HPR4546: HPR Community News for December 2025

This show has been flagged as Clean by the host. I am subscribed to a number of YouTube channels, and I am sharing them with you. Links: https://www.youtube.com/@civilization https://www.youtube.com/@sixtysymbols https://www.youtube.com/@SophieAlloway https://www.youtube.com/@SpaceRocketHistoryChannel https://www.youtube.com/@StamFine https://www.youtube.com/@Stubagful https://www.youtube.com/@Suibhne https://www.youtube.com/@talkmoretalksolobeatles https://www.youtube.com/@TTBFromTheRoad https://www.youtube.com/@theark2544 https://www.youtube.com/@TheBeatles https://www.palain.com/ Provide feedback on this episode.

This show has been flagged as Clean by the host. Hello, again. This is Trey.    Welcome to part 6 in my Cheap Yellow Display (CYD) Project series. Thank you for hanging in there with me on this rambling series. If you wish to catch up on earlier episodes, you can find them on my HPR profile page https://www.hackerpublicradio.org/correspondents/0394.html      To review, my project is to build a portable morse code "Keyer memory" which can be connected to any of my amateur HF transceiver radios by simply plugging it in to the code key input port. This is based around an ESP32 platform which comes prepackaged on a yellow PC board with a color touchscreen display, WIFI, and Bluetooth. We fondly call this contraption the Cheap Yellow Display.      So far, I have defined the necessities, collected the required hardware, and failed miserably building the graphical user interface (GUI).     While I sort out the technical challenges getting my GUI code to play nicely with the CYD's touchscreen, it is important that we spend some time discussing Morse code itself, and the timing standards we will need to follow.    I am not going to dive too deeply into the history behind telegraphs and Morse code, but it is very interesting. If you want to learn more, Wikipedia has the origins and evolution written out quite nicely at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code      For our purposes, we will fast forward from the year 1820 (When telegraphy began) all the way to 1865 when the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)  standardized, what it called "International Morse Code". When I say Morse Code for the remainder of this podcast, I am referring to this ITU International Morse Code.      Morse code typically includes the following characters:  The 26 letter basic Latin alphabet  The Indo-Arabic numerals 0 to 9    There is also a single accented Latin letter (É), which is written as an E with an accent mark, and a handful of punctuation marks.    These characters are encoded using a sequence of short and long signals. Each short signal is referred to as a dit . Each long signal is referred to as a dah . At a young age, I began to refer to them as dots and dashes, as this is how they are usually written. For example, the letter "A" consists of a single dit followed by a single dah. When written out this would look like a period followed by a hyphen (what some might call a minus sign)   .-      This encoding method allows messages to be sent by turning on and off an electrical signal. This could result in a light flashing or a tone sounding to the pattern of the signal. The timing of a dit and dah, along with the spacing between them is carefully defined.       Morsecode.world does a great job explaining the timing, and you can find their explanation at https://morsecode.world/international/timing/      It all starts with the dit, or more accurately, the amount of time the dit signal is turned on. We will call this length of time 1 unit. We will get to the actual length of time for a unit later in this episode. For now, it is just one unit.     So, if a dit is 1 unit long, a dah will be 3 units long, so there is an obvious and consistent difference between a dit and a dah. Also, empty space between elements of the same character is 1 unit long. The space between characters should be 3 units long.        Let's demonstrate using the letters H, P, & R.      An "H" would be 4 dits ….   A "P" would be 1 dit followed by 2 dahs and ending with 1 dit  .--.   An "R" would be 1 dit followed by 1 dah and ending with 1 dit   .-.     Remember when we send these grouped together like a word, we need 3 units of spacing between each character. You can hear this now. This is Morse code for the letters "HPR" at 15 words per minute  .... .--. .-.    That is the perfect segue to the next section, words per minute.    The speed of morse code is measured in "words per minute". But how do you calculate this when some characters are short (Like the letter "E" which is only a single dit long), and other characters are long (Like the letter "J" which starts with a single dit and is followed by 3 dahs)?     And that's just letters. What about words? We have short words and long words. How can we standardize on words per minute with so much diversity of length?    Well, thanks to the French, we have a quite elegant solution to this problem. Well, not the French in general. Just PARIS.    PARIS is the standard word which has been agreed upon to be used for determining the speed of Morse code. The word PARIS is 50 units long.    "P" = dit(1) + (1) + dah(3) + (1) + dah(3) + (1) + dit(1) = 11 units   {Space between letters} = 3 units  "A" =  dit(1) + (1) + dah(3) = 5 units   {Space between letters} = 3 units  "R" = dit(1) + (1) + dah(3) + (1) + dit(1) = 7 units   {Space between letters} = 3 units  "I" = dit(1) + (1) + dit(1) = 3 units   {Space between letters} = 3 units  "S" = dit(1) + (1) + dit(1) + (1) + dit(1) = 5 units  {Space between words} = 7 units    11+3+5+3+7+3+3+3+5+7 = 50 units    Here is the word PARIS sent at 15 WPM  .--. .- .-. .. ...    Morsecode.world again does a great job explaining the maths for how many milliseconds long a dit should be for a specific WPM of code ( https://morsecode.world/international/timing/ ) But, no... We could not keep it that simple. Some guy named Donald R. "Russ" Farnsworth had to complicate things and increase the gaps between letters and words to make interpreting code much easier. There are even more maths for Farnsworth timing...     Wait a minute. When did I start saying "Maths" instead of "Math" like a normal North American? What is the reasoning around pluralizing "Math" anyways? Which way is more original English, "Math" or "Maths"? This sounds like a show idea for someone other than me. If you know or are interested in researching it, I look forward to listening to your show in the future.     ANYWAYS, there IS much more MATH about Farnsworth timing on another page on Morsecode.world. ( https://morsecode.world/international/timing/farnsworth.html ). But I don't want to get into all of it in detail here. Not when there is a shortcut we can use in our code. Simplified, we can take 1,200 and divide it by the WPM we desire, and it will give us a close enough approximation of the number of milliseconds long a dit should be.     For the 15 WPM messages you have heard throughout this episode, a dit was 1200/15 = 80 ms in length. If I speed it up to 20 WPM (The speed at which I try to practice) a dit will be 1200/20 = 60 ms long.     This will be an important calculation for us as we develop the code we will later be using to construct our messages using the CYD.      And this is also a good stopping point so that I can get back to trying to build that infernal GUI.  Provide feedback on this episode.

