# CircuitPython Weekly Meeting for September 12, 2022


Video is available [on YouTube](https://youtu.be/A8oTqPmog4g).


Join here for the chat all week: http://adafru.it/discord.


The CircuitPython Weekly happens normally at 2pm ET/11am PT on Mondays. Check the #circuitpython channel on Discord for notices of change in time and links to past meetings. Meeting times are also available in [iCal format](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adafruit/adafruit-circuitpython-weekly-meeting/master/meeting.ical) for use with standard calendar applications and can also be viewed [in your browser](https://open-web-calendar.herokuapp.com/calendar.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fraw.githubusercontent.com%2Fadafruit%2Fadafruit-circuitpython-weekly-meeting%2Fmain%2Fmeeting.ical&title=CircuitPython%20Meeting%20Schedule&tab=agenda&tabs=month&tabs=agenda).


If you want to be able to participate in the meeting by speaking, you will need to be added to the @circuitpythonistas role on Discord. Please ask any one of the moderators or admins to add you if you’d like to join.


CircuitPython development is sponsored by Adafruit. Please support them by purchasing hardware from https://adafruit.com.


Reminders: Podcast available on most services. Let us know if we’re missing some.
## 2:40 Community News
Raspberry Pi has just released the latest version of Raspberry Pi OS. It is mostly a wrap up of all the bug fixes but it does have one new big feature: support for the Picamera2 library.  It can only be used with newer images and is an easier camera library to use. Raspberry PI
  

PyCon UK 2022 is this coming weekend, Sept 16-18th.  There will be a Python on Hardware Community Showcase this Sunday where you can bring your projects to share. PyCon UK 2022
 PyCon UK 2022: Python on Hardware Community Showcase 



A Steam Powered Raspberry Pi Pico: Maker Mike Bell has used a small, steam-powered engine to power a Raspberry Pi Pico along with a few accessories. The Pico can run for around 12 minutes before the water in the boiler dissipates - Tom's Hardware and Twitter.
 A Steam-powered Raspberry Pi Pico 



### Newsletter Details
The CircuitPython Weekly Newsletter is a CircuitPython community-run newsletter emailed every Tuesday. The complete [archives are here](https://www.adafruitdaily.com/category/circuitpython/). It highlights the latest Python on hardware related news from around the web including CircuitPython, Python and MicroPython developments. 
To contribute your own news or project, edit next week's draft [on GitHub](https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython-weekly-newsletter/tree/gh-pages/_drafts) and [submit a pull request](https://help.github.com/articles/editing-files-in-your-repository/) with the changes. You may also tag a tweet with #CircuitPython on Twitter, or email cpnews@adafruit.com.
## State of CircuitPython, Libraries and Blinka
### 4:11 Overall


* 31 pull requests merged
   * 20 authors - MicroDev1, waiweng83, jepler, pepijndevos, Neradoc, evaherrada, rivques, SimpleTheory, scirelli, PontusO, CedarGroveStudios, askpatrickw, BrianPugh, dhalbert, tcfranks, weblate, UnexpectedMaker, wtuemura, tekktrik, gamblor21
   * 10 reviewers - makermelissa, MicroDev1, dhalbert, jepler, kattni, Neradoc, evaherrada, tekktrik, tannewt, gamblor21
* 24 closed issues by 10 people, 18 opened by 14 people


### 5:08  Core 
* 13 pull requests merged
* 11 authors - PontusO, MicroDev1, waiweng83, dhalbert, jepler, weblate, pepijndevos, UnexpectedMaker, wtuemura, askpatrickw, gamblor21
* 5 reviewers - Neradoc, MicroDev1, jepler, dhalbert, tannewt
* 19 open pull requests
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/5999 (Open 215 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6037 (Open 208 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6119 (Open 190 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6217 (Open 163 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6247 (Open 159 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6349 (Open 130 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6397 (Open 120 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6410 (Open 115 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6522 (Open 80 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6555 (Open 69 day
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6594 (Open 60 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6757 (Open 30 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6819 (Open 17 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6827 (Open 15 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6856 (Open 9 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6883 (Open 2 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6887 (Open 1 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6890 (Open 0 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6889 (Open 0 days)
* 7 closed issues by 4 people, 10 opened by 6 people
* 572 open issues
   * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues
* 5 active milestones
   * 6 issues not assigned a milestone


