Re: [Elecraft] K2 Band Data
As far as I know, the transceivers have Auxbus (K2, K3, K4, but not K1). Not sure if the KX transceivers bring it out to a connector, though. The KPA500 sends data out to the transceiver using Auxbus, but does not listen, the KAT500 only receives data. The KPA1500 does both. I believe you are using the TXBPF filters, Jim (as am I). They need low-drive individual band signals, although they also can use the K3’s BAND outputs. I hope this answers the question… 73, Jack, W6FB > On Sep 2, 2023, at 1:07 AM, Jim Brown wrote: > > On 9/1/2023 7:21 PM, Michael Carter wrote: >> One clarification on the AUXBUS signal: the >> 'auxbus' is Elecraft's proprietary 1-wire >> signaling scheme by which the main MCU >> on the K2 Control board talks to all of the >> other controller ICs on the various option >> modules and the I/O controller (relay driver, >> among other functions) on the K2 RF board. >> The 'auxbus' signal is made available via the >> KIO2 interface, if installed, for use with >> external Elecraft modules (e.g. the KAT100 >> ATU, KPA100 PA, and the transverter modules). > > One caution -- I was told by someone at Elecraft years ago that not all later > products implement it. I think I remember KAT500 and/or KPA500. I'm using > Auxbus from K3s KRC2s to generate band data to switch bandpass filters. Very > nice - a single coax from K3 to KRC2. I don't remember what format the > filters wanted. That was W6FB's project, I think. > > 73, Jim K9YC > > > __ > 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
Re: [Elecraft] K2 Band Data
On 9/1/2023 7:21 PM, Michael Carter wrote: One clarification on the AUXBUS signal: the 'auxbus' is Elecraft's proprietary 1-wire signaling scheme by which the main MCU on the K2 Control board talks to all of the other controller ICs on the various option modules and the I/O controller (relay driver, among other functions) on the K2 RF board. The 'auxbus' signal is made available via the KIO2 interface, if installed, for use with external Elecraft modules (e.g. the KAT100 ATU, KPA100 PA, and the transverter modules). One caution -- I was told by someone at Elecraft years ago that not all later products implement it. I think I remember KAT500 and/or KPA500. I'm using Auxbus from K3s KRC2s to generate band data to switch bandpass filters. Very nice - a single coax from K3 to KRC2. I don't remember what format the filters wanted. That was W6FB's project, I think. 73, Jim K9YC __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K2 Band Data
Hi Jerry, I had forgotten about the KRC2, Elecraft's universal band decoder/relay driver unit, so thanks to Jack, W6FB for reminding us. The K2 uses five separate filter sections (both for bandpass and lowpass selection), and these do double duty for adjacent ham bands. From my brief inspection of the W6PQL Low Pass Filter design, it should be possible to decode the K2 filter relay driver signals and design an appropriate converter to create the Yaesu 4-bit band encoding. A microcontroller may be overkill, but certainly more forgiving than a pure hardware encoder if you don't get it right the first time. One clarification on the AUXBUS signal: the 'auxbus' is Elecraft's proprietary 1-wire signaling scheme by which the main MCU on the K2 Control board talks to all of the other controller ICs on the various option modules and the I/O controller (relay driver, among other functions) on the K2 RF board. The 'auxbus' signal is made available via the KIO2 interface, if installed, for use with external Elecraft modules (e.g. the KAT100 ATU, KPA100 PA, and the transverter modules). The KIO2 module does provide RS-232 serial bidirectional communication for rig control/status monitoring, and it is possible to write your own monitoring application that infers band data from the KIO2 data stream. If you go this route, be sure NOT to use a standard RS-232 cable, but DO wire the special cable spelled out in the KIO2 manual. The KIO2 programmers' reference manual is available on the Elecraft support pages. The pin labeled 'AuxBus' on the Aux. I/O port of the KIO2 is indeed the proprietary signaling scheme used by Elecraft, and would require more in-circuit data capture while exercising the various option controls to enable reverse engineering of the protocol. It is not publicly documented to my knowledge, so the KIO2 RS-232 data channel is probably the preferred way to accomplish your objective. 73, Mike, K8CN __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K2 Band Data
