Comments
archer72 says: second that
RE: hpr4746::2026-10-12 Monotone by Lee00:11:42 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi candycanearter07,
I second the opinion that 'monotone' can be positive, as I conveys the information or story clearly.
Cheers,
Archer72
archer72 says: tee tip
RE: hpr4747::2026-10-13 UNIX Curio #13 - Replacements for cat by Vance00:25:46 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi Vance,
Thanks for the series and this particular thought experiment. It is one that I will go back to for shownotes reference.
A tip on 'tee' is to use 'tee -a myfile' which append to the stated file.
Cheers,
Archer72
candycanearter07 says: interesting!
RE: hpr4746::2026-10-12 Monotone by Lee00:11:42 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
i dont understand a lot about audio processing but i think you explained it well! i dont get why HPR being more "monotone" is inherently a bad thing, since its pretty explicitly supposed to be people NOT specializing in entertainment (ie not already trained to speak upbeat) and it doesnt really matter if the actual content is interesting!
archer72 says: robots
RE: hpr4738::2026-09-30 Programmable Logic Controls - Episode 4 by Whiskeyjack00:29:37 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi Whiskeyjack,
I'll see what I can pull together, but it may take a while to jog my old memory. Though it has only been 3 years, I find that better notes would have been helpful.
Cheers,
Archer72
archer72 says: conference
RE: hpr4745::2026-10-09 BruCON interview 1: The BruCON organization by Kristofffrom the series Interviews.00:36:26 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi Kristoff,
Thank you sharing your experience at the conference. BTW, the audio in this interview sounded just right.
Cheers,
Archer72
archer72 says: Fellow radio enthusiast
RE: hpr4685::2026-07-17 Listening to SSB stations in the early 1980s by Lennart Benschopfrom the series HAM radio.00:15:12 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi Lennart and Lucinda,
Ask a Ham radio enthusiast, I have dabbled in shortwave and enjoyed the show. This is one that I will need to hear again. From Kentucky I have received RTÉ National Television and Radio on a single 30 foot wire.
https://www.rte.ie
Lucinda, what does a Field Scientist and Analog builder build and study? This would definitely be of interest to hackers. :-)
Cheers,
Archer72
Whiskeyjack says: Reply to Archer72 on robots
RE: hpr4738::2026-09-30 Programmable Logic Controls - Episode 4 by Whiskeyjack00:29:37 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Industrial robots have their own controllers which are distinct from PLCs in terms of how they work and are programmed. A very typical configuration for a complex manufacturing cell would be to have a PLC coordinating the overall cell plus controlling various parts of it which are not part of the robot.
The PLC would then tell the robot when to do its job, and the robot would tell the PLC when it was done in a handshake process.
Some robot manufacturers offer robot controllers which have PLC functionality integrated into them. I haven't worked with these, but it is a pretty straightforward feature to have.
In episode 8 in the series I talk about soft logic systems. You will see that running PLC type software on other hardware is in fact quite possible and all the same PLC concepts apply. If you understand PLCs, you will understand logic systems embedded in other controllers as well. You simply need to have an operating system running the different systems which can then communicate with one another and it can be possible to have robot controller software and PLC logic software running on the same embedded computer.
If you have some experience with industrial robots or with their drive systems, perhaps you could do an episode on them for the rest of us?
Kevin O'Brien says: Some additional information
RE: hpr4703::2026-08-12 Ebooks and Audiobooks by Ahuka00:07:59 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Your prices on Kobo readers look accurate to me. In fact I paid 169.59 US for the Kobo I ordered, which includes Michigan Sales Tax. Then when it was delivered the Fed Ex delivery guy said I needed to pay over $300.00 US for the tariff. I don't recall the precise amount because I never paid it. I told Fed Ex to take it back and refused delivery. It may have been a mistake by Customs, but that is what happened.
archer72 says: lightning safety
RE: hpr4762::2026-11-03 Surviving the Strike: A Host’s Tale of Lightning by operat0r00:11:45 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi operat0r,
Have you considered using a lightning proximity app? There is one that I have been using (not FOSS), My Lightning Tracker Pro, that I was introduced to by a fellow Ham operator.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jrustonapps.mylightningtrackerpro
The only purchase in the app is a small donation to remove ads.
The FOSS version that I have yet to try is Blitzortung Lightning Monitor
https://f-droid.org/packages/org.blitzortung.android.app
Cheers,
Archer72
Archer72 says: PLC relevance
RE: hpr4738::2026-09-30 Programmable Logic Controls - Episode 4 by Whiskeyjack00:29:37 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi,
When I started listening to this series, I remembered that in a previous job being told that PLC's were not relevant anymore. And this was at a company that dealt with spindle and servo drives for industrial robots. Little did he know that I was moving to Toyota country (Kentucky), where PLC's were widely used. While I am not in the industry at the moment, this has still been an intriguing and timeless series. I would also think that robotics and PLC's would go hand in hand.
