I've got my K3 set up for cw on Field Day with a laptop usb
port driving a usb to serial converter. Rig control and cw
keying are done over the serial cable, using the K3's
built-in ability to send cw from pin 4(?) of the rs-232
cable.
Everything works fine, but I got quite a scare when I turned
on the K3 and it came up keyed-down 120 watts into no
antenna. It seems that if the laptop is not running the
logging program, rs-232 pin 4 can very well be in a key-down
state. I don't see any way to prevent this event from
happening again, except to unplug the rs-232 cable, turn the
rig on, make sure vox is off, turn off the K3, plug in the
rs-232 cable, and then turn the K3 back on again.
Once it happens to you, you get gunshy about turning the rig
on with rs-232 connected. Maybe there could be some sort of
inhibit to prevent this from happening? Or maybe someone can
suggest an easier way to prevent this from happening. On my
old TS-850, there was an actual switch to disable vox, and I
always disabled vox before turning on the rig.
My permanent setup back home uses LPT keying, so I can leave
the computer key jack unplugged.
Thanks.
Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
Big Bear Lake, CA
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