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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL)

@stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy
275 followers 15 following 2.7K posts

Software developer, electronics enthusiast, Amateur radio operator, lover of classic rock. Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia (QG62ln) 🌉 bridged from ⁂ mastodon.longlandclan.id.au/@stuartl, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 5h
I got the parts… fitted one up… plugged it into my benchtop supply (with current limit set)… that's funny, it's dropped to constant current mode! Pull out a multimeter, measure the resistance across the input… short circuit! Turns out, when I […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
Footprint comparison.

On the left, the L_CommonMode_Wurth_WE-CMB-S footprint from Kicad.

On the right, the footprint in the datasheet, rotated to match.

Symbol goes (clockwise from top left): 1, 2, 3, 4.
Datasheet goes: 4, 1, 2, 3.Symbol in Kicad vs the symbol in the datasheet.

Both match in terms of pin numbering and function.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 7h
I think they call this ghetto-packet. #AmateurRadio #AX25 #PacketRadio
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026
Quack!
The Gap (Brisbane)

No warnings for this location
17.3°
Feels like19.4°
20°
Max
15°
Overnight min
Rain at times.
10–30mm
Rain

-----

The Gap (Brisbane)

No warnings for this location
Observations at Brisbane
Weather station 11 km away
Latest highs and lows
20.9°at 11:38 am

Highest temperature
16.4°at 11:18 pm

Lowest temperature
32.0mm
since midnight

Rain
20 kilometres per hour20 km/h
at 11:59 am

Highest wind gust
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026
The actual PCBs arrived today. Much earlier than expected, which is good news. They were ordered through @aislerhq on the 30th, they shipped on the 6th and arrived today here in rainy Brisbane. They look good too. Means I better get cracking on the code for these things.
Two of the three manufactured boards, with the power supply module sat in its footprint on one of the PCBs for fit-testing.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026
Liquid sunshine! #BNEWeather
Observations at Brisbane
Weather station 11km away.  Change station.

Latest highs and lows (i)

Highest temperature: 20.9°C at 11:38am
Lowest temperature: 16.4°C at 11.18pm
Rain: 22.0mm since midnight
Highest wind gust: 20km/hr at 11:59am (Change unit)
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 16/10/2026
…now the stylus is doing impersonations of the two front guitarists… where did I hide my stylus cleaner?
Macro shot of the cartridge and stylus after playing side 1… there's what looks to be the wisps of a small "beard" of dust hanging off the stylus.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 16/10/2026
Starting with this one, in memory of Frank Beard (1949-2026) and Dusty Hill (1949-2021).
On the kitchen breakfast bar (stone benchtop, nice and rigid):

- recently repaired Rotel RP1001 turntable
- ARTcessories DJPre II turntable preamp
- Behringer UCA-202 USB audio interface
- the cover to ZZ Top "Eliminator"

The record is of course playing on the turntable.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 15/10/2026
Of course, the real important bit is whether it worked. Damn, I think that pot has always been fiddly, and now I know why! Probably been like that for the better part of 30+ years. Replacing the pot, speed control is silky smooth at the 33⅓ and […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 15/10/2026
A quick trip to Jaycar, picked up a box of 500mA fuses, so I've taped some spares to the power lead and put a new one in the holder. Whilst I had it open, I removed the old pot and put a new one on. The new one has a longer shaft than the old one […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
Inside: the replacement pot in situ, with neat heat-shrink tubing over the terminals and a short length of blue wire linking wiper to the side of the pot.Outside: the speed control pot now sits out about 5mm… but whatever.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 15/10/2026
Yep, the fuse has indeed popped. Interestingly, the holder appears to be able to take two different sizes, and ours has a smaller one fitted. Entry is via the bottom, so to get in: 1. grab a twist tie and tie it around the tone-arm to make sure […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
Close-up of the speed-select and adjustment assembly, with the potentiometer I need to replace.Close-up of the speed-control pot showing the wiring a little closer.View of the turntable with the platter removed.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2026
I'm trying to get tax records organised. Sam has other ideas. #CatsOfMastodon
Sam, a 11 year old Russian Blue cat is sprawled across tax paperwork.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 09/10/2026
PCB manufacturing, I don't need steenking PCB manufacturing! #HomeBrew #AmateurRadio #PacketRadio
Image of a hand-carved and soldered circuit board.

