Elecraft

K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

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Jim Hoge

K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

Greetings,

Are there any issues I need to be aware of for the setup of my K3 with an LP Pan and a Microkeyer II? I don't claim to be a computer wiz by any stretch but would like to add an LP Pan and a Microkeyer to my K3 setup. My only experience has been in interfacing a Mk-V and a Rigblaster, certainly yesterday's technology. Advice and opinions are appreciated. BTW, my computer is a Core 2 running XP, 4 gig of ram, a good but I forgot who video card, and currently only the onboard soundcard.

tnx,
Jim W5QM
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Bob Naumann W5OV

Re: K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

Jim,

Your LP Pan system should not be connected to, or interact with your
MicroKeyer whatsoever. You will need a sound card (or external USB sound
unit like the EMU 0202) dedicated to LP-Pan duty.

Follow the instructions and you'll be up and running quickly.

73,

Bob W5OV

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Jim Hoge
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 3:30 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

Greetings,

Are there any issues I need to be aware of for the setup of my K3 with an LP
Pan and a Microkeyer II? I don't claim to be a computer wiz by any stretch
but would like to add an LP Pan and a Microkeyer to my K3 setup. My only
experience has been in interfacing a Mk-V and a Rigblaster, certainly
yesterday's technology. Advice and opinions are appreciated. BTW, my
computer is a Core 2 running XP, 4 gig of ram, a good but I forgot who video
card, and currently only the onboard soundcard.

tnx,
Jim W5QM
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Joe Subich, W4TV-4

Re: K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

> Your LP Pan system should not be connected to, or interact
> with your MicroKeyer whatsoever.

There is one correction ... the LP-Bridge software should
connect to the K3 through the CAT virtual port in microHAM
Router and all applications (including PowerSDR or HRD) that
access the K# CAT interface should connect to ports provided
by LP-Bridge.

73,

... Joe, W4TV

> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email]
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Robert Naumann
> Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 9:53 PM
> To: [hidden email]; [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II
>
>
> Jim,
>
> Your LP Pan system should not be connected to, or interact
> with your MicroKeyer whatsoever. You will need a sound card
> (or external USB sound unit like the EMU 0202) dedicated to
> LP-Pan duty.
>
> Follow the instructions and you'll be up and running quickly.
>
> 73,
>
> Bob W5OV
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email]
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Jim Hoge
> Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 3:30 PM
> To: [hidden email]
> Subject: [Elecraft] K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II
>
> Greetings,
>
> Are there any issues I need to be aware of for the setup of
> my K3 with an LP Pan and a Microkeyer II? I don't claim to be
> a computer wiz by any stretch but would like to add an LP Pan
> and a Microkeyer to my K3 setup. My only experience has been
> in interfacing a Mk-V and a Rigblaster, certainly yesterday's
> technology. Advice and opinions are appreciated. BTW, my
> computer is a Core 2 running XP, 4 gig of ram, a good but I
> forgot who video card, and currently only the onboard soundcard.
>
> tnx,
> Jim W5QM
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

Bob Naumann W5OV

Re: K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

Yes - to be specific - there are no *physical* connections between the two
and no changes should be made to your MicroKeyer configuration - it stays
as-is.

LP Bridge will be configured to "talk to" the virtual com port set up for
the K3 in your MicroKeyer router configuration and LP Bridge will then
provide a different # virtual com port to "talk to" your applications.

Changes will need to be made in your applications that control the K3 to
point to the new Virtual port rather than the one provided by MicroKeyer.

Aside from LP Bridge using the K3 virtual port, having a MicroKeyer is
essentially coincidental rather than an integral part of the LP-PAN setup.

Once I had the LP-Pan unit built and the proper cables to connect the sound
card, set up only took a few minutes. The LP-Pan manual is fairly
comprehensive in covering all of this.

73,

Bob W5OV

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Joe Subich, W4TV
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 9:18 PM
To: 'Robert Naumann'; [hidden email]; [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

> Your LP Pan system should not be connected to, or interact
> with your MicroKeyer whatsoever.

There is one correction ... the LP-Bridge software should
connect to the K3 through the CAT virtual port in microHAM
Router and all applications (including PowerSDR or HRD) that
access the K# CAT interface should connect to ports provided
by LP-Bridge.

73,

... Joe, W4TV

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Igor Sokolov-2

Re: K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

In reply to this post by Bob Naumann W5OV

Bob, does it mean that the USB sound card built into MicrokeyerII cannot be
utilized by LP-PAN? Why?

73, Igor UA9CDC

Jim,

Your LP Pan system should not be connected to, or interact with your
MicroKeyer whatsoever. You will need a sound card (or external USB sound
unit like the EMU 0202) dedicated to LP-Pan duty.

Follow the instructions and you'll be up and running quickly.

73,

Bob W5OV

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Jim Hoge
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 3:30 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

Greetings,

Are there any issues I need to be aware of for the setup of my K3 with an LP
Pan and a Microkeyer II? I don't claim to be a computer wiz by any stretch
but would like to add an LP Pan and a Microkeyer to my K3 setup. My only
experience has been in interfacing a Mk-V and a Rigblaster, certainly
yesterday's technology. Advice and opinions are appreciated. BTW, my
computer is a Core 2 running XP, 4 gig of ram, a good but I forgot who video
card, and currently only the onboard soundcard.

tnx,
Jim W5QM
______________________________________________________________
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Bob Naumann W5OV

Re: K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

I am just a LP-Pan user and not an expert in this area, bit the sound card
in the MicroKeyer II is not listed as a supported sound card by LP-Pan.

