Linux in the Ham Shack

Announcements:

Listen to The Bad Apples GNU/Linux Oggcast.

LHS has a presence on identi.ca at identi.ca/lhspodcast.

LHS will be at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention, May 14-16, in booth 265 in the North Hall (NH0265). See hamvention.org for more information.

Russ will also be at the SouthEast LinuxFest, June 11-13, 2010, at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC.  He will be giving a talk on Linux and Ham Radio.

Donations:

We received donations from Peter, Walter and Maddie (daughter of Bill, KA9WKA).  Thank you!  Donations help defray the hosting expenses.

Jim, W9GNG, sent Richard a noise gate!  Thank you, Jim!

LHS merchandise is now available at https://www.printfection.com/lhs.  There are a variety of shirts, mugs and other items.  Every item purchased will help the podcast.  If you’re interested in caps, wall clocks, or hoodies with the LHS logo, visit our store at https://www.cafepress.com/lhspodcast.  A portion of each sale goes to the podcast.  If you visit Dayton wearing or carrying an LHS item, you could win a prize!

Feature:

Resonant Frequency is still on hiatus as Richard is still in the process of moving the site to a new host.  Watch the LHS web page for more information as it develops.

Ubuntu 10.04 will be released on April 30.  Russ has the second beta test version running and discusses the new theme and other changes.  It boots much faster, but once running, it seems slower than the previous release, at least on his hardware.

Pete, VE2XPL, in the chat room asks which version of Linux would run best on his 500MHz Pentium II machine.  Richard recommends trying Crunchbang Linux Lite.  Russ agrees, and suggests that just about any distribution might work with one of the light-weight window managers, such as FVWM or XFCE.  Other possibilies are Damn Small Linux, or one of the netbook remix distributions.

Feedback:

Danny, KJ4UHI, writes and leaves an audio message about Frostbite Systems and passing his Technicians license test.  He asks where he might get recordings to study Morse code. Richard discusses various options.  There are some Linux applications, like cwcp.

Gary, KE2YK, also left an audio message. Visit his Random Oscillations blog, and his online store at https://www.ehamstore.com/.

Mark, KC4GIA, wonders about Linux support for syncing his Zune audio player.  Our hosts discuss this.  One possible source of information is the Zuneboards site.

Contact Info:

Contact Richard at [email protected], Russ at [email protected], or both at the same time at [email protected].

Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-429-4069, or record an introduction to the podcast and have a chance at winning $25.

Music:

“Company Graveyard” by BB Chung King and the Buddaheads from the album “Howlin’ at the Moon”

“Free Love” by Derek James from the album “Stray”

Announcements:

OGGCamp will take place at The Black-E in Liverpool on the 1st and 2nd of May.

The 2010 Southeast LinuxFest is set for June 12-13 at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC.

Look for Russ on Shortcast #0003 of the Fresh Ubuntu Podcast.

LHS has a new audio promo for the show! So far, it’s only been played by the Working in the Open podcast.

Jerry, KD0BIK, again mentioned LHS as a good Linux podcast on a recent episode of The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast. Thanks, Jerry!

We received no entries for our logo contest, so Russ bought one! Check out the new website design and logo and let us know what you think. LHS merchandise is coming soon!

Russ and Richard will be at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention, May 14-16, in booth 265 in the North Hall (NH0265). We hope to see you there!

Russ will also be at the SouthEast LinuxFest, June 12-13, 2010, at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC. Russ will be delivering a talk on ham radio and Linux.

Richard has a noise gate! It was a gift from Jim, W9GNG. Thanks very much, Jim!

Due to problems with the existing service provider, the LHS website has moved to lhspodcast.info. If you have a web page with a link to Linux in the Ham Shack at blacksparrowmedia.com/lhs, please change it to lhspodcast.info. Blacksparrowmedia.com will be going away in the near future.

The other show, Resonant Frequency, is still on hiatus, but those links will be changing, too. Watch this space for more information.

Look for LHS in IRC at irc.freenode.net, channel #lhspodcast. Join us!

LHS, along with other podcasts on the Tech Podcasts Network are now available on the Boxee and Roku media players.

Feature:

Richard and Russ discuss XDX, an X-windows client to connect to a DX-cluster, written by Joop Stakenborg, PG4I.

In Linux Mint, Ubuntu, or Debian, you can use

to install the program. Setup is simple:

Click Settings, then Preferences. Enter your call sign, and if you have your radio connected to the computer and it can be controlled by the hamlib utilities, click the “Enable hamlib” checkbox. Click OK.

