WICHITA FALLS MAN

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10-27-2023 - Today is National Black Cat Day, National Frankenstein Friday, National Breadstick Day, National American Beer Day, Navy Day, and National Pharmacy Buyer Week.

10-27-2023 - Good Morning! It's that time again and I'm enjoying my first cup of Folgers Black Silk. No Starbucks for me! I'm listening to two local truckers talking about work on CB Radio Channel 19. Not a peep out of the local Ham Radio folks yet. No Morse code this morning. I'll wait until later for that.

10-26-2023 - From Wikipedia: "Field Day is an annual amateur radio contest, widely sponsored by IARU regions and member organizations, encouraging emergency communications preparedness among amateur radio operators." Field Day is the fourth full weekend in June. I don't remember when it started but now there's a Winter Field Day and the next one happens on January 27th & 28th, 2024. The question is, will I be participating? Today, the answer is "I don't know." It is unknown if other local "hams" will be participating. I'll keep you posted.

10-26-2023 - At 14.033 MHz on the Ham Radio, I hear W7QQQ in a straight-key contact with another station whose whole call I can't make out yet due to fading. I did get the "2", but that was it. I'll listen in for a while for my daily CW (Morse code) workout.

10-26-2026 - The current CB Radio situation reminds me of my skydiving days. An acquaintance, a sailing enthusiast, would hope for moderately strong winds on the weekends. I, on the other hand, wanted nothing much higher than 5 knots. Now we're at, or near, the peak of Solar Cycle 25, and the CB Radio band is wide open on most days. Good news if you're a skip-shooter, but not good news if you're one who enjoys noise-free local communications. It is what it is.

10-26-2023 - From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - 5.0 percent of all workers had access to student loan repayment benefits in March 2023 - Student loan repayments resumed in October 2023, after a pause that began in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Access to student loan repayment benefits was available to 5.0 percent of both state and local government and private industry workers through their place of employment in March 2023.

10-26-2023 - Passing by the I-44 Walmart I heard some store security "shoplifter" activity in progress this morning. You can tune in to all Wichita Falls Walmart stores at 154.570 (main) and 154.600 MHz on your scanner.

10-26-2023 - Headline: Scientists developing new 'vaccine' for cocaine addiction..." Well, I'm sure that has the drug cartels tickled! Will scientists start mysteriously falling out of windows, or is that just a Russian thing? Speaking of Russia, did you ever have the pleasure of hearing the interference - on the HF bands - caused by the Russian Woodpecker over-the-horizon radar? As you might guess, it sounded like a woodpecker.

10-26-2023 - According to Texoma's Home Page (KFDX), Home Goods "...a major home furnishings discount store", will open on Thursday, November 9th. It will be in the former Bed, Bath, and Beyond location on Lawrence Road.

10-26-2023 - Were you around in 1987 when "Today" show weatherman Willard Scott came to town and did his report from our new waterfall? We had just had heavy rains and flooding, and the bottom two-thirds of the waterfall was underwater! That would have been a great cause for an Amateur (ham) Radio "special event" station to hit the airwaves but, as far as I know, it didn't happen.

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10-26-2023 - Good Morning! It's coffee time and I see the local news reports indicate that Gene's Tasty Burger on Holliday Road will re-open under new ownership. The opening of a locally-owned eatery is always good news. Will it be the same? Will it be the same? I don't know because I've only dined there once and that was just over 40 years ago. Maybe it's time for another trip to Gene's. For me, it will be like the old Gene's was never really here. The big question is will they allow local Amateur (ham) Radio Operators to put a small VHF-UHF antenna on the roof like the now-closed Matlock's Grill on Indiana Ave?

10-25-2023 - From my corrections consultant - In the Administrative Segregation building, an inmate was close enough to a "use of force" that he got a good dose of chemical agents. In his written grievance about the event, he complained that he was choking so bad he could "holly breed." Tune in to Allred operations at 153.815 MHz with your scanner.

10-25-2023 - I checked CB Radio Channel 23 at 1800 for the "Local Group" which usually shows up at 1730, but the "skip" is blistering. I guess they don't want to battle that at the moment. Most channels across the band are busy this evening.

10-25-2023 - In the mid-1980s, a T-38 from Sheppard Air Force base lost power over the north side of town. The pilots ejected. The plane landed on its belly in a field - just missing a mobile home park - across the highway from what is now the Sealed Air Corporation. The plane slid across the field, skipped over the highway, and landed, still on its belly, in the front yard of the Sealed Air Corporation.

10-25-2023 - There was more one-sided traffic on 151.880 MHz - a MURS frequency - this afternoon. As to who it is, I have no new information since my last report. I don't recognize the voice from any local Ham Radio comms. One of these days, I'll solve this riddle. Or, maybe I won't.

10-25-2023 - About a half-mile south of Sheppard Air Force Base, on southbound Sheppard Access Road, just past the storage facility, you can still see what remains of the tracks of McCain's Funny Farm (Go-Karts). If you drove a kart there, you've been around a few years.

10-25-2023 – Here are a few civilian plane crashes from the files. In February of 1961, a Cessna 150 crashed into a residential garage near Kickapoo Airport injuring two men. In September of 1967, a small plane crashed on 13th Street near Travis, killing the two occupants. Several witnesses reported seeing the plane in a spin with the engine running. In July of 1982, a plane crashed onto a residential lawn near Kickapoo Airport, killing the two occupants. In the early 1980s, a small Cessna ran out of fuel on approach to Kickapoo Airport. On the turn from the downwind leg to final (no time for a base leg!), the pilot ran out of airspeed and altitude at the same time, landing on the parking lot across Hatton Road. The airplane was bent, but no one was injured. I saw that one. Running out of fuel can get you a spanking from the FAA.

10-25-2023 – How old am I? I watched Johnny Cash sing "Ring of Fire" on the flight line at Sheppard Air Force Base during a rehearsal for Operation Entertainment. It was June 1968. After the song, Johnny said the he was informed that the German Air Force sent pilots to Sheppard for training. He asked the crowd, "What do they call them, German Sheppards?"

10-25-2023 - Factory City Tattoo has opened at 713 10th Street in downtown Wichita Falls. It's been a long time since Wichita Falls could be called "Factory City", but it doesn't hurt to have hope for the future. Chain Restaurant City might have been more accurate. Okay, I'm just having a little fun. But, seriously, you "hams" get on down to the tattoo place and have some Morse code inked on. Just don't look at it! We all know Morse code operators never look at the printed Morse characters! In fact, they don't really exist. How about some "Q" signals?