The board is a 40mm×30mm piece of double-sided copper-clad fibreglass material.  A number of "tracks" have been formed by hand-carving the top surface into segments with a sharp knife.

Onto this, a number of components have been soldered: two resistors, a MOSFET, some 0603 diodes, a 0603 resistor, and some connectors: two 2-pin KK, a 3-pin KK (actually, the remnants of a 9-pin that got "cut" to size), and a grubby DE9 female, all edge-mounted because I didn't have the right-size drill bit.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2026
NARRATOR: …and there was much rejoycing! #NoLLM #NoAI www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-09/asx-…
11m ago
BREAKING: Sharemarket float of data centre operator Firmus gets pulled following lacklustre investor demand
Daniel Ziffer profile image

By Daniel Ziffer

More to come...
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026
Seems purr programming also extends to PCB layout. #CatsOfMastodon
Sam, a 11 year old Russian Blue lays in front of the laptop so his head blocks the bottom left of the screen.

KiCAD 10 is on the screen laying out a simple PCB.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026
Wonderful, so there's a "notification" bot that's going around badgering people to "verify" their accounts. Username of `NOTIFICATION` (sometimes with some letters replaced with digits)… so far observed on `mastodon.social` (blocked) and ` […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
Screenshot of one of the posts from @N0TIFICATI0N@vivaldi.net

@qldfire ᴏᴜʀ ᴀᴜᴛᴏᴍᴀᴛᴇᴅ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍꜱ ᴅᴇᴛᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴀ ᴍɪɴᴏʀ ɪʀʀᴇɢᴜʟᴀʀɪᴛʏ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴀᴄᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴠɪᴛʏ.

ᴛᴏ ʀᴇꜱᴛᴏʀᴇ ꜰᴜʟʟ ᴠɪsɪʙɪʟɪᴛʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴄᴄᴇꜱꜱ, ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴇʀɪꜰɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘʀᴏᴄᴇꜱꜱ.

→ ᴘʀᴏᴄᴇᴇᴅ ʜᴇʀᴇ: 🔗 [redacted link SHA256 cba570dc2824493d3c774037141e6b4ef0c3d5032e9e758985be9f5e110c669a]

ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴀɴᴅɪɴɢ!
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026
One small error I've just spotted… the pin numbering goes (left to right, top to bottom): 1243 whereas I had it going 2314. Switch the symbol, update the PCB netlist, told the PCB tool to re-generate the power planes… it fixed the wiring error […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
Render of the PCB concerned, it's a 80mm×100mm PCB featuring a Raspberry Pi Pico W controller, a stack of diodes as level shifters, and a number of connectors around the outside (UART, I²C, a keypad matrix, +12V in, +5V out, an ADC channel, and a display controller port).
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026
Silly electronics question for people… I'm building a circuit that needs to drive a LED dot matrix panel, which means I need a beefy 5V DC-DC power supply to step down from 12V. I found a suitable candidate: the Meanwell NID100-5. 5V 11A output […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
EMC suggested circuit for a Meanwell NID100 PSU.

We have a circuit with 3 polarised capacitors, a dual-inductor and the NID100 PSU.

- C1 and C2 are both 120µF 63V electrolytics
- C3 is a 22µF 35V electrolytic
- L1 is a dual-inductor with a Z symbol marked on it.  No phase dots are shown.  They're oriented horizontally, one either side of the Z.

- +Vin connects to C1+ through to left side / top half of L1.
- Right side / top half of L1 connects to C2+ into +Vin of NI100
- -Vin connects to C1- through to left side / bottom half of L1.
- Right side / bottom half of L1 connects to C2- though to NID100 GND, through to C3- out to -Vo.
- NID100 +Vo connects to C3+ though to +VoMy interpretation of the EMC circuit, as drawn in Kicad.

J5 represents the +Vin (pin 1) and -Vin (pin 2) pins.

J6 represents the +Vout (pin 1) and -Vout (pin 2) pins.

C1 is as described in the previous circuit; C1+ connects to J1 Pin 1, through to pin 2 of FL1 (left side top inductor), a phase dot is shown here.

FL1 pin 3 (right side top inductor) connects to C2+ through to +Vin on the NID100.

