Hi All, Last Friday my K3/10, KAT3, KDVR3, and 400Hz filter arrived from my Dayton order. I dove right in and got it done pretty quickly.
Then a few hours of frustration ensued. I grabbed a NOS serial cable from my junque box and attached it to the RigBlaster Advantage, then ran the USB to my Mac Mini with the Elecraft Utility installed, and then.....NOTHING. Argghhh. OK, check connections and tray again but the software says that the K3 is not communicating. The serial interface shows up but no connection. I hook up my IC746 to the RBA and AetherLog sees it just fine. OK, time for Windoze. I grab the old Dell and hook up the K3 directly to its serial port. I get the Elecraft Utility running and again, no comms with the K3. Hmmm, I search the Help FAQ for the s/w and it suggests that the cable might be an issue if it is not a "straight through" design. Upon checking the pinouts I find that the cable is totally whacked out. Pin 2 on one end it 4 of the other, 1 is 6, many are not connected, etc. I google the part number stamped on the cable and it is from an old APC UPS and used to tell the computer that shore power is out, your running on the UPS and shut down accordingly. OK, so I have (M) and (F) 9 pin shells in my junk box and make up a serial cable to connect the K3 to the RBA. Then a USB to the Mac and first try, SHAZAAM! Works! It never occurred to me that serial cables had so many "standard" configurations! And they are not labeled as such either. I found a cable in the junk box in my office at work that is straight through with all pins connected. If only I'd tried that one first. 73, Mark K2QO K3 #7470 FN03ra ______________________________________________________________ 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
