[Elecraft] K3: PSK 31 What do I need?

[Jim Brown]

On Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:09:40 -0700, Jay wrote:

> Do I need to order anything else or 
>specific software to make this happen?

Everything you need in the radio to run PSK or RTTY is part of the 
basic K3. No extras required. You can even run PSK or RTTY by 
sending with a paddle and letting the K3 decode for you. I have 
worked DXpeditions that way, and a few souls have even worked 
contests that way (I don't recommend it). 

For more serious PSK or RTTY work, you will want to use your 
computer sound card to generate the RTTY or PSK tones and to 
decode the tones. Most guys who use only RTTY use MMTTY, a 
freeware program that works by itself for general QSOs and 
integrates with several contest loggers (Writelog, N1MM) for 
contests. For PSK, the nicest software I know of is DM780, also 
freeware, distributed by the guy who wrote Ham Radio Deluxe, a 
very nice radio control program, also freeware. All of this stuff 
is easy to use and install on your computer.   

To use this software, you will need three cables between your 
computer and the K3. You need a serial cable for radio control, a 
cable from the sound card output to the radio input, and one from 
the radio output to the sound card input. You should also do the 
simple chassis bonding shown in my Power Point.

http://audiosystemsgroup.com/HamInterfacing.pdf

It's also explained in words in Chapter 8 of 

http://audiosystemsgroup.com/RFI-Ham.pdf 

73,

Jim Brown K9YC