J5 pin 2 connects to C1-, through to pin 1 of FL1 (left side, bottom inductor), a phase dot is shown here.

FL1 pin 4 connects to C2- through to GND, to C3- and out to J6 pin 2.

NID100 Vout connects to C3+ through to J6 pin 1.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026
"No I don't want you playing with NetBSD, my attention requirements are greater." #Caturday #CatsOfMastodon
Sam, a 11 year old Russian Blue cat is laying in front of my laptop on the table.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026
Regarding the fuse… haven't determined the form-factor, but as always, eBay has photos of it. (source: www.ebay.com/itm/401736720532 )
Photo of the motor controller from a RP-1001 turntable.  Single-sided PCB with brown fibreglass material, shown from the component side.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026
RE: mastodon.longlandclan.id.au/@qldfir… Looks like my bot needs a config tweak with the stylesheet, but there is a #LeaveNow emergency warning for a fire near #GlenAplinQld south-west of #StanthorpeQld.
Screenshot from https://www.fire.qld.gov.au/Current-Incidents

The text of the message can be seen in the quoted post, but the map shows three fire grounds, two of which overlap.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026
Some people do "pair programming". I do "purr programming". #CatsOfMastodon
Sam, a 11 year old Russian Blue cat, doing his best to obstruct the view of a laptop screen behind him.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 02/09/2026
Great… smoke settled in for the evening.
Enoggera Reservoir smoke sensor readings for 2nd September 2026.

Things are good until 3PM, where it bumps up to "fair" territory, it settles down, then at 5PM it goes through the roof.  At 6PM, it's 96.3µg/m³, firmly in "poor" air quality territory.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 30/08/2026
I'll bet it's a blown fuse. The turntable was working last time I used it, but it's sat unused and unplugged for years. Suddenly sees current, *poof*.
Schematic for the RP-550 and RP-1001 turntables.

The power supply section shows a 500mA fuse just beyond one leg of the step-down transformer.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 25/08/2026
Really smacks of hypocrisy when Linus Torvalds tells us that AI use in the kernel is here to stay, yet `git.kernel.org` throws this up… (and yeah, it's crawling along because my CM5 is also doing a system update). #NoLLM
Screenshot of Anubis on git.kernel.org, "making sure" that I'm "not a bot".
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 17/08/2026
Anyone remember these? #OldTech #SlideRule
Faber Castell 2/82 slide rule resting on a wooden table alongside its case and manual.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 12/08/2026
This is showing some promise… In the words of the Rolling Stones… you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need. I've got some ideas for what I'm calling the "STCLauncher" application… (STC = Skin The Cat… […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
A mock-up of a launcher showing a sub-menu of web browsers.

On the far left, we've got 90° rotated labels showing the names of categories that have been navigated into.

On the right is a list of application launcher icons.

There are some other icons for locking the desktop, switching users, shutting down, logging out, showing the desktop, a "restore" (can't remember what that does now… I did this mock-up in 2014), and a "back" and a "home" button.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 09/08/2026
The plot thickens… so I went to make a cup of tea… turn the kettle on. Nothing. No life out of the kettle. Glance over at the microwave oven, it's dead too. Unplug kettle, move it over to the other side of the kitchen, plug it in… turn it on… […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
GP1 circuit power usage, last 6 hours.

It's dead at 0W until about 10:15… when there's a sudden spike (inrush current charging capacitors probably), then a steady 300W load (100W reactive), before it resumes a somewhat noisy oscillation pattern like before.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 08/08/2026
Looks like we'll be fridge-shopping today. I got up, with one loudly meowing cat indicating his hunger… I get Sam's mince out and give him a spoon-full. Open the fridge to put the tray of mince back in… *BANG*… a flash erupted from the top-left […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
Waveform of active and reactive power for circuit GP1 in our house (which includes the kitchen).

Over the last few hours, there was a steady heartbeat… about 100W active load (-100W reactive) constantly, with the odd square-wave burst of ~220W (100W reactive) power usage when the compressor switches on.

This all stops abruptly at 06:47.  From here, the circuit shows 0W (reactive or active) power consumption.  The fridge is dead.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 08/08/2026
Around Brisbane, there's some hazard reduction burns taking place to try and reduce the fire load ahead of summer. Hasn't been too bad lately, but tonight I noticed I could smell smoke. It appears according to this graph, I'm not imagining it […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
PM2.5 levels at Upper Kedron today…

Since 1800, the PM2.5 levels have been on a steady upward curve, and as of 2000, are sitting at 23.3µg/m³.

