KComm
KComm is an amateur radio communication and logging program that has been designed specifically for Elecraft K2, K3 and KX3 transceivers. KComm has been developed using the cross platform development tool Lazarus. The program is developed and tested under Windows XP but it can be compiled under Linux (and could probably be made to work on Mac OS with not too much effort.)
Description
KComm is meant to be an easy to use low resource usage log keeping program for the average K2, K3 and KX3 user who may be a casual DXer or contest participant. Rather than try to do everything itself, KComm interfaces with some of the best available software for data mode operation and morse decoding so that you can use one logging program for all modes.
KComm is not meant to replace the front panel of the Elecraft transceiver. Its design philosophy stems from the belief that any operational adjustments, including tuning the radio, are best accomplished using the physical controls. KComm does have some features that can be used to control the radio, such as shortcuts, which store sequences of CAT commands that can be sent to the radio to perform various actions.
KComm is not a contest logging or award tracking program, though it can be used by casual contesters and award hunters. It can export log extracts in ADIF format for import into other software, and also supports Cabrillo output for submitting contest logs.
Design objectives
KComm has been developed as an easy to use Elecraft-specific logging program with support for PSK31 and keyboard CW operation. Because I was originally a user of the MixW multimode software and had several years of contacts stored in this program, KComm was designed to use the same log file format as MixW and can write to the same file that MixW uses.
KComm was developed to take advantage of unique Elecraft features such as sending CW, PSK and RTTY from the computer keyboard using computer control commands and taking advantage of the built-in CW, PSK and RTTY decoders. It does not support non-Elecraft radios. This could only realistically be achieved by interfacing with the radio using hamlib, and that would entail a loss of Elecraft functionality. Therefore support for other brands of radio is not entertained.
Software integration
KComm can be used without any additional software to operate phone and CW (using the Elecraft serial protocol to send CW from the keyboard). The program can also use the built-in capabilities of the K3 and KX3 to encode and decode RTTY and PSK31 digital modes. Through use of the PSK31 Core DLL by AE4JY under Windows it can also encode and decode the PSK31, PSK63 and PSK125 digital modes using the computer sound card.
By the use of external software KComm can also be used while operating a wide range of other digital modes, and with the best available CW decoders.
Under Microsoft Windows:
- KComm uses the AE4JY PSK Core DLL to provide integrated support for PSK31, PSK63 and PSK125 plus a 2.4KHz bandwidth PSK31 browser.
- KComm uses the PSK Reporter interface DLL to report stations heard to the PSKReporter.info website.
- KComm fully integrates with the Fldigi data modes software version 3.10 and above using the XML-RPC protocol, and can be used as a front-end for Fldigi.
- KComm integrates with CW Skimmer to allow text decoded by the software to be copied instantly to KComm log fields, and to highlight new countries, prefixes and stations already worked when in contest mode.
- KComm can read text from MRP40, the best available morse decoding software, allowing received information to be copied instantly to KComm log fields by double-clicking within the received text window.
Under Linux:
- KComm fully integrates with the Fldigi data modes software version 3.10 and above using the XML-RPC protocol, and can be used as a front-end for Fldigi.
- KComm also supports IPC logging messages from gMFSK and Fldigi allowing contacts logged using the user interface of those programs to be logged by KComm.
For optimum functionality, it is best to allow both KComm and the external software (Fldigi, CW Skimmer) to have simultaneous access to the serial port. This is possible under Windows using free serial port splitter software, but not under Linux.
Terms and Conditions of Use
Please note: Due to health and other reasons I have now completely given up all software development activities. The programs on this site, including this one, are provided with absolutely no support and there will be no further updates of any of them. Bug reports and feature requests are not required. If the source code of a program is available it can be downloaded from the program's web page so that others may, if they wish, continue development under the terms of the GNU GPL. If there is no source code download, it is not available.
Downloads
If you wish to provide a link to these programs from your own web pages please link to this page, not directly to the download file.
Software
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KComm 2.1 Setup (1Mb) for Windows
This is an installer which will install or upgrade KComm on your Windows computer. Please review Troubleshooting and Frequently Asked Questions for help with any installation issues.
