[Elecraft] K3 Utility Terminal Mode and Data Operation

[Lance Wilson]

I have just got a K3/10 going and like most owners of the K3 I find it to be
the best radio that I have owned. Aside from the excellent RX performance I
am especially taken by the built-in PSK/RTTY capability. It only took about
15 minutes of playing around with this capability to get the hang of it.

I was also especially taken by the simple terminal client within the K3
utility. Granted, it's not much but the performance is actually elegant in
that simplicity. It's use can be "common sensed" in just a couple of minutes
and I have found that setting up the memories and then editing is one of the
best I have found in a data program.

Actually using terminal on the air is OK, especially if one sets up enough
canned messages in the memories, but there are a few things that would be
helpful to make this a truly nice little tool. One of the beauties of
Terminal (what I will call it) is that there are no sound card cables, PTT
issues or fiddling around with audio levels. The K3 internal modem takes
care of all that.

What I would like to see is the following:

1) Change the transmit button so it can be activated and then the text typed
and then transmitted after a settable delay. For those of you who have used
terminal you know that one has to type the text first and then hit transmit.
This is OK for short exchanges but awkward for longer QSOs.

2) Put a tuning indicator in the terminal window (An expanded CWT would be
OK. It's OK for PSK31 but is fairly good for RTTY.

3) Install some type of multiple signal viewer. Granted the terminal client
is just parroting what goes on in the K3 but perhaps something can be
incorporated into the K3 firmware.

4) Incorporate the threshold setting into the terminal window.

I know that this goes beyond the original intent of terminal but it is a
tidy, easy to use program. With just a few additions it could be great.

Lance, NR7N
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