WICHITA FALLS MAN

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01-27-2024 - NWS forecast - Today: A 20 percent chance of rain before 7am. Mostly cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 52. North northwest wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 31. North northwest wind 3 to 7 mph.

01-27-2024 - Good Morning! We're supposed to warm up to 52 degrees today, and that's good. I don't have much on the schedule today, the highlight possibly being to watch the latest Mission Impossible movie. Of course, I'll be looking to snag a few more Amateur (ham) Radio "Parks on the Air®" stations on CW (Morse code). But wait - today is Winter Field Day, a 24-hour "communications exercise" operated in a contest format. It starts at 1:00 PM local time. Will this drown out Parks on the Air® activities, or will POTA rule? If I work WFD, I will not submit a log, but hand out contacts for others who are keeping score. Let's see what develops. At the moment, I'm listening to the Local Crew on 1947 kHz. My coffee is ready, so let me pour a cup. More enscribbling to come!

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01-26-2024 - From the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission - Important Product Safety Recall Information Announced on 01-25-2024 - Visual Comfort & Co. Recalls Maverick Coastal Outdoor Ceiling Fans Due to Impact Injury Hazard //// Yaomiao Children's Rhinestone Silver Tiaras Recalled Due to Violation of Federal Lead Content Ban; Sold Exclusively on Amazon.com by LordRoadS //// Pacific Cycle Recalls E-Bikes Due to Fire Hazard //// Clark Associates Recalls Lancaster Table & Seating Brand Allegro Plastic Side Chairs Due to Fall Hazard //// BRS Fuel Bottles Recalled Due to Risk of Burn and Poisoning; Violation of the Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Safety Act Due to Lack of Child Resistant Closure; Sold Exclusively on Amazon.com by OAREA Outdoor Gear.

01-26-2024 - I made contact with N1BS in the Pachaug State Forest in Connecticut on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) this morning. N1BS activated the park in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.

01-26-2024 - From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Rent of primary residence in Miami area rose 10.1 percent over the year ended December 2023 - The Consumer Price Index for rent of primary residence measures changes in the rent charged for tenant-occupied primary residences including any extra charges for garage and parking facilities. Rent of primary residence for all U.S. urban consumers rose 6.5 percent from December 2022 to December 2023, with the increases in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida (10.1 percent), and Urban Hawaii (9.8 percent) among the largest.

01-26-2024 - From my law enforcement consultant - One of the local radio stations posted a story about a video of a rat in a local restaurant going viral. If you like surprises, flip the lights on in a random restaurant kitchen at 3:00 AM on a burglar alarm. You might be surprised at what you see.

01-26-2024 - NWS forecast - Today: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 10am. Areas of dense fog. High near 52. East northeast wind 7 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible. Tonight: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Patchy fog. Low around 42. East northeast wind 9 to 14 mph becoming north after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. I'm not a fan of thunderstorms.

01-26-2024 - Good Morning! I climbed out of bed at 5:55 AM. That's a little late for me, and it makes me feel like I've missed a lot of important things. Exactly what important things I don't know. The 1947 kHz crew is already up and running, and my coffee is ready. On the weather radar, I see that 90% chance of rain creeping up on us from the southwest. We can always use more rain, but I see some red in those clouds and that means thunderstorms.

01-25-2024 - The Texas CW (Morse code) Traffic Net starts at 7:00 PM - right now - on 3541 kHz and I think I'll listen in. I won't attempt to check in but listen in for the practice. It sounds like 20 words per minute, so I should be OK at that speed. Let's see how many check-ins they get and what kind of traffic they might have tonight. It's almost like secret decoder ring stuff!

01-25-2024 - I listened for the Local Group at 5:30 PM on CB Radio Channel 23 this evening, but I did not hear them. The band was screaming with skip shooters so maybe they didn't feel like trying to talk over them. or, maybe they had other things to do. I might look for them tomorrow.

01-25-2024 - From the U.S. Federal Trade Commission - FTC Sends Warning Letters to Funeral Homes After First Undercover Phone Sweep - Staff found that some funeral homes provided inconsistent pricing information, while others failed to provide pricing entirely The Federal Trade Commission is sending warning letters to 39 funeral homes across the country after investigators conducted the agency's first undercover phone sweep and discovered several violations of the Funeral Rule, including funeral homes that failed to provide accurate pricing information or failed to give out price information entirely.

01-25-2024 - I made contact with K2JVB in Hempstead Lake State Park in NY on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code). This was a "Parks on the Air®" contact. These short contacts are a good way to stay in the CW game without long-winded contacts.

01-25-2024 - The Denny's restaurant on Kemp Blvd has been demolished. A local news outlet says not to worry because we still have a Denny's at 1206 Central Freeway. How does a building that clearly sits on Maurine Street get a Central Freeway address? Is this a Post Office decision, or does Denny's think a Central Freeway address is more classy than a Maurine Street address? I'm asking for the Michelin Star people.

01-25-2024 - Of all the radio scanning targets in Wichita Falls, I think our WFISD school buses (152.360 MHz) and our City transit buses (453.5375 MHz) bring the most entertainment for scanner radio dollars spent. I'm talking about pure entertainment and not critical, need-to-know information. Tune in with your scanner and see if you agree.

01-25-2024 - A local Ham Radio Operator on the Wichita Falls 147.140 MHz repeater, while mobile and chatting with another local ham, encountered a motorist with inferior driving skills. Without hesitation, that motorist was awarded the title of "Stupid Ass" over the radio. We don't often hear that on the Ham Radio frequencies, but sometimes a well-placed bomb can be appreciated.

01-25-2024 - It was 35 years ago, during my skydiving days, at the Grandfield, Oklahoma Municipal Airport. The Grandfield Police Chief dropped by the hangar used by the skydiving operation for a visit. He brought his young daughter with him. As he was chatting with the "dropzone" owner, his daughter spotted one of the owner's cats. She said, "Look, Daddy, a target!" The Chief, with an embarrassed look on his face, replied "Oh no, Honey, they like their cats out here!" I'll let you draw your own conclusions. I drew a target on the cat's bowl in remembrance of the event.