[Elecraft] list submission, using ham radio deluxe and logic with k3 and a laptop with only com3

Fri Mar 3 07:33:37 EST 2017

Max,

Tnx for the info. When I get home will check out the Acom/LP-Bridge interface.

I have both K3’s set up similarly – one set of settings for CW and one set for SSB, which the K3 remembers. I have not changed them in a long time and see no reason to change them frequently. Both rigs are set up for contesting and DXing.

LP-Bridge gas been very reliable. Looks like I may stay with it for now once I get the Acom setup with it. Yes, once I send a dit the Acom will setup, but I like the idea that it is tracking my receiver.

73,

N2TK/NP2 (KP2M), Tony

From: M. George [mailto:m.matthew.george at gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2017 8:38 PM
To: N2TK, Tony <tony.kaz at verizon.net>
Cc: Elecraft Reflector <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] list submission, using ham radio deluxe and logic with k3 and a laptop with only com3

Hi Tony, first off I can help you with LP-Bridge sending data to your ACOM 2000a.  In LP-Bridge, the read only outputs are hard coded to the kenwood protocol at 4800 baud.  So you can use LP-Bridge to get your ACOM 2000a to track your K3 if you set the ACOM 2000A to Kenwood on the radio interface.  I had this configured and working on Jim's W7CT's setup a few months back.  I exchanged a few emails with Larry N8LP and he pointed out the hard coded Kenwood / 4800 baud protocol on the output option in LP-Bridge.

Like you I didn't get excited about Win4K3Suite at first and I too saw the RX eq settings reset.  But after thinking through it, I love the RX eq settings being controlled by Win4K3Suite now.  There is no way to do that from a K3 macro as far as I know... on the RX side.  So with Win4K3Suite, you can store RX eq presents and switch between them on the fly AND you can change the RX eq settings in real-time and hear the change, you can't do this via the Config menu.

It does take a few seconds for Win4K3Suite to manipulate the RX eq settings because it's doing some tricks to change the settings on the fly.

The reason Win4K3Suite resets the eq settings is because there is no way to read the settings from the K3 to store them in the first place... so it resets the settings for TX and RX eq at start up and then once you change them in W4K3S and exit Win4K3Suite it stores them in the Win4K3Suite config on disk... so then the next time you start up, it restores the settings to your K3.  I was annoyed by this until I read Tom's FAQ here: http://va2fsq.com/faq/  Then the light turned on.  There is no way to read settings from the K3 eq, so to externalize this, Tom is working around that limitation.  Once you set them up in W4K3S you are golden.  And it's a major bonus to changes those on the fly as I have described.  BTW, I'm just a happy user of W4K3S if you are wondering... I have no reason to try and tout it other than I have been happy with the updates and support.

Even if you don't use the spectrum display in W4K3S, based on my many year experience with LP-Bridge and NaP3, I still think it's well worth it on how it shares the K3 CAT data.  It has been totally reliable too...

Anyway, give it another try.... and play around with the multiple and dynamic UI settings for the eq in your K3.  

Max NG7M

On Thu, Mar 2, 2017 at 1:06 PM, N2TK, Tony <tony.kaz at verizon.net <mailto:tony.kaz at verizon.net> > wrote:

I have been using LP-Bridge since its inception without major issues.
I had tried Win4K3Suite one day. I did not spend much time with it, but two
things didn't seem right. Maybe I just didn't know what I was doing though.
It seemed each time I started the program I lost the equalizer settings and
had to reenter them.
Also there was an issue about the resolution had to be set to 3 decimal
places. I would rather have the resolution to two decimal places for CW and
for SSB depending if I am running or just going up and down the band I want
to have 1 or two decimal places.
And again, maybe I just didn't know what I was doing. And since LP-Bridge
handles all of my devices fine I didn't get too serious with Win4K3Suite. I
have the P3 with external monitor so not too interested in another band
scope.
The one thing I can't seem to do with LP-Bridge is have the Acom 2000A track
my K3's receive frequency in order to pretune. I have N4PY's program doing
that in the background.

Tell me I didn't do things correctly and that if I set up Win4K3Suite
properly I  can just start the program and it will start my other interface
programs such as N1MM+, DXBase, AXETTY,  like LP-Bride and be seamless.

73,
N2TK, Tony

-----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net <mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net> ] On Behalf Of M.
George
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2017 8:36 PM
Cc: Elecraft Reflector <elecraft at mailman.qth.net <mailto:elecraft at mailman.qth.net> >
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] list submission, using ham radio deluxe and logic
with k3 and a laptop with only com3

I used LP-Bridge for many years and never was satisfied with the
reliability... plus the time it takes to create the virtual ports was always
irritating to me. It is pretty good and the price sure is right however!

I have switched to Win4K3Suite with com0com for the CAT sharing of the
K3(s) and it has been rock solid.  As others have mentioned, you can share
the K3 CAT interface with up to 4 other applications and the lastest version
of Win4K3Suite also adds 3 or 4 (off the top of my head) read only
interfaces that you can use... i.e. like an SDA100 SteppIR controller or an
Amplifier that will track the transceiver frequency.  VSPE looks pretty
good, but the license feed for the signed 64 bit version is ~$25 and that
gets you half way to the cost of Win4K3Suite... Win4K3WSuite in and of
itself is really nice.  The more I use it, the more I like it... for
example, pre defined RX EQ settings are so nice where you can just push a
button and change the EQ settings on the K3 in a few seconds and if you are
tweaking the EQ settings, you get to hear things live without having to
leave the Config menu.  Anyway, I'm really like the spectrum display to in
combination with an LP-PAN2.  It's become the replacement to NaP3.  It's all
together just a much more reliable solution than LP-Bridge and NaP3 IMHO.  I
can't live without my LP-PAN2 by the way... but now I no longer need to deal
with LP-Bridge and Win4K3Suite starts right up with no delay where the
com0com ports are created when Windows 10 starts up.

Max NG7M

On Wed, Mar 1, 2017 at 6:07 PM, Tim Tucker <ae6lx at worldwidedx.com <mailto:ae6lx at worldwidedx.com> > wrote:

> I have used LP Bridge in the past but found that it crashed too often
> to suit my tastes.  I am currently using VSPE 64 bit on two machines
> (for the past 2 years) without any problems.
>
> Tim
>
> On Wed, Mar 1, 2017 at 9:31 AM, buddy s <buddys70 at gmail.com <mailto:buddys70 at gmail.com> > wrote:
>
> > i have a laptop, win 10, usb cabled to my k3, and the com port is
> > identified as com3.  i would like to use ham radio deluxe and logic
> > simultaneously.
> >
> > if someone has a similar situation and solved the problem i would
> > appreciate the details.  i have tried VSPE, unsuccessfully.
> >
> > thanks, es
> >
> > 73 de
> > W3BS, Buddy Spiegel
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--
M. George
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