[Elecraft] K2/KIO2 with newer Palm... IR?

[Jack Brindle]

OK, there has been several inquiries about this, so let me follow up on  
my own reply.

Let's assume that we can solve the protocol stack issues and somehow  
make the IR connection work between the Palm (or any laptop) and the  
K2. You then have the problem of the very narrow beamwidth and short  
distance of the IrDA IR optics. This means you have to keep the  
Palm/laptop and K2 aligned perfectly to maintain communications. This  
is a major pain!

We are hams, radio types, so why not a better approach. My amateur  
astronomy friends have pointed out an interesting device from a Santa  
Cruz company called AirCable (http://www.aircable.net/). This is a  
BlueTooth device that provides a serial port that could be plugged into  
the K2 and communicate with a BlueTooth-enabled Palm or laptop. Other  
similar devices are coming onto the market at this point also.

So, why put up with the hassles that IR brings when we can move to RF  
using technologies such as BlueTooth or ZigBee, and be able to move  
around at will?

On Apr 14, 2005, at 6:23 PM, Jack Brindle wrote:

> No. The K2 does not handle the IR encoding/decoding that is needed for  
> IrDA and other IR-related protocols. There are other problems also,  
> like the Palm's IrDA runs at a faster data rate than the K2 can  
> handle.
>
> On Apr 14, 2005, at 2:28 PM, Daniel Reynolds wrote:
>
>> Noticing the recent postings about running a K2 through a Palm, it  
>> just occured
>> to me - could a simple IR T/R pair be used with the KIO2 to run the  
>> K2 with a
>> newer USB/Palm throught the Palm's IR port?
>>
>> Just a thought - maybe you've tried it already... I'd just be curious  
>> to know
>> any of your thoughts on this method of controlling the K2.
>>
>> (My palm can last for many hours compared to the power hog laptop  
>> I've got).


- Jack Brindle, W6FB
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