WICHITA FALLS MAN
HOME - ABOUT - DIRECTORY
PAGE 148
07-25-2024 - For me, there's something magic about hearing your call sign returned in Morse code in answer to your call or when you've responded to another's call. Voice doesn't have the same effect. Characters on a computer screen don't come close. Morse code is fun! Your mileage may vary.
07-25-2024 - When searching for "Morse code" online, I often run into people making and selling Morse code bracelets. Some are gibberish because there's no spacing between characters. Without proper spacing, no one - other than the maker - knows when one letter ends and the next begins. The result: That bracelet might not say what the seller or buyer thinks it says.
07-25-2024 - FEMA National Current Ops / Monitoring for July 24-25, 2024
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• No new significant incidents / operations
Hazard Monitoring:
• Critical Fire Weather – Northern Intermountain to Northern Plains
• Excessive Rainfall/Flash Flooding – Texas Coast to the Mid-Atlantic
• Excessive Heat – Northern Plains and California/Southwest
• Tropical Activity:
• Eastern Pacific:
• Tropical Storm Bud
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• FMAG Approval: Park Fire – CA
• FMAG Approval: Swawilla Fire – WA
• One amendment issued – IA
Event Monitoring:
• No significant events
07-25-2024 - In my early days in Amateur (hams) Radio - the early 1980s - a group of "hams" would meet weekly - for food and friendship - at the now-defunct L&M Restaurant on Seymour Highway. That building is now an auto repair facility across from the Post Office. These days, a group of hams meet on Saturday mornings at P3 at Old Iowa Park Road and Sheppard Access Road.
07-25-2024 - According to local news reports, a human case of West Nile Virus has hospitalized one person in Wichita County. That person has been discharged and is recovering. The report says this is the first case in the county since 2015. Cover up and spray what's left!
07-25-2024 - I saw a headline reporting that California has the most road rage of any U.S. State. Well, California has the most people. Mystery solved!
07-25-2024 - 5:30 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls water supply reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 73.7 Kemp: 100.0% Kickapoo 77.3%. The City of Wichita Falls uses the combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo to determine drought stage.
07-25-2024 - 5:30 AM - NOAA SPACE WEATHER - Last 24 Hours - Radio Blackouts (Minor) Solar Radiation Storms (None) Geomagnetic Storms (None) - Solar Wind Speed: 310 km/sec Solar Wind Magnetic Fields: Bt 11 nT, Bz 10 nT Noon 10.7cm Radio Flux: 175 sfu.
07-25-2024 - 5:30 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 8,364 Megawatts.
07-25-2024 - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Calm wind becoming east 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 70. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light south southeast after midnight.
IF YOU ENJOY MY POSTS, please make your next AMAZON purchase using THIS LINK, or any other affiliate link on this site. If you do, I will earn a small commission but it won't cost you extra. You can buy radio stuff or any stuff but, for me to earn a commission, you have to purchase within 24 hours of adding the item(s) to your shopping cart. I'm thanking you in advance because AMAZON, correctly, doesn't identify you to me.
07-25-2024 - Good Morning! It's Thursday, and there are no upcoming organized area Amateur (ham) Radio activities to report. That brings up the question of what some Ham Radio activities might be. Here's a partial list from the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Operating Manual: Club Activities, Contests, Digital Modes, Digital Voice, Earth-Moon-Earth, Emergency Operating, Event Operating, Field Day, Image Communications, Internet Linking, Message Handling, Meteor Scatter, Mobile Operation, Net Operating, Repeaters, Portable Operation, Public Service, Satellites, and more. I'll be talking about them in future posts. Right now, my coffee is ready and I'll have cup while listening to FAA Air Route Traffic Control at 348.650 and 269.250 MHz on my scanner radio.
07-24-2024 - I made contact with KB8W at Baraga State Park (US-1486) in Michigan on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
07-24-2024 - Many Family Radio Service (FRS) and General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) frequencies are sporadically active around Wichita Falls. Check those frequencies and plug them into your scanner radio. You buy a scanner radio once, and it entertains for decades!
07-24-2024 - According to the Layoff Tracker X (Twitter) account, Vectrus Systems Corporation will lay off 123 employees at Sheppard Air Force Base at the end of eptember 30, 2024. According to the SOSSEC, Inc. website, Vectrus Systems purpose is to "Deliver and operate scalable, integrated, and client-centric facilities, logistics, MRO, and targeted IT capabilities and solutions." It is not a trivial matter for 123 people to lose their jobs in Wichita Falls. I've never heard of Vectrus and I have not verified this information.
07-24-2024 - From the U.S. Federal Communications Commission - NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE, CAROLINA UNIVERSITY, STATION W234CZ, CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE. The Media Bureau issues a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $6,500 to Carolina University, licensee of Station W234CZ, Chattanooga, TN, for failing to file a timely license renewal application and unauthorized operation. Action by: Chief, Audio Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 2024-07-24 by NALF. (DA No. 24-717). MB.
07-24-2024 - From the U.S. Federal Communications Commission - NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE, MARION R. WILLIAMS, STATION W288DU, CANTON, MISSISSIPPI. The Media Bureau issues a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $6,500 to Marion R. Williams, licensee of Station W288DU, Canton, MS, for failing to file a timely license renewal application and unauthorized operation. Action by: Chief, Audio Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 2024-07-24 by NALF. (DA No. 24-718). MB.
07-24-2024 - I made contact with AB9CA at Pine Grove State Recreation Area (US-5689) in Indiana on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
07-24-2024 - I made contact with KC4HCH at USS Alabama Battleship Park (US-11376) in Alabama on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
07-24-2024 - The parking lot of the Wichita Bluff Nature Area on the Circle Trail - just east of Tanglewood on Seymour Highway - is a good spot for portable Amateur (ham) Radio VHF-UHF communications. It's been almost a decade since I made contacts from that location. At that time, I used a VHF ground plane antenna atop an extendable painter's pole. That, 5 watts, and the whole city is your radio domain.
07-24-2024 - FEMA National Current Ops / Monitoring for July 23-24, 2024
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• No new significant incidents / operations
Hazard Monitoring:
• Heavy Rain / Flash Flooding – Texas Coast to Mid-Atlantic
• Critical Fire Weather – Northwest
• Tropical Activity:
• Eastern Pacific:
• Disturbance 1: Low (30%)
• Disturbance 2: Low (10%)
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• Approval: Major Disaster Declaration – Chickasaw Nation
• Approval: Disaster Declaration – MO
• Approval: Major Disaster Declaration – KY
• Approval: Major Disaster Declaration – PR
Event Monitoring:
• No significant events