### Libraries
* 15 pull requests merged
   * 8 authors - BrianPugh, jepler, tcfranks, evaherrada, rivques, tekktrik, scirelli, CedarGroveStudios
   * 8 reviewers - makermelissa, dhalbert, jepler, kattni, Neradoc, evaherrada, tekktrik, gamblor21
   * Merged pull requests:
      * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_ADS1x15/pull/86 (Days open: 7)
      * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_TLV493D/pull/16 (Days open: 3)
      * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_PortalBase/pull/82 (Days open: 2)
      * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_HID/pull/104 (Days open: 2)
      * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_TC74/pull/7 (Days open: 1)
      * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Waveform/pull/24 (Days open: 1)
      * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_TrellisM4/pull/29 (Days open: 1)
      * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Trellis/pull/20 (Days open: 1)
      * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_TFmini/pull/14 (Days open: 1)
      * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_asyncio/pull/28 (Days open: 1)
      * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_CLUE/pull/58 (Days open: 1)
      * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_CLUE/pull/57 (Days open: 1)
      * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_HID/pull/103 (Days open: 1)
      * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_ESP32SPI/pull/175 (Days open: 1)
      * https://github.com/adafruit/CircuitPython_Community_Bundle/pull/106 (Days open: 1)
   * 38 open pull requests (Oldest: 713, Newest: 1)
* 13 closed issues by 7 people, 5 opened by 5 people
   * 622 open issues
   * 130 good first issues
*  https://circuitpython.org/contributing




**Updated Libraries**
 
* [Adafruit_CircuitPython_NTP](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_NTP)
* [Adafruit_CircuitPython_PortalBase](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_PortalBase)
*  [Adafruit_CircuitPython_TC74](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_TC74)
* [Adafruit_CircuitPython_Waveform](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Waveform)
* [Adafruit_CircuitPython_TrellisM4](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_TrellisM4)
* [Adafruit_CircuitPython_ADS1x15](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_ADS1x15)
* [Adafruit_CircuitPython_Trellis](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Trellis)
* [Adafruit_CircuitPython_TFmini](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_TFmini)
* [Adafruit_CircuitPython_asyncio](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_asyncio)
* [Adafruit_CircuitPython_TLV493D](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_TLV493D)
* [Adafruit_CircuitPython_CLUE](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_CLUE)
* [Adafruit_CircuitPython_HID](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_HID)
* [Adafruit_CircuitPython_ESP32SPI](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_ESP32SPI)
* [Adafruit_Blinka](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka)
* [Adafruit_Python_PlatformDetect](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Python_PlatformDetect)
* [CircuitPython_Community_Bundle](https://github.com/adafruit/CircuitPython_Community_Bundle)


### Blinka
* 3 pull requests merged
   * 3 authors - Neradoc, jepler, SimpleTheory
   * 2 reviewers - tekktrik, makermelissa
* 9 open pull requests
   * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka/pull/417 (Open 579 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka/pull/496 (Open 413 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka_bleio/pull/40 (Open 339 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Python_PlatformDetect/pull/201 (Open 279 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka_Displayio/pull/97 (Open 11 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka/pull/612 (Open 1 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Python_PlatformDetect/pull/248 (Open 1 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Python_PlatformDetect/pull/247 (Open 1 days)
   * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka/pull/613 (Open 0 days)
* 4 closed issues by 1 people, 3 opened by 3 people
* 84 open issues
   * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka/issues
* Piwheels Downloads in the last month: 11826
Number of supported boards: 91








## 8:36 Hug reports


@Paul Cutler (Hosting)
* TammyMakesThings, KeiththeEE, Foamyguy and everyone I’m forgetting who came to help out with the first CircuitPython Community Help Desk.  I had to leave early after two hours and I appreciate everyone who came and stayed, especially while I was out.
* Danh and Kattni for the timestamper code that makes hosting the meeting way easier
* Group hug


@2231puppy (text only)
* Group hug!