This show has been flagged as Explicit by the host. New hosts There were no new hosts this month. Last Month's Shows Id Day Date Title Host 4521 Mon 2025-12-01 HPR Community News for November 2025 HPR Volunteers 4522 Tue 2025-12-02 Lee interviews Elsbeth about SL Shop and Hop event Elsbeth 4523 Wed 2025-12-03 Nuclear Reactor Technology - Ep 1 - Nuclear Basics Whiskeyjack 4524 Thu 2025-12-04 Living the Tux Life Episode 3 - Automating the Install Al 4525 Fri 2025-12-05 Using mail merge in thunderbird Ken Fallon 4526 Mon 2025-12-08 Baofeng and SDR++ Lee 4527 Tue 2025-12-09 Overly Complicated Media Ripping setup Archer72 4528 Wed 2025-12-10 Photography software Henrik Hemrin 4529 Thu 2025-12-11 yoga370 review Brian-in-Ohio 4530 Fri 2025-12-12 Playing Civilization V, Part 6 Ahuka 4531 Mon 2025-12-15 HPR Beer Garden 6 - Imperial Stouts Kevie 4532 Tue 2025-12-16 Cheap Yellow Display Project Part 5: Graphical User Interface Trey 4533 Wed 2025-12-17 Nuclear Reactor Technology - Ep 2 Nuclear Fuel Whiskeyjack 4534 Thu 2025-12-18 Reviving My Kawai K4 Synthesizer Claudio Miranda 4535 Fri 2025-12-19 Living the Tux Life Episode 4 - Various software I have been using Al 4536 Mon 2025-12-22 Welcome to the Linux Community Deltaray 4537 Tue 2025-12-23 “Elsbeth in IT: Since ’97” (Part 1) Elsbeth 4538 Wed 2025-12-24 HPR Branding Ken Fallon 4539 Thu 2025-12-25 YouTube Subscriptions 2025 #11 Ahuka 4540 Fri 2025-12-26 Arthur C. Clarke: Other Novels, Part 1 Ahuka 4541 Mon 2025-12-29 HPR Beer Garden 7 - UK Christmas Ales Kevie 4542 Tue 2025-12-30 Can Haiku Mumble? Claudio Miranda 4543 Wed 2025-12-31 Nuclear Reactor Technology - Ep 3 Reactor Basics Whiskeyjack Comments this month These are comments which have been made during the past month, either to shows released during the month or to past shows. There are 27 comments in total. Past shows There are 2 comments on 2 previous shows: hpr4424 (2025-07-17) "How I use Newsboat for Podcasts and Reddit" by Archer72. Comment 5: Ken Fallon on 2025-12-02: "Checking for أحمد المحمودي to see if there are issues." Comment 6: أحمد المحمودي on 2025-12-03: "download-filename-format for HPR podcasts" hpr4520 (2025-11-28) "Arthur C. Clarke: Rama and Sequels" by Ahuka. Comment 1: morhook on 2025-12-30: "programmer and content creator" Comment 2: Kevin O'Brien on 2025-12-30: "Glad you liked it" This month's shows There are 25 comments on 11 of this month's shows: hpr4521 (2025-12-01) "HPR Community News for November 2025" by HPR Volunteers. Comment 1: Archer72 on 2025-11-30: "Silent key"Comment 2: Trey on 2025-12-01: "Silent Key Archive"Comment 3: Trey on 2025-12-01: "TuxJam CYD Episode"Comment 4: candycanearter07 on 2025-12-12: "thoughts"Comment 5: Archer72 on 2025-12-19: "Re: thoughts"Comment 6: candycanearter07 on 2025-12-21: "Re: Re: Thoughts" hpr4522 (2025-12-02) "Lee interviews Elsbeth about SL Shop and Hop event" by Elsbeth. Comment 1: candycanearter07 on 2025-12-13: "peek into the community" hpr4523 (2025-12-03) "Nuclear Reactor Technology - Ep 1 - Nuclear Basics" by Whiskeyjack. Comment 