Ra7dio3 Report
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08-20-2025 - 6:15 AM - 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!
08-20-2025 - 10:10 AM - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - National Current Ops / Monitoring for August 19 – 20, 2025
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• No new significant incidents/operations
Hazard Monitoring:
• Excessive Heat – Southwest, Lower Mississippi Valley
• Tropical Activity
Atlantic:
• Hurricane Erin (CAT 2)
• Disturbance 1: Med (60%)
• Disturbance 2 (AL99): Med (40%)
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• FMAG Approval: Kunia Road Fire – HI
• Amendment No. 7 to FEMA-4879-DR-TX
Event Monitoring:
• No new significant events
08-20-2025 - 10:25 AM - From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Economics Daily - Pop, rock, hip-hop, country, jazz, classical, or news and talk—whatever your listening pleasure and frequency, radio is transmitting for you! Wednesday, August 20, is Radio Day, celebrating the technology that has provided the soundtrack of our lives for over a century. Radio allows us to begin the day with a friendly voice, a companion unobtrusive, at home, work, or on the open road. Radio ownership was even the basis for a question on the decennial census of 1930. In May 2024, radio broadcasting stations had employment of about 52,680. Broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys (13,710) was the largest occupation in this industry, making up about a quarter of industry jobs. The largest occupations in radio broadcasting stations also included advertising sales agents (7,510), producers and directors (5,500), and broadcast technicians (3,850). Radio broadcasting stations had an annual mean wage of $68,900 in May 2024, similar to the U.S. average wage of $67,920. Among the largest occupations in this industry, the highest paying were sales managers ($154,510) and general and operations managers ($100,180). Broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys had an annual mean wage of $62,330, below the U.S. average wage, while advertising sales agents ($76,210) had above-average wages.
08-20-2025 - 11:00 AM - I was listening the CB Radio Channel 6, the "superbowl." If you know about the superbowl, you might understand my amusement when one of the superbowlers said: "You're listening to NPR, Negro Public Radio."
08-20-2025 - 11:55 AM - I contacted a station in Brown County State Park (US-4177) in Indiana on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program. POTA hunter count: 550.
08-20-2025 - 12:05 PM - From the U.S. Federal Trade Commission - The Federal Trade Commission today sued the operators of LA Fitness and other gyms over allegations they make it exceedingly difficult for consumers to cancel their gym memberships and related services that continued indefinitely unless cancelled. (Google this topic if you're interested.)
08-20-2025 - 12:15 PM - Wichita Falls had its share of radio and television repair shops back in the day. Now, they're all but gone. These days, radios and TVs last a long time. When they break, you don't replace parts; you replace boards. But by the time they break, a new one with the latest bells, whistles, and features is probably long overdue.
08-20-2025 - 1:30 PM - I'm still hearing those "new guys" on 151.940 MHz, but there is still no clue as to who they are or what kind of business they are involved in. I'll continue to monitor. This is a frequency in the license-free, Multi-Use Radio Service.
08-20-2025 - 2:55 PM - Our local Air Evac Lifeteam went active on 159.900 MHz. Tune in with your scanner radio and find out what's what.
08-20-2025- 3:15 PM - Someone was keying up (kerchunking) the 146.940 MHz repeater this afternoon. A representative of that machine came on and offered to give them a radio check if that’s what they needed. When the representative asked the station for a call sign, the operator pulled some letters and numbers (wrong format) out of his ass. The representative told him that it was not an FCC-issued call sign and that he should not be on the air. The kerchunker was not heard from again.
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08-19-2025 - 5:05 AM - Good Morning! It's Tuesday, and the Clay County Amateur Radio Club conducts a weekly Skywarn® practice net on Tuesdays at 8:00 PM on the 146.800 MHz repeater. Tune in with your scanner radio. Wichita Falls Starbucks lovers, it's okay if you skip Starbucks today and visit a local coffee shop. You can go to Starbucks tomorrow. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
08-19-2025 - 5:15 AM - Wichita Falls NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Heat index values as high as 105. Light and variable wind. Tonight: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. East southeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
08-19-2025 - 5:20 AM - Current National Short Range Weather Forecast
08-19- 2025 - 5:25 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 93.2% Kemp: 100% Kickapoo: 96.6%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 96.8% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (94.9%) to determine drought stage.
08-19-2025 - 5:30 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 8,572 Megawatts.
08-19-2025 - 6:30 AM - In the 1970s, Radio Shack wasn't the only place to find "electronics" goodies in Wichita Falls. Trice Electronics was located at 2100 9th Street and Wholesale Electronics was located at 1508 11th Street.
08-19-2025 - 8:00 AM - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - National Current Ops / Monitoring – August 18-19, 2025
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• No significant incidents/operations
Hazard Monitoring:
• Heavy Rain/Flash Flooding – Southeastern US and Southern Appalachians
• Extreme Heat – Southwest and Lower Mississippi Valley
• Tropical Activity:
Atlantic:
• Hurricane Erin (CAT 3)
• Disturbance 1: Medium (60%)
• Disturbance 2: Low (30%)
Western Pacific:
• Invest 90W
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• Four amendments issued
Event Monitoring:
• No significant events
08-19-2025 - 8:40 AM - CB Radio Channel 6 (the superbowl of CB Radio) is on fire this morning with operators getting on their kilowatt soapboxes and making their presence known. They're just having fun. Of course, there are occasional reports of a Channel 6 operator causing a neighbor's electronics to emit smoke. Most are running clean amplifiers. So far, no one is splattering this morning. If one moves in near me, we might have to have a talk, but I'll burn that bridge when I get to it. And remember, these operators will be among the few who can actually get messages across the country in the event of a national SHTF scenario.
08-19-2025 - 11:15 AM - Someone online thinks their cell phone has replaced all forms of radio communications. Can this person reach dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people simultaneously, with no infrastructure? Of course not. No WiFi or cell service, and you've got a paperweight in your pocket when it comes to communications. These people must be living in a box. A cell phone-equipped box, but a box all the same.
08-19-2025 - 11:30 AM - From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Economics Daily - National Aviation Day - On a cold December morning in 1903, the Wright brothers made a 12-second flight that would change the world. In 1939, Orville Wright’s birthday, August 19, was officially designated National Aviation Day. U.S. airlines alone moved 2.7 million passengers and 61,000 tons of cargo daily on 27,000 scheduled flights in 2024. As we honor the history and heritage of controlled flight, let’s explore the employment and wages of some aviation professionals who keep things moving in the air. One of the larger aviation-related occupations is flight attendants—there were about 130,000 in May 2024. There were also more than 99,000 airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers, along with nearly 52,000 commercial pilots. Among the occupations with higher annual mean wages were airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers at $280,570. Commercial pilots and air traffic controllers wages were $142,960 and $142,740, respectively. Aircraft cargo handling supervisors, at $66,190, and aircraft service attendants, at $43,630, were among the lower wages in aviation-related occupations.
08-18-2025 - 4:20 PM - CB Radio Channel 19 was busy today with transient trucking traffic, an oversized load, and local chatter. I miss the days when our local Channel 6 group would step out of their skip-shooter persona and engage in regular old "local talking."