Warning - long response One thing I have found on my quest to have a portable station is a portable computer, screen, and keyboard. My premise is that the kx3 may not be ready for a complete psk31 solution with either the px3 or the sidekar. I'll come back to this quest in a moment.
At present, it doesn't seem that the kx3 applies afc to incoming digital transmissions, like psk31. Keeping a frequency lock on psk31 signals tends to require multiple presses of the cwt button during a qso to instruct the kx3 to re-tune to a psk31 signal. You will miss portions of the transmission because of this. I don't believe this variance can be corrected by the kx3 as these variances may be at the other ham's transmission end or due to atmospheric conditions. I believe that to really get the most out of psk31, you need afc at the receiver end. The kx3 doesn't have it. My premise is that unless the kx3 has afc, using the internal psk decoder is for emergency purposes and having some fun. More frequent amd fulfilling psk operations will, at this time, need to be with an external program. I am open to other view points, but I find the kx3 and any associated programs that help you access the onboard digital features lacks afc, usability, and agility one needs when operating psk31. I tried various programs to reach the nirvana I enjoy on my main shack computer and other digital programs (e.g., fldigi, dm780). I found an application that is OK, but the program needs usability enhancements and it seems the author has gone quiet on new features and improvements. The program is PSKer on an iPad. It has the afc feature. This helps greatly. It has macros, but even these as not as flexible as programs like fldigi. If you are used to selecting the call sign of a potential qso from the receive decode window, you won't be able to do it. Search and pounce is much harder to do when you have to take the time to remember a call sign and type it into another field while the receive window is scrolling. Fldigi and dm780 will allow a quick click of the mouse and the call sign is ready to be used in any macro that references this field. Now let's turn to the question about the USB port on the px3 and the connection of a keyboard. I contend that unless the kx3 adds more psk features like those of the mainstream programs found on various platforms, the addition of a keyboard for psk qso's as decoded by the kx3 may not be useful. I actually don't like my premise as I was excited too about the possibility of a keyboard attached to thw px3. But what would I use it for? The aforementioned usability concerns and lack of afc in the kx3 doesn't provide me with the utility I thought I was going to get from the kx3/px3 combo. If there is another use for a keyboard that I have missed, I would love to hear it. My first setup I use for psk is psker, iPad air, apple Bluetooth keyboard and I connect the kx3 to the iPad using an apple camera adapter (essentially a lightning based usb port) and a griffin iMic. Actually any USB sound card will likely be OK for psk. Why a Bluetooth keyboard? The iPad keyboard obscures almost half of the screen. Not very good when you are trying to remember a call sign to type into a field that you can't even see when the pop up keyboard displays. Consequently, an external keyboard is essential. Tablet Application developers for our ham apps are not creating apps that are usable on tablets when the onscreen keyboard pops up. By the way, PSKer can only do psk31. The second computer setup I am working on is a little more work, but I am hopeful will be more usable with the programs I love to use (fldigi). It is a raspberry pi2, wireless adapter for the pi, iPad air, apple bluetooth keyboard and kx3. The difference is that I use the iPad as a screen for the pi via vnc. I use the ipad touch screen as the mouse. I connect the ipad to the pi using an ad hoc wireless connection. I connect the griffin imic to the pi instead of the ipad. The pi operates on just over an amp hour and can run off of a mophie spare battery pack for a few hours. I am working up to more serious portable power in the future and recent conversations on this reflector have been very helpful. With this setup, I have access to many more digital modes and afc. I can also use my macros from the main shack computer for field day or contest operations. My initial work has met with success and so far this second portable computer setup is much more usable. But, a challenge is that you will need to know about Linux and setting up wireless networks. Not the easiest thing on the pi, but with Google and a little patience, it is possible. I think even the sidekar may not meet your digital needs. I am sure the sidekar does more and my apologies to the designers if I have under represented it's capabilites. I saw the sidekar at Dayton in 2014 and wondered why I would need it over a px3, especially with the px3 firmware upgrade that provided two lines of decode text on the px3 screen. The sidekar is not a general purpose computer and therefore is limited in its usability. How would you capture a call sign from the receive window to respond to a cq? Where would you store this call sign in either the kx3 or the sidekar? Usability and adaptability during digital qsos is necessary in order to keep up with those hams that are working in a much more productive environment. I am sure there are others who have different setups and experiences to mine. I am interested to hear about them as is Steve. Regards Brian VE3IBW ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
