[Elecraft] Beyond the K2, Part 2 of 3

[Bruce Thompson]

Interface Connections

As a computer geek for about a million years (does anyone else remember
when you could print out the entire map of all the computers on the
Internet on a text printer?), I've wrestled with serial connections
forever.  I would much rather have an IP connection to allow network
access to the rig.  The USB-to-serial connections do work and I do use
them but they are a pain too.  I'm working with one client of mine in my
business that is using the "web server built into the connector" part
mentioned in an earlier post to convert serial interfaces to IP
connections.  They have a driver in the host that appears to all their
software as a serial driver but actually sends the data through the IP
network (I think via telnet).  That way all their existing software
continues to operate unmodified.  

Having an internal web site for the radio system could also be a lot of
fun.  Remote access to the system would require not much more than a
browser.  Bidirectional streaming audio support would mean the radio
could be placed anywhere.  Doing a brain dump of the system would be
just a mouse click.  Remotely debugging a system could be helped
considerably through access to the "current configuration" and remote
access.  I've done this on projects for my business in the past and it
helps a lot.

Other things that could be useful is to set the clock off the internet,
auto-post freq/mode to other K2s to make the K2 awards a lot easier, and
even the band scope could be setup to be a refreshing frame.  I would
like that to be posted on the internet so that before I head out from my
horrible RF location, I could quickly see if the bands are open.  (At my
home QTH, it is pretty rare I can tell much of anything until I get at
least a few miles away.)

Trying to get all the radio companies to agree on a protocol is a
daunting task as others have discussed but I think something like XML
would be a good way to go in the future for accessing and controlling
the internal configurations.  

Several months back there was a long discussion about USB as a
replacement interface for serial connections.  I kind of like the idea
of having one (in addition to the IP interface?) to do a few things.
First, having a built-in RS-232 converter would be handy to simplify the
cabling stuff.  There is the simple matter of the driver, which can be a
pain, but it would allow you to connect the radio directly to a laptop
with just a simple cable.  

There are a couple of other things that could be done with a USB
interface.  First, I would kind of like to run the rig via a USB mouse.
A click on the bandscope would tune the rig, for example.  The big thing
I would like is to use is a wheel mouse.  I can leave my hand on the
mouse on the table (or in my case, the console between the front seats)
and use the wheel to change frequency.  I'm still looking for software
that runs the K2 this way but haven't found any yet.  Anyone know of
this capability?

I wonder what you could do with a USB storage dongle?  Depending upon
how the code was loaded, it might be a reasonable way to load it.
Certain personalization options come to mind such as storing interesting
favorite frequencies, rig configurations, softkey assignments for your
setup, etc.  Hummm....

Internal Software

I like the idea of being able to tinker with the rig and the K2 has been
a very good platform for that.  I would like to see that spirit expanded
into at least some of the internal software.  As an old coder, I fully
understand the issue with software support and trying to do that with a
company the size of Elecraft could be suicide.  However, there are ways
around this problem.  One possibility is the programmable softkey idea
discussed earlier.  Another could be to create an SDK (Software
development kit) to allow for third party software installation.  You
might even be able to charge something for this.  Don't know how
everyone would feel about that.  The idea here is not to give Eric more
to do!  I just feel that the ability to tinker is a real differentiator
Elecraft has over the competition and I would hate to see that lost.
Expanded "Test Equipment"
Another product differentiator for Elecraft is the internal test
equipment that comes with their stuff.  I would like to see this
expanded.  Many people have said the most useful piece of test equipment
is a second receiver.  Why not add some additional capabilities such as
the ability to monitor the output of the K2 during transmit?  How about
inputting a range of frequencies and having the system graph the SWR
curve of the antenna?  Don't have to buy an analyzer then.  Auto
calibrating the clock/freq with WWV has also been mentioned in the past.
A nice looking LCD and audio capabilities combined with spectrogram
features could be pretty cool as well.

End of part 2


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