Enabling an Elecraft KPA500 Amplifier and a KAT500 Antenna Tuner to Track the Primary Transceiver's Frequency via Commander's Secondary CAT Port
de Tom NS8K
The Elecraft KPA500 is an amplifier that can be configured to track a transceiver's frequency by monitoring CAT commands.
The Elecraft KAT500 is an antenna tuner that can be configured to track a transceiver's frequency by monitoring CAT commands.
You can configure Commander's Secondary CAT port to send CAT commands to your KPA500 and KAT500 so they can track the frequency of any primary transceiver that Commander can control. If you switch among multiple primary transceivers, this approach will enable the KPA500 and KAT500 to track the current primary transceiver's frequency.
This article
shows how to connect your computer to both a KPA500 and a KAT500 so that Commander's Secondary CAT Port can send them frequency updates
- describes how to configure your KPA500, your KAT500, and Commander
If you only wish to send frequency updates to a KPA500, see Enabling an Elecraft KPA500 Amplifier to Track the Primary Transceiver's Frequency via Commander's Secondary CAT Port.
If you only wish to send frequency updates to a KAT500, see Enabling an Elecraft KAT500 Antenna Tuner to Track the Primary Transceiver's Frequency via Commander's Secondary CAT Port
Connecting your PC to a KPA500 and a KAT500
To connect Your PC to your KPA500 and KAT500 so that Commander can send them frequency updates, you will need two female DB9 connectors and a 3.5mm TRS (Tip Ring Sleeve) Plug, interconnected as shown in the diagram below:
Connect J1 to the RS232 (XCVR) connector on the back of the KPA500
Insert P1 into the PC DATA socket on the back of the KAT500
Connect J2 to a physical PC COM port or to a virtual PC COM port created by a USB-to-serial-port adapter (for example a KUSB); if the latter, note the virtual PC COM port created so that you can specify it in step 1 of the Configuring the KAT500 section below and step 2 of the Configuring Commander section below.
The above connections will
enable the KAT500 Utility to configure and update your KAT500
enable Commander's Secondary CAT Port to send frequency updates to your KPA500 and KAT500
However, these two activies can not occur simultaneously, as they both use the same PC COM port. See the Running the KPA500 Utility section below.
Configuring the KPA500
Firmware updates for the KPA500 are accomplished using the Elecraft-provided KPA500 Utility, which requires a separate connection between the KPA500's RS232 (PC) port and a a physical PC COM port or a virtual PC COM port created by the Elecraft KUSB USB-to-serial-port adapter provided with the KPA500. This connection will not interfere with the connections shown above, and can be left in place during normal operation.
As described on page 38 of the KPA500 Owner's Manual, use the front panel MENU function to make the following changes:
change the Radio setting to Serial
change the RS232 X setting to 38400
Configuring the KAT500
Firmware updates and configuration changes to the KAT500 are accomplished using the Elecraft-provided KAT500 Utility, which requires a connection between the KAT500's PC Data port and a physical PC COM port, or a virtual PC COM port created by a USB-to-serial-adapter; this connectivity is provided by the connections depicted above. A single PC COM port is utilized by the KAT500 Utility and by Commander's Secondary CAT Port - but not simultaneously!
On the KAT500 Utility window's Port tab,
set the Serial port connected to KAT500 selector to the physical or virtual PC COM port to which J2 was connected in step 3 of the Connecting your PC to Your KPA500 and KAT500 section above
set the Serial port speed to 38400
- complete any other desired KAT500 configuration changes
terminate the KAT500 Utility so that Commander's Secondary CAT Port will be able to use the PC COM port to communicate with your KAT500 and KPA500
Configuring Commander
In the Secondary CAT Serial Port panel on the Configuration window's Ports tab,
set the CAT protocol selector to Elecraft
set the Port# selector to the COM port to which the J2 in the above diagram is connected - the same PC COM port that you selected in step 1 of the Configuring the KAT500 section above
set the Baud selector to 38400
set the Word selector to 8
set the Parity selector to None
set the Stop selector to 1
set the DTR selector to Off
set the RTS selector to Off
click the Follow Primary button
check the Update every 200 ms box
check the Enable box
Running the KPA500 Utility or the KAT500 Utility
You can run the KPA500 Utility at any time, as it employs a PC COM port independent of what's used by Commander's Secondary CAT Port and the KAT500 Utility. If you are using the Elecraft-supplied KUSB adapter to connect to Commander’s Secondary CAT port as described in this article, you must acquire a second KUSB or equivalent USB-to-serial adapter to provide the required connectivity for the KPA500 Utility.
Before starting the KAT500 Utility, uncheck the Enable box in the Secondary CAT Serial Port panel on Commander's Configuration window's Ports tab to free the PC COM port for use by the KAT500 Utility. After use of KAT500 Utility is complete,
terminate the KAT500 Utility to free the PC COM port for use by Commander's Secondary CAT Serial Port
check the Enable box in the Secondary CAT Serial Port panel on Commander's Configuration window's Ports tab to resume sending frequency updates to the KPA500 and KAT500