# K X TALK v3.3 By Ian Spencer (DJ0HF/G3ULO)

This Windows program was written by me DJ0HF and is designed to allow simple operation of the KX3 for the blind, using single key presses to select most options and doesn’t need any libraries etc. just one single exe file to run. It also works with the KX2 and K3 transceivers from Elecraft.

## Rasberry Pi

Gena M0EBP has produced an image for the Raspberry Pi which will allow you to run K X Talk on a Pi.

## The K X Talk program

The program is free to download along with this documentation and other files but of course although the program has been extensively tested you use it at your own risk.

If you haven’t already read it then I would recommend reading the Getting Started document written by Gena (M0EBP) which is part of this package.

New in version 3 is the ability to run a second program such as AC Log with your radio at the same time as K X Talk using something called a virtual radio.

And although I have made this program/package free for all to use none of the files in this package may be modified in any way without my written permission.

If you have a question which is not answered by the documentation, or a problem then I can be contacted via the E-Mail address :- dj0hf@spencerweb.net

Your Elecraft radio needs to be connected to a USB port on your computer.

## Setting up the config file

Unzip the K X Talk folder onto your computer.

Use a text editor to change the first line in k x talk.cfg to match your comport between 1 and 99 and the second line Serial speed for the KX3 normally 38400 or 9600 (I recommend using 38400). If you are not sure how to find the com port or speed, or simply want to do it the easy way then you can, connect your radio to your computer, turn it on and run the program find my radio in this package which will search all the com ports and tell you the com port number and speed and will also automatically put that information into the configuration file.

The third line of the configuration file power should be set to the power level you want to use when you first connect the program to the radio between 0 and 15. Initially this value is set to 10 watts. The fourth line is swr and if set to 0, in tune mode you have to press the S key to hear the SWR but if you set it to 1 then when in tune mode the SWR is repeated continually until you exit tune mode. The fifth line is S-meter which if set to 1 corrects the S-Meter reading by 12db (2S points) if the preamp is off, but doesn’t make a correction if set to 0. I think the K3 has this S-Meter correction built in to it’s firmware, so you can probably set it to 0 but the K X 3 doesn’t. Default is 1. The sixth line is the 6 Metre repeater offset and can be set between 0000 and 1999 in Khz with the standards normally being plus or minus 500, 600 or 1000Khz, the default set in the config file is +500Khz. The 10 metre offset is always -100Khz.

The last parameter is the virtual radio port which is normally set to zero but may be used to allow a second program like AC Log to work with the radio by sending it’s commands to FT Talk which relays the communication to and from the radio. How to set this up is explained in the document virtual_radios.pdf.

## Using K X Talk

Start the program k x talk v3 3.exe, you can exit the program at any time by hitting the Q key. If you have used FM mode then when you quit the program it will reset the FM deviation to the Elecraft standard deviation of 3.5Khz.

The program will announce the version and connect with your radio and say connected if it is successful in communicating with the radio and whether the connected radio is a K3, KX2 or KX3. If it doesn’t say connected then probably the comm port or the speed is wrong.

You can voice the help file at any time by hitting the H key.

You put the program into various modes by a single key press and when you first start the program it will initialize on 40 metres, 7.1Mhz LSB unless you have used this program before in which case it will return to the last frequency and mode you were using on 40 Metres.

### Frequency mode

in this mode if you hit the up and down cursor keys it changes the frequency by 1Khz is SSB and AM/FM modes. In CW mode it is 500Hz. The left and right cursor keys change the frequency by 100Hz in SSB and AM modes and by 10Hz for fine tuning in CW mode. In FM mode small changes like 100Hz or 10Hz are not useful so the left and right cursor keys change the squelch setting. The page up and page down change the frequency by 10Khz except in FM mode on 2 metres and 70cm where they change the frequency in 12.5Khz steps. The plus and minus keys can be used to change the frequency in 1Mhz steps.

Pressing F at any time will voice the mode and frequency and if set such things as split, Repeater and CTCSS.

