Ham shack(remote); Main house (Control) all on same LAN; WIN4K3, K3

[WI4T]

I have searched and not seen this answered before (I could have missed it though)

I have retired and no longer travel so I no longer need my Remote Rig for travel.

I am trying to make my ham shack the remote station and my main house, my control station - both are co-located and share the LAN.  I have them talking to each other and I can listen and transmit remotely but I am not getting the CAT to transfer properly.

I want to be able to operate my ham shack while in the ham shack but when I am in the main house I would like to remote into my ham shack and operate my station.  Because of this I need to have the Remote Rig somehow connect through WIN4K3 to access CAT commands and avoid COM port conflicts. 

Setup:

Remote: Elecraft K3 - connected to the computer using WIN4K3 as the control software - Remote Rig is also connected with the com port for the Remote Rig going to the Computer (the K3 has its COM port also going to the computer and WIN4K3 is using it)

Control:  Elecraft K3/0 remote

WIN4K3 is running well on the remote computer and I have AUX ports setup.  I would like to have the COM port for the Remote Rig accessing the AUX port from WIN4K3 and NOT connecting it directly to the K3.  That way I can share CAT commands with remote rig.

NOTE:  In the main house I have the K3/0 remote working where I can listen and transmit - BUT it is not sharing the frequency data because I can't get the COM ports to play nice.

if you have this set-up working I would love to know how you told the Remote Rig what COM port to listen too within WIN4K3.

Greg - WI4T

[dj0qn]

Hi Greg,

It is very easy using the following checklist:

CAT Checklist for K3 Twin
----------------------------------
Note first that in a "Twin" configuration, COM2 is used to "tie" the two ends together and carries the CAT data. In order to access CAT, you need to get to COM2 without touching it. The easiest method is to duplicate COM2 over COM1 using a function in the RRC as follows:

- Change both RRC's COM1 to mode-7. Note that the baud rate does not have to be identical with COM2 to fit a lower bandwidth or software requirement.

- If using a "real" serial cable:
     - connect between the control RRC's COM1 and the PC, but note that the pinout is not the standard straight-through serial port. Use the pinout description in the RemoteRig manual, or just try a null-modem cable which usually works (may need a gender changer).
     - The  serial setting for COM1 "Use USB Com Port as COM1" must be set to NO

- If using USB:
     - make sure that first Microbit Setup Manager is installed first on the control PC to get the drivers.
     - Then change the serial settings for COM1 to change "Use USB Com Port as COM1" to YES
     - connect the USB cable between the RRC and computer and wait for the drivers to finish installing
     - go to the Windows Device Manager and look at which virtual serial port was assigned to COM1 and use that for your software, taking the correct baud rate into account.

Note also that you can pull CAT data in parallel off of the radio RRC to use a PC on that end, or to sync with a remote device (amplifier, SteppIR, etc.)

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[WI4T]

Ok, I have tried this the best I understand and could not connect.... let me try to explain how my system is currently setup: (then you can explain what I have done wrong 

Remote end (Main radio in ham shack) - I have the K3 serial port connected to the computer and WIN4K3 is connected to the radio via this COM port.  Because of this i can't connect the RemoteRig to the K3 radio serial port directly.  I have the RRC-1258 COM2 connected to the Computer and the COM1 port is not connected to anything.  Is there a way to take the virtual com port and "map" it to the Serial COM port going to the RemoteRig COM2 port?

Within WIN4K3 I can configure virtual port pairs that other programs can access, they are called AUX/CAT ports.  I am trying to get the RemoteRig to access one of these AUX/CAT ports so that I can get CAT data without directly connecting to the K3. 

Greg - WI4T

[dj0qn]

Greg,

What you are doing wrong: just set everything up first to work as it should in K3 Twin mode, i.e. the K3 in the
shack should be connected via COM2 to the radio RRC and the K3/0 to COM2 of the control RRC. Use the
internal IP number of the radio RRC as the SIP contact on the control RRC. Once everything is working, then just
use my checklist to enable both RRC's COM1 to enable and use CAT.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[WI4T]

Ok, let me ask this first:

I operate from the ham shack 95% of the time.  I have amps, tuners, Rotors, SDR Skimmers and various equipment connected and am using 8 different serial ports to do so.  WIN4K3 is the software controlling everything and it needs exclusive use of the K3 to do so.

I am setting up the remoterig so that the other 5% of the time when I am too lazy to go to the ham shack, I can still operate the station.

I might not be understanding but if I disconnect the K3 from the computer and WIN4K3 and connect it to the RemoteRig it seems I will not be able to go to my ham shack and still operate all the other equipment via WIN4K3 as WIN4K3 will no longer be connected to the K3?

Sorry for being so dense but I want to be careful as the main ham shack is a very complex setup - thank you for your patience

[dj0qn]

If you were to read my checklist, I also wrote that you can use COM1 of the radio RRC to use CAT locally,
even at the same time as the control RRC. So no problem whatsoever!

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[WI4T]

  Thanks, I had read your checklist several times.  I guess I am just dense.  Playing around I got it to work but with WIN4K3 not being the primary connection to the K3 there is 2-3 seconds of delay within my ham shack.  It would not be that noticeable on the control end when operating remotely but when I am in my shack using my K3 directly it is a significant delay.  For example when clicking the waterfall within WIN4K3 it takes about 2-3 seconds for the radio to switch (with the connection coming through the remote rig).  I am pretty sure that WSJT-X will not operate that well either with the delays.

Without the remote rig and with WIN4K3 using the serial port for the K3 directly it is instantaneous.

I greatly appreciate your help and time.  I thought it was worth a try to get the remote rig working, no joy though if it messes up my main station operation.  I will just have to go out to my ham shack when I want to operate.

In the winter like it is now I have to use my fireplace in the ham shack for heat - it is a pain to get it warm and keep it warm.

Merry Christmas and I wish you a terrific new year.

Greg - WI4T


Greg

[dj0qn]

Hi Greg,

That is strange - there is no reason for such a delay. Try lowering the baud rate on COM1 to
see if that helps. COM1 and COM2 do not need to match. If you need any more help, just let
me know. There must be something set that can be changed to fix this.

I also wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX