[CQ-Contest] More footswitches

[Art Boyars]

K6VVA writes "HOWEVER...I now have several footswitches...two being the 3-pedal X-Keys switches...the ones you can program to do keystrokes, etc. In TR, I can tune my RX RIT up or down with my feet while still typing, although need more practice to be sure. These footswitches *are* "The Future",,,for a lot of slick foot-operated hot-key combo triggers, etc. - either PS/2 port or USB versions."

Well, lets not stop there.  I don't remember if somebody actually did it, or if we only talked about it, but in the late '60s there was a four-switch arrangement for a knee hole desk.  Two switches on the floor (one for zero-beating the T-4X, the other for PTT) and one on each side of the knee hole (probably one to trigger the tape recorder for the CQ, and one for the report).

W3ZZ used to tell a story about a club in Chicagoland that brought an Air Traffic Controller from O'Hare out to Field Day and taught him call signs.  They put him on SSB and he was working 'em five at a time (so says Gene).  Extending this with a little thought experiment, just imagine what E. Power Biggs could have done with with a few foot swtiches and a keyboard!  SOnR!!

73, Art K3KU

(P.S., I just got back from a week in L.A.  Stayed a mile or two ENE of K6LA.  There must not have been a contest, because my fillings didn't melt and I'm not glowing in the dark.)