[Elecraft] Firmware Loading!

[Richard Ferch]

Jim,

Given that you are using a laptop with no serial ports, a USB-to-serial
adapter is probably your simplest option. There are such things as PCMCIA
serial cards, but there is no guarantee that one of them wouldn't give you
just as many problems. You might have better luck with a different
USB-to-serial adapter, but that seems to be pretty much random.

For example, I have two USB-to-serial adapters, both using the same
chipset (although possibly different revision dates, as they were bought
at different times), and both running off the same driver. One of them
causes software crashes with some of the things I try to do with it, but
the other one works fine on the same tasks. Likewise, some people have no
problems with the KUSB adapter from Elecraft, but others report problems
similar to yours.

One thing you might try is taking the powered USB hub out of the picture.
During those relatively infrequent times when you are downloading firmware
to the K3, try plugging your Keyspan adapter directly into the laptop's
USB port without going through the hub, to see if that makes a difference.
It might even make a difference which USB jack you use on the laptop. This
may seem like black magic, but changing USB jacks can sometimes make a
difference with USB ports.

A warning if you try this: If you plug the adapter into a different USB
jack (with or without the hub), there is a good chance that Windows will
assign a different COM port number to it. Fortunately there is a
Properties dialog box you can go into in Device Manager that will let you
change the number back to the one you want to use. USB may be plug 'n
play, but that doesn't always mean it's simple to use!

73,
Rich VE3KI