If you tune the radio using the main tuning knob the program will follow the frequency changes and if you stop tuning on a station and want to know the frequency just hit the F Key. You can get the S meter reading at any time by hitting the S key and as the KX3 reads 12db (2 S points) low if the preamp is off this will be automatically corrected if the S-meter parameter in the config file is set to 1 but no correction is applied if this parameter is set to 0 (I think the K3 automatically corrects the S-Meter reading so you can probably set it to 0).

### Frequency Entry Mode

hitting E will put you in frequency entry mode where you can enter a frequency between 1 and 30Mhz. The Mhz and Khz values must be separated by a full stop/point but for example to go to exactly 15Mhz you only need to enter 15 and then hit the carriage return to move to that frequency. Entering an invalid frequency the word invalid will be voiced and the entry will be ignored. Pressing F will confirm that the frequency change has taken place if you want to check. You can input frequencies with the top row of keys on the keyboard or the numeric key pad.

### Zero Frequency

Most stations tend to transmit on exact Khz frequencies and when you tune your receiver with the tuning knob you may not be exactly on the Khz but if you tune the receiver so the audio frequencies sound a bit high then hitting Z will put you exactly on the Khz frequency in use by the station you are listening too.

### CW Spot

hitting Z in CW mode will either zero the frequency or give you a tone so you can tune the CW signal to that audio frequency depending on the spot mode selected. You are then transmitting on exactly the same frequency as the station you are hearing.

### Modulation mode

can be changed at any time by hitting the M key and it will cycle through LSB/USB/CW/A M and back to LSB. Except on 10 and 6 metres where FM follows A M and then back to LSB. FM can be used on any frequency greater than 27Mhz. In FM mode if the program says FM then it is with a 5Khz deviation for channels which use 25Khz spacing. If it says FM Narrow then it is 2.5Khz deviation for channels with 12.5Khz spacing. See Extended command mode for switching between FM and FM Narrow.

In the following modes the up and down arrow keys work to increase or decrease the parameter chosen.

### Band change mode

by hitting the B Key. In Band change mode each tap on the up arrow will go up one band or cursor down to go down one band, but pause between cursor key presses to give the radio time to change band. Or in band change mode you can go directly to any band by hitting one of the number keys 1 is 160Metres, 2 is 80Metres and so on with 0 being 10 metres and the 6 metre band can be reached by hitting the X key.

After selecting a band using the number keys the radio automatically returns to the frequency and mode you were last using on that band, also the preamp status (on or off) will also be automatically restored.

If you are not sure which band you are on just hit the B key again to voice the band and then F will put you back in frequency mode.

### Bandwidth mode

by hitting the W key. In Bandwidth mode the up and down cursor keys increase or decrease the filter bandwidth in 100Hz steps using the up and down cursor keys. The maximum for SSB is 4Khz and the minimum 1Khz.

For CW the maximum is 1Khz and the minimum 200Hz. You can use the left and right cursor keys to correct the frequency in 10hz steps while in Bandwidth mode, to get the station you are listening too into the passband if necessary.

### VFO Change/Split Mode

normally VFO A is used for receive and transmit but if you hit the V key then VFO B will be selected and used for transmit (split mode). Hitting the V key again turns off the split putting you back to VFO A for both transmit and receive.

For reasons best known to the Elecraft developers split mode only works in LSB, USB and CW but not in A M or FM so you can’t use it to work FM repeaters for example on 10 Metres, so if you are on 10 or 6 metre FM then when you hit v then repeater mode will be enabled with a -100Khz split on 10 metres and on 6 metres the offset value from the config file will be used. Hitting v again will turn off repeater mode.

So to work split you are hearing probably a DX station who says something like up 5 or up 10. So you hit the V key to select VFO B and this copies VFO A into VFO B and if he has said up 5 you hit the up arrow key 5 times to move up 5Khz or if he said up 10 you could hit page up to move the VFO B up 10Khz. You will be receiving on VFO A but if you transmit then the radio will transmit on the VFO B frequency, you are in split mode. You can check at any time which mode you are in by hitting F of course, which will announce VFO B if you are in split mode. Hit V again to return to normal VFO A operation.

### Power mode

by hitting the P key. In Power mode the up and down cursor keys increase or decrease the power in 1W steps between 0 and 15 watts.

### R F Gain mode

by hitting the R Key. In RF Gain mode the up and down cursor keys increase or decrease the RF gain.

