WICHITA FALLS MAN
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01-12-2026 - 5:15 AM - Good Morning! It’s Monday, and we’re in for another day of unusually warm temperatures for this time of the year. I know we’re going to pay for this in February, so get ready! I hope I’m wrong. I’m checking the 60-meter band for activity. This is the only band in Amateur (ham) Radio that is “channelized” with five set frequencies. All other bands allow continuous tuning from one end to the other. I don’t hear a peep on any of the five frequencies. I’ll check back in a few years. Really, that’s about how often I check the 60-meter band. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:30 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 65. Light south southwest wind becoming southwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 36. South southwest wind around 6 mph.
--- 12:05 PM - Today is the birthday of Wichita Falls High School Class of 1945 alumnus, Indy 500 veteran, and Motorsports Hall of Famer Lloyd Ruby. Lloyd raced in 18 consecutive “500” races, but never won. His best finish was 3rd place. If you’re a Wichita Falls resident, you’ve probably driven over the Lloyd Ruby Overpass many times.
--- 5:00 PM - In the early 1980s, and who knows how long after, the Wichita Falls Crime Stoppers program, along with a local TV station, would produce re-enactments of recent crimes. These reenactments would be shown on the evening news once a week. Criminal Justice students from Midwestern State University, as well as off-duty Wichita Falls police officers, would provide the acting talent. In one episode, an officer wore a “western” belt with his name on the back. Someone, upon seeing the program, called the PD and advised them to zoom in on that belt; then they would know the suspect’s name.
--- 7:00 PM - One of the treats found in Wichita Falls School cafeterias in the 1970s was the Western Burger. This delicacy was a burger enclosed in a round bun or roll. Its uniqueness is right up there with the Red Draw (tomato juice and beer) served at the old Bar-L Drive-In.
--- 7:30 PM - It was 6th grade at a Catholic school, over 60 years ago. The class had become a little too unruly for the Home Room Nun-in-Charge. A couple of kids who were repeating the grade were real junior thugs. The Nun-in-Charge was tired of kids faking pain at the ruler slaps on the palm of the hand, so she went to the nuclear option. Her first nuke victims were the two junior thugs. The plan was for the parents to come to school and detonate a belt on their asses in front of the class. Upon seeing the destruction, I panicked. Was this going to be retroactive? Would they reach back to crimes committed months earlier? How could I face my girlfriend after such a humiliation? You could have heard a pin drop in that class for the rest of the year. In Kindergarten, at the same school, we would hear an occasional "whap whap whap" sound coming from somewhere. The nun told us it was a spanking machine, and we believed it.
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01-11-2026 - 6:15 AM - Good Morning! It's Sunday, and the Wichita Amateur Radio Society will conduct its weekly informal net tonight at 8:00 PM on the club's 147.140 MHz repeater. Tune in with your scanner radio, or check in if you're an Amateur (ham) Radio Operator. Right now, Morse code is plentiful on the 40-meter Amateur (ham) Radio band, and my Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 6:30 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 57. West northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the afternoon. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 32. Light and variable wind.
--- 6:45 AM - Flashback - It was January 1976. I had arrived at the Presidio of San Francisco only a week earlier when I decided to explore the city in my 1972 oil-burning POS Chevy Vega. I was somewhat shocked when I drove by a club called “Dance Your Ass Off”! A voice in my head said, “You’re not in Wichita Falls anymore!” I sent my mother a pic.
--- 7:00 AM - It appears that I turned the Bears - Packers game off too soon!
--- 9:12 AM - I contacted a station at Panama State Forest (US-5235) in New York on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
--- 9:45 AM - Making the intergalactic switch to CB Radio, I find that Channel 6, the “superbowl” of CB Radio, is in full swing. Not surprisingly, that well-known, loud Jamaican station is holding court. He must have his own nuclear power plant as a power supply.
--- 9:50 AM - International Space Station passes over Wichita Falls. January 11, 2026 - 7:19 PM CST - Above the horizon: 4 Minutes, Max Height 35°, Appears 10° WSW, Disappears 31° N. Listen for the ISS side of astronaut-to-school and other contacts on 145.800 MHz. Listen for regular "ham to ham" contacts on the ISS repeater downlink on 437.800 MHz.
--- 10:20 AM - I contacted a station at Lory State Park (US-1228) in Colorado on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
--- 10:30 AM - Our local Air Evac Lifeteam just passed over my house. You can monitor their "company" frequency at 159.900 MHz on your scanner radio. You might also hear them on the Kickapoo Airport CTAF frequency of 122.700 MHz.
--- 1:15 PM - In the news - Wichita Falls Navy veteran celebrates 102nd birthday, Wichita Falls Fire Department contain shed fire, three escape safely, Texas lawmakers toughen DWI penalties.
--- 3:49 PM - I contacted a station at Sugarloaf Mountain State Recreation Area (US-12093) in Arkansas on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
--- 6:15 PM - I haven't heard the Local Group on CB Radio Channel 23 tonight. Not yet, anyway. They usually show up between 5:30 PM and 6:00 PM. Maybe they're watching football. Correction, I hear one of the local guys, but he's talking to someone in another state. I'm going back to 20 meters (Ham Radio) for some Morse code background music while I watch football.