140 MHz.
08-16-2025 - 5:40 AM - Current National Short Range Weather Forecast
08-16- 2025 - 5:45 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 93.7% Kemp: 100% Kickapoo: 97.0%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 96.9% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (95.35%) to determine drought stage.
08-16-2025 - 5:50 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 9,817 Megawatts.
08-16-2025 - 6:05 AM - According to an online report, National Capitol Communications LLC has petitioned the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to assign "outdated or abandoned frequencies" in the 30-50 MHz band to the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) and the Family Radio Service (FRS). Frequencies in this range (46-49 MHz) were used for the old cordless telephones of the 1980s and 1990s, as well as small walkie-talkies of the type sold by Radio Shack. Interesting. Let's see where this goes.
08-16-2025 - 7:05 AM - A couple of truckers are exchanging "smokey reports" on CB Radio Channel 19, and there's also some local Channel 19 chatter. Other than that, the band has been quiet with no hint of DX (long-distance) activity.
08-15-2025 - 5:05 AM - Good Morning! It's Friday, and the CB Radio band is already alive. I have the President McKinley radio on scan, and I hear activity on about 10 channels. At this early hour, that's a good start. I hear a few Morse code contacts in progress on the 40-meter Amateur (ham) Radio band. I'll wait for the 20-meter band to come alive before I start hunting Parks on the Air® contacts. And, finally, I'm awaiting another interesting morning monitoring our local school buses on 152.360 MHz. Yesterday, the first day of school, was wild! My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
08-15-2025 - 5:15 AM - Wichita Falls NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Heat index values as high as 105. South wind 8 to 10 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 77. South southeast wind around 10 mph.
08-15-2025 - 5:20 AM - Current National Short Range Weather Forecast
08-15 - 2025 - 5:25 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 93.8% Kemp: 100% Kickapoo: 97.2%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 97.1% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (95.5%) to determine drought stage.