Thanks for all the effort in these episodes.
Cheers,
Archer72
Antoine says: Yahp.
RE: hpr4739::2026-10-01 Happy by shower # 3 by Antoine00:04:54 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hey, Candycanearter07.
I feel for you. Hope it does good. Yahp.
(I always read your name as candy-cane-eater, like someone who eats something sweet. Only now I paid attention that it's not eater. But I don't know what arter is, and it is not earter, because someone from earth would be earther.) Only thought out loud.
Kevin O'Brien says: I enjoyed doing it
RE: hpr4703::2026-08-12 Ebooks and Audiobooks by Ahuka00:07:59 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
I like being able to point people to resources other than Amazon.
Whiskeyjack says: Background noise in interview
RE: hpr4742::2026-10-06 OLF Call for presentations open by Ken Fallon00:53:53 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
There have been a few comments on background noise in the interview in HPR4742.
Background noise outdoors and in public spaces in general are probably inevitable unless you have a professional grade sound crew and equipment. I did not personally find the background noise in this episode to be a problem in terms of understanding it and I see nothing wrong with it.
If anyone has a similar sort of recording, do not let this sort of noise discourage you from posting it. We will listen to it and enjoy it if the content is good.
I don't know what sort of, if any, filtering was done for this episode. However, too much filtering can be worse than no filtering at all as it can distort the voice signal plus it can actually inject more background noise than it removes. I am not implying this is the case here, I am just pointing out that there are limits to what you can do when recording in a difficult location or in post-processing.
I address filtering in my series on Simple Podcasting, which are HPR4608, 4618, 4638, and 4648.
In HPR4658 - Audio Revisited, I collect and compare a series of sound samples under various conditions with various equipment and then apply various audio filters. This shows that filtering comes down to making a balanced judgment on reducing background noise versus introducing distortion in the voice signal.
However, I am not familiar with auphonic.com. Perhaps Ken Fallon could to an episode on his experience using that method and how well he felt it worked. That would perhaps help other contributors in similar circumstances.
Whiskeyjack says: Reply to Archer72 on 8052AH Basic
RE: hpr4748::2026-10-14 Programmable Logic Controls - Episode 5 by Whiskeyjack00:21:13 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Thank you for the comment, Archer72. I have added a note to my podcast TODO list to make an episode on Basic Modules and on the 8052AH Basic chip in general.
It should come out after episode 8 in the current series.
If you have any other PLC related topics that you would like me to address, please post a comment below one of the episodes. I have made several episodes on other topics in response to listener questions or comments.
Archer72 says: Re: An HPR listener: Events.
RE: hpr4742::2026-10-06 OLF Call for presentations open by Ken Fallon00:53:53 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi,
I second Ken on the idea of taking the raw audio and processing out the fume extractor noise. This process would make a great episode, or even a few on how to filter out specific noise such as this.
Archer72
Archer72 says: Basic modules
RE: hpr4748::2026-10-14 Programmable Logic Controls - Episode 5 by Whiskeyjack00:21:13 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi Whiskeyjack,
In the community show comments, you mention knowledge of the 8052AH Basic chip, which would make a great follow-up show.
Archer72
Whiskeyjack says: Second reply to mechatrocity and archer72
RE: hpr4708::2026-08-19 Programmable Logic Controls - Episode 1 by Whiskeyjack00:19:52 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
If you like the series on PLCs, the best thing to do is to comment on each episode as it comes out. This will help to bring it to the attention of more listeners.
If there is something in particular in an episode that you would like to hear more about, then post a comment requesting a follow up on that subject. I will then do a follow up episode dealing with those questions if I am able to answer them.
In one of my previous series, I ended up doing an additional two follow up episodes dealing with listener questions.
Whiskeyjack says: Reply to mechatrocity and archer72
RE: hpr4708::2026-08-19 Programmable Logic Controls - Episode 1 by Whiskeyjack00:19:52 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
I think that adding a tag at this point would be up to the HPR janitors, as the full 8 parts of the series is already uploaded.
Perhaps the community news presenters could offer their suggestions on this when they read the community news at the end of the month.
If you don't wish to wait that long, you may try raising the issue on the mailing list.
archer72 says: Re: Adding a PLC tag
RE: hpr4708::2026-08-19 Programmable Logic Controls - Episode 1 by Whiskeyjack00:19:52 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi mechatrocity,
I second adding a 'PLC' tag and also 'Programmable Logic Controls'. It wouldn't take up much in the data table. ;-)
Also, I believe there is still a place on the HPR Hub to add needed tags.
Archer72
Dave Morriss says: Didn't know 'dc'; knew of 'expr' but never got on with it!
RE: hpr4707::2026-08-18 UNIX Curio #12 - expr by Vance00:24:27 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi Vance,
I'm getting caught up on HPR shows, and just heard this one. Sorry I'm late!
