[Elecraft] KX2 as a remote front panel for another KX2, KX3, or K3S?

[James Bennett]

Wayne,

This sounds interesting. My station is located in a fourth bedroom, downstairs, at one end of the house. I use a K3/P3 mostly for CW operating and a KX3/PX3 connected to a Raspberry Pi for primarily for data modes. They share my meager array of wire antennae via two coax switches. With a wife and two kids here, I don’t want to spend all my time at home hidden away in my “man cave” - aka the shack. In the past I had taken the KX3 out of the shack into the family room at the other end of the house, strung up a temporary wire antenna in the back yard trees and fed it with some coax run under the door sill. That let me do a little CW while still being in the room where the “action” was. But disconnecting all the cables, rigging up the antenna, and then re-connecting the cables got to be a PITA, so I pretty much gave up on doing that.

This past summer I got that nifty KX2 and added it to the shack. Now I alternate between the K3 and the KX2 for my CW operating. I have to admit that the KX2 sees more on the air time than the K3! Anyway, the KX2 has been used in the family room on occasion, but I still face the antenna install and de-install issue, along with that antenna not having nearly the performance of my big doublet at 45 feet. It would be great to use the KX2 to run the K3 remotely and have the benefit of a much better antenna, along with the option of “QRO” at 100 watts if I wanted. But, does such a setup allow one to use CW, and if so, how the heck does that work? A 90 foot, multi conductor cable attached to the keyer paddle? :-) :-)

Jim / W6JHB

> On Dec 21, 2017, at 5:40 PM, Wayne Burdick <n6kr at elecraft.com> wrote:
> 
> A number of KX2 owners have asked whether they could use the rig as a “terminal” to control a remote radio. This may be possible to a limited degree. 
> 
> This can already be done with a K3, K3S, or K3/0-Mini. All three can do 100% control of a remote K3 or K3S, including 1:1 display mapping.
> 
> On the smaller end of the scale, you can use a KX3 in “RIG CTRL” mode to do limited control of a remote KX3, K3, or K3S. Page 28 of the KX3 owner’s manual provides more information on this. A small number of basic functions is provided, including VFO, band change, mode change, AF gain, etc. 
> 
> The rigs can be connected together with a null-modem TTL/RS232 cable (2 wires + ground) or through a simple server app. Receive audio, mic, and keyer paddle must be handled separately from the control stream.
> 
> The question is whether there’s enough interest to justify adding such functionality to the KX2. Like the KX3, the KX2 would only provide certain basic controls.
> 
> We’re open to discussion about this (on the list or to me privately). Please include a short description of the application you have in mind. It could be as simple as this: using a KX2 on one side of a large shack to control a K3/K3S on the other side. This would be my motivation, since my primary work computer is out of reach of the K3S setup. 
> 
> 73,
> Wayne
> N6KR
>