[Elecraft] K2 Control Cable Question - Recap

[Jim Campbell]

A while back I asked a question about physically splitting the K2 serial 
control cable so that I could have one half of the cable talk to CW 
Skimmer and the other half talk to MixW. I got some good suggestions for 
which I am thankful.

First it was suggested that I do an internet search for "virtual serial 
port". I did so and found a number of solutions that led back to 
www.eltima.com. A single license for that solution was almost $100. That 
was quite a bit too pricey for me, so I searched further.

That led to my finding www.enterlogic.com. This appears to be a group of 
Russian programmers. A single license for their solution is about $25. 
This is still a little pricey but much better than eltima so I went for it.

Their solution is called a Virtual Serial Port Emulator. It has several 
capabilities one of which is the virtual splitting of a serial port. The 
input to the VSPE is the actual com port, in my case Com 4. The output 
of the VSPE is a virtual port, in which case I specified Com 1 (which is 
not an actual port on my computer).

In CW Skimmer, View>Settings>CAT tab, I specified Radio 1 and in its' 
Settings I pointed to Com 1 and gave the com port the settings expected 
by the K2's serial port.

In MixW3, Configure>TRCVR CAT/PTT I once again pointed to Com 1.

The results were disappointing. CW Skimmer worked OK, showing the 
frequency correctly. The frequency display in MixW was random numbers, 
changing frequently. Not at all what I desired.

I then switched to N1MM Logger. Configuring Com 1 as a radio type 
"Elecraft K2" and giving com 1 the settings expected by the K2, N1MM 
Logger showed the correct frequency.

So it is possible to have the K2 drive more than one program 
simultaneously. I will try working with the Russian programmers to get 
VSPE to talk to MixW.

Thanks again for all the help.

72,

Jim - W4BQP
K2 # 2268