Ben; First thing - connect a serial port from the computer to the KPA500, download the latest _released_ KPA500 firmware and install it into the amplifier. It contains several things that make the system work together much better, especially the KPA and KAT500. The current firmware is V1.38. This is not the source of the problem you see, but it will resolve other problems you will encounter after you get the cable situation resolved and should be considered mandatory for KPA-KAT operations.
You are correct in that serial ports are not relevant to the KPA-K3 communications. The K3 communicates to the KPA using just the BAND signals and PTT line that are in the AUX cable. The KPA communicates to the K3 using the AuxBus signal (this is one-way). You will want the K3 to be set to control power on a per-band basis. That way it will use an alternate power setting whenever the KPA is in OPER mode. In other words, you can set the K3 for 100 watts out when the KPA is in STBY, or something like 30 watts when the KPA is in OPER. This makes operation _much_ nicer. The problem does sound like the AUX signals aren't getting through the KAT, or there may be signals getting through that should not be. Make sure the cable agrees with what is described in the KPA manual. The two cables should be identical. The KAT is designed to simply pass through the proper signals on the bus, make sure that is happening. Remember, tech support is here if you just can't get it working. Give them a shout if need be. As you already know, thee are a lot of cool features to the K-system, we want you to enjoy them. Just have to get things going first... Jack Brindle, W6FB Elecraft Engineering Sent from my iPad > On May 1, 2014, at 9:43 PM, Ben Collins-Sussman <suss...@red-bean.com> wrote: > >> On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 11:32 PM, W0MU Mike Fatchett <w...@w0mu.com> wrote: >> >> Go download the latest beta versions of the firmware and the associated >> utility programs. > > The K3 is new and has the latest official 4.38 firmware. The KPA500 is > about a year old and running firmware 1.23. > I don't have a usb-serial cable yet, though I can grab one tomorrow at the > store; is there a specific bug fixed in some beta firmware release? > > >> >> Have you set the baud rate in the K3 to that of the amp? > > I see nothing in either manual about the K3 or amp having configurable baud > rates to communicate with each other. Do you have details? > > >> >> When the amp is moved from standby to Operate you should see a message in >> the K3 that says KPA500. > > I see nothing at all. This is a 3rd example, I suppose, of the total lack > of communication between K3 and KPA500. > Again, keep in mind that the K3 isn't *directly* connected to the KPA500. > They're actually both connected to the KAT500 tuner, as the diagrams > specify. > > > >> >> I would check the firmware. I know there is a special button you push on >> the KAT500 that optimizes operation with the KPA500. > > I see nothing about this in the KAT500 manual, but will look again. > The connection between tuner and amp has always worked; I haven't touched > that special DB15 cable at all. However, perhaps the new DB15 cable that > arrived with the K3 is physically defective? I'm digging for hypotheses. > :-) > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 jackbrin...@me.com ______________________________________________________________ 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