@CGrover (text only)9:26 
* Thanks to everyone who participated in the CircuitPython Community Help Desk. Special thanks to those who helped and continue to diagnose a challenging display drawing speed + brightness issue with a Titano running v8.0.0-beta.0.


@danh 9:43 
* @microDev1 and @gamblor21 for recent CircuitPython fixes and followups
* @jepler for tracking down the true cause of a pre-commit build environment mystery
* @Neradoc and @tekktrik for PR’s and support
* @RetiredWizard, @bill88t for testing our new features and finding bugs
* @kattni for exploring the mysteries of cheapo reed switches
* @PaulCutler for volunteering to be a weekly meeting host




@DJDevon3 11:13 
* @hopkapi for helping me get past a lot of errors in setting up MYSYS2 and TIO for windows VScode.
* @anecdata for showing me the error of my ways with socketpool and a great way to remember it in Highlander voice: "There can be only one pool"
* @Neradoc for always correcting me whenever I say anything wrong. He's been my mentor for a while even if he doesn't realize it.
* @mac_gyver the developer of TIO for personally coming into discord and working on package errors, feature updates, and submitting a PR to MYSYS2 so the default TIO install in MYSYS2 isn't a 4 year old version. Hopefully we'll see an update for MYSYS2 get pushed out due to his efforts which should make things a little easier for TIO users on Windows.
* @Kattni for working on the lora mailbox project. I see how deep she's had to go. Just want to send her encouragement and looking forward to using her upcoming learn guide for my own mailbox project.
* @Gamblor for sending me a show & tell badge. I've honestly always wanted one and giddy with joy. It's like a newbie badge of honor and I will display it with pride.
* @CGrover & @FoamyGuy for initiating a community wide bug hunt during Community Help Desk on Saturday morning. I learned a lot about bug hunting, it was extremely helpful!
* @Paul Cutler & @TammyMakes for hosting an awesome Saturday session of Community Help Desk. Totally worth waking up for coffee and a chat on a Saturday!
* @everyone at Adafruit for helping to turn dreams into reality every day


@foamyguy 12:46 
* @Tammymakesthings, @Kieththeee, @CGrover, @DJDevon3, @MarkGamblor, @PaulCutler, @Dexter and anyone else who participated or watched along with the first CircuitPython Help Desk session
* @ snkYmkrct for sleuthing a display_text label direction issue and submitting a fix as first contribution
* @Paul for joining the rotation to host this meeting
* @CGrover, @MarkGamblor, @DJDevon and anyone else from the Help Desk helping troubleshoot and look into a strange display drawing speed issue
* Group Hug


@kattni 14:02 
* Super huge thanks to Paul Cutler for joining the CircuitPython Weekly Meeting host rotation, and for jumping in by hosting today!
* Six or seven hugs to @Neradoc and @argonblue for helping me multiple times over the weekend with CircuitPython issues and weirdness that I was running into.
* @Brian for helping me with a CircuitPython program to identify reed switch terminals
* Everyone who hosted the CircuitPython Community Help Desk this past weekend - I hear it was amazing, and look forward to hearing more!
* @danh for trying to help me understand reed switches, and for making suggestions regarding the reed switch explanation in my upcoming guide.
* OatsNHoney, MulhorandEmperor, and todbot on Discord for helping me with a battery voltage drain question.
* Group hug for everyone!


@KeithTheEE (text only) 15:10 
* @TammyMakesThings, @Paul Cutler, @Mark(gamblor), @DJDevon3, @Foamyguy, @MattyT, @CGrover, and everyone involved withCommunity Help Desk! It was a great experience and I’m really looking forward to the next one!
* @Mark(gamblor) for confirming a bug I ran into with the Metro ESP32-S2, and @DJDevon3 for testing it on the ESP32-S2 board they had and highlighting that the bug doesn’t occur on all ESP32-S2’s. 
* @anecdata for really good sample code in a github issue that made it easy to test if my bug was one that was addressed in an already opened issue. 
* To the awesome, helpful community as a whole! Everyone’s support makes working on projects so much more fun and special.


