[Elecraft] K3 TX light flashing when RTS=PTT

[Frank Stein]

Joe,
Thanks for your response.  See my responses embedded below IN CAPS FOR YOU
TO SEE.

Appreciate any thoughts.

73,
Frank
W4TG

On Mon, Jul 12, 2021 at 7:51 AM Joseph DeVincentis <jd at ko8v.net> wrote:

> I don't think I've seen an answer to this question.
>
> Is H/W flow control set for the port.  That would explain it.  I don't
> recall if N1MM has flow control as an option or not when setting up the
> port, but the port settings in the device manager do.
> >>> I DON'T SEE ANYTHING IN N1MM ABOUT FLOW CONTROL.  IN THE WIN10 PORT
> SETTING I HAVE "DISABLE MODEM CTRL AT STARTUP CHECKED.  WAS THERE SOMETHING
> ASSOCIATED WITH FLOW CONTROL THAT i SHOULD DISABLE?
> If that is not the answer, then we need to look elsewhere.
>
> Is there any other software besides N1MM that can possibly be using serial
> ports?  If so, don't bring them up and see if it goes away.  Then bring
> them up one by one to figure out who's doing it.
>
>>>  BEFORE I START N1MM THERE IS NO PROBLEM, THAT IS THE tx LIGHT IS NOT
FLASHING.  MY BREAKOUT BOX HAS RXD, TXD DTR AND RTS RED.
IF I START CWTYPE WHICH USES THE DTR LINE FOR CW, WHEN I SEND FROM THE
KEYBOARD, THE RTS LIGHT TURNS GREEN AND THE DTR FLASHES, AND THE K3
TRANSMITS AS IT SHOULD.

WHEN I START N1MM (EVEN WITH RTS = OFF AND DTR = OFF) THE TXD AND RXD FLASH
GREEN ON THE BREAKOUT BOX AND THE RIG'S TX LIGHT FLASHES ON AND THE RECEIVE
AUDIO PAUSES DURING THE FLASHES. IF I CLOSE N1MM, THEN THE RIG RETURNS TO
NORMAL.

IF I START THE K3 UTILITY PROGRAM, NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL I TEST
COMMUNICATIONS AND THEN THE TX FLASHES AS WITH N1MM (BUT ONLY ONE TIME). IF
I GOT TO TERMINAL TAB THE RIG FLASHES UNTIL I LEAVE THAT MODE (AND THE RXD
AND TXD LIGHTS ON THE BREAKOUT BOX FLASH) .

SO I DON'T THINK IT IS A 'BAD ACTOR'  - FOR SOME REASON SENDING AND
RECEIVING DATA CAUSES THE TX LIGHT ON THE RIG TO FLASH.

>
> If that doesn't help, go here (
> https://www.eltima.com/products/serial-port-monitor/) and download the
> monitor.  IIRC, they have a 14 free trial.  It will help you find out who
> is messing with the serial port for the radio.
>


>
> I can't tell you how many really bad actors (not just ham programs) that
> are out there for serial ports.  I have caught programs opening every port
> up to 15 times to scan and see what ports are available rather than using
> the registry as they should - dumb programmers.  That drove my radio nuts
> because it would mess with DTR/RTS.  I have caught programs opening every
> port and playing with modem control and constantly sending data to see what
> responses it gets to find their devices and causing all sorts of havoc -
> those programmers should be fired and sent to McDonalds to flip burgers -
> that is all they are good for.  Programs should never send data to devices
> they don't know they own.
>
> I've gotten to the point of looking at firing up virtual machines so I can
> control what hardware the bad actor programs can even see.  I really wish
> M$ would put ACLs in place for the COM ports.
>
> Then there's the whole serial enumerator idea (again someone's bad idea to
> treat serial ports as plug and play) causing havoc with mice.  Thank M$ and
> FTDI for perpetuating that horrifically bad idea.
>
> Sorry for the soap box, but I was trying to give you an idea of just how
> badly serial ports are treated in Windows by both M$ and the programmers
> out there.
>
> 73,
> Joe
>
>
>
> On Jul 10, 2021, at 14:01, Frank Stein <fstein at ieee.org> wrote:
>
> At Field Day this year, the K3 TX light started flashing when we loaded
> N1MM to use RTS=PTT to send .wav files.  This only occurs when RTS=PTT is
> set on the rig.   I thought it was a bug in N1MM but it also does this when
> using N3FLP's logger and the flashing corresponds to the polling rate
> (which N3FJP allows one to set).
>
> This is not a bug in either program since I get the same response when I
> use the K3 Utility and select Terminal Tab.
>
> Why would polling the rig cause the TX light to flash and the receive audio
> to momentarily drop?  This is not a temporary initiation of the USB-RS-232
> connection.   And more importantly, what setting is wrong that is causing
> this?
>
> I have tried a different computer with a rs-232 port and I get the same
> result.
>
> Thanks,
> Frank
> W4TG
> fstein at ieee.org
>
>
>