|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Speak Out
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
|
You can
write your own review of the Kantronics KPC-3 Plus.
|
VA2PHL
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Apr 30, 2003 05:32
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Good Tnc But missing good wiring Diagramms
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
I am new to packet. My friend did buy a sound card interface and had mixed result. I wanted something that was easy to operate. This is the one. I would have give a 5/5 but the manual lacks pictures for wiring to the tnc. I had to do some digging on the internet. But that is probably me i am not familliar with tnc to radio cable. Anyway it was easy to find what i was looking for. it took about 10 minutes to do the cable and.... i sent my packet and i was connected. it is too bad because the manual is good minus diagramms.
The unit is easily put in a vehicule and can take any old junk 15$ computer to operate it.
I am (HAM) happy.
|
|
KC0LKE
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Feb 26, 2003 19:27
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
The KPC-3 + has been a great TNC. I thought that it was very easy to set up. In a metter of about 10 minutes of putting in the commands. Then near 30-45 minutes fixing the cables so you can hook it to your radio. If your looking for a TNC I would recomend it. Its also very small and portable.73 KC0LKE
|
|
N0RQ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Dec 22, 2002 21:41
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
works as advertised
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
This is my first TNC, so I don't know very much about them. However, this one was easy to set up. So far, I've used it primarily for APRS. The manual was CD-only, no print version, but that wasn't a big deal. For $165, I'm happy with it.
|
|
KD7PLU
|
Rating: 3/5
|
Nov 24, 2002 02:40
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Customer Service = Failure
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
The first KPC3+ I picked up have a nice printed owner's manual. The cost was $168.00. It grounded out under the DB-9 side and smoked a breadboard run. I soldered a jumper-wire on and so far it works well. The board has one little rubber foot under it, and if the rear com-port screwes come loose, it will touch the case and smoke. Suggestion: run electrical tape aling the bottom, rear-edge of the breadboard.
The diagram in the printed manual shows the mic and spkr plugs in reverse size, but the digram is labled correctly. Don't just use your eyes because you'll wire them backwards like I did. :-)
New KPC3's come with a CD-ROM instead of a book. The price of the unit didn't go down, and you will notice the PDF manual has ALL the diagrams MISSING! Kantronics customer support basicly told me to stick it and made no response to my question 'Are you going to update the online PDF and insert the complete diagrams?"
The modem is good. Customer support is poor. In fact, Eddie Murphy had a better attitude in 48-hours than the smartAs* that replied to my email/
I like the internal 9v battery backup option and the unit works great once configured. Don't use the trial edition of the Windows Packterm unless you want to do a hardware reset on your modem.
73 - KD7PLU
|
|
KG4QWF
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Apr 15, 2002 23:40
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
A perfect little TNC for APRS
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
I bought the little KPC3+ from Universal Radio back in February after scouring the web for anything I could find related to APRS. My decision was based on the many shacks I found to be using the Kantronics TNCs. The firmware version I received was 8.3 (the latest as of this writing).
Even before the TNC arrived (it was on backorder for more than a month), I had several versions of set up files, hook up diagrams and full documentation. I waited to build the cables I needed because the KPC3+ ships with everything except the radio connector.
I initially had problems getting the TNC to communicate with anything but PacTerm (which was included on CD with the package). After a post to the Kantronics BBS, I received the help I needed to resolve this issue in less than 24 hours. (Seems that PacTerm, by default, leaves the TNC in HOST mode, which most (all) other programs can't use.)
The KPC3+ can be configured as an APRS tracker or digipeater, and is very easy to set up. You can solder your own 9-volt battery pigtail to the motherboard, and run the TNC portable. (you can even turn off the status LEDs from within the software to preserve battery power.) Some may not like the idea of completely disassembling a brand new product to add a feature that could have been included, but I keep a soldering iron hot for just such occasions.
2 telemetry input ports are available, and report voltages of 0-5 volts in steps from 0-255. A remotely logged on user could query the ports for their values using the ANALOG command. Two digital ouput ports are also onboard, and can be pulsed programmatically. Power options are varied. You can power the rig from either of the serial ports, from an internal battery or from the barrel plug power input.
I really only have 2 gripes. First, no printed manual arrived with the TNC, only a PDF file on the CD. Since it's a few hundred pages, it's just not practical for folks like me to print it out. I've only printed a few sections that I refer to all the time. The other gripe is the internal clock. It's really lousy at keeping time, and loses the setting after a power off. Kantronics offers a clock chip as an additional feature, but costs another $25.
I'm not reviewing the device for other modes of operation because I haven't used them. Please consider this review a two-thumbs up only for the APRS capability if that's what you're looking for.
|
|
KD7NCS
|
Rating: 2/5
|
Oct 10, 2001 13:16
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Hard to use
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
I had a really bad experience with my unit. I seemed to be a better deal than the TNC-2 clone that RadioShack.com has. However, it only worked for about a day and a half, and I could not log on to any of the local nodes.
Actually, all of my problems occured after I ran the free software demo that came with the unit (not the Packterm program supplied for the Kantronics style TNC's). After I ran it, I could not communicate with the TNC or the Comm port. it took some fiddling around with the bios to bring it all back, but even then the TNC would not talk to my computer.
I will say that when I returned it, the guys at Ham Radio Outlet were really great about it. They will definitely get more of my business.
I ended up getting the TNC-2 clone from Radioshack.com, and it has worked flawlessly. It's not as small as the Kantronics unit, but it is easy to use and very reliable.
|
|
M5KVK
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jun 10, 2001 11:33
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great little TNC
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I've been on packet more or less since the beginning with a variety of TNCs. For packet only (rather than multi-mode, for which I have a PK-232) the KPC-3 Plus cannot be beaten.
It is small and light but still packs a punch.
|
|
W1EMJ
|
Rating: 3/5
|
May 6, 2001 20:49
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Worked great for a while
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
Mine worked great for a while and then quit. Company would not repair unless I agreed to pay almost as much as a new one just to look at it.
Not happy with reliability of company service dept. Got sick of looking at it dead in the box so added it to the local landfill. Have heard others have had better luck so I guess I just got a bad one.
|
|
KG7IL
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Feb 2, 2001 00:03
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
The APRS choice
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
The manual is great reading for those that love configurable devices, The jumpers offer many configurations of power input location or battery mode, power consumption, Analog input and ouput.
As an APRS rig, it can't be beat.. see http://kg7il.foxinternet.net/ham/aprs/swdata.htm for information to change the beacon rate determined by if your car is running or not...
Add this TNC to your list, even if you already have one or two...
No problems, well documented and feature packed for 1200 bps operation.
|
|
IK1QHB
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jan 12, 2001 13:05
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
without problem
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I've had two KPC 3 along the years; one of it is in my shack since 1987....
never any problem. I think it's a fine choose and not expensive. Good TNC.
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