@makermelissa
* Group hug


@mark(gamblor) [lurking]16:01 
* TammyMakesThings, KeithTheEE, Foamyguy, Paul Cutler and everyone who was at the Community Help Desk.
* CGrover and Foamyguy for poking about the Display Shapes/PyPortal Titano issue on Saturday which turned out to be a stranger but larger performance issue then any of us thought at first.


@tammymakesthings 16:28 
* @Paul Cutler, @KeithTheEE, @Foamyguy, and everyone who joined the first Community Help Desk! Also @Paul Cutler for stepping in to record (at least part of) the event when my computer suddenly refused to see any valid audio capture devices in OBS. (I think this is a problem with the macOS beta, unfortunately.)
* @Foamyguy for doing some amazing troubleshooting on the Display Shapes/PyPortal Titano performance issue.
* Group hug to the community for being awesome!


@tekktrik (text only) 
* @tammymakesthings for hosting the Community Help Desk this past weekend, sad I couldn’t make it but excited to help with the next one!
* @cedargrovestudios for the new library in the Community Bundle!
* @duckythescientist and @foamyguy for fixing the dotted notation for the RTTTL library - I have a dependent project where I noticed the bug but never confirmed it, so I’m glad that my songs will finally play correctly!
* Group hug!


## 17:43 Status Updates  


@Paul Cutler (Hosting)  18:11 
* Last week
   * Interviewed Bradan Lane for The CircuitPython Show (he’s got some great CircuitPython products!)
   * Todbot and I are creating a new podcast!  The Bootloader will debut two weeks from today and each episode Tod and I will share 3 things we found interesting. Should be fun.  We released a teaser trailer last week. It will air every other week (when my other show is off) 
   * Working on a 32x8 neopixel matrix and trying to make it sound reactive with a QT PY 2040 and PDM Stemma QT mic.  Getting close.
* This week
   * Recording the first episode of The Bootloader with todbot
   * Ordered some new audio equipment for the podcast and anxiously awaiting it.
   * Will miss next Monday’s meeting


@2231puppy (text only)18:52 
* Last week
   * Finished assembling my E-Fidget PCB and ran CircuitPython on it!
* This week
   * Work out the assorted hardware and software bugs in the E-Fidget


@CGrover (text only)19:06 
* Submitted two new Community Bundle libraries, PaletteFader (merged) and DRV8830 motor controller driver (waiting for review).
* Now that I’m having relatively good success navigating cookiecutter and pre-commit, there are plans to submit more Community Bundle libraries, starting with RangeSlicer, a map-range-like class that incorporates input hysteresis to reduce noise without filtering delays. Works nicely as a Eurorack CV quantizer but can be applied to other tasks like sensor and potentiometer noise reduction. I used it on a few projects to simulate rotary selection switches with potentiometers.
* Reduced the size of the lawn by 50% to cut water consumption and waste. Trying to be proactive; we don’t have water issues in our area yet. It was suggested that I was just bored with the weekly mowing tasks.


@danh 20:00 
* Figuring out the best way to control pins to reduce power consumption during deep sleep.
* Fixing old bugs and new regressions for 8.0.0.


@DJDevon3 
* Last week
   * Ironed out bugs in my Flock Box weatherstation project.


* This week
   * Lost power this week twice due to lightning storms and the battery backup didn't skip a beat. No crashing due to no wifi or disconnect from OpenWeatherMaps,  works flawlessly now. 
   * Designed a 16 step switch sequencer bell for the Pi Pico based on Todbot's Pico Step Sequencer. Took his board schematics from github and in a flurry of excitement hammered out a board design in 2 redbull infused nights. Sent the board off to fab and should be getting 5 prototype PCB's in about 2 weeks.
   * Started on an RFM mailbox project that quickly turned into an encrypted RFM messenger app instead. Already have a proof of concept working with fake chat streams going back and forth. This is a big undertaking so I'll be back with updates for a while.


