[WriteLog] K3 .. oops

[tomgeorgens15 at gmail.com]

Hi Alan

I grounded the pin on the K3 ACC for a while.  I don't think that is
dangerous, but I believe that doing so prevents saving the settings when
powering down.

My solution sounds more complicated than it is.  I have a box that takes the
serial port from the PC and passes it to the radio.  It extracts the DTR
signal in the serial port to drive an NPN resistor that  switches the power
on pin in the ACC port.  I have this times two since I have two radios.  I
similarly use RTS to control the power to my homebrew amps.  This would
preclude using DTR/RTS for CW/PTT, but I use a winkey for CW and A/B
switching.

The DTR pin can be controlled directly from Writelog using its OLE
automation.  I use an AutoHotKey (AHK) script to load, configure, and layout
all software automatically with one keystroke.  Part of the script is will
toggle DTR on and off.  The script is very long, but it only it takes only a
handful of AHK commands to do the K3 power on function.  I am more than
willing to share the code.  You can power down using Writelog Macros to send
the serial command to the radio

Another solution could be  some type of 555 solution that sends a pulse some
time after power is turned on.  

N6TV has a variety of boxes that may well perform this function.

I don't know how you control power to the radio.  IF you use something that
has independent switching per outlet (like a DLI web switch), You could turn
on an outlet to close a relay and then turn the outlet off.

I chose my approach since I needed something that would work my amps as
well.

GL 

Tom


-----Original Message-----
From: WriteLog <writelog-bounces at contesting.com> On Behalf Of Alan Maenchen
Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2020 2:06 PM
To: WriteLog Reflector <writelog at contesting.com>
Subject: [WriteLog] K3 .. oops

Having successfully switched my remote station from RemoteRig to Writelog
remote setup, I've just now discovered one of those "oops" moments.

The KPA500 amp has a menu item that turns it on when AC power is applied...
at least enough that the RS232 link works. I can remotely turn it on/off.
Not so with the K3 !

This was not an issue with the RemoteRig stuff since that box took care of
powering the K3 on/off. So, I never really thought about it until now that
I'm leaving the remote site.

I saw some old discussions about this on the Elecraft reflector. The only
method is to physically ground a pin on the ACC jack. But just grounding it
all the time and then switching the 12V supply on/off is NOT recommended.
However, it looks like that's my only solution at the moment. I suspect it
isn't a big deal to do that although there is some risk.

So, curious what Writelog users with a remote K3 do in this situation.

Thanks & 73, Alan  AD6E
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