[Elecraft] Shorter DB15/DB15 cable from KAT to KPA

[Phil Hystad]

>                 Hint to the Elecraft folks,  A breakout box would be a nice accessory!

Actually, I am thinking along the same lines (maybe) but I am primarily motivated by having fun during retirement and not necessarily a practical device.

I have been playing with Raspberry Pi and I am very impressed with this "computer".  I have yet to try something that it did not support directly or via downloading some SDK or install package.  If you do not know about Raspberry Pi, it is a single board computer running Linux (see note below) where the board is about the size of a credit card.  I use the Model B which has 512 MB of memory and 10/100 Ethernet.  Storage and boot device is SDc and I use a 16 GB SD card but you can choose other sizes.

The idea is to have one of the USB ports on the Raspi connected to a USB hub and then plug the various serial to USB cables of the Elecraft rigs to this hub.  Actually, this part of the configuration is something I have done already but the hub is on my Mac rather than the Raspi card.  

Currently my next part of this work is to test the serial I/O to these devices and I am not sure how much of a problem this might be given that driver support may not exist.  Writing my own custom serial drivers (if necessary) is not out of the question.  Then, this Raspi computer itself could be the host for whatever application I want to do or maybe I would do that on my Mac and interface via Ethernet or even Wireless (WiFi).  

I would not try to replace the functionality of the various Elecraft utility programs; rather, I am more interesting in developing apps or even maybe scripts that use the programming interface.

Of course, the whole point is just for fun as there is nothing about this idea that is not already supported by the Elecraft utilities.  

But, if elecraft were to create some kind of breakout box as the suggested offered below, then I think a "Smart" breakout box maybe with a Raspberry Pi in it would be cool.

73, phil, K7PEH

P.S. Note:  Raspberry Pi supports a variety of Linux systems (distros) but there is a whole raft of new operating system work being done with other operating systems such as Plan 9 from Bell Labs.  Wikipedia has an article on the port work being done -- just google Raspberry Pi.



On Feb 7, 2014, at 9:00 AM, Bob <K2TK at att.net> wrote:

> Hi Chuck,
> 
>                Shorter cables are available. I use a 1 ft one.  I don't recall where I got it but possibly L-Com as I buy from them quite often.
> 
>                You don't need the "Y" but potential uses within the Elecraft line are with the KRC, XV's and the PR's.  Band data from the AUX cable can be used with other equipment too.  You can even need multiple "Y's", I did.
> 
>                 Hint to the Elecraft folks,  A breakout box would be a nice accessory!
> 
> 73,
> Bob
> K2TK  ex KN2TKR (1956) & K2TKR
> 
> 
> On 2/7/2014 10:47 AM, Chuck - AE4CW wrote:
>> If I recall correctly (traveling to Orlando), I use the "Y" cable provided by
>> Elecraft to connect the KAT500 and the KPA500 which are stacked.  One
>> connector of the "Y" remains unconnected.  I can provide more detail on
>> Sunday if needed.
>> ---
>> Chuck, AE4CW
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----
>> ---
>> Chuck, AE4CW
>> --
>> 
> 
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