Eric:
Thats exactly what I did when I had my Kachina running via remote control I
used a laptop for rig control and had it connected to my main pc which was
running writelog. It worked great.
I made around 1700 qso's via remote during the 10m contest (mixed mode) a
few years ago.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Scace K3NA" <eric@k3na.org>
To: "Kachina" <kachina@qth.net>; "WriteLog" <writelog@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 06, 2002 12:17 AM
Subject: [WriteLog] How to use Kachina radios with WriteLog
> I have tested a workaround that allows multiple Kachina radios, on
networked computers, to be supported by WriteLog. The
> workaround is a bit obscure but works perfectly.
>
> The workaround comes at the expense of slightly increased LAN traffic,
and one must be careful that COM port numbers on multiple
> computers do not overlap. There appear to be no other limitations and
WL's full functionality for rig control and SO2R automation
> is available to the contester.
>
> 73,
> -- Eric K3NA
>
>
> =========== start of hint ==========
> 1. Background:
>
> The Kachina radio's control software communicates with other software
applications such as WriteLog via a file on the hard drive.
> The control software writes information about the state of the radio
(frequency, mode, split, etc) to this file for examination by
> WriteLog (in our case). Similarly, WriteLog writes to the file to cause
the radio control software to make a change to the radio.
> This is a cumbersome, non-standard approach to inter-application
communications but it works. The files is named KC505_nn.dat,
> where 'nn' is the COM port number of the serial port to which the Kachina
radio is attached; e.g., KC505_01.dat
>
> WriteLog expects the special file used to communicate with the Kachina
to be located on a disk drive on its computer. The file's
> directory is specified in the WriteLog.ini file as follows:
> [Rigs]
> KACHINA_LOCATIONnn=c:\kachina\kc <-- "nn" is the COM port number to
which the Kachina is attached.
>
> However, because the Kachina's control software must have the keyboard
focus before the operator can do anything to the radio, it
> is very inconvenient to run the Kachina software on the same computer as
WriteLog. One would be forced to switch back and forth
> between the Kachina and WriteLog application thousands of times during the
contest. Furthermore, the Kachina software is a screen
> real-estate hog.
>
> The solution is to run the Kachina control software on a separate,
dedicated computer (of very modest capabilities).
>
> 2. Problem:
>
> When the Kachina control software is run on a separate, dedicated
computer, the special KC505_nn.dat file is located on that
> separate computer's hard drive.
>
> For reasons which are not clear to me, the following approach did NOT
give WriteLog visibility to the KC505_nn.dat file:
> -- on the WriteLog computer, use the Windows command to map a
network drive designator to the computer with the Kachina; e.g.,
> drive G:.
> -- in the WriteLog.ini file, specify in the [Rigs] section
KACHINA_LOCATIONnn=g:\kachina\kc
> I tested this on WinNT and Win98SE and was not able to make this approach
work. However, the following solution does work...
>
> 3. Solution:
>
> a) On the WriteLog computer, create a new folder; e.g., "c:\Program
Files\Kachina Left".
>
> b) Place a copy (not a shortcut) of all the files used to run the
Kachina control software. This will include the KC505_nn.dat
> file. Note: The Kachina control software automatically creates a
KC505_nn.dat file when one goes to the Special\Station
> Settings\Interface to Other Logbooks pulldown menu and selects "on".
>
> c) On the Kachina's computer, use Windows commands to map a network
drive to a new folder on the WriteLog computer.
>
> d) On the Kachina's computer, navigate to the mapped drive's folder
and start the KC505.exe program in the mapped drive's
> folder. The Kachina control application will download over the Ethernet
and begin operation on the Kachina's computer... but all of
> the files will be on the WriteLog computer.
>
> e) In the WriteLog computer, add to the WriteLog.ini file's [Rigs]
section the following:
> KACHINA_LOCATIONnn=c:\Program Files\Kachina Left
> NOTE: The "nn" must be the COM port number on the Kachina computer to
which the Kachina radio is attached, NOT a COM port number
> on the WriteLog computer.
>
> f) In WriteLog's Setup/Ports menu, specify that the Kachina rig is
connected to COM port 'nn'; i.e., the COM port number on the
> Kachina computer. (I know -- this seems very obscure. But this is how WL
knows the value of 'nn'.)
>
> WriteLog will now be able to control and read the Kachina radio
attached to the Kachina computer. All automatic works properly.
>
> NOTE 1: The W5XD multi-keyer+ box can NOT reuse a Com port number on
the WriteLog computer; e.g., Com1 on the WL computer can
> NOT talk to the W5XD+ box... even though Com1 is being used on the Kachina
computer to talk to the Kachina. This appears to be an
> internal quirk of WriteLog, since the physical port is actually free for
use with the W5XD+ box.
>
> NOTE 2: This same approach can be used to control multiple Kachina
radios on multiple computers, as long as all the COM port
> numbers are different. For example, in a SO2R setup, the left Kachina can
be attached to Com1 on its computer... and the right
> Kachina attached to Com2 on a different computer... and WriteLog runs on a
third computer. Multiple folders must be created in step
> (a); e.g., c:\Program Files\Kachina Left and c:\Program Files\Kachina
Right. In steps (b) and (c) one must map to the appropriate
> folder for each radio.
>
> ============ end hint ==========
>
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