1: bjb on 2025-12-04: "Love your show/series, thank you"Comment 2: Kevin O'Brien on 2025-12-04: "Looking forward to more"Comment 3: Trey on 2025-12-09: "Looking forward to this series" hpr4526 (2025-12-08) "Baofeng and SDR++" by Lee. Comment 1: Trey on 2025-12-09: "SDRs" hpr4529 (2025-12-11) "yoga370 review" by Brian-in-Ohio. Comment 1: Paulj on 2025-12-31: "Thanks - great show" hpr4532 (2025-12-16) "Cheap Yellow Display Project Part 5: Graphical User Interface " by Trey. Comment 1: norrrist on 2025-12-16: "starting small " hpr4533 (2025-12-17) "Nuclear Reactor Technology - Ep 2 Nuclear Fuel" by Whiskeyjack. Comment 1: bjb on 2025-12-18: "Thank the host for interesting series" hpr4535 (2025-12-19) "Living the Tux Life Episode 4 - Various software I have been using" by Al. Comment 1: candycanearter07 on 2025-12-19: "cool setup!"Comment 2: Archer72 on 2025-12-19: "Tmux" hpr4536 (2025-12-22) "Welcome to the Linux Community" by Deltaray. Comment 1: Archer72 on 2025-12-21: "Brilliant!! "Comment 2: Torin Doyle on 2025-12-22: "Deltaray did a fine job in covering GNU/Linux aka Linux, here."Comment 3: Ken Fallon on 2025-12-22: "Agree"Comment 4: Deltaray on 2025-12-26: "Thanks"Comment 5: Morhook on 2025-12-30: "Good talk CliMagic" hpr4538 (2025-12-24) "HPR Branding" by Ken Fallon. Comment 1: candycanearter07 on 2025-12-24: "interesting peak of behind the scenes!!"Comment 2: Steve Barnes on 2025-12-24: "Merci!"Comment 3: Archer72 on 2025-12-29: "Re: candycanearter07" hpr4543 (2025-12-31) "Nuclear Reactor Technology - Ep 3 Reactor Basics" by Whiskeyjack. Comment 1: L'andrew on 2025-12-31: "Praise for this series" Mailing List discussions Policy decisions surrounding HPR are taken by the community as a whole. This discussion takes place on the Mailing List which is open to all HPR listeners and contributors. The discussions are open and available on the HPR server under Mailman. The threaded discussions this month can be found here: https://lists.hackerpublicradio.com/pipermail/hpr/2025-December/thread.html Events Calendar With the kind permission of LWN.net we are linking to The LWN.net Community Calendar. Quoting the site: This is the LWN.net community event calendar, where we track events of interest to people using and developing Linux and free software. Clicking on individual events will take you to the appropriate web page. Any other business Thanks to all 57 HPR contributors in 2025! Ahuka, Al, Antoine, Archer72, beni, Brian-in-Ohio, candycanearter, Celeste, Claudio Miranda, Daniel Persson, Dave Hingley, Dave Morriss, Deltaray, dnt, Elsbeth, folky, FredBlack, gemlog, hairylarry, Henrik Hemrin, Honkeymagoo, HPR Volunteers, iota, Jerm, Jeroen Baten, Jezra, Ken Fallon, Kevie, Kirbotica, Klaatu, ko3moc, Lee, Lochyboy, Major_Ursa, Manon, Marc W. Abel, mightbemike, Moss Bliss, MrX, murph, norrist, operat0r, oxo, Paulj, Reto, Rho`n, Shane - StrandedOutput, SolusSpider, Some Guy On The Internet, Swift110, thelovebug, Thibaut, Trey, Trixter, Trollercoaster, Whiskeyjack, Wojciech Provide feedback on this episode.

