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1

General discussion forum / Re: Remote K3 shuts off whenever Control-RRC is reset

« on: 2021-11-29, 12:22:58 »

After some reverse engineering I already now how it works, however I haven't measured anything directly on the radio side yet.

In twin mode, on the control side, locally to me, I can see a "PS;" command coming on the serial line of my K3/0 (mini) in every 2-3 seconds. This is a question from the radio (or the local RRC box, se later) about the requested power state of the control side. When we press the button on the K3/0, it starts sending "PS1;" messages repeteadly until the K3/0 is turned off, then it sends a "PS0;". Also, if the sequence of "PS1;"'s stops suddenly because of any problem (power is removed from the K3/0, internet connection breaks, etc.), the radio will turn off itself after some seconds, too.

I don't know yet what causes the radio to wait for a K3/0 to be attached initially, it might be the line of the K3 radio's back that needs a pulse before you can turn it on remotely when already powered. There is a state when the radio is not fully on, but its display is lit - if you hold that line high without releasing. I observed that the RRC's provide some more sophisticated interfacing, so you are not necessarily getting the physically same PS; questions from the radio, but they come out of the control RRC, and you can respond to them anyway.

And what I'm trying to say is: when I hadn't have a K3/0 yet, I just connected the appropriate port of the control RRC communicating normally with the K3/0, and got a serial terminal program to send PS1;'s to the control RRC blindly in every 3-5 hundred milliseconds to turn on and against turning off the K3 itself, then I used the whole system through the also available CAT port going through the RRC's (a port programmed to be the CAT port on the control side - it can be one of the serial ports or a USB virtual serial port in the Windows as well speaking of desktop PC's).

So, in Twin Mode, I can't see any easy method to keep the radio on if there is not an actual connection to the remote RRC box, and if you program them to use only a CAT line for the remote control, most of the comfort disappears that the K3/0 provides.

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General discussion forum / Re: K3 twins + one more client without K3/0, wrong communication

« on: 2021-01-13, 15:47:30 »

I solved the problem for now: in a normal "K3 twin" configuration, using the port on the RRC box configured for the K3/0 mini, I emulated a physical K3/0 by sending "PS1;" (Power Status: On) responses twice a second on the serial line from the desktop computer. :-)

Exactly as I thought: K3/0 has a different protocol with at least Q... and Y... prefixes that are not in the K3 CAT commands list, and the K3 radio at the host needs at least the "PS1;" responses to turn on and to remain turned on.

In case if somebody needs it as well (all K3/0 is sold out, anyway...):

Code: [Select]

COM0: "14 - Elecraft K3 twin"
COM1: "Mode-7, CAT to COM2 (remote)"
COM2/USB: COM0

This way of using the remote computer only through the CAT line, the other serial port of the RRC box is not really fast, and you are stuck with the knobs and other controls of the software used on the computer, but seems to be reliable. There might be surprises e.g. when trying to use the PA, but we will see.

73 ..... Tibor

3

General discussion forum / K3 twins + one more client without K3/0, wrong communication

« on: 2021-01-12, 17:04:43 »

Hi,

our small group uses RRC boxes successfully to remote control a K3S radio using the K3 twin method. There is one more user, me, who don't have a K3/0 (mini) but a nice RRC-1258MKII box (with an older hardware but updated firmware), but I couldn't manage it to use the remote radio from my site yet.

The SIP connection works fine but the CAT controlling is "not reliable".

1. If I try the K3 twin mode on the control side, there is no communication on the serial ports (as I mentioned, there is no K3/0 available here). This is under investigation, but without the K3/0 hardware, this solution does not seem to be viable.

2. If I try "normal" K3 mode on the control side (I can make it more specific later), there is a communication on COM2 as I've set it up, but if I try to use it for CAT communication e.g. by the Win4K3Suite, the frequency display and other statuses of the K3 as S-level constantly change, flicker, etc. Sometimes they do show the correct values, but mostly even the digits are missing from the freq. display partially.

3. Sending commands to the radio seems perfect, I can change its frequency step by step when the Win4K3Suite is not struggling for a second, etc.

I think, this problem above comes from the fact that K3/0 provides a different kind of communication than the K3 CAT, and using my settings, both of them comes out of the COM2 merged together (instead of being separated with the I/O port), and this mix sends even the Win4K3Suite haywire. (It's not a robust software by the way, blocked UI thread during connection, crashes without saying a word, etc., I'm disappointed on it.)

Although, I can't find a word about K3/0 protocol, I presume, it is a more flexible and faster way of bidirectional communication than the somewhat crippled, hundred years old CAT control, and that's why it is needed. But I might be totally wrong.

Concerning the solutions, it's not unmanageable to change the configuration of the remote side's RRC box for the different kind of controllers (clients) respectively, but not as the first option. :-)

So, my questions are:
- Is there any setting of the controlling RRC box that the remote K3 still works and can be accessed in the K3 twin setup but can be remoted controlled by me using at least a CAT software?
- K3/0's speed would be preferred if possible, so is there a software client for the K3/0 communication (an emulator) on occassion? I haven't found anything similar on the Elecraft's site, that's why I'm asking it here. Somebody wrote a similar software, but unfortunately, it does not seem available anymore.

Thank you for your patience. Really. :-)

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General discussion forum / Re: Remote K3 shuts off whenever Control-RRC is reset

« on: 2021-01-12, 16:01:16 »

Same here. But no answer?