RadioMan763™
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053
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.
--- 8:10 AM - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing
--- 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. You do it and send me an after-action report!
--- 1:00 PM - 1977 Wichita Falls City Directory lists 140 people under the heading of Clergymen. With those kinds of numbers, the whole town should make it into heaven! Also in this issue, at an address in a part of town commonly referred to as the "Country Club", a person is listed as a houseboy. That's very Interesting.
--- 2:00 PM - Do you remember the Albertson’s supermarket on the northeast corner of Southwest Parkway at Kemp? It’s now a United Supermarket. Back in the early 1980s, there were a few “public address” microphones on selected support columns in the store. They were used for employees to broadcast price checks and other information. They were also used by mischievous customers to announce assorted silliness. Yes, I did it once or twice!
--- 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.
--- 5:00 PM - I don't hear much on the plane-to-plane frequency of 123.450 MHz, but I keep it in the scan rotation because you never know what you'll find. Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers get "stuck" microphones, just like everyone else. It can be amusing!
--- 6:15 PM - Years ago, the James V. Allred unit used 4-digit radio callsigns for security personnel. You had to have a cheat sheet for all but the most frequently used few. It was, to me, a nightmare. Then someone came up with the only real solution to this silliness: calling the officer by name. What could be easier? "Sgt. Sharp to Capt. Crotchpheasant." And they lived happily ever after. Monitor the Allred Unit on your scanner at 153.815 MHz for the General Population and 155.7225 MHz for the Expansion Cellblock, also known as High Security. The General Population frequency is considered the main frequency.
--- 7:00 PM - Dog Tip: Unless there's a place of safety a few feet away, it might not be wise to run from a vicious dog. You'll only burn up valuable energy you'll need to fight that dog once it catches you. Or, the dog might not be in the mood to chase anyone. It's your coin to flip.
--- 8:30 PM - Are e-bike rentals still a thing in Wichita Falls? At one time, they were parked in front of that "Duck" coffee shop at 7th and Scott. I haven't seen them in a long time. Could it be that while driving a car in downtown Wichita Falls is challenging, riding an e-bike could be classified as death-defying? I think so. I would never ride a bike in downtown Wichita Falls.