This last weekend, I took a motorcycle trip with some friends up to Beatty, NV from Los Angeles. I took the Elecraft KX2 with the AX1 antenna for 17, 20, and 40 meters, as well as the AX2 cut for 10 meters. During my spare time in the morning, I made a few contacts on that setup with 10 watts, SSB. But I also brought my notebook computer to give the remote Elecraft K4 apps a try which just became available last week.
The long awaited VK4 software app from Elecraft has been delayed for years, with no delivery date in sight. BUT, in the last month, they finished up the K4 firmware to finally allow sending of audio TX and RX over ethernet and made the APIs available to third parties. Virtual K4 is now available for Apple users, but I'm a Windows guy. There are now two applications available for Windows, and I've given them both a try; most recently I purchased Win4K4Suite which has full remote support for the K4. I also configured the KPA1500 amp for remote control, as well.
Both the K4 and the KPA1500 have an ethernet port, but my setup is only WiFi at home, so I use this IOGear Ethernet to Wifi adapter. Both the K4 and KPA1500 amp remote settings support secure connections via passwords. Once everything is configured, it's amazing. You can operate from anywhere with a moderate internet connection to scratch a ham radio itch. Here's a pic of the PC connected back to the home station operating 10 meters:
I even configured Log4OM to connect remotely to the rig to capture the frequency, time, etc. for the log. What you don't see in the screen shot, is that you can digital modes such as FT8 just fine. Using the free VB-Audio Virtual Audio Cables, you can change the mic and speaker on both Win4KSuite and the digital app (such as WSJT-X) to stream the audio between the apps and operate digitally. It just works!
There is also an open-source app that is under development that has the basics working, but lacks the overall features of the rig - I will report on that in another post. But for now, this setup has opened up whole new possibilities for operating ham radio while travelling for business or pleasure.
The long awaited VK4 software app from Elecraft has been delayed for years, with no delivery date in sight. BUT, in the last month, they finished up the K4 firmware to finally allow sending of audio TX and RX over ethernet and made the APIs available to third parties. Virtual K4 is now available for Apple users, but I'm a Windows guy. There are now two applications available for Windows, and I've given them both a try; most recently I purchased Win4K4Suite which has full remote support for the K4. I also configured the KPA1500 amp for remote control, as well.
Both the K4 and the KPA1500 have an ethernet port, but my setup is only WiFi at home, so I use this IOGear Ethernet to Wifi adapter. Both the K4 and KPA1500 amp remote settings support secure connections via passwords. Once everything is configured, it's amazing. You can operate from anywhere with a moderate internet connection to scratch a ham radio itch. Here's a pic of the PC connected back to the home station operating 10 meters:
I even configured Log4OM to connect remotely to the rig to capture the frequency, time, etc. for the log. What you don't see in the screen shot, is that you can digital modes such as FT8 just fine. Using the free VB-Audio Virtual Audio Cables, you can change the mic and speaker on both Win4KSuite and the digital app (such as WSJT-X) to stream the audio between the apps and operate digitally. It just works!
There is also an open-source app that is under development that has the basics working, but lacks the overall features of the rig - I will report on that in another post. But for now, this setup has opened up whole new possibilities for operating ham radio while travelling for business or pleasure.
