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ELECRAFT K4 PROGRAMMER'S REFERENCE

Copyright 2021   Elecraft, Inc.

Rev. B12

Table of Contents

Introduction
Protocol and Syntax
Multiple Client Support
Streaming Data
Using Commands in Switch Macros
Command Reference

Radio Commands
Menu Access Commands
Display Commands

Change History

Introduction

This manual describes all K4 remote-control commands. These can be used by computer
application developers to emulate the K4's front panel controls, or by operators who wish to
customize K4 or K-Pod switch functions.

Since the transceiver supports fast digital I/O over Ethernet, it can provide

Streaming Data

,

including dB/bin data for software panadapter emulation, IQ for demodulation and programs like
Skimmer, and receive/transmit digitized audio.

The K4 executes a superset of the commands from the K3/K3S transceiver and P3 panadapter.
Some commands support both a new K4 format as well as the legacy K3/K3S or P3 format.
Some commands also have a new

toggle

or

increment/decrement

SET variation to simplify

front-panel switch emulation. All variations are described in the

Command Reference

sections.

Multiple remote-control clients are supported via the Ethernet and USB ports (see

Multiple Client

Support

). Each client can independently poll the K4 to obtain information needed to support its

own user interface. Auto-Info (AI) mode is also provided to broadcast radio control changes to all
clients. See

Polling vs. Auto-Info (AI)

.

Summary of Contents for K4

Page 1: ...ng dB bin data for software panadapter emulation IQ for demodulation and programs like Skimmer and receive transmit digitized audio The K4 executes a superset of the commands from the K3 K3S transceiver and P3 panadapter Some commands support both a new K4 format as well as the legacy K3 K3S or P3 format Some commands also have a new toggle or increment decrement SET variation to simplify front pa...

Page 2: ...of interest by using GET commands Typically only a small subset of K4 commands is used for a given application An alternative is to place the K4 into AI auto info mode In this case every control change at the radio due to either local or remote control by any client will generate a corresponding GET response automatically The application can use all or a subset of these responses to update its int...

Page 3: ... subset of K3 K3S switches that have matching K4 functions These are provided for compatibility with existing applications Example SWT16 simulates tapping the K4 s XMIT switch identical to SWT16 on the K3 K3S Meta commands K2 K3 K4 affect behavior of certain individual commands and the overall protocol Refer to the command reference for details Display commands are preceded by a symbol to disambig...

Page 4: ...imize stream bandwidth to suit host computer applications Streaming protocols are being refined and will be fully documented in a subsequent revision of this document Using Commands in Switch Macros One or more K4 remote control commands can be concatenated together to form macros that perform user defined functions For example the sequence FA14085 MD6 DT2 PC070H puts the radio on a common 20 mete...

Page 5: ...at AI mode AIn where n is the auto info mode 0 Auto info off 1 VFO RIT and certain other control changes generate periodic IF responses 2 All control changes generate periodic responses 3 N A reserved for future use 4 Immediate notification of changes not made by client see NOTE1 5 Immediate notification of all changes see NOTE1 SET RESP format AI Delay AIDxxx where xxx is the delay in ms 60 to 99...

Page 6: ...s in CW mode AR RX Antenna SET RESP format AR n where n is 0 Disconnected all RX RF sources disconnected from target RX 1 EXT XVTR IN RX ANT IN2 external transverter IN jack 2 RX USES TX ANT the antenna currently selected for the transmitter 3 INT XVTR IN internal transverter IN 4 RX ANT IN1 receive antenna 5 ATU RX ANT1 see NOTE1 6 ATU RX ANT2 see NOTE1 7 ATU RX ANT3 see NOTE1 This command select...

Page 7: ...BN nn where nn is the band number 00 160 m 10 6 m 16 25 transverter bands 11 15 reserved for future HF bands INCR DECR format BN or BN increments or decrements current band TOGGLE format BN alternates between the two most recently used bands NOTE The XV command can also be used for transverter band selection BR Serial Port Baud Rate SET RESP formats BRpbbbbbb sets port p s baud rate where p is 0 2...