This show has been flagged as Clean by the host. I am subscribed to a number of YouTube channels, and I am sharing them with you. Links: https://www.youtube.com/@RickStevesTravelTalks https://www.youtube.com/@RickStevesEuropeOfficial https://www.youtube.com/@ringostarr https://www.youtube.com/@RBReich https://www.youtube.com/@RobWords https://www.youtube.com/@rockhall https://www.youtube.com/@RowanJColeman https://www.youtube.com/@RoyalCaribbeanBlog https://www.youtube.com/@SabatonHistory https://www.youtube.com/@sassygamerlady https://www.youtube.com/@ScienceNewsMag https://www.youtube.com/@NASAScience https://www.youtube.com/@sciencium https://www.youtube.com/@scifri https://www.youtube.com/@SciShow https://www.youtube.com/@SciShowPsych https://www.youtube.com/@scishowspace https://www.youtube.com/@securitynow https://www.palain.com/ Provide feedback on this episode.

This show has been flagged as Clean by the host. Refs: https://www.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=2BSD/man/last.u https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Util-linux&oldid=271104508 https://kernel.googlesource.com/pub/scm/utils/util-linux/util-linux/+/612721dba838fe37af543421278416bb7acf770c/login-utils/README.admutil https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-haardt-9087023/details/experience/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterorbaek/details/experience/ https://flameshot.org/ commands: ping yahoo.com traceroute -m 100 bad.horse mtr www.yahoo.com scrot flameshot zless messages.1.gz bzless messages.1.bz xzless messages.1.xz last -10 last reboot last $USER -10 People involved: mtr: Matt Kimball Roger Wolff scrot: Tom Gilbert zless and related commands: Paul Eggert last command: Howard Katseff Michael Haardt Peter Orbaek Provide feedback on this episode.