Click Host, Connect… and enter the information for your favorite DX cluster. Visit the AR-Cluster Node List web page to find one near you. Russ used k2can.net, port 4000. Click Connect. (If a port is not specified, try 23.)

Type your call sign and press enter to log in. The cluster may ask a few questions to confirm your name and location.

Spots appear in the upper window pane. Prompts from the host appear in the middle pane, and your entry goes in the bottom pane.

If you wish to send a spot, look in the help file for examples such as:

In general, it’s “dx” followed by the frequency, the station you’ve spotted, and a comment.

Other commands are documented in the help file.

Another web page that lists cluster nodes is www.ng3k.com/Misc/cluster.html.

Feedback:

Along with the noise gate, Jim, W9GNG, sent a letter expressing his appreciation for the podcast and tells us a bit about his background.

Jim, N2ENN, writes a response to our discussion of his email back in Episode 034, again condemning the state of drivers in Linux. Thanks for the response and discussion points, Jim.

Thanks to Gary, KE2YK, for mentioning the podcast at every opportunity, and his donation! Donations will be applied to hosting costs.

William (Bill?), KB9TMP, recently discovered the podcast via Resonant Frequency. He’s also a new Linux user, but is having trouble finding help, and he comments about “old” hams and “new” hams. Our hosts respond.

Danny, not currently a ham, is blind and studying for his license test. He’d like to use Linux with Orca and wonders what hardware is best and what other Linux programs for ham radio are suitable for the blind user. Check out the Courage Center Handiham System and Frostbite Sytems. There is a version of Ubuntu for the visually impaired called Vinux, and a version of Arch Linux for the blind. Ask around your local amateur radio club, too.

Contact Info:

Contact Richard at [email protected], Russ at [email protected], or both at the same time at [email protected].

Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-429-4069. Record an introduction to the podcast and have a chance at winning $25!

Music:

“Dead Penguin by 3 Blind Mice from the album “Good Grief”

“Sahara” by Lochinvar from the album “Fire Eyes”

Announcements:

Texas LinuxFest is Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Marchesa Event Center in Austin, Texas.

OGGCamp will take place at The Black-E in Liverpool on the 1st and 2nd of May.

The 2010 Southeast LinuxFest is set for June 12-13 at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC.

Due to problems with the existing service provider, the LHS website has moved to lhspodcast.info.

iTunes will be okay, but all other RSS feeds will need to update as the content is moved.

The new email address is [email protected]. Messages will go to both Russ and Richard.

The last four episodes are in the RSS feed, but older episodes are unavailable at the moment. They will be there eventually.

Russ is working on making all the episodes available via BitTorrent.

Look for Richard at Texas Linux Fest on Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Marchesa Event Center in Austin, Texas.

Russ and Richard will be at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention, May 14-16, in booth 265 in the North Hall (NH0265). We hope to see you there!

Russ will also be at the SouthEast LinuxFest, June 12-13, 2010, at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC. Richard may be there, too!

Peter and Paul, who run hamtests.org, hamtests.net, and hamtests.co.uk are consolidating the websites. Please use hamtests.co.uk for everything. Tell them you heard it here, first.

Wayne, aka Azimuth, KB7CFD, reminds us of the Idaho State Convention 2010, April 23rd through 25th, 2010 at the Holiday Inn at Boise Airport, 3300 S. Vista Avenue, Boise, ID.

Resonant Frequency is on hiatus.

Feature:

Our guest tonight is Stormy Peters, executive director of the GNOME Foundation.

By the way, GNOME is pronounced “guh-nome”.

Stormy discusses the purpose of the foundation, her role in it, and the GNOME project.

The Ubuntu 10.04 release will change the default location of the window controls in the “Light” theme.

GNOME 3 is expected in September, 2010. New features include the GNOME Shell and the Activity Journal using the Zeitgeist engine. It should be available as a beta test option in Ubuntu 10.04.

Stormy and our hosts discuss some of the new features in GNOME 3, scheduled for release in September, 2010.

Check out Episode 011 of the Today in Tech Radio podcast for GNOME 3 installation tips.

There will be, in GNOME 3, a “dock-like” area on the desktop to receive notifications without changing the focus of your active application.

To become involved in the GNOME Project, visit the GNOME Project website. GNOME will also have a presence at the Texas LinuxFest.

Feedback:

John, EI7IG, writes about the music in the show, and likes it. He also thinks the show has become too long. Russ responds.

We received a donation from Carlie toward the noise gate for Richard. Thanks, Carlie.

