This is long and way off topic, but I feel some comments made in previous postings were misleading or incorrect. I hope Eric will end this thread if it goes further. Further discussion probably belongs on the CQ-Contest reflector.
I designed the YCCC SO2R Box and I am one of the people who support it. --- Support of the YCCC SO2R Box (Plus) --- As far as I know, every unit which has been assembled is running – I’ve repaired a couple but most hams have no trouble and several have told me they enjoyed building it. The schematic and parts list are on the web. Anyone with electronics knowledge and basic test equipment can troubleshoot the hardware. There’s enough information to build one from scratch if anyone wants to. And I’ve heard from one ham who did. The firmware hex files have been posted, including the bootloader. I have not put source code on the web because I have no way to support firmware that someone else has modified. I have given the sources to several people who have asked for them. And I have published the native USB protocol. If for some reason I can no longer provide support I’ll publish the source code so that someone else can. And in case I get run over by a bus I'll burn a couple copies to CDs and give them to people who can make it available. There is a Yahoo group for the YCCC SO2R Box. There isn't a lot of activity, probably because problems are few or are handled by e-mail. It uses OTRSP to communicate with logging programs - this is an open protocol which is available under a creative commons license. It is used by several products and projects. If any club or group wants to make YCCC SO2R Boxes we’ll provide the gerber files files for the PC board and the box drawings and silkscreen. I think our support is actually better than microHam which has only one person providing support in the US, does not publish schematics on their website, and uses a proprietary protocol, parts of which require a non-disclosure agreement. The DX Doubler schematic is published on the Top-Ten website. The LPT port protocol is well-known and can be discerned from the manual and schematic. Top-Ten does not provide software because none is needed. The company does provide support and their hardware is the simplest of all to troubleshoot. --- Features --- All of these controllers share concepts with each other and with other boxes such as the WX0B SO2R Master. An SO2R box switches headphones, keyer, and microphone. That’s not exactly rocket science. The DX Doubler and the YCCC box have a similar approach. They are SO2R components. They take a working station with two radios and add what is necessary for SO2R. The microHam boxes try to be a station control system, integrating with other microHam devices and offering features beyond those necessary for SO2R. All of the boxes switch headphones. The DX Doubler and micro2R use a passive circuit with relays. The MK2R and YCCC box use an active circuit with a headphone amplifier and transformers for isolation. All can listen to either radio or stereo and can connect the headphones to the non-sending radio. The YCCC box can do reverse stereo and has a spatial mode. I think the MK2R can route any audio to either headphone. The MK2R+ I evaluated had an audible thump when switching radios. It sounded like a DC level shift across a capacitor. The DX Doubler does not do this. I have not evaluated a micro2R but based on published information I do not expect a thump. I know the YCCC box is silent when switching between radios. All of the boxes have antenna switching capability. This goes back to when CT put the encoded band outputs on LPT port pins. Some logging programs put band outputs on these pins. Others allow general antenna selection. There are usually four outputs per radio. The YCCC box provides sixteen outputs and Win-Test can take advantage of this. The YCCC box has a built-in keyer. Although this isn’t strictly part of an SO2R component it was added because it allows the box to handle the interactions between the keyer and transmit focus switching. The YCCC box did not originally have RTTY outputs. This was requested so I modified the firmware. Now some of the antenna outputs can be configured to have RTTY signals. These are 0/+5 volt outputs so a level converter (which can be a transistor and resistor) is needed. There are some limits to this capability and these are described in the documentation. The microHam boxes have many additional capabilities, including a keyer, transceiver interfaces, audio level control, and sequencers. Ed, W0YK described some of the capabilities of the micro2R. I would suggest you read the documentation for more information, especially on the MK2R which has more features than I could describe in an e-mail message. --- Which to Buy --- I don’t care which box is the number one choice and I have no sales figures to be able to tell anyhow. I didn’t buy my K3 because it was the number one seller. I bought it because the features and performance were the best match for my requirements. The DX Doubler has been around for a long time and is still a viable option. It requires no vendor supplied software. If you don’t have a parallel port you can use a PIEXX SO2Rxlate. This is what Scott, K0DQ uses. He wrote an article about it in a recent NCJ. He also probably won the US in the recent WPX CW contest. Add a USB Winkey for a complete CW solution. The YCCC box is a bit more modern, and is designed for USB only. None of the computers I use for ham radio has an LPT port. The cost is low because it is a club project. And I think it has the best headphone audio circuit of any of the choices. The microHam devices provide a higher level of integration. There are things they can do that may not be possible any other way. But the trade-offs are complexity and flexibility. For some hams, such as W0YK and N0AZZ, the microHam controllers are the right choice. I evaluated the MK2R+ before I designed the YCCC box. I found it to have many features I would never use. More important for me was that I thought the router software was very complex (and I did read the manual). I concluded that if anything went wrong during a contest when I was sleep deprived I would not be able to fix it. I prefer a component approach. For me several simple boxes are easier to configure and troubleshoot than one more complex one. And if I want I can replace one of the simple boxes with something better without affecting other nominally independent functions. I also prefer general purpose hardware to ham station specific hardware. My home station has a YCCC box, a multiport serial to USB converter (which also handles the rotor and can download firmware to the K3) and a USB sound card. As far as making cables with DIN or DB-9 connectors, I find them much easier if I clamp the connector in a large pair of vice-grips. That keeps it from moving when I solder it. I would not choose an SO2R controller because of the cables. Any of the SO2R controllers mentioned here can do a good job for you. More important will be learning how to operate SO2R. Expect headaches and a lower score at first. My next YCCC project is an antenna switching box, the MOAS II. It will follow the philosophy of the SO2R box, and will be less integrated than the microHam antenna switching solution. I’m sure some people will prefer the YCCC solution, some the microHam solution, and will like something else entirely. Paul, K1XM -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/K3-SO2R-Controllers-tp7556836p7556997.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
