[Elecraft] KAT500 question

Wed Jul 13 23:23:19 EDT 2016

Jerry:

Here’s an approach that I use for K3 remote operation (including control of the KAT500) that you may find appropriate for your needs as well.  

I use my K3 almost exclusively through the K3/0-Mini.  The radio site is in Southeast Georgia and my primary residence is in Massachusetts.  I’ve configured my HF station with the following:

1.  K3/0-Mini controls the K3 through Remote Rig’s RRC-1258Mkii devices.

2.  The Remote Rig RC-1216H provides a web-based control of the KPA500, providing a web screen that looks like the front panel of the KPA500, allowing me to control the amplifier as if I were in front of it without using a PC in the shack.  

3.  For the KAT500, I’m using a Lantronics Serial-to-Ethernet converter that allows me to run Elecraft’s KAT500 Utility software on a computer in Massachusetts controlling the KAT-500 directly in Georgia through the KAT500’s serial port.  The Elecraft software provides all of the status information of the KAT500 plus control of all functions, such as turning the unit on/off, setting which of the three antenna port to use (e.g. dummy load, yagi, etc.), bypassing the tuner, noting the SWR of the antenna/band I’m on when transmitting, etc.   

A prime reason for taking this approach is so I can ensure that the KAT500 antenna port selected when shutting down the tuner is port 1 which has a dummy load attached.  Since I’m not at the radio site, selecting the dummy load provides at least some additional isolation for the KPA500 and K3 between the Polyphaser attached to the grounding system at the ground plate entrance where all coax cables and DC lines (rotor control, Preamp on/off, etc.) enter the shack through various Polyphaser devices.  A dummy load also provides an appropriate load for testing power output before going ‘live’ with the Elecraft software providing real time measurement of performance. 

4.  The Orion rotor’s serial port is also fed through the Lantronics Serial-to-Ethernet converter (it is a five port device; I’m using two), allowing me to run PstRotatorAz.exe to control the rotor directly from Massachusetts.  

5.  I can turn on/off devices in the shack using the West Mountain Radio R4005i which allows web-based control of up to five separate devices by providing a 12 VDC output to on any of the five available ports.  The Orion is turned on/off through this device using West Mountain Radio’s PWR AC Controller attached to Port 1, which is a device using 12VDC to switch 120VAC. Anderson Power Poles provide connections to the R4004i’s five ports and the PWR AC, and each of the five ports of the R4005ican be individually configured for when the ’soft’ fuse on each port is opened.  

There are some network configuration setups required at the radio site’s router, such as configuring port forwarding appropriate ports to various devices to make this work, plus DDNS to allow for connection from the outside world (WAN) without having to know the external IP address at the radio site.  

An alternative would be to run the KAT500 software on a computer in the shack and then connect to that PC through remote access software such as Team Viewer or LogMeIn.  This approach would probably be simpler to set up than what I’ve done (no setup of port forwarding within the router), but  prefer my approach because PCs can fail and require reboot which can be problematic if you’re not at the site and won’t be there for some time.  Note that I don’t need any PC to be on in the shack to have total control of my HF Station.  

Overall, I’m very satisfied with this approach. I hope in the future that Remote Rig will provide a firmware update to the RC-1216H to add the ability to control the KAT500 through a web interface just as is done for the KPA500.  Such an approach would eliminate the need for a Serial-to-Ethernet converter as well as allows control of the KAT500 with a iPhone or iPad.  

Hope this helps,

Barry Baines, WD4ASW
Westborough, MA

> On Jul 13, 2016, at 6:40 PM, Jerry <W1ie at jetbroadband.com> wrote:
> 
> Thanks Rick and John,
> 
> I asked the question because I have just bought the K3/0 Mini remote and I would like to be able to turn ON and OFF the KAT500 when I am about 1 thousand miles away. I know that I can do control the on.off on the  KPA500 by connecting the  8 pin line on the 15 pin ACC connector on the KPA500 to pin 11, I was hoping that there would be an undocumented way for the KAT500.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Rick WA6NHC
> Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 5:55 PM
> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KAT500 question
> 
> But you can via the utility, if that can apply to your needs.
> 
> 
> Rick nhc
> 
> 
> On 7/13/2016 2:28 PM, John E Bastin wrote:
>> On Jul 13, 2016, at 17:10, Jerry <W1ie at jetbroadband.com> wrote:
>>> Greetings all,
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Is it possible to be able to power  on and off the KAT500 through the K3?
>> Short answer: No.
>> 
>> From the KAT500 manual:
>> 
>> "Connect to the station 11 to 15 VDC power supply with the white striped lead to the positive terminal. Do not take this power from the K3’s 12 VDC output connector, even if it has been upgraded for 1 Ampere.”
>> 
>> Hope this helps,
>> 
>> 73,
>> 
>> John K8AJS
>> jbastin at sssnet.com
>> 
>> 
>> 
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