This show has been flagged as Clean by the host. 03-Reactor-Basics 01 Introduction In this episode we will describe the basic features and characteristics of reactors together with descriptions of the most widely used commercial reactor types. 03 Fast Versus Slow Reactors 04 Slow Neutron Reactors 06 Fast Neutron Reactors 08 Reactor Moderators 10 Light Water 11 Heavy Water 13 Graphite 14 Unmoderated 15 Coolants 16 Common Coolants 17 Alternative Coolants 18 Primary and Secondary Coolant Loops 20 Steam Generation 23 Brayton Cycle Gas Turbines 24 Refuelling Method 25 Main Commercial Reactor Types 26 PWR - Pressurized Water Reactor 28 BWR - Boiling Water Reactor 29 PHWR - Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor 33 Conclusion We have covered the main reactor characteristics.  These characteristics can be mixed in various ways to give different reactor types. The characteristics also affect the types of fuel that can be used. We also covered the three main commercial power generation reactor types. In the next episode we will describe some of the less common historical reactor types. Provide feedback on this episode.

This show has been flagged as Clean by the host. Haiku: https://www.haiku-os.org/ BeOS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeOS Mumble: https://www.mumble.info/ HPR NYE Show: https://hackerpublicradio.org/new_year.html How to Connect to HPR Community Room using Mumble: https://hackerpublicradio.org/mumble-howtoProvide feedback on this episode.

This show has been flagged as Clean by the host. With Christmas approaching (and actually gone by the time this is posted), Kevie, Dave and Paul try out a variety of Christmas ales from the UK. Dave opts for St Peters Christmas Ale , Kevie samples Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale and Dave supports his local brewery, Purple Moose, with a mug of Merry X-Moose . Connect with the guys on Untappd: Dave Paul Kevie The intro sounds for the show are used from: https://freesound.org/people/mixtus/sounds/329806/ https://freesound.org/people/j1987/sounds/123003/ https://freesound.org/people/greatsoundstube/sounds/628437/ Provide feedback on this episode.

This show has been flagged as Clean by the host. This brings us to a look at some of Arthur C. Clarke's other stories, The Sands of Mars (1951), The Deep Range (1957), and The Fountains of Paradise (1979). These are just a few of his well-regarded stand-alone novels. Links: https://www.sffworld.com/forum/threads/the-clarke-asimov-treaty.46067/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sands_of_Mars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islands_in_the_Sky https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthlight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Space_Trilogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deep_Range https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin_Island_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_from_the_Grand_Banks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fountains_of_Paradise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckminsterfullerene https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Sold_the_Moon https://www.palain.com/science-fiction/the-golden-age/arthur-c-clarke-other-novels-part-1/ Provide feedback on this episode.

This show has been flagged as Clean by the host. I am subscribed to a number of YouTube channels, and I am sharing them with you. Links: https://www.youtube.com/@ProfessorofRock https://www.youtube.com/@ProgAxia https://www.youtube.com/@quill18 https://www.youtube.com/@RachelFlowersMusic https://www.youtube.com/@RadioFreeSkaro https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvpxXoojGDRVA7zLYlY-48g https://www.youtube.com/@ralphtownermusic412 https://www.youtube.com/@RandyRainbowOfficial https://www.youtube.com/@realfastspanish https://www.youtube.com/@realtimehistory https://www.youtube.com/@RealLifeLore https://www.youtube.com/@pickupchangetoe https://www.youtube.com/@RichieCastellano https://www.youtube.com/@RickBeato https://www.youtube.com/@rickbeato2 https://www.palain.com/ Provide feedback on this episode.