Trojan alert! Some third rate virus scanners claim the installer used by my programs is a virus or a trojan. It is not a trojan it is a false alarm. See this blog post for more information. If your scanner flags this file as a trojan and you choose to believe your scanner rather than me then that is up to you. If you would like to help me and other users then please submit the file to your anti-virus vendor as a suspicious sample. This should result in it being given the all clear and the false alarm being removed.
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KComm 2.1 zip archive (792Kb) for Windows
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KComm 2.03 archive (1.8Mb) for Linux
This is a .tar.gz archive which you must extract and install yourself. The best way to do this is to unpack the archive in your home folder. This will create a folder ($HOME/kcomm/x.xx) containing all the files. The large file kcomm is the executable. You can double-click it in your graphical file manager, or create an entry for it in your KDE or Gnome desktop launch menu. Before running it you may need to give this file the executable attribute as the archive has been created on Windows which does not have an executable attribute.
This precompiled binary distribution was compiled by Ricardo, CT2GQV and has been tested under Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS.
Shortcuts
Shortcuts are lists of frequencies or sequences of radio control commands that can be activated with a double-click. Please send useful shortcuts you have created so that they can be shared with others.
To download these files, right-click the link and select Save Link As...
- Shortcuts for KX3 contributed by KE6BB
- UK 60m channels contributed by G4ILO
- EU 10m beacons contributed by G4ILO
Cabrillo templates
Cabrillo templates are used to export blocks of contacts as contest logs or checklogs, as described in the documentation. It is not my responsibility to create them so please do not ask. However, if you create a template for a contest and wish to make it available for other KComm users please sent it to me and I will list it here.
To download these files, right-click the link and select Save Link As...
- CQ WW DX CW Contest (Rules) contributed by G4ILO
- CQ WW DX SSB Contest (Rules) contributed by G4ILO
- OK/OM DX Contest (non-OK/OM participants) (Rules) contributed by G4ILO
- OK/OM DX Contest (OK/OM participants) (Rules) contributed by G4ILO
- Dutch PACC contest (Rules) contributed by PA3HGC
Source code
KComm is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2. The source code may be used to build versions for Linux and possibly even Mac OS. However, please note that KComm is not a C/C++ program, it has been developed using the Lazarus/Free Pascal development system so building it is more complicated than running configure and make. You will need to install Lazarus, and all of its dependencies, first. Lazarus is not included in the repositories of many Linux distributions (and if it is included, the version may be quite out of date), so this is not a trivial undertaking.
Change History
Version 2.11 (15 Jun 2013)
- Fixed error with ADIF import
Version 2.1 (1 May 2013)
- Minor update
- Added modes DV and JT9
Version 2.0
- Support for Elecraft KX3 transceiver
- Minor bug fixes and changes
Version 1.93
- Minor update
Version 1.91
- Minor update for Windows only: supports soundcard selection by device name
Version 1.9
- Support for separate selection of receive and transmit sound cards
- Supports K3 TB command to read text from CW/PSK/RTTY decoder
- QSL card log export option for GlobalQSL users
- Fixed several issues with Elecraft K2
- Numerous minor bug fixes and improvements
Version 1.8
- Uses latest PSK Core DLL (Windows only)
- Added large waterfall option, support for PSK125 and PSK Browser (Windows only)
- Added support for spotting to PSKReporter.info (Windows only)
- Optional automatic parsing of decoded text into log fields
Version 1.7
- Numerous minor fixes and improvements
- Updated QRZ.com callsign lookup links
- Not released
Version 1.6
- Fldigi integration using XMLRPC protocol
- Removed internal CW decoder
- Support for extermal MRP40 morse reader (Windows only)
- Support for Griffin PowerMate tuning knob
- Many more additions and updates
Version 1.5
- Fix a number of issues that were reported with version 1.4
- Improve handling of different character sets.
Version 1.4
- Support for logging from Fldigi for Windows added
- Support for sending PSK31 and RTTY using K3 PSK D and FSK D modes added
- Improved handling of CW prosigns
- The macro variable %s that was used to insert a contest exchange into text has been changed to %x. Existing macros will need to be updated.