[Elecraft] K2 and FLdigi

Thu Feb 24 18:22:14 EST 2011

  Bob,

It may be that your USB to serial adapter does not like the slower data 
rate of the K2.  I have an adapter with the prolific chipset, and it 
works fine with the K3, but is quite intermittent with the K2.  On the 
K2 it will connect with HRD/DM780, but balks at running for more than a 
few minutes, however with the K3, communications is reliable.

This adapter is strictly an emergency device for me, I have plenty of 
serial ports on the computers I normally use, so I have not tried to 
upgrade to an FTDI chipset adapter - I only paid $4.99 for the adapter, 
so no big loss.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 2/24/2011 1:45 PM, Bob wrote:
> Mike and Julian,
>
> 	Thank you both for your information and suggestions - that gives me
> some things to look at.
>
> 	The USB to serial adapter that I'm using is made by Belkin, but I
> have no idea what chip set is used. However, I'll try some clip on ferrite
> beads, as well as trying PSK at QRP levels - that might tell me if RF is
> affecting the USB to serial adapter.
>
> 	I'm using a Toshiba netbook computer, which, needless to say,
> doesn't have a lot of processing power, so I've already turned off many of
> the extra processes and that hasn't affected things - and if it were a CPU
> resource problem, I suspect that it would be more likely to occur with
> HRD/DM780 since that's much more of a resource hog than Fldigi.
>
> 	Thanks again and 73,
>
> Bob W1SRB
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike Heitmann [mailto:n0so at att.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 11:43 PM
> To: Bob
> Cc: elecraft at mailman.qth.net; G4ILOJulian
> Subject: RE: [Elecraft] K2 and FLdigi
>
>
> Hi Bob,
>
> I ran my K2 all evening using Fldigi 3.21.3 / Flrig 1.0.1. About half the
> time I used a Dell XPS1530 (Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and lots of RAM, Windows 7
> Pro). Then I switched to a Dell Mini 9 Netbook (Intel Atom CPU, Windows XP
> Pro). I use the netbook for portable/travel/demos.
>
> Fldigi/Flrig never failed to control or key the rig and never locked up.
>
> That said, Julian's suggestion to look at the USB<-->serial adapter is a
> good one, the one I was using tonight also uses the FTDI chip set.
>
> You might also experiment with some clip-on ferrite RFI beads - I do have
> another USB adapter that I use with one of my Linux systems on a D-STAR
> radio. It works OK on in the shack with the antennas located far away from
> the adapter, but I had it "lock up" repeatedly one time when I was using it
> for a D-STAR demo using an HT with the whip antenna in close proximity to
> the netbook/usb adapter. When the HT transmitted the adapter stopped working
> until it was unplugged, then plugged back in to the netbook. It apparently
> is susceptible to the presence of an RF field, so I stopped using it for the
> demos.
>
> Also, turn off any "extra" processes Windows may be launching at boot time
> like MS Office fast start, iTunes helper, etc.
>
> Hope this information helps!
> 73,
> Mike, N0SO
>
> --- On Wed, 2/23/11, Bob<rbsolosko at verizon.net>  wrote:
>
>> From: Bob<rbsolosko at verizon.net>
>> Subject: RE: [Elecraft] K2 and FLdigi
>> To: "'Mike Heitmann'"<n0so at att.net>
>> Date: Wednesday, February 23, 2011, 12:24 AM
>> Mike,
>>
>>      Fldigi 3.20.34 and Flrig 1.0.1.
>>
>> Bob
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mike Heitmann [mailto:n0so at att.net]
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 4:25 PM
>> To: Bob
>> Subject: RE: [Elecraft] K2 and FLdigi
>>
>>
>> Hi Bob,
>>
>> For reference, which versions of FLrig  and FLdigi?
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> --- On Tue, 2/22/11, Bob<rbsolosko at verizon.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> From: Bob<rbsolosko at verizon.net>
>>> Subject: RE: [Elecraft] K2 and FLdigi
>>> To: "'Mike Heitmann'"<n0so at att.net>
>>> Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 6:42 PM
>>> Thanks Mike - I'm running it on a
>>> netbook computer under Windows 7.
>>>
>>> 73,
>>>
>>> Bob W1SRB
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Mike Heitmann [mailto:n0so at att.net]
>>> Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 12:44 PM
>>> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net;
>>> Bob
>>> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2 and FLdigi
>>>
>>>
>>> Bob,
>>>
>>> I've used FLRig/FLDigi on Linux with my K2 for a while
>> now and had no
>>> issues
>>> - I ran the ARRL RTTY Roundup that way this year. I
>> don't know about
>>> the windows version, I'll give it a try this evening
>> and see
>>> what happens.
>>>
>>> 73,
>>> Mike, N0SO
>>>
>>>
>>> --- On Tue, 2/22/11, Bob<rbsolosko at verizon.net>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I've recently setup my K2 for digital
>>>> modes using HRD and DM780. After some
>>>> fiddling with audio levels,  HRD/DM780 seems to
>> work reliably with
>>>> my K2. It was subsequently suggested that I try
>> the FLdigi set
>>> of software
>>>> (FLdigi, FLrig, FLmsg and FLwrap) instead since
>> it
>>> includes
>>>> additional features for
>>>> reliable communications that are being adopted
>> for emergency
>>>> communications by some organizations.  After
>> setting up FLrig for
>>> my
>>>> K2, FLdigi/FLrig at
>>>> first seems to work OK, but after a short period
>> of
>>> time,
>>>> the control of my
>>>> K2 becomes unstable, e.g., either not releasing
>> from transmit mode
>>>> or not going into transmit mode; and the only way
>> to clear
>>> the
>>>> problem is to power
>>>> cycle my K2. I've now tried both HRD/DM780 and
>>> FLdigi/FLrig
>>>> several times
>>>> and the HRD/DM780 has been consistently reliable
>> and FLdigi/FLrig
>>>> has been consistently unstable. Does anyone know
>> how to get
>>>> FLdigi/FLrig to work
>>>> reliably with a K2?
>>>>   
>>>> Thanks and 73,
>>>>   
>>>> Bob W1SRB
>>>>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>