25µg/m³ is the guideline… right now this is "fair" air quality… above this guide line we enter "poor" air quality, and sensitive groups (like myself) need to take precautionary measures.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 08/08/2026
Seen via VK7DIK SSTV cam (www.qsl.net/v/vk7dik/wsstv)
CCTV still showing two hooded figures attempting to siphon fuel from a campervan.  One is crouched beside the vehicle feeding a hose into what they think is the fuel tank.

The other is standing up, attempting to suck out the air to get the siphon pump going.

Caption: Thieves siphon has from an RV and accidentally suck up the contents of the toilet.  Ain't that some shit (laughing emoji × 3)
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 05/08/2026
Oookay… what the hell passed over the house? #Solar
Screenshot of the 12V DC solar array output over the last 6 hours.

It's steady producing ~27½A at just under 17V… but then at 12:45 it takes a nosedive… voltage dropping to 16V and current down to 10A.

It spikes up momentarily before dropping down to just below 5A at 13:10.

There's another spike then we're back in 5A territory at 13:30.

Finally one more spike and it sinks to zero.  Voltage spikes to just over 20V.  A no-load condition.

It sits like this for a bit, then picks up to 5A of load at 14:00.  Hovers about 5A, then increases to around 10A, then tails off to 2.5A.

Voltage remains around 17V.Mains grid export at about the same time from the 10kW solar inverter.

We're generating power in the order of 1kW, with a spike of 3.5kW around 11:00… right up to 12:30… then power output takes a nosedive, dropping to 250W.

The power fluctuates wildly between ~300W and just below 5kW over the next few hours, before settling back down at 500W.

Reactive power is similar; we're at 500Wr until 12:30, then ~200Wr… then it fluctuates between 200Wr and 500Wr… then after 16:15, about 200Wr flat.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 31/07/2026
Just hangin' around. #WildOz #Bats #FlyingFoxes
Some flying foxes hanging upside down in a tree.  The afternoon sun illuminates their brown fur coats against a clear blue sky.

Enoggera Creek, The Gap, Brisbane.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 29/07/2026
I'm half way through 2026… and been catching the bus a lot more due to the fuel prices. The nearest I can get on the bus to my workplace is Paddington, just near the start of Caxton Street and Lang Park stadium. From there, it's a couple of […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
A photo of a Sundström pre-filter disc for their SR-100/SR-200 masks.  It's a round white disc of filter material about 6cm in diameter.  Brand new, they are a uniform colour.

This specimen retains its original colour in a small disc in the centre about 2cm in diameter.  Around this, the filter material is discoloured.

5 crease lines, where the retainer clamps the disc on place, radiate from this centre circle.  Along the length of these, there's dark smudges along these lines as if the particulate matter was "drawn" to these pressure points.

The disc is resting on the corner of my laptop.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 26/07/2026
Damn it `gpg --card-status`, why aren't you working today?! #Humour #ComputerStupidities
Photo of the back of a laptop (Panasonic CF-53) showing an open hatch with an Ethernet port and two USB 2.0 ports (one occupied).

In the Ethernet port, a Yubikey 5A security dongle is wedged in.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 22/07/2026
Pea soup this morning! #BNEWeather
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 22/07/2026
Tell me you don't know how IPv6 addresses work without saying you don't know how IPv6 addresses work. #IPv6
Screenshot from https://www.alldatasheet.net/datasheet-pdf/download/128748/NEC/WD37C65B.html showing a Java stack trace.

HTTP Status 500 – Internal Server Error

Type Exception Report

Message An exception occurred processing [/download.jsp] at line [1765]

Description The server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented it from fulfilling the request.

