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KH1 Hand-Held 5-Band CW Transceiver Firmware and Utility

Important - Please read before installing the latest Production Firmware

KH1 MCU 1.19 11-19-2023

All KH1’s ordered today will have Production Firmware loaded as they come out of the box. Monitor the Elecraft Email Reflector where announcements are made when new releases become available.

Elecraft delivers new features in firmware. As a result, you should consider the Release Notes as an extension of the Owners Manual. Documentation for the new features will be found there and will not appear in the Owner’s Manual until the next major manual revision is released.

 

Current Production KH1 Firmware Release Notes

MCU 1.19 11-19-2023

  • REAL-TIME-CLOCK ACCURACY GREATLY IMPROVED: The RTC IC is now correctly programmed for the type of 32 kHz crystal used on the KH1’s main board. This places the frequency much closer to exact (32768 Hz), resulting in typical errors of 1 to 3 seconds per day. To allow this change to take effect, you must follow this procedure: (1) Set MENU:ADJ RTC to 0. (2) Use MENU:ADJ TIME to change and then set the time. (3) Exit the menu. (4) Turn KH1 power off and back on. You can optionally keep track of the KH1’s time error and make corrections using MENU:ADJ RTC.
  • ATU MATCHING NOW DONE AT LOWER POWER: Previously all ATU tunes were done at 5 watts (HI PWR). To reduce stress on the final amplifier and T/R switch, we now use about 3.5 W. NOTE: To ensure that ATU tunes occur at roughly 3 to 4 W, keep the default LO and HI PWR levels at 2 W and 5 W, respectively. These levels are set up at the factory while working into a dummy load. Actual power output will vary somewhat with supply or battery voltage as well as load impedance.

 

Important - Please read before installing the latest Production Firmware

 

Production Firmware Installation Instructions are found in the Utility Help Facility

  • All Production Firmware is loaded with the KH1 Utility. It will take care of the download and installing Production Firmware
  • Before loading Production Firmware, please ensure you have installed the latest version of the KH1 Utility.
  • See the Help → Getting Started pull-down menu in the KH1 Utility for the steps to install firmware in your radio. Firmware installation is also covered in detail in the UPDATING FIRMWARE section of the KH1 owner's manual.

 

 Download and Install the KH1 Utility for your Operating System

Note: Mac and Linux versions of KH1 Utility are in progress.

Follow the links below to download and install the latest version of the Utility for your Operating System.

You will be using the KXUSB cable to connect the KH1 to a computer. This was shipped with the KH1 from the factory.

Minimum Operating System Requirements for Elecraft Utilities

Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 through Windows 11.

Windows

KH1 Utility (Windows Version 1.23.11.8)  November 18, 2023
Note: This KH1 Utility version can be used to load KH1 Firmware versions 0.27 and above to your KH1.
Macintosh
X86 Linux
Installing the FTDI driver

Follow this link to the FTDI Site for drivers: http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm

Depending on the Operating System you have, the driver needed for the Utility to communicate with the KH1 will need to be loaded.

All Elecraft products in production use the FTDI chipset for this function. The FTDI driver allows your computer to create a virtual COM port so that the Utility can communicate with the Elecraft product.