What's new in K3 Utility version 1.2.3.18

[Dick Dievendorff]

I've been asked "what's different" about the K3 Utility version 1.2.3.18
that was made available on Elecraft's web site yesterday.

 

The most significant new "feature" is an editor for the  K3's CW memories.
These are the memories that you had to load by manipulating a paddle, you
recall these memories by pressing M1 thorugh M4 on the K3 front panel.

 

I read a report on this reflector about a CW enthusiast that had suffered a
stroke and loved CW, but could no longer manipulate a paddle at speed.  He's
able to use a keyboard, though.  He had a friend come over to program his
rig's CW memories.

 

In field test I was asked to include a "half space" character for people
with interesting calls, like GM3SEK and K6XT.  Both of these gentlemen find
that an extra half-space in the right place often make a difference in
getting their call understood the first time.  So  K6XT can enter K6X~T and
get the timing he wants.  

 

For those of you who use the K3's internal paddle-to-RTTY feature, you may
include the "IM" prosign that causes the RTTY carrier to drop immediately.
Terminate your CW message with a vertical bar character  "|".

 

The CW memory editor is started by a button on the Configuration Tab.  There
is a K3 Utility Help page that describes the details of its use.

 

There are a number of improvements in the general category of
"accessibility" for visually impaired users. I want to thank Betsey Doane,
K1EIC, and Gary Lee, KB9ZUV, for their help in educating this developer
about some of the more important nuances of developing software that is
available to a wider user audience than I had initially prepared for.  They
were patient as they evaluated a number of "false starts" of mine.

 

The complete "release notes" file is available as a link on the K3 Software
page, just above the link for the software itself.  Here are the release
notes:

 

 

K3 Utility Version 1.2.3.18 changes since 1.2.1.6 (summary only):

 

Installer:

 

Changed from Setup2Go to Inno Setup installer.

 

While the new installer handles release to release installations without
uninstall, the new installer doesn't completely clean up files created by
the old installer.

 

Current K3 Utility users should be encouraged to uninstall the K3 Utility
(using the Windows Control Panel Add/Remove programs applet) before
installing the new version. It's not a critical requirement, but if you
don't do this, there are some leftovers in the list of installed programs
and the program files folder where the old program resided.

 

Changed default location for program files to (systemdrive): Program
Files\Elecraft\K3 Utility.

 

The new installer will remember your override for default folder location.

 

Uninstall is not a continuing requirement, just in the transition from one
installer to another.

 

Global changes:

 

Help text has been revised in small ways throughout.

 

Earlier versions of the K3 Utility used blocking serial port reads and
writes with timeout, which caused UI delays when the K3 was unresponsive.
Changed code throughout to use unblocked I/O, which keeps the UI responsive.

 

A number of accessibility improvements were made so that the K3 Utility
works better with screen readers for the visually impaired, and can now be
operated without a mouse. Corrected a number of tab order issues. Added a
new "Window" menu for direct access to each tab page. Added tab stops to
some static labels so that screen readers will speak the content (primarily
in the installed/available version area of the firmware page). Changed the
tab control used by the main view so that the tab itself is part of the tab
order, and its content will be spoken by a screen reader.

 

Restore last-used window position and size.

 

Improve wait cursor (hourglass) handling.

 

Made adjustments to dialog control position to improve usability at 120 DPI.

 

Allow release notes window to drop behind (in z-order) the K3 Utility window
rather than always being "on top".

 

Port page:

 

Continue to poll (at various speeds) to attempt connection to a K3. The
polling interval grows if no K3 responds.

 

Added an explicit "close Port" button, which stops polling and releases the
COM Port for other programs.

 

Added checkbox to inhibit the automatic speed determination process and
communicate with the K3 only at 38,400 bps. This was done to remove concerns
that polling at several speeds might interfere with connection to a K3 in
"MCU boot load" state.

 

Firmware page:

 

Firmware page is now resizable.

 

Copy files from Elecraft (FTP) may now be cancelled.

 

Speed improvements to all Firmware loaders.

 

Read firmware files into memory before sending any part of the file to the
K3. This offers some protection from broken firmware loads caused by network
drive disconnect.

