[WriteLog] K3 .. oops

[Alan Maenchen]

Thanks Tom!

That doesn't sound too bad although it involves stuff that I don't have or
can't do.  I switch the AC to a power strip using a cheap internet socket
that connects via the house WiFi. That turns on the 12V shack supply plus
the PC which auto-boots on power. G-1000 rotor, band decoder, and KAT500
tuner all turn on with that one switch. The little KPA500 amp is on AC
power all the time and not switched. The KPA500 remote software works fine
so that can turn it on/off and all other functions. It seem obvious now
that remote operation wasn't on their minds when they designed the K3. The
hooks just happened to be there for all remote functions EXCEPT turning it
on/off.

I wired a jumper on the ACC jack so it's always on when there's 12V. That
works fine. I tested turning it all on/off several times and it seems to
work fine this way. The last state may or may not be saved but I don't
really care. If I change bands and kill it, then it comes back on the new
band so status is being saved (it seems) every few seconds. Or I've been
lucky. Not concerned about that. I could program one of the PF buttons to
do a PS0 (?) command before shutting down but don't think even that's
necessary. I'm a firm believer in KISS.

There is now one danger: If you push the POWER button, the K3 stays on but
the CPU gets lost and the screen goes blank. The radio is now dead. Cycling
the 12V supply clears it up. Don't do that!

Note to Wayne:  I REALLY like the implementation where I can sit down at
the remote and operate it without moving any cables or re-configuring
anything. It just works!  Thank you!

73, Alan  AD6E



On Sun, Jan 12, 2020 at 7:19 PM <tomgeorgens15 at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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