K3/0-mini

[Geoff G8OFQ]

Is it possible to use the RRCmicro with the K3/0mini to remote a K3?
I have a RR1258 connected to a remote K3 but want to use my G3 wireless dongle on my laptop together with the K3/0mini to control the K3.

[sm2o]

No the RRC-Micro cant be used that way.

The most common way to do it is to have a Wifi card in the RRC and use a smartphone as router, (3G/4G <-> WiFi gateway).

73 de mike

[Geoff G8OFQ]

Hi Mike,
As I suspected - thanks for the confirmation. A couple more questions - does anyone know of a good Win7 personal hotspot app? - and,
when connected to a PC with the USB cable, does the K3/0mini provide logging info to HRD and can HRD control the remote K3 via the mini?
Thanks again - 73 Geoff G8OFQ

[dj0qn]

Geoff,

What is it you are trying to do exactly? If all you want to do is use CAT for the remote K3,
it is easy to do using the K3/0 mini by itself.

If this is what you want to do, just change both RRC's COM1 mode to mode-7 (speed does not
have to match COM2) and use COM1 of the control RRC for CAT.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[Geoff G8OFQ]

Hi Mitch,
My problem is that I don't have wi-fi at my control location - only a 3/4G USB PC dongle to get internet. Using the RRCmicro which supports 3/4G, and HRD works fine with my remote 7000. Having to use a 1258 with wi-fi card and the K3 mini won't get me internet. Mike's suggestion to use a smartphone with personal hotspot is a good solution but I would have to buy a roaming data card which is very expensive in EU. The USB G3 dongle I'm using is a freebie but is sim locked. Hence my question about connecting the PC to the K3mini with USB cable.The info on the Elecraft website doesn't clarify what the USB capabilities are. Hope that all makes sense!?
73-Geoff

[dj0qn]

Hi Geoff,

Sorry I misunderstood you....the term "control" can mean different things, and I thought you
meant CAT.

As to your problem: I agree with what Mike said, you need to either use a phone as a hot spot,
or buy one of the many 3G routers on the market. I have one that has an ethernet port, so it
directly goes into the RRC.

I understand your roaming problem, but of course I do not know how critical that for you, i.e.
how much you travel. I am somewhere else almost every week and was very happy when they
started offering EU-wide roaming for 3 Euros a month to my data and voice flat rate. I feel like
a free man now when I travel around. I do not know what roaming plans as such are offered in
the UK, but I do know that there are some "virtual" EU SIM cards that offer European-wide roaming.
I don't remember what they are, but I could ask around if you want.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[Geoff G8OFQ]

Thanks Mitch - I would really appreciate that. I'm frequently travelling around EU and quite often thru North/Central/South America (I'm in TI at the moment) but usually manage to get a wi-fi conection. It's just on those occasions when there is no wi-fi that a 3/4G connection is useful!
Many thanks
73-Geoff

[dj0qn]

Hi Geoff,

Apparently there are a few companies playing around in this international roaming area.

The one that seems promising to a contact of mine is Truphone http://www.truphone.com/uk/
but of course one should shop around.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[Geoff G8OFQ]

Many thanks Mitch - I'll check it out!

73 - Geoff G8OFQ

[oz1rh]

Hi Geoff,

As Mitch wrote, you do not need an extra phone with a new SIM-card. Put your present 3/4G USB PC dongle in a 3/4G Wifi router like the TP-Link MR-3420 ver 2.0 and you have a personal Wifi hotspot to which your pc and RRC-1258 can connect. See www.tp-link.com/lk/products/details/?model=TL-MR3420 You need version 2 to do 4G. It works for me. Price around 30 GBP or 40 USD.

Another possibility is to share the pc's internet from the USB dongle with the pc's ethernet port where the RRC-1258 is conneted. That worked for me during Dayton, where my pc got internet via Wifi which then was shared with the RRC-1258 via ethernet. The network setup was a little tricky, if I remember correctly the ethernetport in the pc (to which the RRC-1258 was connected) had to have its default gateway in the pc set to the IP address of the wireless card in the pc. Windoze should have done it, but I had to do it manually after a 'route print' and some thinking (=it did not work in first try!). I think the RRC-1258 had to have its default gateway set to the IP address of the ethernet port in the pc.

73, Palle, OZ1RH.

[Geoff G8OFQ]

Hi Palle,

I've had a look at the specs for this item and it looks as if it will be just the job - gives me a wi-fi router from WAN and 3/4G internet, and at the right price!!

I see your point about the tricky internet sharing from the PC LAN to the 1258 LAN but I'll try it with the 1258 that I already have connected to my IC7000. Now that 4G is becoming widely available and EU roaming tariffs have been cut, maybe Microbit should consider an optional upgrade to the 1258 to incorporate a SIM card to produce a more flexible remote operating product. Or better still - for Elecraft to incorporate LAN/wi-fi/3/4G into the K3/0 mini!!!!! Dream on..........

Many thanks for your suggestion Palle - I'll let you know how it all works out,

73 - Geoff G8OFQ

[W1UE]

Unless I am misunderstanding something, I have used the Remote Rig units in several different hotels using a notebook as a "Network Bridge".  You connect the notebook to the WiFi, then enable the Network Bridge- software that already exists within Win 7.  Other than enabling the Network Bridge, no other modifications to IP numbers or settings within the Remote Rig unit need to be adjusted; it just takes an Ethernet cable from the Notebook to the Remote Unit and you're done.

Or am I missing something?

Dennis W1UE

[Geoff G8OFQ]

Hi Dennis - thanks for the suggestion. I have tried that already but I'm using Win7 Starter Edition which doesn't appear to have internet sharing capability.

Geoff