I see that the aux bus cable - for PC connection - is documented. Looks like pin 1 is the shell, pin 2 & 3 are the RXD and TXD, and pin 5 is the common. And the protocol is async RS-232 4800 baud, 2 stop bits. That part is the standard CAT interface. There are several MCU based band decoders that use the Elecraft/Kenwood CAT protocol (either the AI "auto-information" data or polling) to derive band data. CAT Protocol documentation is available in the Elecraft web site download area. 73, ... Joe, W4TV On 9/1/2023 7:42 PM, jerry wrote: On 2023-09-01 12:55, Michael Carter wrote: Hi Jerry, There is no simple access to band data in the K2 unless you want to reverse engineer the AUXBUS protocol. *** Considering that it's probably a low-speed async protocol, that might not be that hard. Depending on how your homebrew amp selects its lowpass filter options, you may be able to pick up the relay control signals for the K2's bandpass and lowpass filter banks and use those to encode a band data word in the format used by Yaesu. *** Yeah, I was thinking of doing just that. Little green wires and a pin header. Then a little board with a microprocessor to convert the 1-low-per-band to the needed 4-bit word. Might be able to do it with a diode matrix. There is no isolated connector on the K2 Front Panel, Control, or RF boards that makes available those relay control lines, so you would have to tap the traces where those control signals are exposed. Perhaps you can comment more on the homebrew amp design with regard to lowpass filter selection? *** Sure. The amp uses a W6PQL RF deck and LPF. It has a four-inch touch screen and a Teensy 4.1 microprocessor card. I wrote the software. It's my third recent solid state linear, and I burned out my share of devices on the other two. Didn't want to burn out this one - it's a $230 chip soldered to a heat spreader, and would be both expensive and a PITA to replace. So there is no bandswitch. In addition, there is a protection card that turns off the power to the RF deck for * Excessive drive * Excessive drain current * Excessive power output * Excessive antenna SWR * Wrong LPF selected Even with that last, I prefer to have the linear set its band from the exciter data. Belt & suspenders... People have commented that I should find Elecraft's universal adapter. My answer to that is - yeah it would be easy, but not much fun. I have plenty of radios The band data is a four-bit word. 1 = +5V, 0 = 0V. - illegal. 0001 - 160M 0010 - 80M ...etc. - illegal It works flawlessly with my FTDX10. It also works with my T41-EP homebrew transceiver. The linear doesn't have true TTL inputs: its internal CPU is a 3.3V device, so there is a voltage divider at each band data input. I see that the aux bus cable - for PC connection - is documented. Looks like pin 1 is the shell, pin 2 & 3 are the RXD and TXD, and pin 5 is the common. And the protocol is async RS-232 4800 baud, 2 stop bits. There is also power available ( I assume 12V ) max 50mA on pin 8. I think an AtTiny84 would do it - but I'd need to also put in an RS-232 converter chip to deal with that pesky negative voltage. There's another pin called "AuxBus". That's probably a more difficult nut to crack. - Jerry, KF6VB __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K2 Band Data
Jerry, I also would encourage you to look at the KRC2 for your solution. It will provide BCD band output as well as individual outputs for each band. Use whatever is compatible with you amp. The K2 on its own does not provide external band data except by decoding the propriety AUXBUS data. The KRC2 does that for you. Your solution may depend on your programming skills and the amount of time you wish to dedicate to the task. The KRC2 already has the decodes and yes, it does cost $$$, but you have to decide how much your time and effort is worth compared with the KRC2 cost. 73, Don W3FPR On 9/1/2023 7:42 PM, jerry wrote: On 2023-09-01 12:55, Michael Carter wrote: Hi Jerry, There is no simple access to band data in the K2 unless you want to reverse engineer the AUXBUS protocol. *** Considering that it's probably a low-speed async protocol, that might not be that hard. Depending on how your homebrew amp selects its lowpass filter options, you may be able to pick up the relay control signals for the K2's bandpass and lowpass filter banks and use those to encode a band data word in the format used by Yaesu. __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K2 Band Data
