Port sharing for WSJT-X

The program for FT8 and other digital modes, WSJT-X, requires control over the communications port of a rig like the Elecraft K3. But so does the log program. Fortunately there is a solution for sharing ports. I use LP_Bridge and DXLab Commander which are both freeware.

LP_Bridge works OK, although it does abort for mysterious reasons from time to time. The setup is here:

The active ports are COM16 which connects to the radio, COM14 which connects to Commander, and COM13 which is used for the logging program.

WSJT-X can however not be connected directly to LP_Bridge so for that I employ Commander from the DXLab suite of programs:

WSJT-X (v2.0.1) is not set up to connect to a COM-port, but connects directly to Commander, like this:

This runs well with my log program which is UcxLog and with the N1MM Logger+ contest program.

This means that there are quite a few comm-ports which are active at a time. A good way to see which ones is to have this Serial Port Notifier running in the background.

This blog post first appeared on the LA3ZA Radio & Electronics Blog.