Linux, radio, and hedonism at the bench.
Linux in the Ham Shack sits where ham radio habits meet Linux, open source projects, and hands-on setup talk. Cheryl, W5MOO, Bill, NE4RD, and earlier Russ, K5TUX, move between deep technical walkthroughs, short-topic roundups, and Weekender digressions.
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Linux in the Ham Shack is built around the overlap between Linux, open source, and amateur radio. The show says that plainly, and the recent excerpts back it up. One episode works through iNTERCEPT, with attention to ADS-B, vessel tracking, APRS, GPS, radiosonde, satellite tracking, ISS slow-scan TV, weather satellite tools, Wefax, WebSDR, Meshtastic, Bluetooth locating, network monitoring, remote agents, settings, and system health dashboards. Another takes on OpenHamClock, including setup trouble, npm commands, vendor downloads, maps that do not appear at first, and the satisfaction of finally getting the interface running. It is technical, but not sterile. The discussion often sounds like people comparing what actually happened on their own machines rather than presenting a sealed demonstration. That matters. A listener gets failure modes, workarounds, menu paths, and impressions of whether a tool feels ready for ordinary use. Short-topic episodes widen the field with ham TV aboard the ISS, amateur radio awards, emergency communications, repeaters, technical nets, and open source items. Weekender episodes change the rhythm. The picker wheel can choose a random topic, and the show may wander into food, recipes, dream cars, motorcycles, whiskey, and other “hedonism” before circling back to the shared radio-and-Linux culture underneath it. Cheryl, W5MOO, and Bill, NE4RD, are clearly present in the later excerpts. Russ, K5TUX, appears in earlier material and is later named as a silent key, which gives newer episodes a note of remembrance alongside the usual banter. The show keeps its mistakes and corrections audible. Misread intros, repeated lines, jokes about tuning in, and practical asides remain part of the texture. That loose quality is part of the product. Linux in the Ham Shack suits someone who wants real hobbyist detail with the human clutter left in: call signs, recipes, terminal frustrations, dashboard buttons, and the occasional random-topic detour all sharing the same table.
Made for: Suits a listener who wants amateur radio and Linux talk with practical setup detail, open source curiosity, and a relaxed pace. It also fits someone who enjoys technical conversation that leaves room for food, cars, memories, and side trails.
What sets it apart: The show’s identity comes from the specific intersection of ham radio practice and Linux tinkering, with deep dives and short-topic roundups sitting beside Weekender picker-wheel episodes. Similar tech shows may stay cleaner; this one keeps the bench clutter visible.
Linux in the Ham Shack Podcast in MP3 Format
A ham clock with no map makes for the troubleshooting company your terminal can't provide.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A relaxed weekender where sushi, theater sound-board boxes, and immutable Linux all find room in the conversation.
Episode 612 gives Linux in the Ham Shack's weekender format a relaxed but useful shape, mixing food, recent memory, and desktop Linux talk without forcing them into separate lanes.
A friendly radio-monitoring dashboard tour with practical detail and the loose warmth of a community-sponsored show.
Linux in the Hamshack turns a radio-monitoring dashboard into a steady guided tour, moving through GPS-based tools, aircraft tracking, space, wireless, Intel, and system views.
A relaxed technical roundup where failing lights, awards, and a tree-threatened antenna bring radio maintenance down to human scale.
Episode 610 looks at technology as something lived with, repaired, and occasionally tested by weather. Cheryl's story about 144 feet of lights losing part of their function after power blips gives the conversation a practical start, before a tree-limb scare shifts attention to…
A hands-on OpenHamClock walkthrough where the missing map becomes the useful lesson.
OpenHamClock gets a calm, practical shakedown as Bill, NE4RD, works through vendor downloads, Linux setup, and the split launch routine: NPM start in one terminal, NPM run dev in another.
Restoration trade talk, software, stories, and field lessons.
Practical design talk for working creatives.
Microsoft BI updates, translated by practitioners.
Indian startup building, without the polish.
Airtable power users, building in public.
Tech banter with excellent derailments.
The hosts of Linux in the Hamshack introduce their Weekender episode and spin a wheel to choose a topic, landing on international whiskey.
A short topics episode of Linux in the Hamshack covering amateur radio and open source, including ham TV aboard the ISS.
The hosts of Linux in the Hamshack introduce their year-end roundtable episode for 2025, featuring listener guests and discussion topics.
A deep dive episode of Linux in the Hamshack exploring the Netbird VPN solution, its features, and how it compares to other WireGuard-based VPNs like Tailscale.
A deep dive episode of Linux in the Hamshack discussing the Wavelog amateur radio logging software and its recent developments.
Linux in the Hamshack episode 612 uses its 138th Weekender to compare Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora Onyx, Manjaro, Garuda, NixOS, and immutable Fedora variants for first-time users.
Linux in the Ham Shack episode 611 reviews Intercept, a browser-based interface for software-defined radio tools that Bill says can handle pager decoding, ADS-B aircraft, 433 MHz sensors, APRS, ISS SSTV, Weather Fax, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth scanning.
Linux in the Ham Shack episode 610, "YOLO," opens with Cheryl W5MOO describing 144 feet of Govi lights that collapsed to six working bulbs after a power blip.
Linux in the Ham Shack episode 609 is a Weekender CXXXVII picker-wheel session built around the prompt "your dream car." Cheryl W5MOO chooses a 1987 Monte Carlo SS, while Bill NE4RD points to the Nissan Z line, a classic Thunderbird, and his own 280ZX and 300ZX memories.
OpenHamClock is the focus of Linux in the Ham Shack episode 608, and Bill NE4RD describes it as a browser-based amateur-radio dashboard with DX spots, space weather, propagation, satellites, and rig control.
Linux in the Ham Shack episode 607 introduces FT2, a digital mode with a 3.8 second transmission cycle.
Bill and Cheryl announce that Linux in the Ham Shack will continue after Russ K5TUX died following a flu illness in January.
Linux in the Ham Shack episode 606 marks a new phase after Russ K5TUX died from flu complications on January 14.