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10-20-2023 - From the U.S Federal Communications Commission - On October 27, 2023, Chairwoman Rosenworcel will host a listening session in Chicago, Illinois, to hear from formerly incarcerated people and their loved ones about their experiences using incarcerated people's communications services (IPCS). I've never heard of that. I'll have to check with our corrections consultant.

10-20-2023 - The 6th Street off-ramp of the "flyover" that bends around the Municipal Auditorium looks very inviting for skateboarding/roller blading activity. I wonder how many such enthusiasts have made the trip.

10-20-2023 - Have you noticed that when you search for "Wichita Falls" content on YouTube, 90% of what you get is high school sports, auto sales, and real estate listings? Surely the people of Wichita Falls have interesting videos to post. These videos might exist but people aren't including "Wichita Falls" in the title or description. People trying to sell stuff locally know not to leave that out!

10-20-2023 - I've had Morse code piping in through the headphones for an hour, and I've been through two cups of coffee. I think I'm awake and ready for the day. I'm moving the CB Radio Channel 19 for a while.

10-20-2023 - I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm of the opinion that Wichita Falls needs a new slogan to replace "Blue Skies. Golden Opportunities." Tyler is the Rose Capital of Texas. Forney is the Antique Capital. Floydada is the Pumpkin Capital. What can Wichita Falls claim as unique? Every city in the world has blue skies on most days. What city our size or larger won't claim that it has golden opportunities? I think we can do better and I think we need to work on that.

10-20-2023 - From my corrections consultant - The Allred Unit, as you might know, is a male - 3,700+ of them - maximum security prison. How can you tell it's maximum security? It has two fences. A male non-security employee was fired when it was discovered that he had delivered one or more "love notes" to an offender. Another offender, upon hearing the story, said, of the employee, "He was working in a d**k warehouse and he messed it up!" You can tune in to Allred operations at 153.815 MHz on your scanner.

10-20-2023 - Here's a tip for anyone thinking about learning Morse code: Run, don't walk, but run from any person or system showing you the printed Morse characters. The actual Morse characters are not used to learn or use Morse code in Amateur (ham) Radio. Morse code is learned by sound only.

10-20-2023 - From the Boy Scouts of America website: "Jamboree-on-the-Air, or JOTA, is the largest Scouting event in the world. It is held annually the third full weekend in October. JOTA uses amateur radio to link Scouts and hams around the world, around the nation, and in your own community." This year, the even will be held Oct 21 and 22. Tune around the bands for activity.

10-20-2023 - REPOST - The Fort Worth Bureau of Engraving & Printing (Money Factory) is once again open for tours and it makes for a great "day trip". This is one of two locations in the U.S. where paper money is made. (Coins are made at the Mint.) It's located just off U.S. 287 before you get to I-35, so there's no traffic hassle for Wichita Falls visitors.

10-20-2023 - From my law enforcement consultant - Back in the early 1980s, officers on the night shift decided to create a "Burglar Pot". It had been, and still is, a tradition for any officer catching a burglar inside of a building to buy donuts for the shift. But what about a reward for the burglar-catching officer? Enter, the Burglar Pot! Officers contributed a few dollars to the pot and whoever caught a burglar inside a building would get the money. Supervisors soon put a stop to the program. The fear was that a defense attorney, at the trial of a burglar, and having knowledge of the pot, would accuse an officer of framing his client just to collect the cash winnings. Might an officer, low on funds, throw a wino through a business window as a form of extra income? Hopefully not, but the pot was a bad idea. Someone, I'm not saying who, still has a copy of the Burglar Pot rules.

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10-20-2023 - Headline - SAFB 97th Flying Training’s 25th Anniversary Skydive Celebration. The story reports that a parachute jump was made onto the Wichita Falls Country Club. The skydiver had over 2,000 jumps and said he enjoyed being in free fall. I know how he feels. There's nothing like being in free fall. Back in my skydiving days, I could never understand the desire for 3 or four jumpers trying to see how many different formations they could make while in free fall. I thought it was a waste of a skydive! I just wanted to float in the sky and enjoy that full-body massage of a 120 MPH wind. By the way, you only get the sensation of falling for a few seconds. Once you reach your terminal velocity, you feel like you're floating on a cushion of air. Terminal velocity. Maybe they need another term for that! On a related topic, I'm pretty sure I saw, heard, and felt, an F-22 circling Sheppard yesterday afternoon.

10-20-2023 - Good Morning! It's 0530 and coffee time once again. Someone is calling "CQ" on 7.030 MHz, but I'll leave him to his quest for a contact. Hopefully he'll get an answer soon. And someone did answer! Good, because I still have some more waking up to do. Later today, my wife and I will try out our new Yaesu FTR-3100 VHF (2 meter) radios.

10-19-2023 - I saw an article yesterday about how it's getting too expensive to have fun. The article spoke of the increased cost of dining out, going to a movie, and other popular activities. Here's a solution: Get into Hobby Radio communications. You can get a fully-equipped station for local and/or global communications for $500 to $1000, and your equipment should last several decades. And, you don't have to leave home to enjoy it!

10-19-2023 - October 4th is National CB Radio Day because of the well-known 10-Code "10-4". It occurred to me that each day brings a new 10-code. Today is 10-19, which means "return to" or "contact". I'm not a big fan of 10-codes - I think plain language is always better - but do whatever makes you happy.

10-19-2023 - I watched the International Space Station make a long pass over the city this morning. Though I've watched many passes over the years, I try to get in a view every now and then. It will always be a beautiful bright spot in the sky, zooming in one direction or another.

10-19-2023 - From the U.S. Federal Trade Commission - Sollers College to Cancel $3.4 Million in Student Debt to Resolve Charges It Used Deceptive Ads to Lure Prospective Students into Illegal Contracts. FTC, New Jersey says that the for-profit school attracted consumers by falsely touting relationships with prominent employers and inflating job placement rates Sollers College and its parent company, Sollers Inc., have been ordered to cancel $3.4 million in student debt to resolve separate charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission and the state of New Jersey that said the companies lured prospective students to enroll by falsely touting their job-placement rates and that their relationships with prominent companies would lead to jobs after students graduate.

10-19-2023 - Good Morning! It's coffee time, and I hear that familiar voice on 151.880 MHz (MURS). I still don't hear the station he's talking to because I need to raise my antenna a few more feet. That might fix the problem. He has a strong signal but I don't know if he's close by with a handheld radio, or more distant with an outside antenna. On another note, the radios and power supply I ordered yesterday should arrive today according to my tracking code.

10-18-2023 - It's another "Full House" on the CB Radio this afternoon with most of the 40 channels busy. This will probably be the case for the next few years as Solar Cycle 25 has peaked, or is peaking. It depends on which expert you ask. Sadly, the West Coast Sultan of Splatter is on Channel 6 right now.

10-18-2023 - From the Texas Attorney General - "Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an advisory letter providing updates and guidance on the enforcement of laws passed by the Texas Legislature restricting government entities from granting large contracts to companies that boycott energy companies, discriminate against firearm entities or associations, or boycott Israel." For more information, see the Texas AG website.

10-18-2023 - International Space Station over Wichita Falls - Time: Thu Oct 19 7:05 AM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 43°, Appears: 10° above WSW, Disappears: 10° above NE.