### A F GAIN mode

by hitting the A key. In A F Gain mode the up and down cursor keys increase or decrease the A F gain.

### Tune Mode

Hitting the T key will turn on the KX3 transmitter in Tune mode so that the ATU can be used to adjust the antenna matching. Hitting T again will put the KX3 back into receive mode.

While in tune mode, the program first does an auto tune if the auto atu is turned on, then switches to manual tune automatically so you can hear the swr. If swr in the config file is set to zero then hitting S will give you the SWR of your antenna. If swr in the config file is set to 1 then the SWR will be automatically and continually repeated until you leave tune mode which is useful if you want to use a manual ATU.

### Transmit/Receive

Hiting the Space Bar will put the radio into transmit and hitting it again will return the radio to the receive mode. When you first start transmitting on a mode like SSB then there is no RF and the swr value will be zero in other words less than 1.2 to1. However when you start speaking and generating RF then my program will read the SWR and if at any time you hit S then it will voice the highest SWR it has seen during this period of transmission.

### Memories

The program offers 10 memories and you can store either a single frequency or if you have split setup then the split will be stored.

To store a channel in a memory you hit C for Channel save and then a number key 0 to 9.

To recall the memory hit G for go to channel and then a number key 0 to 9.

Trying to recall a memory which hasn’t been used results in an invalid message.

Hitting U after you have chosen a memory channel with G will move up to the next memory channel so you cycle through the memory channels.

### Level mode

hitting L after turning on the Noise blanker allows you to increase or decrease the NB level using the up and down cursor keys. Hit any other key to leave the NB Level mode.

Unfortunately Elecraft did not implement any way to vary the Noise reduction from a program so if you want to change it then the only way is to hit F4 to turn it on and immediately begin turning the A F gain control (left most knob of the horizontal group of 3 on the front panel on the KX3)

### Keyer Speed mode

hitting K puts the program in keyer speed mode and the program will voice the current keyer speed in wpm. The radio is put into CW mode and you can test the morse key without transmitting.

Use the up and down cursor keys to increase or decrease the speed. The minimum is 8 word/minute and the maximum 50 Words/minute. Hit K again if you want to confirm the keyer speed and hit any other key to put the radio back into it’s previous mode with the keyer off.

### Menu Mode

You can read and change many of the menu items from within the program. First you must find the menu item you want to read or change in the file Menu Commands text file. Then note the menu number.

To read the value of this menu number hit the N key for Menu Number and then enter the 3 digit menu number and hit Enter.

When asked for the Menu Value just hit Enter and the contents of this menu item will be read and can be interpreted using the values in the Menu Commands text file.

To change a menu item hit the N key for Menu Number and then enter the 3 digit menu number and hit Enter.

When asked for the Menu Value enter the 3 digit value you want to use and then hit Enter and the program will respond with okay.

Note ; not all menu items can be changed and the Menu Commands file may not contain all of the possible menu items.

### Extended Command Mode

Hitting X puts you in extended command mode which changes the meaning of the keys.

#### Selecting Narrow or wide FM

In extended command mode, hitting M when in FM mode will toggle between FM and FM Narrow modes. Hitting any key not used in extended command mode just exits Extended command mode.

#### Voicing other VFO or repeater input

Normally hitting F in repeater mode will voice the output frequency of the repeater (the frequency you are receiving on) but in extended command mode if you hit F then the input frequency of the repeater will be voiced that is the frequency you are transmitting on. If in split mode then F normally voices the frequency you are transmitting on (VFO B) but hitting F in extended command mode voices the other VFO, VFO A which is the VFO you are receiving on.

### Options voicing

If at any time while running the program you would like to know which options are enabled (set by the function keys listed below). Then hitting o will voice all the options which are active.

### Function Keys

F1 switches the Preamp on or off

F2 switches the attenuator on or off

F3 switches the Noise Blanker on or off

F4 switches the Noise Reduction on or off

F5 switches the Notch Filter on or off

F6 switches the APF function on and off in CW mode.

Fine tuning in CW mode can be done in 10hz steps using the plus

and minus keys. This is especially useful when the

APF function is on Which peaks a CW signal at one frequency.

F7 to F11 Unused

F12 Switch Autoatu between on and Bypass.