RRC 1258 Support in English > Hardware, Cabling, Installations

Controlling K3

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W0SD:
I have a RCC 1258 MKII control and radio set. am able to connect to each unit with my browser and I am able to go to Status and connect and I have audio coming from the K3.

What I need help with is no matter what I try I can not control the radio with programs like Logic 8. How should I do this.  Can some one send me a check list of how to do this please?

Ed W0SD

dj0qn:
Ed,

I have a check list for setting-up CAT on the RRC, if that is what you are looking for.
Just drop me a mail at dj0qn (at) darc.de and I will send it to you. You mail address
is unlisted on the membership page.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

W0SD:
K3 Settings that work:

Here is what works with my K3 using the RRC-1258 MKII's.  The RCC-1258 MKII control box needs to be set as per the setting in the manual for general Elecraft.  In addition(not documented) the serial settings need to be set for COM1 to be Inactive.  COM2  needs to be set for Mode 4 and you must use USB COM port as COM2.

For the remote radio box it needs to be set as per the setting in the manual for general Elecraft. In addition(not documented) the serial setting need to be set for Com1 to be inactive. COM2 needs to be set for Mode 4.

In the Microbit set up be sure that DHCP is not checked. You need to be able to connect to both boxes using your browser. If you can not then something is wrong on the local test setup.


CW Settings:
CW setup for the RRC-1258 MKII's for the control and remote radio box are per the manual.  In addition(not documented) in the IO section set  I/O out2 mode Keyer in the remote radio unit.

If any of this is not clear feel free to e-mail me and I will try and help with the K3 and RCC-1258 MKII boxes.  I can not help with other set ups.

Be sure and do an apply settings so they are saved!!!!

I am also able to use Logic 8 for logging and CW and TRX Manager with the K3 over the Internet for radio control, So far we have had excellent success with K3 control using TRX Manager over the Internet. There is a problem with Logic 8 controlling VFO B and swapping VFO's with Logic 8.  This is supposed to be fixed in Logic 9.

So far on the air reports indicate all is working well!  I have not done RTTY yet.


I am waiting for the Elecraft firmware release to use the K3 TWIN set up and will post on that after I have it running.. 

Ed W0SD

W0SD:
I should add it is necessary to look at  the device manager in your computer to see what COM port on your computer is assigned to COM2 in the RCC boxes. I my case it was COM5 so that is what I needed to use for a COM port in my control program and logging program. I happened to use Logic 8 and TRX Manager.  I also used Writelog successfully.

It might be helpful to understand for what I have described so far in regards to my setup that there is no cable between my computer and COM2 on the control box. It is all done via USB out of the computer I am using for control, logging and sending CW.

Ed W0SD

W0SD:
Progress continues with getting the K3 TWIN setup working. I have posted all the details on the Elecraft reflector but here is a cut and paste of it:
I have the Elecraft "TWIN" setup working with the Microbit control and
remote boxes. The instructions in the Micorbit RRC-1258 MII manual are
pretty good. The URL is www.remoterig.com. The one thing that is not
clear IMHO is the last line of the setup for the K3 TWIN:
COM2 Mode listed as Logical Parallel with COM0 is not in the radio
settings but are in the Serial settings and are for both the control and
remote(radio) boxes.

It is also not mentioned that USB used as COM0 should be YES under the
Control Radio Settings and USB used as COM1 and USB used as COM2 should
be NO.

One thing I missed without going over things a second time is that the
cable between the Control box COM2 and the K3 CAT is a cross over. The
cable between the remote box COM2 and the K3 CAT on the remote K3 is a
straight cable.

The Microbit documentation never talks about the information from
Elecraft on getting in and out of the TERM mode. This was necessary for
me to get things working. Once it is running then it happens
automatically unless you get out of TERM and back to NORM.
You need the cables as describe in the Microbit documentation.

It is very impressive and works "SUPER" and makes remoting over the
Internet or over LAN a breeze once you get by some lack of documentation.

For logging/control one can use say COM1 from your computer and a serial
cable to COM1 on the Control Microbit box. These settings are discussed
under Logging or computer control, RTTY etc. in the Microbit manual but
IMHO they are not complete. If you want to use a serial cable between
your computer for logging and control and use say COM 1 out of your
computer. Set your logging control program to the same in this case COM1
and be sure the baud rate is the same everyplace. You still leave USB to
COM0 as YES. Be sure to do what the Micorbit manual says in regards to
the mode 7 settings.

If you want to use your USB cable to the RCC control unit for
logging/control and not have a serial cable then you have to set USB to
COM0 to NO and set USB to COM1 to YES and set your logging/control for
the virtual COM port that your computer has for COM 1 if that is what
you are using.

REMEMBER TO APPLY YOUR SETTINGS and not just SUBMIT!!!

If you want to control a K3 remotely using the Microbit boxes, ie not
use two K3's but just the remote one I have documented that in the
Microbit forum and how to control one rotor and do CW. I have RTTY to do
yet and control of rotors and antenna switching outside the Microbit
boxes. You can do virtually everything with TXR manager in regards to
controlling the K3.

The "TWIN set up is very nice but you have to spend the money for a
second K3. This makes the prospect of a K3 (0)with no RF that Eric
mentioned very interesting! It would be nice to have something less
valuable and smaller to carry with you and most things are a bit easier
to do on the control radio although there are a few things on TRX
manager that are IMHO easier than the radio such as band changes.  I
need to do a lot more before I form much of an opinion on way or the
other. Obviously the "TWIN" set us is the easiest!

It is possibly I made an error someplace in this information but I have
tried to be very careful. Anyway I do have it working all OK and it is
impressive so it can be done. It is just a matter of getting the correct
settings.  What you can do with remoting has got to be a very big deal
over the upcoming months as it is rapidly getting a lot easier to do. It
is very real solution to problems a lot of hams have with noise of all
kinds, RFI, lack of antennas, restrictions, on the road a lot, needing
to be at different locations and the list goes on, the hassle of taking
a radio various places; especially if there will be a K3 (O) or you can
do it without the "TWINS".

Ed W0SD

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