On 2023-09-01 12:55, Michael Carter wrote: Hi Jerry, There is no simple access to band data in the K2 unless you want to reverse engineer the AUXBUS protocol. *** Considering that it's probably a low-speed async protocol, that might not be that hard. Depending on how your homebrew amp selects its lowpass filter options, you may be able to pick up the relay control signals for the K2's bandpass and lowpass filter banks and use those to encode a band data word in the format used by Yaesu. *** Yeah, I was thinking of doing just that. Little green wires and a pin header. Then a little board with a microprocessor to convert the 1-low-per-band to the needed 4-bit word. Might be able to do it with a diode matrix. There is no isolated connector on the K2 Front Panel, Control, or RF boards that makes available those relay control lines, so you would have to tap the traces where those control signals are exposed. Perhaps you can comment more on the homebrew amp design with regard to lowpass filter selection? *** Sure. The amp uses a W6PQL RF deck and LPF. It has a four-inch touch screen and a Teensy 4.1 microprocessor card. I wrote the software. It's my third recent solid state linear, and I burned out my share of devices on the other two. Didn't want to burn out this one - it's a $230 chip soldered to a heat spreader, and would be both expensive and a PITA to replace. So there is no bandswitch. In addition, there is a protection card that turns off the power to the RF deck for * Excessive drive * Excessive drain current * Excessive power output * Excessive antenna SWR * Wrong LPF selected Even with that last, I prefer to have the linear set its band from the exciter data. Belt & suspenders... People have commented that I should find Elecraft's universal adapter. My answer to that is - yeah it would be easy, but not much fun. I have plenty of radios The band data is a four-bit word. 1 = +5V, 0 = 0V. - illegal. 0001 - 160M 0010 - 80M ...etc. - illegal It works flawlessly with my FTDX10. It also works with my T41-EP homebrew transceiver. The linear doesn't have true TTL inputs: its internal CPU is a 3.3V device, so there is a voltage divider at each band data input. I see that the aux bus cable - for PC connection - is documented. Looks like pin 1 is the shell, pin 2 & 3 are the RXD and TXD, and pin 5 is the common. And the protocol is async RS-232 4800 baud, 2 stop bits. There is also power available ( I assume 12V ) max 50mA on pin 8. I think an AtTiny84 would do it - but I'd need to also put in an RS-232 converter chip to deal with that pesky negative voltage. There's another pin called "AuxBus". That's probably a more difficult nut to crack. - Jerry, KF6VB __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K2 Band Data
Not help for the K2 band data, but thought there might be interest in how I am interfacing my K3/10 band data to a 1.2 kW W6PQL amp LP filter bank: http://www.kl7uw.com/HF-6M_AMP.jpg Unified Microsystems makes an interface: www.microsystems.com/decoder.html 73, Ed - KL7UW __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K2 Band Data
I would suggest that the Elecraft KRC2 would provide the information quite well. It was designed for use with the K2, receiving band data and providing the ability to select bands with both high and low drive outputs. It also outputs the BCD data on four terminals. Take a look at the ELecraft web site. 73, Jack, W6FB > On Sep 1, 2023, at 2:55 PM, Michael Carter wrote: > > Hi Jerry, > > There is no simple access to band data in > the K2 unless you want to reverse engineer > the AUXBUS protocol. Depending on how > your homebrew amp selects its lowpass > filter options, you may be able to pick up > the relay control signals for the K2's bandpass > and lowpass filter banks and use those > to encode a band data word in the format > used by Yaesu. There is no isolated connector > on the K2 Front Panel, Control, or RF boards > that makes available those relay control lines, > so you would have to tap the traces where > those control signals are exposed. > > Perhaps you can comment more on the > homebrew amp design with regard to > lowpass filter selection? > > 73, > Mike, K8CN > __ > 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
Re: [Elecraft] K2 Band Data
Hi Jerry, There is no simple access to band data in the K2 unless you want to reverse engineer the AUXBUS protocol. Depending on how your homebrew amp selects its lowpass filter options, you may be able to pick up the relay control signals for the K2's bandpass and lowpass filter banks and use those to encode a band data word in the format used by Yaesu. There is no isolated connector on the K2 Front Panel, Control, or RF boards that makes available those relay control lines, so you would have to tap the traces where those control signals are exposed. Perhaps you can comment more on the homebrew amp design with regard to lowpass filter selection? 73, Mike, K8CN __ 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
