[Elecraft] K3 - Steppir interfacing

[Joe Subich, W4TV]

On 2019-08-14 11:11 PM, Dr. William J. Schmidt wrote:
> Actually, the preferred method is to use a regular "Y" cable and a 
> cable for the SteppIR's "S26" cable schematic intended specifically 
> for the K3.
The SteppIR "S26" cable will result in a doubly loaded "serial in"
line (two drivers connected to the K2/K3/K3S RxD line resulting in
no data to the K2/K3/K3s) when used with a standard "all 9" DB9 Y
cable.

The schematic for the SteppIR "Y" cable that I provided to K2HYD is
also available in the SteppIR groups.io files section and works
directly with SteppIR controllers and the K2, K3, K3S without any
other cables.

BTW, your "FT947" cable is labeled incorrectly - it is FT847.


73,

    ... Joe, W4TV


On 2019-08-14 11:11 PM, Dr. William J. Schmidt wrote:
> Actually, the preferred method is to use a regular "Y" cable and a cable for the SteppIR's "S26" cable schematic intended specifically for the K3.  It can be found in the Steppir groups.IO file section, or I can send it to you.
> 
> 
> Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ
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> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Joe Subich, W4TV
> Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2019 9:44 PM
> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net; rayalbers at gmail.com
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 - Steppir interfacing
> 
> 
>> I made up a Y cable to interconnect K3, SteppIR controller and
>> computer. Lots of Googling told me that the connections to SteppIR
>> controller should be only DTR and Gnd, so I made sure that was how it
>> was wired.
> Your Google "sources" are nonsense.  The direct version of this e-mail includes the schematic for the *STEPPIR* Y cable.
> 
> 
> 73,
> 
>      ... Joe, W4TV
> 
> 
> On 2019-08-14 8:47 PM, Ray Albers wrote:
>> So a couple of days ago I posted tale of woe, trying to get my newly
>> acquired K3 to work with MixW - well, thanks to a few off line e-mails
>> and some stumbling around, I got that working. Ditto, got N1MM+ working great.
>>
>> Next - how to get the K3 to play with my SteppIR vertical antenna
>> controller. Worked fine with my ICOM 746PRO, where I had both MixW and
>> SteppIR autotracking working fine with the radio.
>>
>> So:  My computer is a Windows XP thing that I bought specifically
>> because it has an actual RS232 (9 pin) serial interface, so no need to
>> struggle with a serial to USB adapter.  I made up a Y cable to
>> interconnect K3, SteppIR controller and computer. Lots of Googling
>> told me that the connections to SteppIR controller should be only DTR
>> and Gnd, so I made sure that was how it was wired. Other posts point
>> out that the CONFIG AutoInf should be set to Auto1 (one post said it
>> should be set to Norm, so I tried it both ways). I even tried setting
>> K3, SteppIR and computer to a slower data rate (9600) in case the 38k
>> rate was too fast. No joy. Did the obvious newbie stuff like turning
>> things on and off, plugging and unplugging cables - still NG.
>>
>> As I said, my logging program and N1MM are working just fine (one at a
>> time, of course), and I could live without having the SteppIR do
>> autotracking as I change bands/frequencies, but dagnabbit!!! it's the
>> principle of the thing!  I ought to be able to have everything working.
>>
>> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>>
>> 73
>> Ray K2HYD
>