Exception

org.apache.jasper.JasperException: An exception occurred processing [/download.jsp] at line [1765]

1762: 		//subUtils = new SubnetUtils("183.104.0.0/11");
1763: 		subUtils = new SubnetUtils("59.0.0.0/11");
1764: 		subUtils.setInclusiveHostCount(false);
1765: 		bPass = subUtils.getInfo().isInRange(remoteIP);
1766: 		//홍콩서버 중국IP 체크
1767: 		boolean bChina = false;
1768: 		if(InetAddress.getLocalHost().getHostName().equals("all-hongkong-rocky10") || true) {


Stacktrace:
	org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.handleJspException(JspServletWrapper.java:618)
	org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:515)
	org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:395)
	org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:339)
	javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:728)
	org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:52)

Root Cause

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Could not parse [2001:44b8:21ac:7053:42a3:8dd8:71b7:9032]
	org.apache.commons.net.util.SubnetUtils.toInteger(SubnetUtils.java:333)
	org.apache.commons.net.util.SubnetUtils.access$200(SubnetUtils.java:27)
	org.apache.commons.net.util.SubnetUtils$SubnetInfo.isInRange(SubnetUtils.java:160)
	org.apache.jsp.download_jsp._jspService(download_jsp.java:2580)
	org.apache.jasper.runtime.HttpJspBase.service(HttpJspBase.java:71)
	javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:728)
	org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:477)
	org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:395)
	org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:339)
	javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:728)
	org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:52)

Note The full stack trace of the root cause is available in the server logs.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 20/07/2026
Obligatory screenshot with system stats. #Gentoo #RaspberryPi
Screenshot of FVWM3 showing MWM-style borders in a blue colour scheme, a bar with a clock, virtual desktop pager, system tray, task selector, and `gkrellm` system monitor down the right side of the screen.

Backdrop is from the Main Range at Mt. Kosciuszko National Park.

Terminal window shows `fastfetch` system stats:

OS: Gentoo Linux aarch64
Host: Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 Rev 1.0
Kernel: Linux 6.18.37-v8-16k+
Uptime: 4 hours, 33 mins
Packages: 1890 (emerge)
Shell: bash 5.3.9
Display (BOE088B): 1920x1200 in 14", 60 Hz [External]
WM: fvwm3 (X11)
Theme: OS-2-Warp-4 [GTK2/3/4]
Icons: breeze [GTK2/3/4]
Font: Noto Sans (10pt) [GTK2/3/4]
Cursor: breeze (24px)
Terminal: konsole 26.4.3
Terminal Font: Terminus (TTF) (20pt)
CPU: BCM2712 (4) @ 2.40 GHz
GPU: Broadcom bcm2712-vc6 [Integrated]
Memory: 3.26 GiB / 15.84 GiB (21%)
Swap: 0 B / 19.01 GiB (0%)
Disk (/): 14.42 GiB / 179.58 GiB (8%) - btrfs
Disk (/home): 332.91 GiB / 732.42 GiB (45%) - btrfs
Disk (/mnt/debian): 23.61 GiB / 56.53 GiB (42%) - ext4
Local IP (wld0): 192.168.65.131/23
Locale: C.UTF-8
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 19/07/2026
My furball back home. #CatsOfMastodon #cats
Sam, a 11 year old Russian Blue cat is curled up in his crows nest.  Behind him. A window looking out on a leafless frangerpanni tree and some other (non-deciduous) trees.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 12/07/2026
This is what happens when contacts back out of SB-50 housings. These ones are so cheap, a quick yank of the cable pulls the cable and contact out of the housing. A genuine SB-50 will not let you do that. The end result is under spring tension […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
Melted blade fuse holders on a 5-way SB-50 PDU, indicating the bus bars got hot enough to melt the plastic nearby.Somewhat melted moulded SB-50 housings in the side of the SB-50 PDU.A badly charred negative terminal on a SB-50 PDU.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 11/07/2026
Obligatory #neofetch
neofetch on Gentoo

stuartl@vk4msl-cm5 
------------------ 
OS: Gentoo Linux aarch64 
Host: Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 Rev 1.0 
Kernel: 6.18.37-v8-16k+ 
Uptime: 42 mins 
Packages: 1621 (emerge) 
Shell: bash 5.3.9 
Resolution: 1920x1200 
WM: fvwm3 
Theme: Breeze [GTK2], OS-2-Warp-4 [GTK3] 
Icons: buuf-icons-for-plasma [GTK3] 
Terminal: konsole 
CPU: ARM Cortex-A76 (4) @ 2.400GHz 
Memory: 2753MiB / 16215MiB
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 11/07/2026
To get this far, you need to do these things: 1. partition NVMe with a GPT; first partition formatted FAT32 and set up as an EFI system partition in the partition table 2. unzip the release zipfile to that first partition 3. grab the device tree […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
UEFI menu system with blue and black text on a white background.