Page 8: ...AGC threshold Use GT to turn off AGC Use AL to limit audio signal strength when AGC is off DE Command Processing Delay SET only SET format DEnnn where n can be 001 to 999 ms 10 i e up to 9 99 seconds TBD DM DTMF SET only SET format DMn where n 0 9 A D or Applies to FM mode only DN DNB VFO Move Down SET only SET format DN move VFO A down one unit based on the current VFO step size or DNB same for V...

Page 9: ... diversity on causes the sub rx to also turn on ER Configuration Error GET only GET RESP format ERnn where nn is a configuration error number ER responses are generated when certain commands are rejected due to context GET returns last error For example there are various invalid combinations of SB sub RX AR RX antenna and FT split NOTE The full list of error codes appears in the K4 Built In Operat...

Page 10: ...atibility It is equivalent to FT0 FT Split SET RESP format FTn where n 0 SPLIT off or 1 SPLIT on TOGGLE format FT alternates between SPLIT on and off FX Audio Effects SET RESP format FXn where n is 0 0ff 1 delay sim stereo 2 pitch map NOTES 1 If the sub receiver is on SB command normal stereo audio effects do not apply 2 The K3 doesn t support pitchmap mode Instead it has a BIN mode that is not av...

Page 11: ...ant IP IP Address RESP format IPV4 aaa bbb ccc ddd where aaa ddd are the fields of the transceiver s assigned IP address IS IF Center Pitch SET RESP format IS nnnn where nnnn pitch x10 Hz IS9xxx sets per mode default K3 SET RESP format IS nnnn where nnnn pitch Hz IS 9xxx sets per mode default NOTE This command is named IS IF Shift for legacy compatibility reasons It is actually an AF center pitch ...

Page 12: ...essage Repeat Interval If is a W for wait processing of any following host commands will be delayed until the current message has been sent This is useful when a KY command is followed by other commands that may have side effects e g KS keyer speed RESP format KYn where n is 0 CW text buffer not full or 1 buffer full The following keyboard characters are mapped to CW prosigns KN AR BT AS SK VE In ...

Page 13: ...r 1 VFOs linked turns on link icon to the left of the VFO B numeric display When the VFOs are linked VFO A controls both VFOs If VFO B is offset from VFO A the offset amount will be preserved as VFO A is tuned LO Line Out Pending SET RESP format LOlllrrrm where lll left line level 0 040 actual range TBD rrr right line level 0 040 m mode 0 Right channel is independent 1 Right channel uses Left chan...

Page 14: ...rmal 1 CW reverse b1 0 LSB 1 USB default is LSB for 160 80 40 m USB for other bands b2 0 DATA A normal 1 DATA A reverse b3 0 AFSK A normal 1 AFSK A reverse b4 0 FSK D normal 1 FSK D reverse b5 0 PSK D normal 1 PSK D reverse b6 0 reserved for future use b7 0 reserved for future use MB Message Bank Pending TBD MC Memory Channel Pending TBD MD Operating Mode SET RESP format MD n where 0 N A 1 LSB 2 U...

Page 15: ...oice and nnn is 000 100 In CW direct data modes this is the sidetone alert tone level in voice modes speech monitor level in AF data modes data monitor level GET format MLm where m is 0 CW 1 AF data or 2 voice K3 SET RESP format MLnnn where nnn is 0 60 and applies to the current mode see above MS Mic Setup Pending SET RESP format MSabcde where a front mic preamp 0 0 dB 1 10 dB 2 20 dB b front mic ...

Page 16: ...OM Option Module Info GET only RESP format OM APXSHML14 where any of the option characters when present indicate detected option modules see list below The positions of the letters are fixed If a module is not present its letter is replaced by a dash The letters and associated positions in the OM string refer to the following option modules A ATU KAT4 P PA KPA4 X XVTR additional fields will be use...

Page 17: ... format PCnnnr where nnn is power output and r is the power range L low power QRP 0 1 10 0 W H high power QRO 1 110 W X milliwatt range for XVTRs 0 1 10 0 mW NOTE If r is omitted L range is assumed for both SET and get response TBD Also see PP command per band power control barefoot or with ext amp PK Port Keying Setup PTT KEY FSK SET RSP format PKnpf GET format PKnp where n serial port number 1 U...

