Very useful stuff, Rob. Do you know offhand which menu items to set to make 
the rig display text? I've been meaning to search through the manual but 
haven't had time lately. I also need to learn the hampod firmware upgrade 
procedures so that's another reason to give you a call one of these days. 
73,  Lou
Lou Kolb
Voice-over Artist:
Radio/TV Ads, Video narrations
Messages On-hold:
www.loukolb.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rob" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 7:11 PM
Subject: HamPod K3 Reader and CW Decode


> Hi Guys,
>
>     Since there have been some questions regarding the K3/KX3 and
> HamPod implementation of CW decoding, let me clarify a couple points.
>   The display on the K3/KX3 has two areas referred to as the V F O A
> display area and the V F O B display area. Usually, these display the
> related V F O frequencies respectively. When the radio is set to decode
> CW, it is displayed in the V F O B display area and that display can
> only show 8 characters at a time so when it is decoding CW, the text is
> scrolled across that small display. Once the text scrolls across the
> display, it is gone from sight. That is why most operators connect the
> radio to a computer running an application to display that decoded text
> where it remains on the screen for review. Internally the radio
> maintains a 40 byte buffer of the decoded  text and the contents of that
> buffer is available through the serial port. The K3 and KX3 currently
> also decode PSK31 and RTTY signals and there is talk of adding PSK63 in
> the future. So with the HamPod, I can access that 40 character buffer
> and speak its contents. While that sounds good at first glance, there
> are issues here. I continuously read the buffer but in order to
> correctly pronounce the text, I need to wait until a complete word or
> block of text appears so I can sensibly speak it as a word or read it a
> letter at a time in case it is a call sign or other non word. This means
> there is some latency when receiving  before the text will be spoken.
> Normally that is good and is not a problem unless you are trying to tune
> in the signal. If the signal is marginal or not properly tuned in, you
> are likely to get jibberish and there can be a length of time before a
> break or space comes along so I can try to format and speak that text.
> Also, undecodable text is replaced by an Asterisk character within the
> radio so you hear a lot of those. All these factors make tuning in the
> signal a bit challenging. With experience, you begin to know what a
> correctly tuned signal sounds like which helps make this easier. A
> sighted user can instantly see the display as they tune in the signal
> which is a tremendous help. The other frustration is that once the text
> goes by, it is gone. There is no way to review it as there is when
> running an application on a connected computer. I have some thoughts on
> how to try to implement a better tuning mode and will add that in the
> future. But despite those short comings, with a good, properly tuned
> signal, it is pretty neat to hear the HamPod read the data mode text to
> you.
>
> Hope that helps,
> Rob
> K6DQ