@foamyguy 23:02 
* Last week
   * Cookie-cut a library for FlipClock displayio widget and expanding the examples to sIhow all basic functionalities
   * Participated in Help Desk over the weekend
* This week
   * Testing and PR reviews for several libraries. Took an interesting dive into RTTTL spec (Ringtone transfer language) for one of them
   * Add documentation and cleanup the FlipClock library code. Implement configuration options that allow it to work with smaller spritesheets to support devices with less RAM to store them in.
   * Teaching javascript course in the evenings for the next month or so.


@kattni 24:37 
* Last week:
   * WiFi Mailbox notifier guide. Text content is now in place. Images remain to do.
   * Probably other things, but mostly the guide.
* This week:
   * Get images for the Mailbox guide, and get it into moderation to be published.
   * Don’t know what’s next.


@makermelissa 25:06 
* Last Week:
   * Finished up writing Web Workflow Code Editor quickstart guide
   * Wrote a bug fix for core for folders being able to move into themselves, but it needs a little rework
   * Fixed a few bugs I found in the Code Editor I found while writing guide
   * Updated the Loading animation with a spinning circular Blinka
   * Added Directory Upload functionality to Code Editor
   * Improved Dialog Layering a bit
* This Week:
   * Working on a code restructure I’ve been wanting to do for a while
   * Testing that code restructure
   * Working on more features


@mark(gamblor) [lurking] 25:58 
* Last week:
   * Submitted a PR for the display shapes/PyPortal issue. There is still a brightness setting issue but the slowdown is now gone.


@TammyMakesThings 26:12 
* Last Week
   * The first CircuitPython Community Help Desk event! It went really well and there was lots of positive feedback, and some great conversation both in the voice chat and text.
   * Did a bit of hacking on @Neradoc’s `discotool` tool to make it automatically run a `discotool cleanup --all` on macOS systems after it runs `circup` commands. (I realized the extended attribute files can take up a TON of space on the device when installing libraries.)
* This Week
   * PR Reviews
   * Finish looking at my `discotool` tweak, and also investigating whether there’s anything circup can do when downloading the library bundles to avoid creating the macOS extended attribute files in the first place.
   * Investigating a workaround for my OBS issue until the new version of macOS comes out of beta


@tekktrik (text only) 27:34 
* Last week:
   * Created a new library for the Adafruit CircuitPython Bundle - a library for working with location beacons like iBeacons.
   * Submitted a fix for adabot’s State of CircuitPython formatting
   * Submitted a fix for the cookiecutter adding blank keywords to the pyproject.toml file sometimes
* This week
   * Potential PRs for a cookiecutter update and adabot patch for instructions on installing optional dependencies defined in a repo’s optional_requirements.txt
   * Add more documentation to the core
   * Look at new libraries to create, as well as potentially port to/from Arduino
   * Additional typing PR reviews
## In The Weeds 28:22 


@tekktrik (text only)
* Are we planning to do Hacktoberfest this year?  I loved joining it last year and would love to help set things up if that’s something we’re interested in doing again this year.
   * @Paul: Might be interesting to use the next Community Help Desk almost as a sprint?  Promote the Help Desk + Octoberfest
      * @tekktrik:  I’d be willing to host one with this in mind during that time!
   * @kattni: We are absolutely doing Hacktoberfest this year, and I would love nothing more than for someone else to help out with things. Adabot automatically applies the Hacktoberfest label to all Good First Issues as it begins, and then we typically see an influx of PRs, so the biggest thing I need help with is keeping track of those PRs, and putting in the work with the authors to get the PRs merged. So basically, keep doing what you already do, but maybe on a bigger scale for a period of time.
   * @Melissa - Does Adabot label Blinka libs as well?
      * @kattni - Unsure, I’ll look into it.
## Wrap-Up 31:30