I'd never come across 'dc' before, but in the 1970's I built a Sinclair Scientific calculator (from a kit), and it used RPN (and was very slow). I have installed 'dc' today in fact, and it feels a bit nostalgic using it.
I have encountered 'expr', but never found it all that useful. As you say, the later developments in shells like '$((42*2))' have made doing arithmetic a lot simpler. I'm primarily a Bash user to tend to prefer "Bashisms".
Thanks for the detailed analysis of the subject.
Dave
mechatrocity says: Adding a PLC tag to these episodes and creating a 'series'
RE: hpr4708::2026-08-19 Programmable Logic Controls - Episode 1 by Whiskeyjack00:19:52 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Love this episode as an intro, and I'd like to share it with other SW people who don't understand what PLCs are!
Can we create and add a 'PLC' tag to this series for easy searching?
Whiskeyjack says: Reply to archer72 on 8032 microcontrollers
RE: hpr4741::2026-10-05 HPR Community News for September 2026 by HPR Volunteersfrom the series HPR Community News.01:36:22 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
I don't have practical experience programming the Intel 8032 microcontroller and so can't really do a podcast on it. However, I would bet that one of our listeners does and could do an episode for us.
A variant of the 8032 was the 8052AH Basic chip, which had a Basic interpreter burned into ROM right on the chip. This was used in some older PLCs, and I do have first hand experience with those.
If you post a comment requesting it on hpr4748 Programmable Logic Controls - Episode 5, which comes out on the 14th of October, or on any subsequent episode in the series, I will do a follow up episode on 8052AH Basic, including an interesting variant that most people probably don't know about. I mention Basic modules in hpr4748, but I don't go into any detail on them.
The 8052AH Basic chip was also widely used on a number of single board computers (SBCs) used in embedded systems, so it has relevance outside of just PLCs.
Whiskeyjack says: wl-copy and xclip
RE: hpr4743::2026-10-07 wl-copy by Klaatu00:14:20 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
I found this episode to be very interesting.
In the first podcast that I posted for HPR, which was HPR4503 on onetime passwords using oathtool, candycanearter07 posted a comment mentioning the possibility of using xclip to automatically copy the OTP to the clipboard.
Now that I know about wl-copy I should really get around to implementing that in my OTP script.
Steve Barnes says: Yee hee hee.
RE: hpr4703::2026-08-12 Ebooks and Audiobooks by Ahuka00:07:59 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Thanks for the brief overview; particularly for naming a few alternative repositories for books.
Steve Barnes says: Yes, well.
RE: hpr4705::2026-08-14 Free Software Is Wasted On You Teens by Trollercoasterfrom the series Freedom is not Free .00:24:14 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Thank you for this fine descent into oblivion. I'm afraid I can't furnish a replacement check in case that final solicitation fails, but I imagine I'd drop a few coins in a provided can if this whole situation were non-virtual.
Ken Fallon says: A fume extractor
RE: hpr4742::2026-10-06 OLF Call for presentations open by Ken Fallon00:53:53 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
I processed the audio through https://auphonic.com but then it picked up the fume extractor.
That's the best I can get it but I can make the raw take available if you wish to have a go at cleaning it up yourself.
archer72 says: Re: 8032 series microcontrollers
RE: hpr4741::2026-10-05 HPR Community News for September 2026 by HPR Volunteersfrom the series HPR Community News.01:36:22 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi WhiskeyJack,
Are you volunteering a series on the 8032 and following? Because that would definitely be of interest to myself and other hackers. ?
Archer72
xmanmonk says: wl-copy package
RE: hpr4743::2026-10-07 wl-copy by Klaatu00:14:20 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Just a note to those on arch or derivatives, the wl-copy (and wl-paste) commands are available in a package called wl-clipboard.
Dave Morriss says: I enjoyed this a lot!
RE: hpr4706::2026-08-17 Quirks and Customisations by Lee01:00:12 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi Lee,
Sorry my comment is late. Life has been complicated lately.
I enjoyed your long list of hacks and tweaks, many of which I have done myself or tried to, and a good number that I'll have to think about doing!
Your initial message about not tweaking too much or you'll regret it when you have to change hardware is very relevant to me. I'm in the (slow) process of moving from an old PC I built 14 years ago, to a new one I bought from TUXEDO in Germany (before RAM and disk prices went crazy). I kept running the old machine until it unexpectedly died, then had to move everything across to the later one. A lot of my tweaks were documented and backed up, but not all - and this oversight has been biting me for weeks.
So, I very much agree with this message.
Thanks for the show,
Dave
candycanearter07 says: wayland varient
RE: hpr4743::2026-10-07 wl-copy by Klaatu00:14:20 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
while i personally dislike wayland, its nice theyre slowly porting useful programs over. i use xclip a lot in my disperate scripts
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