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
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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.
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