Friends don’t let friends use Kenwood. ;-( Sent from my iPad
> On Jun 9, 2019, at 11:59 AM, Andy Durbin <[email protected]> wrote: > > I have known about this for a long time but, once I decided to design and > build my own KAT500/KPA500 controller, I lost interest in the issue. Here > is the situation: > > A KPA500 can be connected to a TS-590 COM port. If configured correctly the > KPA500 will "poll" the TS-590 once per second with IF;FA;FB;. TS-590 > responds with the values of IF, FA, and FB and KPA500 firmware is smart > enough to derive the TX band regardless of which VFO is being used as the TX > VFO. > > The KAT500 with firmware 1.34 or later will receive a Kenwood format FA word > and will use it to select, not only the tuning solution, but also the > appropriate antenna. KAT500 only follows VFO A. It cannot track VFO B and > does not know which VFO is being used for TX. > > > I was asked to help another op who, like me, uses TS-590, KAT500, and KPA500. > He actually wanted details of my controller but I'm not ready to release > anything yet. He had his KPA500 following TS-590 band but the KAT500 only > had RF frequency detection. He was sometimes faulting the KPA500 after a > band change because the KAT500 had not switched to the required antenna. I > told him that it should be possible to make a "Y" cable that kept the > TS-590<>KPA500 connection unchanged but which also fed the TS-590 responses > to the KAT500. I sent him a draft cable drawing. > > He reported he had built the cable but the KAT500 did not do any antenna > selection when KPA500 and TS-590 changed bands. After a few emails > exchanged I decided I had to build and test the configuration myself. It > worked as I had expected with KPA500 and KAT500 both following TS-590 band > selection when VFO A was the TX VFO. He eventually worked out what he had > mis-configured and now has the interface working. > > Now for the point of this post - > > Why does Elecraft provide KPA500 firmware that is smart enough to derive TX > frequency regardless of VFO selection but KAT500 will only respond to VFO A > frequency? Would it not be reasonable to update KAT500 firmware, copying > KPA500 code if necessary, so it too will derive TX frequency regardless of > VFO usage? > > I hope Elecraft will consider this to be a useful enhancement that will make > it easier to integrate KPA500 and KAT500 with Kenwood rigs. > > 73, > Andy, k3wyc > > > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > Message delivered to [email protected] > ______________________________________________________________ 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 Message delivered to [email protected]
