Was the DDUtil Power Drive Feature Added to SDR Ver 3

Reggie

Was SDR Ver 3 updated with the DDUtil functionality to set the drive power per band when using an amp?

Reggie

N3OP

W9YU

That would be telling......

Paul - K6HR

You can do that now if you're using an SPE Expert Amp. I'm not sure about any other amps doing it. I got it working here after reading the forum post by N2RJ:

Ria - N2RJ, Elmer

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You can use DDUtil, that is one option.

You can also use the USB cables and have the amp control drive power. I prefer this method because it supports the two inputs for SO2R. DDUtil will only send band data for the current transmit slice so you're really limited to only one output from the radio. I don't know if this has changed but last I checked this is how it was. 

Basically you get an FTDI adapter or make a 9 pin to 15 pin cable according to the SPE manual. Get two if you're using the two inputs.

Use only the Relay line. Do not use ALC. 

Configure your USB ports to CAT mode, and set it to follow the antenna port. 

Then set the amp to FLEX mode.



Adjust drive power using the arrow keys on the front of the amp. You must set it once per band and once per power level (Mid/Max/Low). The front of the amp will display "PC=XX" which is the drive power level. Adjust using a dummy load to set desired power. I believe 1500w for Max, 1kw for Mid, and 500W for low. This is a one time thing. When you change bands, the amp will automatically set power in SmartSDR.

HTH

Steve - K5FR

DDUtil does not currently support SSDR v3. This is currently in-work.

Ian1

I use it that way all the time with my SPE 1KA Amp with no issues Ian

Reggie

Is anyone doing this with the Elecraft KPA500 amp?

Reggie

Bill -VA3WTB

I have a close friend with a KPA1500 connected to his 6500 with a lan cable only. It talks to the amp and everything is controled from the Flex,,it works perfect. No DDUtil