Gary, KE2YK, gives a glowing review of LHS in his blog KE2YK’s Random Oscillations. Thanks, Gary!

Gary also writes about CrunchBang Linux and S******x Air.

Dave, M0DCM, writes he is a new Ubuntu user. He runs xastir, too. He recently found the podcast and has nearly caught up on all the episodes. He’s introduced Linux and LHS to his father and his local radio club, Charlie Delta Amateur Radio Club. Thanks, Dave!

Mark, KC4GIA, is a long-time Linux user and expresses his appreciation for the podcast. He recently found WebSDR.org, which is a Software-Defined Radio receiver connected to the Internet, allowing many listeners to listen and tune it simultaneously. He wants to know if there are any Linux programs to allow him to use his Zune. (Look for more on these subjects in the next episode.)

MonsterB mentions LHS on monsterb.org. Thanks!

Audio feedback from Travis, KD5UND. He’s recently switched to S******x Linux. He’s also promoted the LHS podcast on his local net, too. Thanks, Travis!

Contests:

$100 for the winning Linux in the Ham Shack logo submission.

$25 to a random audio introduction to the podcast recorded on one of the phone lines.

See the website for more details.

Music:

“When We’re Old” by Beautifully Mad from “Moonlight Cactus”

“In the Storm” by Big Softy from “Big Softy”

Contributors:

Lord Drachenblut, one-time ham radio operator, IRC denizen and podcaster of Ten Buck Review. Lord D has appeared on several other podcasts, including:

The Linux Link Tech Show

Lotta Linux Links

Something Kinda Techy

Linux Cranks

and has been a Linux user for seven or eight years. He uses Linux for everything except for one application that he runs in a virtual Windows machine (Grapevine, the LARP admin utility).

Announcements:

Southeast Linux Fest is June 12-13, 2010, at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC.

Texas Linux Fest is Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Marchesa Event Center in Austin, Texas.

OggCamp will take place will take place at The Black-E in Liverpool, England, on May 1-2, 2010.

Format change: We’re trying a new format. We’ll still have three segments, but rearranged into housekeeping, feature, then feedback. Let us know what you think.

Russ is trying to organize a Mid-America Linux Fest in Missouri.

We received a donation from Craig toward a noise gate for Richard. Thanks, Craig.

LHS will be at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention in booth 265 in the North Hall (NH0265). See hamvention.org for more information.

The other podcast, Resonant Frequency, is on hiatus for a while.

Contact info:

Russ: [email protected]

Richard: [email protected]

Phone: 888-455-0305 (toll free) or +1-417-429-4069.

Contests:

Logo contest: Send your logo for Linux in the Ham Shack as a product and as a podcast, preferably in scalable vector graphic or tiff format, or a large-sized image in a lossy format such as jpeg. We’d like to use it for T-shirts, banners, etc., and have it available before the Dayton Hamvention. The winner will receive $100! Send your submission to one or both of the email addresses above.

Intro contest: Record your introduction to the show. We’ll use them all. You can record it yourself and email the file, or call us on the phone and record the introduction there. Entries received via the telephone will have two chances to win. We will choose one of them at random to receive $25.

Links and Notes:

OpenSolaris

Debian

openSUSE

Harve’s Hamshack Hack

Linux Mint

Ubuntu

Lord D prefers Debian and Kubuntu, but has recently begun exploring Fedora 12, and found it to support the Broadcom wifi chips without having to install a proprietary driver. Russ says Linux Mint also supports the Broadcom network chips.

Russ has a thumbprint scanner from Thomson Microelectronics that he has not been able to get working under any operating system. Lord D suggests a goat sacrifice may be necessary.

Richard opines that Linux has progressed to the point where it’s better for a new computer user than the other OSs. The panel discusses.

Our panel talks about feature bloat in browsers and performance issues. Everyone seems to like the xmarks add-on to Firefox.

Modular vs monolithic kernels. AX.25 kernel support is available as a module under recent versions of Linux Mint, and appears to be available under Fedora, too.

Jonathan would like to see a Linux application similar to the Windows program Outpost for packet messaging.

Jim, E2ENN, sent an email in response to Episode 31 and raised several issues about Linux drivers. Our panel discusses this message at length.

Nouveau: Accelerated Open Source driver for nVidia cards

The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric S. Raymond.

Open FirmWare for WiFi networks

XFree86 vs. Xorg

Knoppix

Music:

Contributors:

Steve posted a message at the Resonant Frequency forums and asked about the early episodes not being available on iTunes. That was a “feature”, but Richard “fixed” it. Going forward, once we hit 50 episodes, older ones will drop off the feed to iTunes, so you’ll need to go to the web site to get them.

