Kantronics KPC3+ TNC

[Mike McRoberts]

Hello all.

No amount of Google foo has helped me find a definitive answer to whether pat will work with a physical TNC. Telnet via wl2k works perfectly, but I want to get Winlink via packet working too. I can also boot into Win10 (ugh) and use Winlink Express successfully, but I don't want to use Windows.

I followed all of the instructions on the pat github page (https://github.com/la5nta/pat/wiki) to no avail.

If anyone has a working configuration using linux with a KPC3+, or other TNC, could you please post your config.json file here?

Thanks in advance.

73, Mike/KY6MM

[Dr. Torsten Harenberg]

Hi Mike,

as the KPC3+ seems to support KISS mode [1], you should be able to use

https://github.com/la5nta/pat/wiki/AX25-Linux

or use the pat-gensio branch

https://github.com/cminyard/pat/tree/gensio-work

if you want to avoid Kernel AX.25 - that should keep the configuration
much simpler, too.

73s

Torsten DL1THM

[1] see the manual
https://kantronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/KPC-3Plus-Manual-RevH.pdf
page 142




Am 05.05.25 um 02:00 schrieb Mike McRoberts:

[Jon Jacox]

I use PAT on Linux with the KPC3+ and it works very well. It was easier for me to configure ax.25 as part of the kernel rather than mess with the gensio branch, which I cannot get to work (on Windows). Anyway, if you still need the config information, let me know. For the KPC, you need to be in KISS mode so intface kiss at the prompt from a serial terminal. 

[chris harwood]

First post, new to the group. Thanks for leaving these breadcrumbs... and all hte effort to keep Pat moving forward.

I've got Pat on a Pi using PTC-II (without packet modules) on /dev/ttyUSB0 working great. 706MkIIG. 

FWIW, upgrade from v0.16 to v0.19.1 was seamless.

Someone gifted a Kantronics KPC3+/TM-261A and I'd like this to work off the same Pi for local connections on VHF.

I can successfully use minicomm via /dev/ttyUSB1 to the KPC3+ and key it. I think what I need in Pat is something like:

(crc=yes,debug=0x18)kiss,serialdev,/dev/ttyUSB1,9600n81,local

Will these two coexist or should I try to go a different route trying the kernel AX.25?

Thanks in advance,

73, Chris

AA6AT

[Corey Minyard]

On Thu, Oct 16, 2025 at 2:55 PM chris harwood <crha...@gmail.com> wrote:

First post, new to the group. Thanks for leaving these breadcrumbs... and all hte effort to keep Pat moving forward.

I've got Pat on a Pi using PTC-II (without packet modules) on /dev/ttyUSB0 working great. 706MkIIG. 

FWIW, upgrade from v0.16 to v0.19.1 was seamless.

Someone gifted a Kantronics KPC3+/TM-261A and I'd like this to work off the same Pi for local connections on VHF.

I can successfully use minicomm via /dev/ttyUSB1 to the KPC3+ and key it. I think what I need in Pat is something like:

(crc=yes,debug=0x18)kiss,serialdev,/dev/ttyUSB1,9600n81,local

This is with pat-gensio, not normal pat.  You can get pat-gensio at https://github.com/cminyard/pat

 

Will these two coexist or should I try to go a different route trying the kernel AX.25?

The two would co-exist, I believe, but I have not tried it.  It wouldn't be any different than using the kernel stack from a co-existence point of view.

Thomas got it working, I'm adding him to the email, as I don't have hardware to test this and we went back and forth debugging things.  But I think the latest version of pat-gensio should work.

-corey

 

Thanks in advance,

73, Chris

AA6AT

On Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at 9:49:54 PM UTC-7 Jon Jacox wrote:

I use PAT on Linux with the KPC3+ and it works very well. It was easier for me to configure ax.25 as part of the kernel rather than mess with the gensio branch, which I cannot get to work (on Windows). Anyway, if you still need the config information, let me know. For the KPC, you need to be in KISS mode so intface kiss at the prompt from a serial terminal. 

On Sunday, 4 May 2025 at 17:00:24 UTC-7 mi...@mcrhome.com wrote:

Hello all.

No amount of Google foo has helped me find a definitive answer to whether pat will work with a physical TNC. Telnet via wl2k works perfectly, but I want to get Winlink via packet working too. I can also boot into Win10 (ugh) and use Winlink Express successfully, but I don't want to use Windows.

I followed all of the instructions on the pat github page (https://github.com/la5nta/pat/wiki) to no avail.

If anyone has a working configuration using linux with a KPC3+, or other TNC, could you please post your config.json file here?

Thanks in advance.

73, Mike/KY6MM

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[Rich Sahlender]

As long as you manually put the KPC3+ into KISS mode before running
gensio pat the following in the gensio section of the config.json file
works for me with an old TM-G707 and a KPC3+:

"kiss,serialdev,/dev/ttyUSB0,9600n81,local,rtscts"

And don't forget the url format as ax25+gensio:///<your-favorite-RMS>
otherwise with only ax25 like normal pat it will expect an AX25 kernel
configuration.

73 de Rich WA3WLH