One last post and we're done.
I think we have a winner. Josh, W6XU, had asked me earlier whether I had TX
Inhibit disabled. I assumed in the KPA500, he was unaware of that function but
was thinking about the inhibit in the K3, I hadn't thought of that one.
So I had sort of a perfect storm situation. For some reason, TX Inhibit in the
K3 was set to High. How it got that way is beyond me, since I sure didn't set
it that way on purpose and the default is Off. If it is set to Hi then it
requires a pull-up resistor, which of course it didn't have. However, I had
used a standard VGA cable on the K3 but opened the unused pins at the KAT500
end, which is completely functional.
Last night I had removed every cable from the K3 except the power cable and the
Aux cable and reset the K3. This morning the TX light was blinking. Before
seeing Josh's email I decided to break off the unused pins on the K3 end of the
cable and shorted up the interconnect between the KAT500 and the KPA500. I
suspected a transient problem. I think I was right. I'm guessing that without a
pull-up resistor and TX Inhibit set Hi there was enough garbage on the wire to
cause the fault. This probably was enough but Josh's tip and turning off the
function is likely the real answer.
Wes N7WS
On 9/9/2017 5:23 PM, Wes Stewart wrote:
Thanks to all who offered suggestions. Rather than many individual replies,
I'll just add further comments here.
The SS-USB-100 USB-to-Serial converter (Prolific chipset) is definitely bad.
As I said it worked fine before but is flaky now.
With the Edgeport 4-port, FT8 works fine and I can connect using the K3
Utility program and do everything it should do, although I note that reading
Macros from the radio is very sloooow, to the point that I thought it wasn't
working.
I've updated the K3 firmware to the latest version (it was only one behind).
I can use the utility program to turn TX Test mode on and off (SWH18) and it
works fine until the mode gets set randomly.
Someone suggested that the KPA500 TX Inhibit is enabled. It is not. The
KPA500 isn't on and the K3 is connected to a dummy load since I've been doing
a lot of IMD testing. In other words, no RFI issues. But, I am getting
suspicious that this is an Auxbus issue in the K3.
I removed the Auxbus cable and let the radio set for about three hours without
a fault. I reconnected it and removed the cover to check the I/O boards,
etc. It faulted immediately. I wiggled the boards and everything seemed OK.
I replaced the cover, reseated the cable and watched for a couple of hours.
No problems. I thought that maybe it was fixed. The XYL to be called me to a
late lunch/early dinner and when I came back to complete this message
reporting success, the TX Test light is blinking again. And again.
I should note that the same cable is used on the K3S without issue.
Wes N7WS
On 9/8/2017 2:47 PM, Wes Stewart wrote:
I've had to remove my K3S from the station again for repair. I've resurrected
my old K3 to fill in. (Always have a spare)
Since the last time this happened, I've ventured into FT8 operating and I
noted that when I used my USB to Serial converter that always worked fine in
the past, FT8 was extremely slow to connect and communicate with the K3.
Figuring I might have one of the dreaded counterfeit clone adapters I dragged
out the Edgeport serial to USB adapter.
FT8 now connected like a champ. However, and I've noted this with MMTTY
connected as well, there are instances where I go to transmit and find the TX
test mode is enabled. Furthermore, the front panel switch will not turn it
off. I have to cycle power. Additionally, I don't have to be doing anything,
it's happened with me out of the shack.
If Mt. Athos comes on and I miss it because of this I'm going to be really
POed. Any ideas?
Wes N7WS
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