Chris, ZL2CCO, posted a link to the LHS site on his blog. Thanks, Chris!

Via snail mail we received a donation and feedback from Tom, NC0O. He’s been enjoying the podcast and sent a donation to support the Dayton expedition. Thanks, Tom!

Walter, KV6M, writes to clear up a mistake from Episode 31. We incorrectly attributed the penultimate donation to the Dayton fund to Walter, WN3LIF, but it was, in fact, from Walter, KV6M. Sorry, Walter, we’ve corrected the show notes, and thank you for the donation, and correction. We’re sorry for the confusion.

Doug, N6LMX, sends his greetings and wonders what happened to a message he sent some time ago and was never mentioned, so he sent it again. (Richard had been holding it for the other show.) Doug wonders which Linux distribution Richard chose for his old Dell Latitude laptop. Richard chose Crunchbang Linux Lite. Also mentioned, the Midori browser.

Larry, W0AY, writes to express his appreciation for Episode 31. He would like to see Richard get a mute switch for his microphone. Thanks, Larry, and we’re currently soliciting donations for a noise gate for Richard.

LHS got a mention in an anonymous comment in the Linux Journal forums.

Chris, K3DC, mentions LHS in a presentation he prepared, perhaps for a club meeting.

Another LHS mention in an IRC log posted to pastebin.

Jim, N2ENN, writes to offer some information about microphones in response to Bill’s microphone rant in Episode 31, and discusses Linux drivers. Thanks for the information, Jim. We’ll talk more about this in a later episode.

Glynne, KD5VQD, offers his wallet-sized reference card for the phonetic alphabet. Thanks, Glynne. Russ will post it in the Articles section of the Linux in the Ham Shack web site.

Klaatu mentions in his blog that he enjoyed the song “Flash in a Bottle” by Dead Heart Bloom in Episode 30.

Others have commented that they enjoyed the song “Don’t Go” by Tenpenny Joke that was featured in Episode 31.

Announcements:

Southeast Linuxfest v2.0 is set for June 12-13 at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC! Russ is planning on being there, as is Klaatu.

Texas Linux Fest will be Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Monarch Events Center, Austin, Texas

Logo Contest: The Linux in the Ham Shack logo needs an update, and we’d like a new logo before the 2010 Dayton Hamvention. Please submit your original logo, preferably in .tiff or .svg format, or in a very large .jpg, to Russ and/or Richard. Deadline is March 31, 2010. If selected, you will win $100!

Program Intro Contest: Record your Linux in the Ham Shack introduction and send it along. Record it on your computer and send the sound file, or call 888-455-0305, or 417-429-4069, and record your intro via the phone. All entries will eventually be used, but one winner will be chosen at random and will receive $25. Recordings made via the phone numbers will have two chances to win.

Send your submissions for either contest to Russ [email protected] or Richard [email protected].

We’ve been having problems with our hosting service. It’s likely that the Black Sparrow Media sites will be moving sometime in the next few months. Check the web site for details as they develop.

Look for Linux in the Ham Shack at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention. We’ll be in the North Hall, booth #265 (NH0265).

Our new donation goal is to raise sufficient money to purchase a noise gate for Richard. Every little bit helps, so please click on the Donate link and send along a dollar or two.

Links and Notes:

Callsign lookups: the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS), and QRZ.com.

Our hosts talk to Klaatu, well-known podcaster and IRC denizen (as notKlaatu). (see The Day the Earth Stood Still). Klaatu is involved with several podcasts, including The Bad Apples, available through Hacker Public Radio, Fedora Reloaded, Linux Cranks, Today in Tech Radio, and others. He can often be found on irc.freenode.net in about any channel with Linux in the title.

Russ and Klaatu talk about using xmodmap to remap keyboard key assignments. Klaatu discussed that in episode 5x04 of The Bad Apples podcast. More info is available in the show notes for that episode. He also has an article describing how you can also remap the Control key to the Caps Lock key.

Soylent Green

THX 1138

Klaatu uses talk.fedoraproject.org to record some of his podcasts.

Sansa Clips

Setting MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) or MSC (Mass Storage Class) on the Sansa Clip (Follow the link in that article for instructions.)

ROCKbox open source firmware for mp3 players.

The Linux Outlaws podcast. (We love Fab! And Dan, too.)

Check out the cool pictures of Unix desktops.

Music:

“Bessie’s Secret” by Heifervescent from the album “Murder in the Garden.”

“Breathing on Another Planet” by No, Really from the album “Rust.”