WICHITA FALLS MAN
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08-12-2024 - 7:12 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 8,546 Megawatts.
08-12-2024 - 7:00 AM - Good Morning! A strange question popped into my head yesterday. That question was whether or not any area Amateur (ham) Radio Operators or other radio hobbyists had ever made a two-way radio contact between Mount Murphy in Wichita Falls and Mount Trashmore in Iowa Park. Of course, the answer is no. Why did I ever think of such a thing? Could it be because I'd love to see such an earth-shattering, historic event? My coffee is ready, so I better get some before this daydreaming gets out of hand!
08-11-2024 - I made contact with WB0TUA at Chouteau Claim Access State Conservation Area (US-11857) in Missouri on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
08-11-2024 - I made contact with W0JV at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (US-0832) in Iowa on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
08-11-2024 - Scanning the CB Radio channels on my President McKinley rig this morning, I hear an oversized load being escorted through town on Channel 35. That's a little unusual. Not the oversized load, but the choice of Channel 35. There's a lot of unrelated chatter between the "escorting" chatter. Whatever works for them. I don't know about you, but I can't survive on Morse code alone! CB Radio is dead! Long live CB Radio!
08-11-2024 - FEMA National Current Ops / Monitoring – August 10-11, 2024
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• Tropical Disturbance Preparations – Puerto Rico/USVI
• Wildfires – Western U.S.
Hazard Monitoring:
• Heavy Rain/Flash Flooding – Central Great Basin, Southwest, Central/Southern Plains, Middle/Lower Mississippi Valleys, and Southeast to the Mid-Atlantic
• Tropical Activity:
Atlantic:
• Disturbance 1: High (90%)
Eastern Pacific:
• Disturbance 1: Low (10%)
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• Approved: Major Disaster Declaration – FEMA-4806-DR-FL
• Request: Emergency Declaration – Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe
Event Monitoring:
• No significant events
08-11-2024 - The WFISD school buses hit the roads again on Thursday, August 15th. Tune in with your scanner radio at 152.360 MHz. It's cheap entertainment!
08-11-2024 - The 20-meter Amateur (ham) Radio band is still somewhat asleep at 7:00 AM, so I'll fire up the CB Radio. While that band - 27 MHz or 11-meters - is sleeping also, there might be some local chatter. If not, I'll keep it on and listen to the skip shooters as their signals slowly appear across the band. Channel 6, the "superbowl" of CB Radio, might be the first to come alive. That, and Channel 38 lower sideband (LSB), are good indicators of 11-meter band health. For now, it's more Folgers Black Silk coffee! That reminds me of my Allred Unit consultant once describing the coffee served in the Officer's Dining Room (ODR). He said it must have been made with rotting tree bark or something similar. Coffee beans could not have been involved. Of course, the inmates got the same stuff.
08-11-2024 - Until now, I have only been concerned with Parks on the Air® stations in the U.S., on 20 meters, and using CW (Morse code). This morning, I set the POTA spotter page to display all Amateur (ham) Radio bands, modes, and countries, and I see stations in England, France, Germany, and the Pacific Islands. The only one I hear is Japan, and that signal is weak. I'll return to my original settings of U.S., 20 meters, CW. I no longer seek out foreign (DX) stations. I got that out of my system 40 years ago. However, I'll answer any DX station that calls me!
08-11-2024 - NWS Forecast - Today: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms between 7am and 9am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny and hot, with a high near 102. Heat index values as high as 109. South southwest wind 7 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 81. South wind around 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
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08-11-2024 - 6:10 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls water supply reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 71.1 Kemp: 100.0% Kickapoo 74.3%. The City of Wichita Falls uses the combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo to determine drought stage.
08-11-2024 - 6:10 AM - NOAA SPACE WEATHER - Last 24 Hours - Radio Blackouts (Minor) Solar Radiation Storms (None) Geomagnetic Storms (Minor) - Solar Wind Speed: 477 km/sec Solar Wind Magnetic Fields: Bt 20 nT, Bz 15 nT Noon 10.7cm Radio Flux: 291 sfu.
08-11-2024 - 6:10 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 10,812 Megawatts.
08-11-2024 - The Wichita Amateur Radio Society holds a weekly informal net on Sundays at 8:00 PM on the club's 147.140 MHz repeater. As far as I know, all licensed Amateur (ham) Radio operators are invited to check in. Of course, scanner radio enthusiasts can also tune in.
08-11-2024 - Good Morning! It's Sunday, and while it is a day of rest for some, Hobby Radio enthusiasts see it as a day to burn up the airwaves. I say, do whatever gets you through the day. In the news, a Clay County woman, already convicted of aggravated child sexual assault and sentenced to 60 years, pleaded guilty to a related charge and was given an additional 15 years. All I know is that my Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready!
08-10-2024 - The QSL cards (cards confirming a two-way radio contact) I ordered last Saturday arrived today. I've had fancy cards in the past, but these are very basic. They'll get the job done. Of course, I'll decorate them with various artsy rubber stamps in my small collection. My wife has hundreds of art rubber stamps if I need more! I ordered 100 cards. Unlike earlier years, these might last the rest of my Ham Radio life. Online logging eliminated the need to exchange cards, but some operators still do on occasion.
08-10-2024 - Eye protection is important! I was using a "weed whacker" to edge my yard. I had the head of the device oriented vertically if you can picture that. The line got a little long, and the nearby blade designed to keep the line from getting too long, did its thing and cut it. That severed line hit me in the right lens of the sunglasses I was wearing. I was surprised by how hard it hit. If I had not been wearing those glasses, I have no doubt I would have suffered some level of vision loss. So, wear eye protection. If you lose any central vision you're scrooched.
08-10-2024 - I made contact with KI8R at Veto Lake State Wildlife Area (US-10697) in Ohio on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
08-10-2024 - I made contact with KG4BIG at General Burnside State Park (US-1257) in Kentucky on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
08-10-2024 - I made contact with WB0TUA at River 'Round State Conservation Area (US-11367) in Missouri on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
08-10-2024 - I made contact with K4QD at Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (US-0522) in Georgia on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.