Page 18: ...mbers shown as nn above are not standardized by the EIA TIA they vary by manufacturer The K4 s PL command uses them only as a monotonic table index PM Panadapter Mode TBR Internal command SET RESP format PMn where n 1 for single padapter 2 dual panadapter PO Power Output Pending RESP format POnnnn where nnnn is current TX power output in tenths of a watt SET format POn where n is 1 for automatic d...

Page 19: ...0 Hz b 200 Hz c 400 Hz d 800 Hz e 1200 Hz f 1600 Hz g 2400 Hz h 3200 Hz SET format flat REF sets all RX EQ bands to 00 RG RF Gain SET RESP format RG nn where nn is 00 to 60 0 to 60 dB NOTE This is an internal DSP scalar applied ahead of all other signal processing It does not change gain ahead of the ADC For that purpose use the PA preamp or RA receive attenuation commands RO RIT XIT Offset SET RE...

Page 20: ...u need a KRX3 for this purpose But on the K4 single antenna sub RX dual watch is a standard feature Adding a KRX4 provides independent dual receive separate antennas and BPFs for main sub SC Screen Count count of attached monitors SET RESP format SCn where n is 1 LCD only or 2 LCD plus external monitor SD VOX or QSK Delay SET RESP format SDxyzzz where x is 1 to turn on full CW QSK delay 0 or 0 to ...

Page 21: ... of RF reports SM S Meter GET only RESP format SM nn where nn is s meter value in bars matches K4 bar graph SET format SMn where n is 1 Automatically delivered when s meter value changes NOTE GET format is meta mode dependent and required for K4 style response NOTE SET format is not meta mode dependent Requires AI4 for delivery If K4 meta mode is not enabled K41 the response is a K3 backward compa...

Page 22: ...format SQ nnn where nnn is 000 040 Typical setting is 22 SW K4 Front Panel Switch emulation SET only SET format SWnnn where n is switch or button ID n can have 1 2 or 3 digits See full list of switch emulation codes below Also see SWT SWH commands K3 K3S switch emulation A B SW41 A B SW72 ADJ SW143 AF REC SW138 ALT SW148 ANT SW60 APF SW144 ATTN SW141 AUTO SW146 B A SW147 CLR SW64 DIV SW152 FIL SW3...

Page 23: ...XMIT SW30 SWT SWH K3 Switch Tap Hold Emulation SET only Some K4 switch functions will be mapped to K3 K3S equivalent SWT SWH switch codes for backward compatibility List TBD TB Buffered Text Pending GET format TB RESP format TB trrs where t is the number of queued transmit characters still to be sent from KY packets up to 9 and 9 if higher than 9 rr is the count of available receive characters for...

Page 24: ...00 Hz f 1600 Hz g 2400 Hz h 3200 Hz TG TX Gain constant Pending TBD TM TX Meter Data Automatically delivered to clients when TX metering data changes AUTORESP format TMaaabbbcccddd where aaa is ALC bars bbb is CMP dB ccc is FWD power watts in QRO mode tenths of a watt in QRP mode and ddd is SWR 1 10th units SET format TMx where x is 1 for on and 0 for off TQ TX query GET only RESP format TQn where...

Page 25: ...nn where m mode V voice D AF Data nnn 000 060 Sets VOX gain for specified mode Also see VX VI and SD VI VOX Inhibit or anti vox SET RESP format VInnn where nnn 000 060 Sets VOX inhibit anti vox level for voice modes Also see VX VG and SD VT VFO Tune Step SET RESP format VT n where n is 0 5 0 1Hz 1 10Hz 2 100Hz etc VX VOX On Off SET RESP format VXmn where m mode C CW direct data V voice D AF data a...

Page 26: ...tup SET RESP formats XVNn where n is the XV band to setup 1 12 XVMn where n is the XV mode 0 off 1 external XVRnnnnn where nnnnn is the XV band lower edge in MHz 0 99999 XVInn where nn is the IF band in MHz 0 53 XVO nnnnn where is and nnnnn is the offset in Hz 0 99999 corrects for oscillator multiplier chain error XVPnnn where nnn is the power output in 0 1 mW units 0 1 to 5 0 Example XVP010 1 0 m...

