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KD0RC Flexicraft Utility
I wrote a little utility that I use with my Flex 6400 to automagically select RF output power based on band, mode and whether my KPA 500 amp is in operate or standby. It is similar to the functionality of DDUtil, but mine carries a power value for each mode because I found that my amp requires different amounts of drive for SSB than for CW (and I presume for other modes).
Randy, AA8R, asked me about running SO2R with one amp (an Elecraft KPA 500) such that when selecting the TX slice with the amp, the Flex RF output would be dropped to an appropriate level and when selecting the TX slice with no amp, RF output would go back to 100.
I noodled it over, and think that I can accomplish that with a little additional coding on my existing app. I have not made this app public because DDUtil has so much more functionality, supports more equipment and so forth. Now that Randy has a more specific need, I will go ahead and upgrade mine and make it available on GitHub.
Here is what the app looks like now:
I anticipate adding a field to the Amp panel so that you can choose which antenna port the amp is connected to. With the new setup, the power out will follow the selected antenna, mode and TX flag.
I have a few other items to add to the amp panel (things like a fault annunciator, fault reset and probably a few others). I also need to write a user manual. It has been quite a while since I wrote this, so I will take a little time to get myself re-acquainted with the code. In the meantime, I would encourage any discussion about it on this thread of the Flex Community.
I should have the existing version up on GitHub in the next few days so people can try it out to see its potential. This utility only works with Flex 6000 and 8000 radios and Elecraft amps and tuners (only the KPA 500/KAT 500 combo have been tested).
Comments
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Nice,
What language are you writing this in?
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Hi Mick, this is in C# using .net and Flexlib.
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Len that looks like it would work nicely. I have an ALPHA 9500 that doesn't connect via TCP/IP yet. But talks through USB or RS-232 to a computer… My end goal is getting the FLEX radios, my 6500 and an 8600 to start when I can get one… To talk through SSDR API like a PGXL. I'm not a programmer, but was a hardware / network person. Erika K0DD
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Thanks! Yes, it works really well. I have been using it for a few years now and haven't thought about it much until Randy presented his single amp SO2R situation. Hopefully I can get it into presentable shape soon.
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OK, V1.00 is now available on GitHub:
This version is just my starting point, and does not yet support different schemes based on TX antenna. That functionality is next. There is no user manual yet, so if you try it, please don't hesitate to post questions here.
Note that at the moment, this app only supports two slices. I will add code to allow up to 8 slices soon. For anyone with an Elecraft amp and a 6500, 6600 or 6700 (or 8600 beta testers…) I would love to hear how it works once I get the multiple slices functionality working.
A big thanks to Randy, AA8R for alpha testing the setup from GitHub. We had some challenges, but it works!
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I'm making good progress on Randy's suggestions. I anticipate having a new version out on GitHub next week sometime. Here is what the main screen looks like now:
The idea is that if you set TX on a slice with a TX ANT that has an amp connected (ANT 1 in this example), the Power tab settings will be in effect for operate and standby. If you set TX on a slice with a TX ANT that has no amp, you get the "No Amp Power" setting (50% in this example).
When you are running SO2R, but only have one amp, you can be on your run frequency on the antenna port with the amp, then select your search and pounce slice (no amp) without having to manually change output power back and forth. You do have to remember to click the TX on the slice flag, however!
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nice work Len!
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Thanks, Dave, I appreciate it!
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V1.01 is now available on GitHub:
****************************** Changelog ******************************** V1.01 Randy, AA8R's suggestions (Thanks Randy!): Added check boxes to select which antenna port has an amp Added box to set power when no amp is connected Added an amp band indicator Changed the labels in the Power tab from Amp and No Amp to Amp Op and Amp Stdby Added about screen with a link to the Flexicraft Utility Github page Cleaned up some messy code (ongoing...)
I still need to add some amp control and a user manual, but it is mostly done. If you try this out, please post back here with your thoughts (good or bad). Also, if anyone tries this with a KPA 1500, I would be very interested to know how it works for you.Thanks again to Randy, AA8R for his excellent suggestions and for giving the first beta version a shake-out.0 -
I added the aforementioned amp control (especially as it relates to reporting and clearing faults) and am testing it now. In the meantime, Randy, AA8R is having a problem getting the Flexicraft Utility to play nice with his N1MM logging program.
I can't recreate the issue - everything works together just fine on my system. If anyone else has an Elecraft amp and N1MM, I would love to see if it all works together on your system.
