WICHITA FALLS MAN

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02-19-2024 - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - Hazard Monitoring:
• Heavy Rain/Flash Flooding – California
• Heavy Snow – California
• Severe Thunderstorms – California
• Freezing Rain – Northern Intermountain
• Mixed Precipitation – Pacific Northwest and California to the Central Great Basin

Disaster Declaration Activity:
• No new declaration

Event Monitoring:
• No significant events

02-19-2024 - My high-school summer job was with a vending company that serviced the soft drink, ice cream, and candy machines at Sheppard Air Force Base. It was not uncommon for someone to ask me if the soft drinks I was loading into a machine were cold. What amused me was the number of young Airmen who would ask if the ice cream sandwiches I was loading were cold.

02-19-2024 - Coming up at the Iron Horse Pub - February 23 - The South Austin Moonlighters with special guests Strange Lucy, February 24 - The Bruce Lyons Monthly Jam at the Iron Horse Pub, February 24 - Cherry Bomb, A Tribute to the Women of Rock.

02-19-2024 - Coming up at the Multi Purpose Events Center: February 20th - Bluey’s Big Play, February 23 - Lone Star Kart Nationals, February 23 - Girls UIL 5A Region 1 Basketball Tournament.

02-19-2024 - From my law enforcement consultant - A kid, playing with a gun, accidentally shot his friend in the face. Luckily, it was a small-caliber weapon and, luckily, the bullet entered and exited the cheek. No major damage was done, unless there was nerve damage. This was not determined at the scene. You know the old saying: With friends like that, who needs enemies?

02-19-2024 - NWS forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 68. South wind 6 to 14 mph becoming west northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Tonight: Clear, with a low around 39. West northwest wind around 5 mph becoming light and variable.

02-19-2024 - Good Morning! The 1947 kHz guys are warming up for their morning gathering, and my Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready. The Daytona 500 - postponed from yesterday - should happen today. I'll probably watch it unless some very important Hobby Radio activities get in the way. Not likely, I know.

02-18-2024 - The Wichita Amateur Radio Society holds a weekly informal net on Sundays at 8:00 PM on the club's 147.140 MHz repeater. All licensed Amateur (ham) Radio operators are invited to check in. Scanner radio enthusiasts are also invited to listen in.

02-18-2024 - I know zero about trains, but on 160.920 MHz, a Burlington Northern Santa Fe frequency, a person (dispatcher maybe?) issued what sounded like a clearance to a train driver to depart. It was much like the clearance Air Traffic Control gives to a pilot about to depart under Instrument Flight Rules or IFR. The train driver repeated the clearance and was told the readback (ATC term) was correct. Tune in to local railroad activity with your scanner radio.

02-18-2024 - I was a kid, sitting in a barber shop, awaiting my turn, and listening to some guy tell a train story. It seems that, when he was a kid, he launched a rock at a passing passenger train and broke out a window. He said it just so happened that a man reading a newspaper was sitting at that window. He also said he'd never forget that classic "window break" sound as the rock went through it. He said the train didn't stop and he never heard anything about it. If I remember correctly, the incident happened in Vernon. You can listen to local railroad operations on your scanner radio.

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02-18-2024 - It's 9:30 AM and no Parks on the Air® CW (Morse code) stations have shown up on 20 meters or on the POTA website. It might be too cold. It's just warming up to 31 degrees here. Gloves and CW iambic paddles probably don't go well together. Operating a straight key with gloves might work okay. Speaking of paddles, I just noticed that my Bencher paddles are going for $180 online. I guess I need to keep them even though I don't use them. I'm having too much fun with my cheapo MFJ straight key.

02-18-2024 - I hear those guys on 151.820 MHz - a MURS frequency - again, out hunting something or another. I still don't know what it is but, since it's 23 degrees outside, it must be important. Tune in with your scanner radio. And let me say again that, due to our geographical smallness, Wichita Falls is the perfect city for the Multi-Use Radio Service.

02-18-2024 - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 54. WSW wind 5 to 9 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 36. South wind 7 to 10 mph.

02-18-2024 - Good Morning! It's Sunday and it looks like the Daytona 500 might get rained out. I'm not a big race fan so it's no big deal for me, but I did plan to watch. Either way, there's still plenty of radio-hobbying to do. It's "count time" - one of many - at the Allred Unit. Tune in with your scanner radio at 153.815 MHz. Counts usually go smoothly, but sometimes they don't. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready and that's more important than the Allred count! I think I'll add a dot and dash of Morse code to the coffee.

02-17-2024 - I made contact with KE5AKL at Bandelier National Monument (US-0904) in New Mexico on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.

02-17-2024 - Listen for the Hunley Submarine special event station N4HLH on 7.117(CW) 7.262 14.262 28.462 MHz. Also listen for Ice Station W0JH - Frozen Minnesota Lake Portable on 21.360, 14.260, 7.260, and 3.860 MHz. Check out shortwave radios here.

02-17-2024 - I made contact with N0DNF in Lava Hot Springs State Recreation Site (US-11157) in Idaho on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.

02-17-2024 - It's 33 degrees outside with a windchill of 22 degrees, and one of my neighbors is mowing his lawn. I'd wait until Wednesday when the temperature is expected to be 80 degrees. Also, I just returned from the 8th & Austin Street Farmers Market. I almost froze trying to buy some salsa. The place was only about 1/3 full of vendors. A few people were hurridly trying to put up wind-blocking tarps, and others were firing up space heaters. I would have called in sick, but I'm glad The Salsa Guy didn't!

02-17-2024 - It's Saturday and, barring a lockdown or shakedown, it's visitation time at the James V. Allred Unit. There will probably be a slight increase in radio traffic on 153.815 MHz for your listening edification and enjoyment. That's if you have a scanner radio. By the way, I just noticed that TDCJ has a college tuition reimbursement program.