[Elecraft] [K3] Logging programs and internal keyer

[Joe Subich, W4TV]

> Are there any contest logging programs out that support the 
> internal keyer on the K3? This seems the ideal way to go, 
> just one more serial command that has to be coded to go to 
> the radio.

None of the three most commonly used contest logging programs 
support the KY command.  All three authors/developer groups 
have investigated the KY command and rejected supporting it. 
The issues are: 1) KY is not universally supported - it is 
only useful with K2, K3 and some Kenwood transceivers.  2) 
once a message has been sent to the radio it is not possible 
to edit it (call corrections).  3) buffer management is very 
difficult - it is not possible for the logging program to know 
when a message has completed in order to implement timed delays 
(or repeating messages) with a known time between the end of the 
message and start of the repeat. 

> 2) Buy an external box like WinKey to interface to the rig. 
> Why spend money on that? It's only doing stuff that the rig 
> already does!

WinKey is by far the most flexible and programmer friendly 
solution available.  It is "universal" in that it can be 
applied to any radio.  It generates CW with very tight timing 
and it provides very good handles for the programmer to 
integrate it with his software (including buffer management, 
editing and status tools). 

73, 

   ... Joe, W4TV 
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net 
> [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Carl Clawson
> Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2008 4:10 PM
> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [Elecraft] [K3] Logging programs and internal keyer
> 
> 
> Are there any contest logging programs out that support the 
> internal keyer on the K3? This seems the ideal way to go, 
> just one more serial command that has to be coded to go to 
> the radio. Otherwise you either:
> 
> 1) Have the computer generate the CW and waggle some lines to 
> the radio. This is problematic because no modern operating 
> system has deterministic timing. You never know when the OS 
> will decide to go do something else for a while, and you get 
> choppy code if you're unlucky. You also need a circuit to key 
> from the parallel port, or use DTR/CTS on serial, which is OK 
> until you reboot your computer and it keys up your radio. 
> Plus, AFAICT you can get paddle inputs only via a parallel 
> port. (Seems like a serial port could take paddle input on 
> DSR & RTS, but I don't recall ever seeing that. Probably 
> because you'd need to add in both + and - power supplies. The 
> advantage of the parallel port is that you can set a pin to 
> +5 V to power your paddle input circuit.)
> 
> 2) Buy an external box like WinKey to interface to the rig. 
> Why spend money on that? It's only doing stuff that the rig 
> already does!
> 
> So, any support out there? I'm considering moving to a new 
> logging program and hoping to mothball the special cables and 
> lash-ups that I've been using, and get more consistent code 
> too. Plus, I won't need to plug and unplug paddles and things 
> when I work offline from the logging program.
> 
> Thanks!
> 73, Carl WS7L
>