QK-A035 Manual
V 1.0
17 of 19
2021
Figure 11 Monitor via USB
5.7 USB communication with autopilots
The communication speed of the USB interface is up to 100 times faster than a standard NMEA 0183
output. With a waypoint activated, a navigation application can send multiple sentences at a time to the
multiplexer to control an autopilot. This will cause the host buffer in the multiplexer to fill up quickly.
Eventually, sentences will be lost if no data flow control is applied.
The A035 has a large buffer to decrease the possibility of overflow, however, it is strongly
recommended the user to apply flow control (CTS/RTS) in their navigation application. Monitoring the
overflow LED indicator is another very helpful way to check the status of the communication.
6. Upgrading firmware
The current firmware version can be verified through the configuration tool (When connected, the
firmware version will be displayed at the bottom of the configuration software window).
To upgrade the firmware, you will need a FAT32 formatted 8GB (or smaller) USB flash drive and a USB
programming cable (the blue Type-B plug to Type-A receptable USB cable which came with your
device).
1. Download the new firmware file from the Quark-elec website.
2. Unzip the firmware file and rename it to a035.bin.
3. Copy the
a035.bin firmware file to the USB flash drive’s root directory.
4. Connect the USB flash drive to your QK-A035 using the blue USB programming cable and
connect the QK-A035 to its power supply.
5. Wait for a few seconds until all LEDs on the front panel light up (it can take between 5 to 10
seconds).
6. After the LEDs on the front panel go off (only the Power LED will stay on), disconnect your
QK-A035 from the power supply and disconnect the USB cable and USB flash drive from the
QK-
A035’s USB port.
