RadioMan763™
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INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SCHOOL CONTACT: POIC at Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, telebridge via IK1SLD (Chris Williams KJ5GEW) Contact is go for: Fri 2026-05-22 15:46:38 UTC 55 deg. You can listen to the ISS side of the contact on 145.800 MHz on your scanner radio if you are within the "radio footprint", which is quite large with the ISS 250 miles up!
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05-13-2026 - 6:25 AM - Good Morning! It’s Wednesday! I got the yard edged and mowed yesterday, and I’m taking today off from all chores. An International Space Station school contact (Huntsville, Alabama) is coming up. You might be able to hear the ISS side of the contact on 145.800 MHz on your scanner radio, depending on which direction the ISS is traveling. Huntsville is kind of a stretch, even with the ISS at 250 miles up. A high, outside antenna is recommended. I’ll leave the information posted above until the event passes. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 6:30 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 94. Calm wind becoming south southeast 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 66. Southeast wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
--- 6:35 AM - NWS Short Range Weather Discussion
--- 6:40 AM - NWS Extended Range Weather Discussion
--- 6:45 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 84.9% Kemp: 94.9% Kickapoo: 86.8%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 89.6% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (85.85%) to determine drought stage.
--- 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 5,831 Megawatts.
--- 11:00 AM - The 281 Project. That's what I was going to call it. I was going to start at the southern end of U.S. 281 - at the bottom of Texas - and drive to the north end - at the North Dakota / Canadian border. I was going to see how many 2-meter FM Amateur (ham) Radio contacts I could make along the route. Insanity? Maybe. I don't think this project will happen. It would have been a 3,750-mile round trip.
--- 4:20 PM - I'm listening to an American Radio Relay League (ARRL) CW (Morse code) practice session on 14.047.50 MHz. It sounds like 18-20 words per minute. Easy enough. I could check the published schedule for some faster sessions, but it's not really that important. I tune in and take whatever is playing at the time. Of course, I start getting really lost above 25 words per minute. Will I ever get faster? Probably not, and I don't put much effort into trying. I can have all the fun I need at 20 words per minute.
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05-12-2026 - 5:15 AM - Good morning! It’s Tuesday, and quite possibly a day to mow the yard. Or, at least part of the yard. My yard is not that big, even though it’s a corner lot, but I am not feeling very energetic today. I’m getting behind on my Morse code Parks on the Air® contacts, but that’s okay. Even when I’m not actively making contacts, I’m still listening to Morse code, as I am right now. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:30 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 87. Light south wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Tonight: Clear, with a low around 61. South southeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light after midnight.
--- 5:35 AM - NWS Short Range Weather Discussion
--- 5:40 AM - NWS Extended Range Weather Discussion
--- 5:50 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 85.0% Kemp: 94.9% Kickapoo: 86.8%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 89.6% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (85.9%) to determine drought stage.
--- 9:00 AM - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing
--- 9:05 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 16,696 Megawatts.
--- 1:45 PM - According to an online headline from the Times Record News, a hearing has been scheduled on the data center boom expected in Wichita Falls. I haven't done any real research on the benefits of having a data center, so I'm pretty much in the "take it or leave it" mindset. When I say benefits, I mean direct benefits for me. For now, my only hope is that there is some interesting radio communications to be intercepted from that location, either during construction, actual operation, or both.
--- 2:15 PM - It seems that one chore after another has jumped in the way of me and my radios today. I haven't had time to even listen, let alone make a contact. Well, I'm taking tomorrow off. No chores. Maybe I'll get a couple of contacts in. If not, that's okay. I enjoy receiving as much as transmitting. Actually, I like receiving more than transmitting. Some Amateur (ham) Radio operators talk even when they have nothing to say. I try not to be one of those guys.
--- 4:00 PM - Appliance Operator is an unflattering term used by some Amateur (ham) Radio Operators to describe a class of “hams” who have no real technical radio knowledge and merely operate the controls of their equipment according to the user manual. In other words, they cannot build or repair radio equipment, so they send it to the shop. I say someone should start an Amateur Radio Appliance Operators Club! With most radio equipment unserviceable by anyone other than a trained technician with a bench full of test equipment, membership will be huge. I consider myself eminently qualified to be president!
--- 4:15 PM - Last year, there was a lot of online discussion about the "rebranding" of Cracker Barrel. I don't know how that turned out. All I remember about Cracker Barrel is the horrible sausage patties. They were an abomination of a travesty. Tip for Cracker Barrel: Buy some Jimmy Dean sausage from a local store and charge extra if necessary.
--- 5:00 PM - Back 40 years ago and beyond, the ladies working at our local Gibson's Discount Center got off at 1 PM on Saturdays. The men had to stay until closing. This was so the ladies could do what ladies do to prepare for Sunday. That was the reason given.
--- 8:00 PM - For some reason, I thought the Clay County Amateur Radio Club had moved its weekly net to Thursdays, but I guess not. They are on the air on 146.800 MHs as I write this. Maybe their monthly club meeting, on a Thursday, fooled me.