Page 27: ...hange menu settings SET RESP format MEiiii nnnn where iiii is the menu ID and nnnn is the parameter value All menu entries are listed below in menu alphanumeric order Menu Entry ID AF Limiter AGC off 0039 AGC Attack 0011 AGC Decay Fast 0009 AGC Decay Slow 0008 AGC Hold Time 0007 AGC Noise Pulse Reject 0013 AGC Slope 0012 AGC Threshold 0010 AutoRef Averaging 0048 AutoRef Debounce 0049 AutoRef Offse...

Page 28: ...Auto Attenuation 0073 RX Dyn Range Optimization 0097 Screen Cap File 0080 Serial RS232 Auto Info 0065 Serial RS232 Baud Rate 0057 Serial RS232 DTR 0054 Serial RS232 RTS 0055 Serial USB PC1 Auto Info 0066 Serial USB PC1 Baud Rate 0060 Serial USB PC1 DTR 0058 Serial USB PC1 RTS 0059 Serial USB PC2 Auto Info 0067 Serial USB PC2 Baud Rate 0063 Serial USB PC2 DTR 0061 Serial USB PC2 RTS 0062 Speaker In...

Page 29: ...nu on the K4 LCD and set it to the specified menu entry SET format MOiiii where iiii is the menu ID to display on screen NOTE MO0255 will close the menu if displayed Display Commands AR Auto Ref Settings SET RESP format normal ARaadd oom where aa averaging constant 6 to 24 dd debounce constant 6 to 24 oo user desired offset 24 m mode 1 for on 0 for off SET format special ARn where n is 0 Reset aut...

Page 30: ...Calibration must be done per band CALoffset will be sent to clients The offset is automatically applied and only reported for informational purposes DSM Display Mode LCD HDSM Display Mode External Monitor Allows toggling spectrum and waterfall SET RESP format DSMn where n is 0 spectrum only 1 spectrum waterfall 2 spectrum power TBD for P3 compatibility 3 spectrum waterfall power TBD for P3 compati...

Page 31: ...format MP n where n is 0 off to 1 display NBL DDC Noise Blanker Level SET RESP format NBL n where n is 0 to 14 Applies to both LCD and external monitor NB DDC Noise Blanker toggle SET RESP format NB n where n is 0 off or 1 on Applies to both LCD and external monitor PKM Panadapter Peak Mode SET RESP format PKMn where n is 0 off or 1 on REF Panadapter Reference Level LCD HREF Panadapter Reference L...

Page 32: ... set format WBS Waterfall Color Range LCD HWBS Waterfall Color Range External Monitor SVWB alias SET RESP format WBSn where n is 5 to 30 WFC LCD Waterfall Color Mode HWFC Waterfall Color Mode External Monitor SET RESP format WFC n where n is 0 gray 1 color 2 teal tone 3 blue tone 4 sepia tone WFH Waterfall Height LCD HWFH Waterfall Height External Monitor SET RESP format WFHnnn where nnn is 000 to...

Page 33: ...arker Display Mode MKB Marker Display Mode QSY QSY to marker support one level undo P3 Commands Not Supported The following P3 commands are not presently supported BMP BR ER EW FNL FNX FON LBL LD PS PT RCF RST RVF RVM RVS SVDT SVEN SVFN SVRS TP XCV Static default responses for the above will be added as required to retain backward compatibility Change History Rev A1 Sept 5 2020 Initial release wit...

Page 34: ... of selecting transverter bands Rev B4 Mar 2 2021 Updated OM command Now returns a 4 to ID a K4 D HD Added M for K4 Mini K4 0 Removed R KREF4 is not an option Rev B5 Mar 9 2021 Changed field c definition of MS command PTT button disable is no longer available Rev B6 Mar 12 2021 Power control range in mW mode PCnnnX is now 0 1 10 0 mW Noted that the AN and AR commands apply only to HF 6 meter anten...

Page 35: ...Rev B12 July 14 2021 Updated SW command values Added list of menu entries see ME command Back to Table of Contents ...

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