Wichita Falls Man
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News, information, stories, humor, and pithy commentary by CB Radio Operator KHT 0496. I am an Amazon affiliate. If you make a purchase through one of my links, I will earn a commission. Let's have fun!
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12-12-2025 - 6:00 AM - Good Morning! It’s Friday! Someone on X, formerly known as Twitter, said "CB Radio lingo" is the official language of truckers, and English will get you nowhere in that field. I don't know about that. I've been using plain language on the CB Radio since 1964, and I've never had trouble communicating with truckers or anyone else. I go out of my way to avoid "lingo" and 10-codes. Plain language is the best approach because you don't need to translate it. Your opinion may vary. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 6:30 - It was in 1976 and 77 when I would climb, in my Datsun B210, to the highest points in San Francisco - Twin Peaks and Mount Davidson - to make CB Radio contacts. These high points were also great for receiving more signals on my AM-FM portable radio with extended VHF receiver coverage. I was interested in that, even more than listening to Dr. Don Rose on KFRC. With an extended VHF tuning range, in the days before scanner radios were popular and affordable, I could listen to commercial entities of all types. I even found the frequencies for car phones. Cordless phones were, as far as I know, not out at that time. I don't remember hearing any. It didn't matter since there was no shortage of scanning targets. Manual spin-the-dial scanning. I'm sure Hobby Radio enthusiasts still use that elevation for one purpose or another.
--- 7:00 AM - CB Radio Channel 6 is starting to come alive, and, not surprisingly, it is a Jamaican station with the wake-up call. Locally, I hear two truckers with shop talk on Channel 1. They're regulars on that frequency.
--- 7:30 AM - I hear what sounds like two truckers speaking Spanish on CB Radio Channel 3 as they pass through town. No, it is not illegal to speak a foreign language on U.S. Radio frequencies. You must provide your call sign in English, or Morse code. But, as we know, call signs are no longer issued for CB Radio.
--- 11:00 AM - I hear faint voices on Channel 19. The voices sound like they're a hundred miles away. As the minutes pass, the voices get louder and more distinct. Finally, I can tell I'm listening to two truckers as they approach the city. As the voices become clear, I hear about Popeye's chicken and other delicacies. After a few more minutes, the voices begin to fade, and the two drivers exit the other side of town. But wait, I hear two more drivers, voices faint, coming to take their place.
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12-11-2025 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It's Thursday. A fun radio-scanning target from the past was the drive-thru ordering system at our local fast-food establishments. Just after midnight on weekends seemed more comical due to some customers' lack of sobriety. Most of these companies have moved to higher frequencies and use spread-spectrum technology, which is beyond the capability of generic scanner radios. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
-- 6:00 AM - I can’t say that I can attribute any hobby radio communications coming out of a semi-new RV park near me. Years ago, there was a push to get RV people on CB Radio Channel 13 so they could chat with each other while traveling. As far as I know, that idea didn’t gain much, if any, traction. If I’m on the road, I’m on Channel 19, whether I’m in a recreation vehicle or a Yugo.
--- 6:15 AM - We had a short power outage this morning just before 6:00 AM. I thought I'd have to power up the Briggs & Stratton generator, but the outage was short-lived. The CB Radio is coming to life rapidly this morning. It's going to be a good radio day.
--- 7:45 AM - I did the substitute teaching thing for a couple of years. At a junior high school, a teacher was giving a student a stern "talking to" in the hallway. He told the young man that if his performance did not improve, he would end up being a janitor. Just as the word janitor left his lips, he noticed the school janitor standing about 20 feet away. In the same breath, he added, "Not that there's anything wrong with being a janitor!" Do you remember those old "Want to get away?" TV commercials featuring people in embarrassing situations?
--- 10:00 AM - The CB Radio band is booming from one end to the other. I have some local traffic on Channel 19 working effectively through the skip. They shouldn't have to do that, but so many operators refuse to stay off that channel with their DXing. Is it too much to ask?
--- 2:00 PM - I bought a 1960 copy of CQ Ghost Ship, a book by Walker A. Tompkins, K6ATX (SK*), almost a year ago. It's one of the Amateur (ham) Radio books I read in 1966. Others were Death Valley QTH, DX Brings Danger, Grand Canyon QSO, and SOS at Midnight, all by Tompkins. These books were updated in paperback (featuring more modern equipment) in 1985 or so and sold by the American Radio Relay League. Nope! I want the original hardcover versions. As I did with SOS at Midnight, I paid too much for CQ Ghost Ship, but the nostalgia value is worth it. *Silent Key (deceased).
--- 6:00 PM - The Local Group is on CB Radio Channel 23, as expected. The actual number of participants varies. I think, on a month-to-month basis, the local CB Radio guys put in much more talk time than local Amateur (ham) Radio people. This is impressive considering the large number (400+) listed in the FCC Amateur Radio license database. There's no way of knowing how many people have CB Radios and might be listening but not talking.
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12-10-2025 - 5:00 AM - Good Morning! It's Wednesday. I have Morse code on the 40-meter Amateur (ham) Radio running in the background this morning. I don't know if I'll make any contacts. I'll have to have some coffee before I decide that. I was thinking about all those Morse code bracelets I see being sold online. Most bracelets I see are gibberish because the maker doesn't understand that character spacing is everything in Morse code. The poor buyer probably doesn't understand that either. I haven't heard any local traffic on the CB Radio, and it will be a while before the ionosphere allows long-distance contacts. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:45 AM - I had a flashback of my first stop at the over-the-highway McDonald's in Vinita, Oklahoma, back in 1974. I was headed north to the Savanna Army Depot in Illinois to play Army. Those were the golden CB Radio years. All the truckers had radios, and many 4-wheelers did too. During that trip, I had a 102-inch fiberglass antenna on a Chevy Vega. That was a sight. The last time I stopped in Vinita, I was heading north again, to the St. Louis area for the 2017 total solar eclipse. Yes, I had the CB Radio on, but there was less traffic on Channel 19. As I write this, two truckers are exchanging "smokey reports" on Channel 19. CB Radio is dead! Long live CB Radio!
--- 9:00 AM - The CB Radio band is in full swing, with "147" in Jamaica holding court on Channel 6. Channel 38 is packing them in, also. I hear a number of stations across the eastern half of the USA.
--- 5:00 PM - I have been using Paint Shop Pro 5 for almost 25 years now. Today I decided to upgrade to Paint Shop Pro 23. Having not ordered upgrades over the years, the learning curve is a little steep. Paint Shop Pro has been my favorite photo editor. The CB Radio band is taking a little late afternoon nap as far as DX conditions. Locally, two truckers are having quite a fight on Channel 19 as they pass through town. I don't know what started it. It's CB Radio folks, we take the good, the bad, and the ugly.
--- 6:00 PM - The Local Group is on CB Radio Channel 23. They usually show up between 5:30 PM and 6:00 PM. They've held this schedule for years. I tune in now and then, but I never break in. I'm just a listener.
--- 8:30 PM - They say the license-free (Multi-Use Radio Service) is one of the best-kept secrets in Hobby Radio communications. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) calls it "...a private, two-way, short-distance voice or data communications service for personal or business activities of the general public." MURS has five channels, and in my town, the biggest users are Walmart and the public school district. These entities use handheld radios with short, stubby antennas, and their range is limited. This means many others across town can use the service without much fear of interference. There are a few other private users, but there's room for more.
--- 8:45 PM - The CB Radio band is really quiet right now. I have the President McKinley on 40-channel scan while I watch the Falcons-Buccaneers game, and only Channel 5 is breaking the squelch.