P3 for Windows anyone?

[tomb18]

Screen shot

[vk4tux]

Tom , Ok and well done on an alternative windows controller. 32 bit would
run fine in either 64bit Win 7 or native 32 bit yes?
Should also run on XP, so I hope you will set top priority to the 32 bit
ver. Hopefully you can do a Linux version too later.
Please put me on your tester list and feel free to email whatever you
develop.
If you could set a settings macro per band/mode, that would be great, such
that a click of that macro would setup what you need.

Thankyou

vk4tux at bigpond.com

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of tomb18
Sent: Sunday, 15 April 2012 4:32 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] P3 for Windows anyone? [END of Thread]

Ok, I have run into a few logistics issues that I hope someone can assist
with.
In order for the P3 to control the K3 it must maintain communications via a
serial link.  Thus one needs to use a com port sharing program such as
LP-Bridge or LP-Bridge 2.  This works fine within the design parameters of
the program.  As I have not used these programs before, are there any issues
with them that I should be aware of?  Everything is working fine and far
better than I thought.

I have found a bug in the P3 firmware: Issuing the #REF command only allows
setting over -140 to -90 not to +10 as stated in the manual.  This is not
big issue since if you need your reference level at -90 you have other
problems!

These will be the features in the first version:  Please let me know if I
have missed anything:
Setting of reference level
Setting of Span
Setting of scale
Setting of center frequency
Turning on and off of waterfall
Turning Peak Hold on and off
Turning and setting averaging (waterfall also) Using Markers A and B by
mouse
10 customizable function keys: Can set span, or almost anything that the P3
can do. Each key can contain many commands at the same time.
Screen capture
Spectrum recording (there may or may not be compression in the first
release..)
Fully scalable spectrum display from 640x400 to 1920x1080

I will also have a "remote" mode.  Now I would appreciate peoples feedback
on this.  You will need to do a remote login such as using mstsc or Logmein
etc.  Of course, if you did this at full resolution you will need huge
bandwidth.  Most upload speeds for the Internet are around 1mb/s.  Therefore
I will offer a reduced resolution and video update mode.  Perhaps something
like 640x400 and 10 fps.Can anyone suggest another way to do this?

Well that's it for now.  I expect I will have something for release in a
couple of weeks.  The first release will be for Windows 7 x64.  I will try
for the x32 as well.

I would appreciate any feedback.
Thanks, Tom VA2FSQ


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[Alan Bloom]

Hi Tom,

This looks like a cool project.  :=)

On Sat, 2012-04-14 at 23:31 -0700, tomb18 wrote:
> In order for the P3 to control the K3 it must maintain communications via a
> serial link.  Thus one needs to use a com port sharing program such as
> LP-Bridge or LP-Bridge 2.  This works fine within the design parameters of
> the program.  As I have not used these programs before, are there any issues
> with them that I should be aware of?  Everything is working fine and far
> better than I thought.

I'm not sure how you have things set up, but you should be able to leave
the P3's "XCVR" RS-232 port connected directly to the K3 and connect the
computer's RS-232 to the P3's "PC" port.  The software on the PC can
send either P3 commands, K3 commands, or both over the same interface.
LP-Bridge should not be required unless you have more than one PC
program talking to the P3/K3 over a shared COM port.

> I have found a bug in the P3 firmware: Issuing the #REF command only allows
> setting over -140 to -90 not to +10 as stated in the manual.  This is not
> big issue since if you need your reference level at -90 you have other
> problems!

The #REF command should work over a -170 dBm to +10 dBm range.  There
may be come confusion due to the fact that the REF command uses dBm
units and the P3's REF LVL control uses "-dBm" units.  So if you send
the command "#REF-090;" and then access REF LVL on the P3 it will read
positive 90.

Alan N1AL


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[tomb18]

No bug, just forgot the leading 0 on the ref level.

Plan for the markers in the first release:  When you click on the marker button, it will turn red.  You can then use the mouse to click on the spectrum at any point  which will place a mark.  Clicking again on the button will change it to normal and then the K3 will be at the desired frequency.  Comments? Good approach?
Thanks

[tomb18]

Well things are moving pretty fast.  The application is almost finished, just cleaning and polishing up.

I have put up a video at my new website taken with camtasia.  Thing is the program is much more responsive than it seems.  Camtasiia slows things down by at least a factor of 10!  The preformance of the app is just as good as using the controls of the P3.

What you are seeing is a screen capture of a 1440x900 spectrum...just a sneak preview!
I hope you can access the file.  The web site is just started.

http://va2fsq.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/p3.mp4