WICHITA FALLS MAN
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06-20-2024 - Good Morning! It's Thursday, and there is nothing important on the local Hobby Radio calendar. I mowed half the yard yesterday. I'll finish the job today. The locals are gearing up for the annual Amateur (ham) Radio Field Day. As far as I can tell, they'll do it in Archer City again. I guess that location works best for them. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready!
06-19-2024 - FEMA National Current Ops / Monitoring – June 18-19, 2024
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• Potential Tropical Cyclone – Gulf of Mexico
• Wildfires – New Mexico
Hazard Monitoring:
• Flooding – south Texas
• Excessive Heat – Great Lakes to Northeast
• Fire Weather – New Mexico
• Tropical Activity:
Atlantic:
• Potential Tropical Cyclone One: High (80%)
• Disturbance 1: Low (20%)
• Disturbance 2: Low (30%)
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• Major Disaster Declaration Approval – Florida
Event Monitoring:
• No significant events
06-19-2024 - It was 1970 when, on a Saturday morning, a small contingent of Hirschi High School R.O.T.C. cadets assembled near the Sheppard A.F.B. Main Gate on Burkburnett Road. The mission: hike to Burkburnett and back to the Sheppard Main Gate. The reward: a teeny weeny ribbon to place on your uniform. A ribbon you had to give back at the end of the year. We made the hike to Burk and stopped at the first place where we could sit down and enjoy a soft drink. Don't ask about the anti-Burk football team cadence calls on the way out of town. We were lucky to make it out alive.
06-19-2024 - This is my first year working the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program so I'm not sure how that program will meld with Amateur Radio Field Day this weekend. I'll have to tune in and find out.
06-19-2024 - International Space Station over Wichita Falls - Time: Thu Jun 20, 5:18 AM, Visible: 5 min, Max Height: 48°, Appears: 18° above SSW, Disappears: 10° above ENE. Listen on 145.800 & 437.800 MHz for possible Amateur (ham) Radio communications.
06-19-2024 - NWS Forecast - Today: Increasing clouds, with a high near 90. Southeast wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73. East southeast wind 5 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
06-19-2024 - 6:43 AM - NOAA SPACE WEATHER - Last 24 Hours - Radio Blackouts (Minor) Solar Radiation Storms (None) Geomagnetic Storms (None)
06-19-2024 - 6:43 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls water supply reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 77.5% Kemp: 100.0% Kickapoo 81.3%. The City of Wichita Falls uses the combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo to determine drought stage.
06-19-2024 - 6:43 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 7.559 Megawatts.
06-19-2024 - Good Morning! Yesterday, the Wichita Falls City Council lifted the Stage 1 drought restrictions. While we still can't use a sprinkler from 10 AM to 7 PM, we can now water any day of the week. We can do so as long as the combined lake levels remain above 65%. Those levels have been creeping downward every day. We could use another good shower. My coffee is ready!
06-18-2024 - Speaking of Amateur (ham) Radio, rare DX (long-distance contact) for me in the Parks on the Air program is the elusive Vermont, Alaska, and Hawaii. I need those three to have worked a state or federal park in all 50 U.S. states. I've heard Vermont and Alaska, but they've been way too weak to work. I have yet to hear a Hawaii POTA station. Hams operating out of parks are generally using low power and dipole or short vertical antennas. One of these days!
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06-18-2024 - I haven't heard anyone on Amateur (ham) Radio VHF playing radio from atop Mount Murphy in Lake Wichita Park. I'm sure someone besides me has climbed to the dizzying 80-foot summit to make simplex radio contacts. Maybe they've been doing it while I'm away from the radio. I probably won't make a return trip. I'm getting too old for that stuff. I had to stop for naps twice on the way up. How did I get so out of shape?
06-18-2024 - FEMA National Current Ops / Monitoring – June 17-18, 2024
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• No significant incidents / operations
Hazard Monitoring:
• Severe Thunderstorms – Middle Mississippi Valley to Southeast
• Heavy Rain/Flash Flooding – Central/Southern Plains and Middle Mississippi Valley
• Fire Weather – New Mexico
• Tropical Activity:
Atlantic:
• Potential Tropical Cyclone One: High (80%)
• Disturbance 1: Low (20%)
• Disturbance 2: Low (20%)
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• Major Disaster Declaration Request – Kentucky
• Major Disaster Declaration Approval – Tennessee
• Major Disaster Declaration Approval – Hawaii
• FMAG Approval: South Fork Fire – New Mexico
• FMAG Approval: Salt Fire – New Mexico
Event Monitoring:
• No significant events
06-18-2024 - A news headline says the FDA has suspended avocado inspections in Mexico due to security concerns. I didn't read the story because I don't eat avocados. I know a lot of people like guacamole - I call it Gorilla snot - and those folks can Google the story if they fear a shortage.
06-18-2024 - NWS Forecast - Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 91. South southeast wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 72. South southeast wind 10 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.
06-18-2024 - 5:48 AM - NOAA SPACE WEATHER - Last 24 Hours - Radio Blackouts (Minor) Solar Radiation Storms (None) Geomagnetic Storms (None)
06-18-2024 - 5:48 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls water supply reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 77.9% Kemp: 100.0% Kickapoo 81.8%. The City of Wichita Falls uses the combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo to determine drought stage.
06-18-2024 - 5:48 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 8,182 Megawatts.
06-18-2024 - Good Morning! Did you ever wonder how, in movies like Star Wars and others, their advanced weapons can miss a target? These movies represent a time hundreds of years in the future, yet they still haven't figured out how to hit a moving target with the first shot. Instead, we often see them spaying death rays all over the place. Movie directors need to work on that. Tonight, the Clay County Amateur Radio Club will conduct its weekly Skywarn® practice net at 8:00 PM on the 146.800 MHz repeater. Tune in with your scanner radio! As you might have guessed, my Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready!
06-17-2024 - I'm listening to a couple of local hams on the Wichita Amateur Radio Society repeater at 147.140 MHz. They've been talking about various aspects of Ham Radio for quite a while and I'm learning a lot! Tune in with your scanner radio, or join the local Ham Radio ranks.