[Elecraft] KX3 - Adjustable RTY/PSK Idle Timeout

[John Huggins, kx4o]

Hi Don.

I'm aware of the IM feature and I do make use of it during casual use. 
However, I'm trying to make the most of the CAT sending capability of the
KX3 and USB cable in a contesting/event situation (like Field Day) using
N1MM, but without audio interfacing.

For N1MM macros can one embed this "IM" into a KY command string without
it becoming an I followed by an M?  I did try this, but it just comes out
I and M as I suspected it would.  On another KX3 group, Wayne mentioned
other methods including sending 0x04 and using a | symbol.  Neither seems
to work in the N1MM macro context.

The good news is I have successfully programmed the macro to terminate
right after sending using this N1MM macro string designed for the VaQP...

F1 Run CQ,{CATA1ASC KY CQ VQP CQ VQP;}{CATA1ASC KYW DE {MYCALL}{MYCALL}
QRZ;}{CATA1ASC RX;}

This nicely waits to execute that last "RX" command till after the last
character is sent to the KX3, but the RX executes immediately cutting off
that last character mid transmit.  Somewhere somehow I need to introduce a
delay between the last character sent and the execution of the RX command
long enough to finish transmitting that last character in RTTY or PSK31. 
As I understand it, a RTTY character takes about 165 milliseconds to
transmit and the worst case PSK31 character (10 bits) takes about 313
milliseconds.

There are several potential solutions.

First I would never want the RX command to change since having something
that instantly takes the KX3 out of transmit is a good thing.  So a new
command (i.e. RXABE - RX after buffer empty?) that puts the KX3 into
receive only after the character buffer has completed transmission might
be nice.

I suspect the simplest solution of all is for me to eliminate the RX
command in the N1MM macro string and the KX3 provide a method to adjust
that 4 second idle time to user preference.  This could be:

  DATA_IDLE_TIME: 4s (default), 2s, 1s, 0.5s, etc.

...or maybe...

  DATA_IDLE_TIME: 4s (default), ASAP

  Where ASAP = 200 milliseconds for RTTY and 400 milliseconds for PSK31

At this point, I'd be happy with a 1 second idle time option to complement
the 4s ragchew default.

All hail software defined radios where feature requests like this actually
have a possibility of implementation.

John, kx4o

On Wed, February 25, 2015 05:08, Don Wilhelm wrote:
> John,
>
>
> Send the IM character to stop transmission immediately.  That is sent as
> a prosign would be - dit dit dah dah, and not as 2 letters. If you have
> trouble sending it correctly, think of it as sending the numeral 2 without
> the last dah. You can also imbed that character in memories.  It will not
> send anything in CW, but will end transmission immediately in data modes.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
>
> On 2/24/2015 9:32 PM, John wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>>
>> Is the default 4 second idle timeout in the KX3's built-in keyer
>> RTTY/PSK31 transmit feature something we can adjust to, say, 1/2
>> second?  It seems all too often a response is well underway by the time
>> the transmission ends in quick QSO conditions.
>>