P3: Left span limit changes

[k6dgw]

1. Serial path is PC-->P3-->K3

2. VFO-A is on 14028.000 CW

3. VFO-B is on 14300.000 SSB

4. P3 is in fixed-tune mode [cursor moves, screen edges remain at fixed
frequencies as I tune], SPAN=20 KHz, left edge is 14020.000

5. Tap A/B

6. K3 goes to 14300.000 SSB, left edge of P3 is 14300.000, span is still
20 KHz. So far, so good

7. Tap A/B again

8. Radio goes back to 14028.000 CW, span is still 20 KHz, but left edge
is now 14025.000 [instead of 14020.000 that it was].

Why does the P3 span shift up 5 KHz after switching VFO's?

73,

Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
Sparks NV DM09dn
Washoe County

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[Nolan Kienitz]

Skip,

I can replicate your scenario and my K3 does the same thing. When I first
read it I was thinking a CW offset shift, but I'm sure that was a
pipe-dream.

You noted your left edge is at:  14020.000 ... mine (with a span of 20) is
at: 14018.000.  That is the only difference, but again I experienced the
same thing.

Was hoping to help provide a clue, but am not able to do so.  Sorry.

73 - Nolan Kienitz
KI5IO
Plano, TX



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73  -  Nolan Kienitz,  KI5IO
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[k6dgw]

I got two replies, one off-list, that they can replicate this effect. 
Study of the manual did not answer the question ... or provide a fix ...
but I'm acutely aware that words that someone writes and that are
crystal clear to them may [and often are] not nearly that clear to me. [:-)

If there's a fix in the works from Elecraft:  My preference would be to
maintain the CENTER setting when switching bands.  This does get a
little complex as a result of the 4 possible choices in MENU-->FixMode
... I run my P3 in FullSpan mode and that would be fairly simple -- if
VFO-B is changed such that tapping A/B would put the cursor off-screen,
just shift the screen an integral number of spans to get it on-screen. 
HalfSpan, Slide, and Static modes are more problematical.

In the meantime, I will live with the current behavior.

73,

Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
Sparks NV DM09dn
Washoe County

On 6/9/2018 5:55 PM, Nolan Kienitz wrote:

> Skip,
>
> I can replicate your scenario and my K3 does the same thing. When I first
> read it I was thinking a CW offset shift, but I'm sure that was a
> pipe-dream.
>
> You noted your left edge is at:  14020.000 ... mine (with a span of 20) is
> at: 14018.000.  That is the only difference, but again I experienced the
> same thing.
>
> Was hoping to help provide a clue, but am not able to do so.  Sorry.
>
> 73 - Nolan Kienitz
> KI5IO
> Plano, TX
>

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[n6hz]

Hi Fred,

Thanks for the report, I've added this to my bug list.  

73,

Paul





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[K8TE]

Yes Skip, I too wish the P3 settings would remain with each band and mode.
In contests like the IARU HF Championship, ARRL 10m, etc. where both modes
are allowed, keeping appropriate bandwidth settings and the RX bandpass
locations on the P3 would be very helpful!

Yes, we can use a K-Pod or Genovation keyboard to do a lot, but I would
rather keep what settings currently exist and change them only when I want
to do so.  I guess the first question is:  is there enough memory in the P3
to do this.  If so, where is something like this in the firmware improvement
plan.  If not, how difficult is it to upgrade the firmware memory size to
accomplish this?

In the meantime, I rarely run my K3 without the P3, even when I operate
portable, like the upcoming Field Day.  In the shack I use an SVGA monitor
connected to the P3.  I plan to replace it with a PIP monitor so I can
switch from P3-1 to P3-2 in SO2R configuration.  I often take P3 screenshots
for stations with broad signals and to use in presentations.  Combining the
P3 with the KRX3 makes for a winning combination in many circumstances!

73, Bill, K8TE
www.dukecityhamfest.org



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[n6hz]

Hi Bill,

Currently the P3 stores span and reference level based on band, but not
mode.  It would get pretty complicated to add mode into the mix.  I know
quite a few customers have had great results with the Genovation keyboard
and setting up macros to do this.  The next BETA release of P3/SVGA firmware
will include the ability to export/import macros from/to the SVGA just like
the PX3.

