WICHITA FALLS MAN

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03-30-2024 - I saw yet another person on social media talking about the "demise" of CB Radio. Instead of demise, I see someone who hasn't listened to CB radio lately. My radio, once the band opens up in mid-morning, is loaded with signals from one end of the band to the other. Of course, being at or near the peak of Solar Cycle 25 helps.

03-30-2024 - I've got the CB Radio on Channel 38 LSB (Lower Sideband) to see who's who and what's what in the world of 27 MHz skip-shooting. So far, it's still pretty quiet. That won't last long! If you didn't know, the old 155-mile limit on CB Radio contacts was eliminated in 2017. The 4-watt output limit remains. I'm sure no one is running more than 4 watts on 27 MHz! Haters: Just stop it! Join the fun. No one will know!

03-30-2024 - FEMA National Current Ops / Monitoring for Mar 29 – 30, 2024

New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• No significant incidents / operations

Hazard Monitoring:
• Heavy Snow – Sierra Nevada
• Excessive Rainfall & Flash Flooding – southern California
• Freezing Rain – Upper Mississippi Valley to the Great Lakes
• Critical Fire Weather – Southern Plains

Disaster Declaration Activity:
• Major Disaster Declaration Request – NH

Event Monitoring:
• No new significant events

03-30-2024 - It's 7:30 AM, and I hear several "hams" on the 147.140 MHz repeater chatting as they head to their regular Saturday breakfast (eyeball QSO) at Pioneer #3 restaurant.

03-30-2024 - International Space Station over Wichita Falls - Time: Sat Mar 30, 9:41 PM, Visible: 3 min, Max Height: 56°, Appears: 10° above NW, Disappears: 56° above WNW. Listen on 145.800 & 437.800 MHz for possible Amateur (ham) Radio communications.

03-30-2024 - NWS Forecast - Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Southwest wind 9 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. South southeast wind 13 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.

03-30-2024 - Good Morning! It's Saturday and the next to the last day of March. I might grab a few Parks on the Air® stations today. Did you know there is a Hungry Mother State Park in Virginia? How did that come about? I could do a little research and find out. Maybe later. Right now, my coffee is ready!

03-29-2024 - I made contact with K0TTW at St. Vrain State Park (US-1241) in Colorado on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.

03-29-2024 - Since I began the Parks on the Air® program on Jan 1, 2024, I've contacted 102 U.S. and Canadian state and federal parks. That's about one park a day. This fact, and $2.00, won't get me in the door at Starbucks, but that's okay because I don't do Starbucks. Anyway, there are close to 7,000 parks to go and that's just in the USA!

03-29-2024 - I made contact with KK8O at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park (US-3664) in Florida on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.

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03-29-2024 - FEMA National Current Ops / Monitoring for Mar 28 – 29, 2024

New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• No significant incidents / operations

Hazard Monitoring:
• Heavy snow – California and the Northeast
• Freezing rain – Upper Mississippi Valley to the Great Lakes
• Heavy rain/flash flooding – Northeast
• Critical fire weather – Southern Plains

Disaster Declaration Activity:
• Request: Major Disaster Declaration - KY

Event Monitoring:
• No new significant events

03-29-2024 - Preferring simplex (direct communications) over repeater-assisted communications, I was pleased to discover a group in Utah County, Utah calling themselves the Sultans of Simplex. Long ago, I had imagined that name for our local simplex group. Was it I or they who thought of it first? Do they accept honorary members from Texas?

03-29-2024 - According to a KFDX report, B Cocoa is closing its 8th Street location, and a business called Savage Boards is moving in. Savage Boards offers "creative charcuterie boards" according to the article. I had to look up "charcuterie boards" to learn that they are appetizers such as preserved meats, cheeses, and other assorted items on a board. I've seen them forever and even received a few, but I didn't know they were called charcuterie boards.

03-29-2024 - NWS Forecast - Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 78. Windy, with a south wind 16 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Tonight: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming clear, with a low around 59. South wind 15 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.

03-29-2024 - Good Morning! While waiting for my coffee to brew, I'll ask if you are carrying your credit cards in protective RFID sleeves. You'll want to protect those RFID-enabled cards from thieves using skimmers to steal your credit card information. The sleeves are cheap. Get some!

03-28-2024 - Detailed discussion and testing of Winlink is happening on the Montague County Amateur Radio Club repeater (147.320 MHz) this afternoon. Winlink is an email (and more) messaging system using Amateur (ham) Radio frequencies. Winlink will be useful if we lose the Internet. I can hear the signal on the 40-meter band where they are testing, but I have no means to decode it.

03-28-2024 - I heard one-sided traffic on 467.5625 MHz this morning. If I had to guess, it was from a man giving continuous guidance to someone operating a crane, lowering something on onto a rooftop. This frequency is shared by the Family Radio Service - FRS and the General Mobile Radio Service - GMRS. The constant "roger beeps" leads me to believe they were using the inexpensive "bubble pack" radios. I could be wrong about that and the crane!

03-28-2024 - From the U.S. Federal Communications Commission - Public Safety And Homeland Security Bureau Requests Comment On Implementation of Measures to Prevent Location Tracking Via the Diameter and Signaling System 7 Security Protocols. (DA No. 24-308). (Dkt No 18-99). Comments Due: 2024-04-26. Reply Comments Due: 2024-05-28. PSHSB. Contact: Rebecca Clinton. //// Implementation of Section 3 of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992; Statistical Report on Average Rates For Basic Service, Cable Programming Service, and Equipment. The FCC initiates the survey soliciting industry input necessary for the statutorily required report on cable industry prices. Responses due May 24, 2024. (Dkt No 92-266). Action by: DA. Adopted: 2024-03-27 by ORDER. (DA No. 24-306). OEA.

03-28-2024 - I made contact with KC9UR at Mt Hope on Salamonie Lake State Recreation Area (US-4180) in Indiana on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.

03-28-2024 - FEMA National Current Ops / Monitoring for March 27-28, 2024

New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• No significant incidents / ops

Hazard Monitoring:
• Heavy Snow - California
• Freezing Rain - Northern Plains
• Heavy Rain/Flash Flooding - North Carolina

Disaster Declaration Activity:
• No new declaration activity

Event Monitoring:
• No significant events