Y-BOX New Years Day Sale + Announcing New Version for KAT500 / KPA500 / KPA1500 / SteppIR Owners

[Bob Wilson, N6TV]

In honor of the New Year, all Y-BOX orders received before midnight Pacific
Time New Years Day (by 2018-01-02 08:00 UTC) will get $10 off each unit,
while supplies last.  This applies to the original model only, with all 15
pins of the K3 ACC connector wired in parallel to all five DE-15
connectors.  I only have about a dozen of these original units left, and
this will be the end of the production run.  However, a new version is
being developed (see below), and I'm starting a waiting list for that now.

(The Y-BOX is a 4-way passive splitter and breakout box for the 15-pin
Elecraft K3 and K3S ACC / AUX port.  See https://bit.ly/Y-BOX .)

The original Y-BOX requires a KPAK3AUX cable (P/N E850463) between the
Y-BOX and a KAT500, KPA500, or KPA1500.  This cable has one male and one
female (M/F) DE-15 connector, with no connection on five of the pins, as
required by the amp.  The original Elecraft cables were bulky monitor
cables that had five pins cut. That was much improved more recently.

The NEW Y-BOX will provide the same function as the Elecraft AUX cable.
ONE of the DE-15 connectors marked "AMP AUX" will have no connection on
those 5 pins.  This means you can use a stock $10 M/F DE-15 cable with all
15 lines wired (NOT a VGA cable) between the Y-BOX and a KAT500 or KPA500,
and you can also use the same cable between the KAT500 and the KPA500.  Of
course you may still use the $24.95 Elecraft AUX cables on any of the DE-15
connectors if you already have them.

*Attention SteppIR owners*:

The Elecraft manuals recommend using a "Key Line Interrupter" to open the
KEY OUT line in the AUX cable (pin 10).  Then the SteppIR SDA100 controller
with the Tuning relay option
<https://www.steppir.com/shop/horizontal-antennas/2-element-antenna-products/tuning-relay-for-sda-100-controller/>,
or the N8LP SteppIR Tuning Relay <http://www.telepostinc.com/STR.html> is
placed in between the K3's KEY OUT phono connector, and the KPA500 KEY IN
phono connector, opening the KEY line while the SteppIR is tuning, to
prevent high power from damaging the SteppIR.

The NEW Y-BOX will have a Key Line Interrupt jumper built-in, optionally
splitting the amp KEY line (pin 10 of the AUX cable) into two RCA
connectors labeled KEY IN and KEY OUT.  Then you can conveniently connect
your "normally closed" SteppIR Tuning Relay to those RCA jacks.  With this
arrangement, you just need ONE DE-15 cable between the Y-BOX and the KAT500
/ KPA500 / KPA1500, and ONE stereo phono cable from the tuning relay to the
Y-BOX.  You no longer need to connect RCA cables from K3 KEY OUT and AMP
KEY IN.

*Attention K3-REMOTE users (K3/0-Mini and K3/0*):

"But there's one more thing ..." -- Steve Jobs

The NEW Y-BOX with a $10 cable can do one more thing that the stock
Elecraft AUX cable cannot:  it provides an internal jumper connection to
the amplifier's Pin 8 (PWR ON), a pin which has no connection in the
Elecraft cable.  You can then use a simple K3 macro to power up the KPA500
or KPA1500 remotely.  No PC required, no relay required.   The macro is
described on Page 21 of the K3 Remote Owner's Manual
<http://www.elecraft.com/manual/K3%20Remote%20Owner's%20Manual%20%20Rev%20D.pdf>.
 It generates a pulse on DIGOUT1 (Pin 11) to power up the amp.  This will
not work with the stock Elecraft AUX cable, but works fine with a M/F DE-15
cable from the Y-BOX to the amp. if the internal jumper is connected.

To review, *order the original Y-BOX any time before midnight PT this
Monday* to receive the one-time $10 discount on each unit, while supplies
last, or indicate in the notes if you prefer to be put on the waiting list
for one of the *new* units with the dedicated connections for Elecraft
Remote, SteppIR, KAT500 / KPA500 / KPA1500.  M/F Amphenol DE-15 cables in
both 2.5 ft and 5 ft lengths are now available to order too, but these only
work with the new Y-BOX, or between KAT500 and KPA500.  Cables are not sold
separately unless you have previously purchased a Y-BOX from me.

Direct link to Order Form / Waiting List:
https://goo.gl/forms/Guu6OC6NinTlasY93

Thanks for all your support of my little project over the last year, and
Happy New Year to all!

73,
Bob, N6TV
https://bit.ly/Y-BOX
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