73,

Paul



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[Bob Wilson, N6TV]

 Having the P3 remember the last-used span *and center frequency* on each
band across power cycles when the P3 is in Fixed mode will be a big
improvement, even if the P3 ignores the operating mode.  The K3 remembers
the last-used frequency and mode on each band, so the two devices will
(more or less) stay in sync. if this is provided.

But I think it would be beter that time and the limited memory of the P3 be
devoted instead to implementing the *often-requested USB mouse support*, so
one can just point and click and fine tune the P3 and VFO with a mouse,
like all other SDRs can currently do.  Left click sets VFO A, right click
sets VFO B, mouse wheel fine tunes the last click.  Intuitive and fast.
This would be so MUCH faster and easier than trying to use the tiny P3 knob
and P3 cursors.

Regarding macros, given the current P3 command set, one would need far too
many P3 macros to set the scope edges of the P3 appropriately for every
combination of band and mode, so this will be of limited value unless you
only operate on a few bands and modes.  But being able to run macros from
the P3 buttons would be useful for other purposes.

P3 Center Mode is of such limited value that I hope the P3 does NOT switch
to Center Mode whenever I switch bands.  Fixed Mode "HALF" has worked
really well for me, since only the VFO cursors move, instead of the entire
band.  This should have been the P3 default, IMHO.  But, this only works
well after you have set up the P3's band edges.  I've published Win-Test
scripts to automated this.

The Win-Test scripts control the P3 scope settings via simple text commands
in the logging program.  They can also be assigned to function keys.  The
scripts have knowledge of both the top and bottom frequency limits of every
phone and CW sub-band, so they can intelligently set appropriate edges
after reading the frequency of VFO A.  You cannot do this in a K3 or P3
macro, because a macro cannot "read" the K3 frequency then do any math or
complex logic on the returned value.

To use the scripts from Win-Test, all you have to do is type SPAN60
[Enter], say, and the left and right edges of the scope are set to
appropriate values, based on the current frequency and mode, e.g. 7.000 to
7.060 if VFO A was on 7.040 CW, or 7.125-7.185 if VFO A was on 7.130 LSB
(USA phone sub-band starts at 7.125).

See https://bit.ly/wtscripts and download P3scripts.zip (incluces source
code).  I am encouraging others to copy the same logic into their own
logging software like N1MM+.

In the mean time, since there's a free version of Win-Test, and since it
can happily share access to the K3's serial port via OmniRig, you could use
Win-Test only for setting the P3 scope edges, while using any other
software like Writelog, WSJT-X, or HDSDR, software that supports OmniRig.
N1MM+ and HRD cannot (and will not) support OmniRig, so they cannot be used
at the same time as Win-Test, except via VSPE, COM0COM, ELTIMA or similar,
but then proper interleaving of K3/P3 commands from multiple programs
simultaneously may not be guaranteed.

The free version of Win-Test is at http://download.win-test.com/v4/freeware/
.  OmniRig may be downloaded from http://dxatlas.com/Download.asp.  To get
the most recent rig definition updates, be sure to download and extract the
"INI files for OmniRig" to the "Rigs" sub-folder after installing OmniRig.

I'll be happy to help anyone get Win-Test going with my P3 scripts, if you
cannot figure out how to do it (hint:  set radio type in Win-Test Interface
Configuration to OmniRig, and read the Readme file inside P3scripts.zip).
Contact me off list if you need help.

73,
Bob, N6TV

On Mon, Jun 11, 2018 at 11:03 AM, n6hz <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi Bill,
>
> Currently the P3 stores span and reference level based on band, but not
> mode.  It would get pretty complicated to add mode into the mix.  I know
> quite a few customers have had great results with the Genovation keyboard
> and setting up macros to do this.  The next BETA release of P3/SVGA
> firmware
> will include the ability to export/import macros from/to the SVGA just like
> the PX3.
>
> 73,
>
> Paul

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[K8TE]

--
73, Bill, K8TE

Message: 13
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2018 11:03:14 -0700 (MST)
From: n6hz <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] P3: Left span limit changes
Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hi Bill,

Currently the P3 stores span and reference level based on band, but not
mode.  It would get pretty complicated to add mode into the mix.  I know
quite a few customers have had great results with the Genovation keyboard
and setting up macros to do this.  The next BETA release of P3/SVGA firmware
will include the ability to export/import macros from/to the SVGA just like
the PX3.

73,

Paul
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[Bill K9YEQ]

6M open in Midwest to south.

73,
Bill
K9YEQ

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