Some editing here--but this is great! I pulled out some of the post to
keep it under the 150-line limit....but I think folks will find this
of use. I hope other blind hams will support a company that's actually
making an effort to support us. (that's Elecraft if you haven't
guessed)

----- Forwarded message from Wayne Burdick <[log in to unmask]> -----

To: [log in to unmask]
Cc: [log in to unmask], Jack Brindle <[log in to unmask]>

Hi Bruce,
[...]
> 1.  Does it have a power switch?  Running power in my vehicle is always
> a pain.

No power switch, but its logic circuits are powered from the cable to the K2. If
you're turning on relays via the sink outputs, and the relays have their own 12
V line, you will probably not need to run a separate power cable to the KRC2.
But it has a supplemental 12V input just in case.

> 2.  How much current does it draw?  Is it something that could just be
> left on all the time?  Does it have a sleep mode?

It draws very little when not sourcing current to relays -- probably less than
30 mA. It will turn off when the K2 turns off. Of course you can use it with
other rigs, so you may want to turn power off to the KRC2 in that case.

> 3.  Can it detect when the K2 is turned off or on and then do something
> such as switch on one of the transistors?

Integration with the K2 is seamless: when the K2 turns on, the KRC2 turns on an
output corresponding to the band selected (including WARC bands and up to 3
transverter bands). It also turns on up to 3 accessory outputs, as controlled by
the K2's ACC menu entry.
[...]
> 7.  Can it detect when the "tune" button has been pressed?  I'd like to
> use that to turn off the amp automatically.

The KRC2 definitely knows when the K2 has been put into transmit mode, but check
with Jack on the specifics.

> 8.  How many outputs are available?  Can't quite read the PC board in
> the photograph.

10 decoded HF bands, including WARC bands; 3 transverter bands; and 3 accessory
outputs. All of the relay outputs include both sink and source lines, for a
total of 32 relay drive outputs. There are also 4 BCD band decodes which can be
inputs or ouputs. Finally there are a few analog inputs which can be used with
Icom rigs and certain band-decode boxes which put out an analog band-select voltage.

One interesting application we haven't described in detail yet is the use of the
KRC2 to control multiple rigs. You could for example have a K2 and a couple of
rigs from other manufacturers all controlling the KRC2's relay drive outputs,
and you could program the four buttons on top of the box so that you'd tap one
switch to select each rig. That rig could then control the antenna farm, etc.

The KRC2 will be truly universal in that you can use a PC-based application to
customize the firmware, then download it to the box. Most of the standard
functions you might use can also be controlled by jumpers inside the KRC2, so in
most cases you won't even need to hook up a PC to it. But that functionality
will be there if you need it.

One of the big benefits of this is that you won't necessarily have to do any
"Wire-ORing" of antenna selects inside the KRC2. You could use your PC to do all
of this configuration automatically, saving a lot of tedious wiring. The KRC2 is
the only unit we know of that provides this capability.

> 9.  Are there any inputs?  Can the controller read the state of any
> lines?

Yes. It will be able to take band-select inputs from two or three different
analog inputs, RS232, AuxBus, or BCD. The BCD format will be programmable, but
will default to the industry standard.

Unlike other decoder boxes, the KRC2 fully decodes the WARC bands, which could
be of use at your station depending on your antenna setup.
[...]
> 11.  Can the unit be programmed to send things to the K2 to turn on the
> sidetone?  This is really useful in a mobile environment if the system
> could send CW messages out the speaker as to what it was going.

Yes. The KRC2 will include the option to provide CW feedback on all K2 front
panel events, including VFO movement (with programmable band edges), switches,
and knobs. You'll even be able to get CW feedback while using the K2's menu,
allowing 100% eyes-free operation. This capability was intended as a service to
blind hams or others with special user interface needs, but it will certainly be
useful for mobile operators.

You can also use the four buttons on the top of the KRC2 to access up to four CW
message buffers (one-touch). This may be of interest to contest operators who
would rather not use the K2's "fast-play" mode since it supplants existing
switch functions.

> 13.  How "programmable" is the processor?  (e.g. what language, what
> development tools, remotely programmable, how much memory is available,
> etc.)

The programmability of the KRC2 will initially be "moderated," that is you will
work only with "events" and "outputs." A future more general programming
capability is possible but not planned at this time. We'll see how demand for
such functionality shapes up.

> 14.  Will the buttons on the unit be able to detect tap as well as hold?

They do. Various sets of default behavior are possible, including CW message
buffers, multi-rig contol, accessory control, etc.

> 16.  How much of the internal state of the K2 can it detect?  Such as
> the real time clock?

Virtually anything that affects the display can be read and output as CW. The
KRC2 detects nearly every switch press, knob turn, etc., as well.

Jack will be happy to go into further detail.

73,
Wayne
N6KR
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV/3   | "And if the ground yawned,
Phone: (814) 455-7333     | I'd step to the side and say,
Email: [log in to unmask]  | "Hey ground! I'm nobody's lunch!"
http://www.ycardz.com/    | --Eddie From Ohio