George,
To follow up our personal email.
1) I'm using WIN7 on a quad core 2.8 GHz 32 bit machine. Using a real
serial port to the K3.
What PC are you using?
2) The ERROR 13 failure I experienced several times recently was after
pressing the ATU tune button on a K3. It was 100% reproducible. That
was a month or two ago. Now it doesn't. Go figure that.
3) I previously used a dual core 2.6 GHz XP machine. It would
experience some random error 13 failures. I could see no rhyme nor
reason to them. The frequency of those errors may have been higher.
I assume you had WINDOWs erase LBPRIDGE and the virtual port programs
and then re-installed them. There was a recent update in the virtual
serial port creation program but that may have been addressing WIN10.
Have you done a virus scan? The presence of a virus could slow up your
PC to the point that the timing issues show up.
If I had to hazard a guess, it would be a timing issue trashing the
LPBRIDGE/K3 interface. I know that doesn't help you.
Is there some other program/s you can run on your one serial port to
confirm it's OK?
What you are experiencing is not normal! Have you tried contacting the
LPBRIDGE author? He has a wealth of experience and is quite helpful.
73 de Brian/K3KO
On 12/3/2016 18:05 PM, George Kidder wrote:
Hi all,
Lots of good thoughts there. I should have mentioned a number of
things: The connection is via a RS-232 cable, not by USB converter.
There is only one "real" com port on this computer (COM 1) so I cannot
check this by substitution unless I were to use a USB to RS-232
converter. The failure occurs with no RF output, and with any mode I
have tried. The LPB version is 1.1.0; I only tried LPB2 as a way of
using a slower baud rate, since LPB is fixed at 38K. LPB2 crashes as
well! Re-starting LPB does not re-establish connections if other
programs are used on the virtual ports; killing these other programs
does restore connections. I have not carefully investigated a total
power cycle.
As I noted before, the failure occurs without any other programs
connected to the virtual COM ports, and indeed even when these COM ports
have not been created.
Wiping the computer and reloading the OS seems a rather drastic cure for
a small ill, especially when there is no guarantee that it will work. I
do have another computer running XP, and have used LPB on it in the
past. It's problem is that it is slow enough that when all the programs
I want to run are on it, there are precious few CPU cycles left. This
was why I got the Win 7 machine!
VA2FSQ's solution is possibly one way out. I will have to consider it
and other similar options.
Thanks for all the good and very prompt feedback. BTW, in the time
between my sending my first question and the present, the computer was
left running with LPB on it alone, and it crashed, reading IS Q500!
George, W3HBM
On 12/3/2016 11:47 AM, Mike Flowers wrote:
Hi George,
Just some thoughts:
- how is your K3 attached to the PC? A real RS-232 COM port or a
USB/Serial converter?
- if by an RS-232 COM port, could you try a different one?
- if by a USB/Serial converter, what kind? Can you try another one?
- Are you transmitting at all between failures? If so, RFI may be
playing a role. Try just leaving the rig on but no TX.
- if you have a dummy load, try TX into it if the above test indicates
RF may be the issue.
- How close are your antennas? Are the rotatable?
- How are the rig, PC, coax shields, etc. bonded in a 'ground'
system? RF can induce voltage on cables if various units are not at
a common 'ground'.
- Do you have really good quality cable connecting your rig and PC?
- Have you tried any ferrites on the cables?
Just some thoughts.
-- Mike Flowers, K6MKF, NCDXC - "It's about DX!"
On Dec 3, 2016, at 6:33 AM, George Kidder <[email protected]> wrote:
OK, gang! I've tried everything I can think of, and am now looking
for some additional thoughts.
Equipment: K3 (unmodified) with firmware 5.53, computer (2.99 GHz
dual core, 4 GB memory) running Win 7, LP-Bridge (LPB) set for 200 mS
delay. The computer is not connected to the internet, and all
programs are brought in from another computer using a flash drive.
Problem: At random but long intervals (hours) LP-Bridge crashes,
displaying error 13 (type mismatch). Clearing this window causes
program to close. This behavior is seen with no external programs
connected to LPB, and with LPB set to any polling rate from 200 mS
(default) to as much as 1000 mS. It is seen when LPB2 is used and
the baud rate is reduced to 4800. When the crash occurs, the error
seems to be in a response from the K3 - for instance, the "Rig
Received Text" window shows "IS 0|00;" while it should show "IS
0600;". In this case the K3 was set to CW mode. In LSB mode, the
same window shows "CW 6+;" where I presume it should have been "CW
60;". This damaged text shows up in all windows (Rig received, K3
Com port, Power SCR-IF Aux CAT port, etc.)
Attempted resolution includes reloading the K3 firmware and reloading
LPB from the website after clearing out all remnants of the old
program. Nothing helps - LPB still crashes when allowed to run for
several hours. Other programs not affected. Computer is on a UPS,
so momentary power outage would not be a cause (even if there should
be one every night!)
Clearly, there is a communication failure between the K3 and LPB,
since it occurs with nothing else connected. Is the problem with the
K3, LBP or the Win 7 operating system which sits between them? And
what more can I try to fix it?
Your thoughts will be greatly appreciated.
George, W3HBM
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