[Elecraft] K3 and WinTest CW setup

[Richard Ferch]

Fred, as far as N1MM Logger is concerned you have DTR and RTS backwards. 
N1MM Logger supports CW keying on DTR of a serial port but not on RTS, 
whereas it supports PTT switching on either DTR or RTS.

If you want to use CW keying on the K3's radio control port, you would 
configure N1MM Logger to use DTR on that port for CW, and set the K3's 
CONFIG:PTT-KEY to OFF-DTR. If you also want to use that port for 
hardware TX/RX switching, you would also configure N1MM Logger to use 
RTS on the same port for PTT, and set the K3's CONFIG:PTT-KEY to RTS-DTR.

I don't know whether Wintest supports CW keying on the same serial port 
that is used for radio control (not all software supports this 
capability). If it does, the above configuration should work. If it does 
not, you can connect a simple keying interface (transistor keying 
circuit) between another serial port (or USB-to-serial adapter) and the 
K3's Key In jack, again using DTR for CW, and RTS for PTT if desired, 
and configure the software to use that second serial port for CW and/or 
PTT. In this case you would set the K3's CONFIG:PTT-KEY to OFF-OFF, and 
set DTR and RTS in the configuration for the radio control COM port to 
Always Off.

For a more flexible and powerful solution, you can connect a K1EL 
Winkeyer or WKUSB between the computer and the K3's Key In jack and 
configure the software to use that. It will be on a different COM port 
than the radio control port.

73,
Rich VE3KI

Fred Jensen wrote:

> I use N1MM and have no experience setting up Wintest.  However if you
> are attempting to key the K3 on the serial CAT port, you need to do the
> following:
>
> 1.  Set Wintest to send CW on RTS
>
> 2.  In the PTT-KEY menu on the K3 [TECH MD has to be ON], set it to put
> CW on rtS.
>
> You can also set up PTT on DTR if you want semi-QSK, I run full QSK and
> don't use the PTT signal, and I key the K3 with a WinKeyUSB keyer.  if
> you're using an external keyer, Wintest will need to know the COM port
> number of the keyer and to direct CW to that port.