[Elecraft] PSK31 neophyte needs help please!

[david Moes]

Here is my limited input  on digital and Digipan.   and in my 
experience  the K3 caters very well to this type of digital operation 
using AFSK.   The best when compared to any other rig I have tried or 
owned.


On 11/21/2012 1:50 PM, Larry Royster wrote:
> Hi from Julie KT4JR, writing from the address of my husband K4MWE because this computer is hooked to our K3.
> We have never done PSK31 and I have studied the archive to get started.
> We first tried DM780 but it was complex for starters, so now I am trying digipan, figuring we can go more complex later once I catch on to this...  Don Wilhelm kindly answered some earlier questions but now I have more.
First I would agree that HRD can be a little complex if you are not 
experienced with PSK   and if PSK is all that you are interested in 
Digipan is a good start.   it has a few limitations vs some of the 
others    personally I prefer FLDIGI  but its all a matter of personal 
taste.

> We have a SignaLink installed between K3 and computer (windows 7) with line in and line out connected but the PTT not connected since we have a footpedal inserted there.
> The elecraft cable connects the K3 to computer’s COM4.  If using HRD this works fine.  I am thinking that if we do NOT open HRD then Digipan can use this same cable for PTT
> I have followed the instructions for setting the K3 PTT to RTS-OFF and the same in Digipan.
> In test mode of the K3 if I click the RX/TX button in Digipan I have the correct 4 bars ALC with 5th blinking, so I guess the transmit is working?

unless you are using some kind of Port slitter   you can only have one 
program accessing a serial port.  so you are correct that HRD or any 
other program accessing the K3 needs to be closed.  To have the 4 bars / 
5th blinking you are fine on transmit.  to be sure that its transmitting 
the right thing turn up the monitor and you should hear the warble.

>
> I am confused about archive posts discussing VOX for PTT.  Can I ignore that?  Is that a different option or is that necessary?
it seems that you have the PTT working fine with the RTD/DTS so yes you 
can ignore the VOX discussion.


> We do not seem to be decoding any signals but I don’t know how to tell if that is because I have done something wrong or there are no signals strong enough to receive.  I have tried several bands.

what do you see in the waterfall at the bottom of the screen.   you 
should see blue with some yellow snow  with several vertical bars (under 
busy band conditions)  that stream from top to bottom.   the vertical 
bars start as other stations transmit.    if you move  the red diamond 
with the flag above to one of these vertical bars  with your mouse you 
are tuned to the frequency of that one station and should see some 
decoding.     weak faded bars are weak signals  and stronger ones will 
of course be strong sigs  turning red for really strong signals.  You 
should be able to decode even the weak faded lines to some level of 
readability.

if you see nothing   just a black waterfall  there are a few things to 
look at.

first check that the line out   level on the K3 is turned up this is set 
by pressing Config button for half a second then rotate VFO B to LIN 
OUT.     it should read nor XXX   XXX being a level in my case the its 
004  quite low but I am not using a Signalink instead I am using the mic 
input to the computer.      The second to check is digipans settings for 
sound Card   ensure that it is using in your case the Signal Link.     
also check that the levels are set correctly.  this is best described in 
the Signalink manual so no point repeating it here.
> The K3 is set to Data A, but Digipan does not know about data mode...  It has band-by-band settings for frequency, then 3 choices of tone, USB, or LSB.  I have tried each with no difference that I can perceive.  Which am I supposed to choose?  Maybe something more basic is wrong?

This  is just how the frequency is displayed in the scale above the 
waterfall.   I would recommend either USB (this is what Data-A does)   
or Tone.    When USB is selected it will show the actual frequency of 
the signal you are receiving assuming that you are tuned to the 
frequency listed  in (Configure -- Band..) from the menu bar.  this is 
important as Digipan does not read actual frequency from the K3.   but 
the default listed frequencies here are the common frequencies used for 
PSK.   If tone is selected it will show you the offset of the signal 
from the displayed frequency on the K3.
>
> THANKS to anyone with enough patience to assist!!!
>
> If it is foolish to use Digipan because fldigi is lots better, then tell me that too!

Digipan is a great launchpad to get started with digital.  you can get 
the basics here and as you want more you can always migrate to others 
later such as FLdigi or DM780 MMVARI    The list goes on and on.

I am an FLdigi fan  mostly because it will do many other modes including 
RTTY and Helscriber and those modes that sound like the 1950s  TV 
version of a computer  beep beep beep.   plus it will support Hamlib  
commands that will read frequencies and info from the K3  and allow  
some basic control of the rig such as changing frequencies band etc.   
The negative here is that as you add features you add complexity.   
however it seems that FLDigi and the K3 integrate well out of the 
box.     in the setup it says K3 Beta but it seems to work fine as far 
as I can tell.

Hope this helps