Next step for me is to get started on the user manual. If you want to try it before that is done, I am happy to help you get it going in the event of any problems.
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V1.02 is now available on GitHub:
* ****************************** Changelog ********************************
The User Manual is now on the main GitHub page (link above). The setup.zip file is in the releases (use the latest). The source code is also zipped in the release, but you do not need to download it - it is just there if you are interested in how FlexLib works or if you want to do your own spin-off of the project.
* V1.02
* Fixed bug where amp faults were not captured
* Fixed bug where tuner faults were not clearing properly
* Added red background to tuner fault status
* Added TX inhibit to immediately stop TX upon encountering an amp fault
* Added double-click on amp status to clear faults and re-enable TX
* Added text to amp fault status box to match the amp front panel
* Added red background to amp fault status
* Added PA power out and SWR to the amp panel
* More code clean-up
* *************************************************************************
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Older post but thanks for this. I've been struggling with Xmit profiles and going back and forth between SmartSDR for Mac and SmartSDR for Windows, since the MAC version forces a specific Xmit profile for the built in FT8 tool. I've missed checking Power out more than once when switch to/from the amp using that one profile. I've since moved on to WSJT-X.0
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I am glad it is working for you! This is probably my most used, but rarely thought about utility. I have it set to automatically start with SmartSDR.
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Well - I was thanking you as I planned to install it. I have since tried, but get errors doing just about anything. The INI files nor the path for them is created. I even tried manually creating C:\KD0RC\Flexicraft Utility manually, but still get the errors whenever I click something that would read or initially create the INI files. I'll keep plying with it. I tried running the setup in Admin mode, but that didnt work. Debug does show the correct path but the path doesnt get created nor exists. I will keep trying a few things. Im sure the issue is local to me.0
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It;s working now - I had a space as you may have noticed, in the path I manually created 'Flexicraft Utility' vs 'FlexicraftUtility'. Thanks again for this solution.0
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I'm glad that you got it figured out! I hope the utility is as useful for you as it is for me.
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V1.04 is now available on GitHub:
* ****************************** Changelog ********************************
* V1.04
* Added checkboxes to allow disabling or enabling TX1 - TX3 during Tune
* *************************************************************************
* V1.03
* Added feature to disable TX1 - TX3 when Tune button is clicked - not strictly
* necessary
* Fixed bug where program won't start without the KD0RC/FlexicraftUtility
* folders already in place
* Added a proper Windows installer
* *************************************************************************If you have loaded this before, this version will be easier to install, but still requires an uninstall of the previous version (don't delete any folders or files, just do a Windows App Uninstall).
I prepared V1.03 for release, then caught a c.r.a.p.p.y cold and never announced it here, so here is the change log for V1.03 and V1.04.
The idea behind the boxes is that you might not want to disable one of the TX jacks during tune if you are using it to key a noise canceller, preamp, etc.
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V1.06 is now available on GitHub:
****************************** Changelog ******************************** V1.06 Fixed bug where the utility would not turn on the amp
Thanks to Lu, W4LT for pointing out a bug in the software. The problem is that the KPA 500 does not always turn on when the ON/OFF button is clicked. I finally tracked it down and have it working properly now. Thanks again for all your support Lu, I really appreciate it!
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On my windows 11 machine it comes up then disappears (crashes?)
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Hi John, I am running Win 10 here. I will grab my Wife's Win 11 machine and see if I can reproduce the issue.
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Hi John, I was able to run it on my wife's Win 11 machine without issue.
Are you running multiple monitors? Do you see the FlexiCraft icon on the task bar?
If you still can't find it, I would try rebooting the computer to see if that helps.
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I'm running 3 monitors and no icon in the taskbar. I'll try rebooting.
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Ok. After rebooting, it now appears to be working. Thanks.
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Excellent, glad to hear it!
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I have a KPA500 connected to the USB port of the Flex. Looks like I'll need to connect it directly to the PC.
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Hi John, There are two RS-232 ports on the back of the KPA 500. The one labeled RS232 (XCVR) should be plugged directly into the USB port on the Flex radio. The one labeled RS232 (PC) should be plugged into your PC. With this arrangement, the radio tells the amp what frequency (and therefore what band) the radio is on and the PC provides CAT control using the FlexiCraft Utility.
The KAT 500 tuner should be plugged into the PC instead of the radio. The PC provides frequency and CAT control using FlexiCraft.
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Nice!
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