 

After MCU load, recover the last-used RS-232 speed during post-load speed
determination and restore that speed after firmware load is complete. The
hope is that this speed better matches the last-used RS-232 speed than
leaving the rig at 38,400 if the firmware load was started when the MCU was
in "boot load" state.

 

Improvement to DSP loader reliability in some USB to Serial Adapter error
situations.

 

Change Activity Log to a rich edit control to make copy to clipboard easier.

 

Configuration Page:

 

Do not write an incomplete configuration save file if an EEPROM read error
is encountered. Read all the EEPROM into memory, and then write the file all
at once.

 

Increased persistence of configuration save/restore retry.

 

Save and restore configuration may now be cancelled. Restore should be
cancelled only if you're going to restore again.

 

Reduce the time it takes to save and restore a configuration.

 

New CW memory editor for the K3's CW and CW-to-Data mode memories. Supports
CW half space and insertion of the "IM" stop character into a CW memory for
use with RTTY and PSK31.

 

Alternative "accessibility mode" version of the Crystal Filter dialog that
works better with screen readers. The current compact version, which omits
checkbox labels, is still available. A new View Menu "Accessibility" checked
menu item selects the dialog to use.

 

Added unsaved change warning to Crystal Filter dialog.

 

Tx Gain calibration: interpret SWR of "--"  to mean that the SWR hasn't been
determined as yet, and this isn't a reason to stop calibration.

 

Command Tester:

 

Improved readability of responses to DSP commands.

 

Terminal page:

 

Ctrl+W clears unsent characters in input area.

 

Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+0 embeds messages 1-10 into input area without requiring
a mouse action.

 

Clear clears unsent input as well as output windows.

 

Fixed a CW stuttering bug when the Release Notes or other menu item was
opened.

 

Don't automatically drop out of transmit mode when sending CW.  

 

Return keyboard focus to the input area after clicking one of the message
memory buttons.

 

Dick, K6KR

 

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[M0XDF]

And for us Straight Key guys who are learning Morse and can't work a  
paddle yet - I'm getting better with a straight key though. So thank  
you very much.
73 de M0XDF, K3 #174
--
They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can  
see nothing but sea.
-Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626)

On 15 Apr 2009, at 18:49, Dick Dievendorff wrote:
> I read a report on this reflector about a CW enthusiast that had  
> suffered a
> stroke and loved CW, but could no longer manipulate a paddle at  
> speed.  He's
> able to use a keyboard, though.  He had a friend come over to  
> program his
> rig's CW memories.

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[Bill W4ZV]

N6KR wrote (>)

> The most significant new "feature" is an editor for the  K3's CW memories.
These are the memories that you had to load by manipulating a paddle, you
recall these memories by pressing M1 thorugh M4 on the K3 front panel.

And your timing had to be *absolutely* perfect using a paddle!  Mine is not so it sometimes took me forever to get memories loaded correctly (ditto for the K2 BTW).

> I read a report on this reflector about a CW enthusiast that had suffered a
stroke and loved CW, but could no longer manipulate a paddle at speed.  He's
able to use a keyboard, though.  He had a friend come over to program his
rig's CW memories.

Slightly off-topic but my very good Topband friend N4SU had Parkinson's and had the same problem.  Dave eventually gave up hamming and I helped take down his station including 12 Beverages.  I believe not being able to operate actually hastened his death according to his wife.  If he was living now, I would do exactly what Dick suggests.  You can actually work a lot of DX stations on CW and RTTY without needing to send their call, especially in contests.  Program the keyer to send your call and a response for when they answer you.  
 
73,  Bill

[drewko]

On Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:49:27 -0700, Dick, K6KR wrote:

>
>The most significant new "feature" is an editor for the  K3's CW memories.
>These are the memories that you had to load by manipulating a paddle, you
>recall these memories by pressing M1 thorugh M4 on the K3 front panel.
>
>

Oh, goodie! Not having a paddle, it was a real pain to program the CW
memories by moving an alligator clip between two bare wires on a patch
cord... (I did get pretty good at it but still prefer the trusty ol'
bug and straight key...)

73,
Drew
AF2Z

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