HOBBY RADIO DAILY
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05-05-2025 - The Local Group is on Channel 23 in my town as they are on most nights. They've been meeting there for years. They don't have a name for their group, so I call them the Local Group.
05-05-2025 - At 6:15 PM, the band is alive in North Texas, with many of the 40 channels busy. Those AM heterodynes are music to my ears. On sideband, 145 in Jamaica is still holding court on Channel 38. On Channel 6, the "superbowl of CB Radio", another Jamaican station is in command. Even Channel 1 is busy!
05-05-2025 - On CB Radio Channel 19, truckers were sounding the alarm on a local motorcycle cop on the freeway. One trucker chimed in with "He better not mess with me cuz I've got a sack of donuts, and I'm not afraid to use "em."
05-05-2025 - At 1:30 PM, the band is waking up somewhat. I hear strong signals on Channel 6 (of course), and even Channel 9 is booming into North Texas with Spanish-speaking operators. I hear two strong stations on Channel 39 Lower Sideband engaged in the ancient art of "rag-chewing." Channel 38 Lower Sideband is lagging behind. I hear only a few weak signals there.
05-05-2025 - At 10:20 AM, North Texas is still suffering from "flat band" syndrome. That's okay because local traffic on Channel 19 continues to take up the slack. Several oversized loads have passed through town. On a related note, thunderstorms are creeping up on the city. They don't appear to be serious.
05-05-2025 - A lot a trucking radio traffic on Channel 19 this morning, some local and some passing through town. The more, the merrier.
05-05-2025 - There was a lot of static in the neighborhood this morning, but the President McKinley's Noise Blanker, Automatic Noise Limiter, and Hi Cut features handled it nicely.
05-05-2025 - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - National Current Ops / Monitoring for May 4-5, 2025
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• No new significant incidents/operations
Hazard Monitoring:
• Heavy Rain / Flash Flooding – Southern Plains, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast
• Severe Thunderstorms – Southern Plains
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• No new declaration activity
Event Monitoring:
• No significant events
05-05-2025 - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 87.4% Kemp: 100.0% Kickapoo: 89.0%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 93.2% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (88.2%) to determine drought stage.
05-05-2025 - NWS Forecast - Wichita Falls - Today: A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 4pm. Mostly sunny early, then becoming cloudy, with a high near 69. East southeast wind 7 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Tonight: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10pm, then a slight chance of showers between 10pm and 1am, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 1am. Low around 58. East wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
05-05-2025 - Good Morning! It's Monday, and back to work for some of you. For some, your workstation might be at home, close to your CB Radio. Others might have to travel to get back to work. I no longer have to do either. One of my favorite YouTube personalities was Dino Davila. He went by "Challenger" on the CB Radio. Dino made a lot of videos of him operating and tinkering with CB Radios. He wasn't the most knowledgeable of operators, but he might have had more fun than most. That made his videos fun to watch. Dino died in 2013, but I still watch his videos now and then. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
05-04-2025 - Now is a good time to talk about my descriptions of band conditions. I describe band conditions as flat today, asleep, quiet, or other terms that indicate less than favorable conditions for reliable communications. I have no interest in the science of "space weather" (electromagnetic radiation and charged particles emitted by the sun) and how it affects radio communications. I have no interest because there's nothing I can do to change space weather. I have a simplified alternative to worrying about space weather. I turn on the radio. Either the band is open, or it is not. This is CB Radio. We're not going to change the world, whether our radios are on or off. Have fun! Your opinion might vary.
05-04-2025 - At 4:00 PM, it has been another quiet day across the 11-meter CB Radio band. There have been spurts of activity at various spots on the dial but no sustained activity. I'm basing this report on my Zero-Five ground plane antenna. A directional antenna could yield more positive results.
05-04-2025 - Do you remember the wireless baby monitors that operated around 49 MHz? They could be—and were—monitored with even the cheapest Radio Shack scanners. These monitors were usually placed in the bedroom, sometimes left on all night. What happens in bedrooms? Scanner users with tower-mounted antennas could listen in from blocks away.
05-04-2025 - You've seen them—photos of CB Radio and Amateur (ham) Radio "shacks" with multiple shelves of radios and associated gadgetry. Do the multi-shelf people add more shelves as they acquire equipment, or do they throw up the shelves and make it their mission to fill them? I'm asking for a friend.
05-04-2025 - At 8:00 AM, I hear a female trucker on Channel 19 chatting with another driver as they pass through town. I hear more female Air Traffic Controllers than truck drivers, but truckers don't have to talk as they pass through town. There are more ladies behind the wheel than most people think.
My CB Radio Daze - How It All Started
05-04-2025 - 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 receive 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 other scanning targets. Manual spin-the-dial scanning. Oh, and CB Radio coverage wasn't bad either! I'm sure Hobby Radio enthusiasts still frequent that elevated area.
05-04-2025 - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - National Current Ops / Monitoring – May 3-4, 2025
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• No new significant incidents / operations
Hazard Monitoring:
• Critical Fire Weather – New Mexico
• Severe Thunderstorms/Heavy Rain/Flash Flooding – New Mexico
• Flooding – Puerto Rico
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• FMAG Approval: Sunset Drive Fire – North Carolina
05-04-2025 - About 6 or 7 years ago, a young man selling security alarm/camera services caught me outside. There was no place to hide! If I mentioned the name of the company, you'd recognize it. He saw my Zero-Five ground plane antenna and asked about its purpose. I told him it was for Amateur (ham) Radio and CB Radio. He had never heard of either. He looked to be about 21 years old. What are they teaching in school these days, Algebra?
05-04-2025 - Good Morning! It's Sunday. I'm waking up faster than the 27 MHz band, but that's nothing new. That gives me time to do other important things around the house. But first, my Folgers Black Silk coffee!