[WriteLog] K3 .. oops

[Tom Georgens]

One thing you could try.  

Do you have an old serial to CW interface?  Usually it is just an NPN transistor and base resistor. 

The following might work if you have an extra serial port.  Credit to N6TV for the idea.

If you set up Writelog to “PC Generates” for CW and send a dit, it will pulse the output of the CW interface.  Instead of connecting the output to the  “Key In” of the K3, connect it to the “Power On” of the K3 ACC port.  This should turn the radio on if you send a dit or dah.  You can use the serial PS0 to turn it off.

Then you can change to the CW generation back to Winkey, or whatever you use to send actual CW

You may be able to do this over the same serial port as the radio, but you will need a breakout box of some sort like I described in my prior email.

I echo the comments about WL remote.  Being able to sit at the station or operate it remotely without having to move any cables or add any hardware is very impressive.

The RemoteRig worked well, and  supported many radio types, but it was not as simple and the cabling violated my “no custom cables” rule.

73, Tom W2SC 8P5A
Sent from my iPad

> On Jan 12, 2020, at 8:47 PM, Alan Maenchen <ad6e at arrl.net> wrote:
> 
> 
> 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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