See here: http://www.telepostinc.com/soundcards.html

N8LP would have to answer the "why" question for certain, but I suspect that
it may not have sufficient processing power and bandwidth to do the job
adequately.

The supported cards are mostly "high-end" audio cards.

73,

Bob W5OV

-----Original Message-----
From: Igor Sokolov [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 7:27 AM
To: Robert Naumann; [hidden email]; [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

Bob, does it mean that the USB sound card built into MicrokeyerII cannot be
utilized by LP-PAN? Why?

73, Igor UA9CDC

Jim,

Your LP Pan system should not be connected to, or interact with your
MicroKeyer whatsoever. You will need a sound card (or external USB sound
unit like the EMU 0202) dedicated to LP-Pan duty.

Follow the instructions and you'll be up and running quickly.

73,

Bob W5OV

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Jim Hoge
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 3:30 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

Greetings,

Are there any issues I need to be aware of for the setup of my K3 with an LP
Pan and a Microkeyer II? I don't claim to be a computer wiz by any stretch
but would like to add an LP Pan and a Microkeyer to my K3 setup. My only
experience has been in interfacing a Mk-V and a Rigblaster, certainly
yesterday's technology. Advice and opinions are appreciated. BTW, my
computer is a Core 2 running XP, 4 gig of ram, a good but I forgot who video
card, and currently only the onboard soundcard.

tnx,
Jim W5QM
______________________________________________________________
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Kok Chen

Re: K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

In reply to this post by Igor Sokolov-2

On Mar 5, 2009, at 3/5 5:26 AM, Igor Sokolov wrote:

> Bob, does it mean that the USB sound card built into MicrokeyerII
> cannot be
> utilized by LP-PAN? Why?

Not that you cannot use just any garden variety sound cards, but there
are at least two reasons to use a better sound card with an SDR.

The dynamic range of the simple sound cards will be a limiting factor
when used with something like the LP-PAN. Although the digiKeyer and
microKeyer II have relatively low noise floors for a 16 bit codec, it
is still a reason to use better sound cards for an SDR. I had measured
the distance between the noise floor and the full scale of the sound
cards in both the microHAM keyers to be in the 95 dB region.

You have an extra 10 dB or so of headroom with a sound card like the
EMU 0202 (USB) or Edirol FA-66 (FireWire). For an SDR type use, the
harmonic distortion from sound cards also factors into your choice.
If needed, you can move the harmonics of a strong station from
clobbering a weak station by turning the VFO knob on the K3 -- it is
just inconvenient to do so.

A second big factor that influences the choice of sound cards for an
SDR is the highest sampling rate they can operate at, since that
determines the width of the "panorama" which you can see. The highest
sampling rate from the microKeyer II is 48,000 samples per second
which, when used in a quadrature fashion, limits the "panorama" to
about 40 kHz. Both the EMU 0202 and the Edirol FA-66 can go up to 192
kilo samples/second.

73
Chen, W7AY

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N8LP

Re: K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

Chen's explanation is quite accurate. I think I did try the MK2 sound card and it works, but not ideal for this application. Besides, unless you ONLY use LP-PAN, you will need another sound card for PSK, voice keyers, etc. You can use multiple sound cards... I have 6 on my system currently, including the MK2. The sound card for LP-PAN should be dedicated to LP-PAN for best results. The recommended sound cards for LP-PAN can be purchased for as little as $70 new, and less on eBay. The most often used one is the E-MU 0202, which costs $100 and is widely available online. It's USB, easy to install, but a little resource hungry, so it's best if you have a dual core system. The best card in terms of dynamic range is the E-MU 1212m PCI card at about $140, but it takes two slots. There are others.

73,
Larry N8LP

Kok Chen wrote

On Mar 5, 2009, at 3/5 5:26 AM, Igor Sokolov wrote:

> Bob, does it mean that the USB sound card built into MicrokeyerII
> cannot be
> utilized by LP-PAN? Why?

Not that you cannot use just any garden variety sound cards, but there
are at least two reasons to use a better sound card with an SDR.

The dynamic range of the simple sound cards will be a limiting factor
when used with something like the LP-PAN. Although the digiKeyer and
microKeyer II have relatively low noise floors for a 16 bit codec, it
is still a reason to use better sound cards for an SDR. I had measured
the distance between the noise floor and the full scale of the sound
cards in both the microHAM keyers to be in the 95 dB region.

You have an extra 10 dB or so of headroom with a sound card like the
EMU 0202 (USB) or Edirol FA-66 (FireWire). For an SDR type use, the
harmonic distortion from sound cards also factors into your choice.
If needed, you can move the harmonics of a strong station from
clobbering a weak station by turning the VFO knob on the K3 -- it is
just inconvenient to do so.

A second big factor that influences the choice of sound cards for an
SDR is the highest sampling rate they can operate at, since that
determines the width of the "panorama" which you can see. The highest
sampling rate from the microKeyer II is 48,000 samples per second
which, when used in a quadrature fashion, limits the "panorama" to
about 40 kHz. Both the EMU 0202 and the Edirol FA-66 can go up to 192
kilo samples/second.

73
Chen, W7AY

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Bill Steffey NY9H

Re: K3 + LP Pan + Microkeyer II

great explanations...

i use a MK2+ also...for the K3 & an ICOM..... works great !

but for the lpPan I use the Roland Edirol FA66...."sound card"
the SDR IQ has it's own ...

I also happen to use a emu 202 for feeding the station's stereo system.....
much better than the "resident" motherboard sound card....

bill

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