Unknown Raspberry Pi Model
BCM2712 (ARM Cortex-A76)         2.40GHz
v0.3                                                   16384MB RAM

  Select Language <English>   This is the option
                                                     one adjusts to change
> Device Manager                     the language for the
> Boot Manager                        current system
> Boot Maintenance Manager

  Continue
  Reset

↑↓: Move Highlight       <Enter>:Select Entry
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 08/07/2026
Making test calls to 000 I can understand, is wrong, and should not be done… it wastes operator time and resources. The only time I've "called" them in a non-emergency, it was an accidental pocket-dial. (Nokia had the presence of mind to include […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
Australians urged not to make test calls to Triple Zero
Georgie Hewson profile image

By Georgie Hewson

Kristy McBain says she wants to echo the communications minister's comments about Triple Zero.

    "Our emergency services do a fantastic job responding to emergency calls when they are made," she says.

    "The last thing we need is anyone making test calls to Triple Zero."

She says she found it "outrageous" the shadow communications minister said she had been making test calls.

    "We teach our kids not to prank call Triple Zero, and I think it is absolutely outrageous that the shadow communications minister has been making test calls to Triple Zero at a time where we need to make sure that we are doing as many welfare checks as possible, and making sure that that network is open to people in emergency situations."
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 06/07/2026
…and now Atlassian is trying to tell me things… scary!
Screenshot of an email in my inbox listing.

Subject: Set your new Atlassian password
From: Atlassian <noreply+acab50f@id.atlassian.com>
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 06/07/2026
@phocks White text on white background is not readable.
Screenshot of the article, showing only the hyperlinks, date and the category "chips".

Everything else is unreadable as it's the same colour as the background.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 03/07/2026
Some photos now the sun is up…
View of the camping area just on sunrise… we see lots of 4WDs and similar vehicles with some mountains in the background.Looking down past the amenities block towards Derrier Road, lots more vehicles parked along with caravans and horse floats.View of the WICEN base with some of the WICEN campsites behind.  WICEN base is set up underneath the awning of a caravan with a banner stretched out across the front of the awning.

A couple of operators are talking just outside.A view towards the west where Borumba Dam is located.  Lots more campsites and horse floats across the paddock.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 03/07/2026
Setting up (Alt text to come).
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 30/06/2026
These are the guilty culprits… one just replaced now, and I'll replace the other soonish. Right now #Ceph is getting re-acquainted with the data on the node I just brought back up today, and I'll wait for that to finish before I shut down the […] [Original post on mastodon.longlandclan.id.au]
Two 120GB WD Green SATA M.2 2280 SSD modules.
The top one has a manufacturing date of 14 MAR 2019.
The bottom one has a manufacturing date of 05 JAN 2021.
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 28/06/2026
Well, you picked a fine time to leave me boot disk… Along with your comrade, blowing my OS away… My pair of downed servers, 12TB of replicas… now my Ceph cluster won't heal… …you picked a fine time to leave me, boot disk! #HomeServer #Ceph
Screenshot from the BMC showing a resized snapshot of the console.  We can vaguely see the text:

Intel(R) Boot Agent CE v1.5.48
Copyright (C) 1997 2003, Intel Corporation

PXE T61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE MBP: Exiting Intel Boot Agent

Reboot and Select proper Boot device
or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key_
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 26/06/2026
Design pro-tip for the ABC: white text on white background is unreadable.
Screenshot of https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-27/h5-bird-flu-outbreak-numbers-overseas/106826956

We see the ABC News banner, then the only other text visible is:

Tessa Flemming
Avian Influenza
2h ago
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Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) @stuartl.mastodon.longlandclan.id.au.ap.brid.gy · 21/06/2026
@TerribleMaps Gets a bit kinked at the European end…
Annotated version of https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=4/31.28/-15.38

The line is straight until it hits the coast of Spain where it has to find a gap to pass through to the Mediterranian Sea.  It then has to curve around to where Türkiye is, weave through them, then curve around in the Black sea to Georgia.
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