Have you looked at Win4K3? I realize it's not the hardware solution you wanted, but it does bring out all the controls to a PC screen so you can point and click at pretty much any of them rather than going through the menus on the radio...
I suppose one could build exactly what you proposed using a box of knobs, switches, and meters connected to an Arduino or similar microcontroller, which would talk to the radio via the serial port. I actually did build a controller of sorts using a Arduino nano stuffed inside an old optical mouse. I used the mouse wheel and buttons and assigned them specific serial commands to send to the K3. Works pretty well for its intended purpose. An expansion of that idea could likely give you most of what you want. On Tue, Sep 26, 2017 at 8:09 PM Byron Servies <by...@n6nul.org> wrote: > Hi there! > > Isn't this the niche the K-Pod was supposed to fill? Fully > programmable external control with additional outputs for station > control? > > 73, Byron N6NUL > (sorry for the dup, Emory) > > On Tue, Sep 26, 2017 at 5:49 PM, Emory Schley <silverlo...@gmx.com> wrote: > > > > Ron, AC7AC, wrote, under another subject heading: "I'm not bothered by > choosing between a dozen switches but sorting through half a dozen menu > items to change one gives me a headache." > > > > That pretty much sums up my attitude as well, and I've heard other hams– > MANY other hams– complain about menus, but I don't recall ever hearing > anyone complain about excess knobs, buttons, dials, etc. Reading Ron's > thoughts made me wonder out loud, why can't Elecraft or some third party > make a "magic box" that would be completely impotent by itself, but with > the capability to mate up to one of these small miniaturized wonders like > the KX2 or KX3, and which would contain oodles of manual controls for > virtually every function the parent rig is capable of providing? > > > > This would NOT impact the normal functioning of the parent rig, but > would act as an accessory for those who eschew menus and such, and who like > their rigs bigger, bulkier and in more traditional formats. I envision a > box of switches, buttons, knobs, perhaps even gauges that would be > cable-fed (or wi-fied) from the little parent rig sitting behind the magic > box. Its size would be whatever was necessary to accommodate the design and > would resemble a normal-sized base station. You could conceivably have a > separate control for each function the parent rig provides, or if logic > dictated, then several controls might be multi-purpose. > > > > Then an op could have the best of both worlds. He/she could use his/her > KX2/KX3 as a portable rig in the normal way, but when returned to the home > station, it could be plugged back into the magic box to power it in a more > expansive and convenient manner. > > > > Elecraft seems to always be on the lookout for new products. Here's one > they might be able to put on the market, up and running, quickly because > most of the engineering has already been worked out for the parent rig. > > > > Emory Schley > > N4LP > > ______________________________________________________________ > > 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 by...@n6nul.org > > > > -- > - Northern California Contest Club > - CU in the Cal QSO Party 7-8 Oct 2017 > - www.cqp.org > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 dave.w...@gmail.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
