[Elecraft] HB "button box" for K3

[Jan Ditzian]

Brian,

Do you have a schematic on  the web for this, along with the other 
technical details?  It was only yesterday that I found myself wishing 
for this capability.

Jan, KX2A


> I really miss extra programmable buttons on the K3. To remedy this, I 
> created a "button box" that has 20 programmable buttons. It's pretty 
> elementary with a 4x4 keypad and four push buttons. One PIC, one 
> voltage regulator and a MAX232 for RS232. All buttons are in-circuit 
> programmable. Things I really wanted on one button were SPLIT+1, 
> SPLIT+5, UNSPLIT, PSK, FSK, modes and bands. Sure there are other ways 
> to get there.
> Now for the rub. It can be directly plugged into the K3 but one would 
> loose all other functions that use that port. Instead I use LPBRIDGE 
> which allows up to five virtual ports (applications) to use the single 
> K3 RS232 port. VSPE is used to bridge the real RS232 port to a virtual 
> one for LPBRIDGE. I use LPBRIDGE all the time anyhow so no big deal 
> for me.
> Nothing original.  We will see how "needed" it really is in time.
>
> 73 de Brian/K3KO