[CQ-Contest] Love my operating chair

[W0MU Mike Fatchett]

I play online games and when they come out I tend to be a tad addicted 
to them and have many of the same issues with pain under the shoulder 
blade etc.  The key for me was finding a better chair.  Trying not to 
lean forward and keeping my shoulders back with good posture.

I saw a product called the BACK JOY in a local mall and tried one out 
for a while.  I could immediately feel a difference.  I nearly bought 
one but bailed at the last minute.  They are a padded (gel)or un-padded 
seat that you can carry around with you so you can use it in the car 
too.  It might help some.  Renate,  my XYL could hardly feel any 
difference.  When I used one she said she could immediately see the 
difference in how I was sitting.  I think they have a guarantee.

www.backjoy.com

I found that I was pushing my radios back too far which caused by to 
bend over to reach knobs.  This is bad.  While I run computer control I 
have yet to let go of the VFO knob for tuning etc.

I think it is important to get your monitor so it is directly in front 
of your eyes so you are not having to move your head up or down or left 
of right to use it.

K6VVA did a number of articles for NCJ on trying to create a more body 
friendly shack.

Mike W0MU

On 3/13/2013 2:07 PM, Steve London wrote:
> Interesting thread.
>
> I have a strange contesting pain issue for which I have not yet found 
> a solution.
>
> I believe that I do not move my neck enough. I tend to focus 
> straight-ahead on the monitor, and not much else. After a 48 hour 
> contest, the back of the neck is incredibly sore when I move it, and 
> the pain can continue for up to a week after the contest. The pain 
> feels like it is in the skin, rather than deep in the vertebrae. My 
> table is lower than the standard height, and my monitor is as low as I 
> can place it, so that I do not have lift my head upward. I tend to sit 
> upright, not using the back of the chair. (My XYL says I look like a 
> turtle, and my cat frequently provides lumbar support !). Other than 
> this, I have no contest-related pain.
>
> Suggestions ?
>
> 73,
> Steve, N2IC
>
> On 03/13/2013 08:39 AM, Charles Harpole wrote:
>> 20 yrs ago, after I totalled up all I had invested in gear, I decided to
>> invest in myself.  I purchased a Steelcase brand full posture desk 
>> chair.
>> Shoulder hi back, adjustable tilt fore and aft, adjustable up and down,
>> adjustable hardness of the front seat edge, short arms (away from 
>> front of
>> desk), and a lumbar cushioning rear back.  Five swivel wheels.
>>
>> I could have bought a good antenna tuner or a Ham-M but this was the 
>> best
>> ham item I own.  It allows my thighs to be horiz, my feet flat on the
>> floor, or raised on a small stool, and back adjust. too.
>>
>> Also, I cut the legs for my operating table to TYPING HEIGHT, not desk
>> height (research on Internet), and put extra feet under the front 
>> legs of
>> my radios to angle them upward.  My logging monitor is at eye line 
>> height
>> and above the radios.  My keyboard is the shorty kind with no number or
>> arrow keys on the right side, leaves another 6 inches of desk space.  I
>> would have liked to put the keyboard in a pull out drawer just under the
>> table, but needed a twoXfour across there to hold the weight of the 
>> gear.
>>
>> My transceiver is at typing table height, with the main knob in line 
>> with
>> my right shoulder.  Being right handed to run the kbrd and Morse paddle
>> (paddle is to right of rig), my rotor controls are to the left of the
>> monitor.  I like the HyGain single button  6 pre-sets rotor control 
>> model
>> DCU-1 (note the DCU-2 is not as good but newer).*
>>
>>    Left and right speakers are separated by 5 ft. and at ear height.  
>> Manual
>> tunable amps are on the upper right (right handed) and auto-tune 
>> thing is
>> on upper left.
>>
>> VOX on ssb with Heil 4 element and headset.  (if you dont like VOX, you
>> dont have a FT-9000 line of radio... smooth).  Lemon juice drinks, no
>> coffee, finger food delivered to desk.  Empty gallon jug on floor under
>> table.
>>
>> Ant selector is remote sw box slaved to rig.  Computer gets exact rig 
>> freq
>> to N1MM log.   And, that is my only automation.
>>
>> The posture chair, however, is the most important contest accessory I 
>> have.
>>
>> 73, Charly K4VUD
>>
>> *Sadly and strangely, there is no other true and full PRE-SET rotor 
>> control
>> available.  The best the non-DCU-1 controllers can do is to turn the
>> rotable knob to the desired bearing and push go.  The latter style means
>> you must look carefully at the bearing knob for much longer time than
>> pushing a pre-set button.  Yaesu, listen up  !!!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 2:44 AM, Pete Smith 
>> N4ZR<n4zr at contesting.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Many of us will recognize Contester's Crouch - sitting in front of a 
>>> radio
>>> or a computer screen, head forward, shoulders hunched, ready to pounce.
>>>   It's instinctive, maybe, but not very healthy.
>>>
>>> For the last dozen years or so, I've had a buildup of calcium on my 
>>> neck
>>> vertebrae, pressing on nerves going down to my right arm. When I sit 
>>> for a
>>> long time - as in contests -  it can be really painful. After making 
>>> lots
>>> of compensatory changes in the ergonomics of my station over the years,
>>> this fall was disappointingly familiar, but with a new addition - 
>>> strong
>>> referred pain in the muscles just inside my shoulder-blade on that 
>>> side.
>>>
>>> So it was back to the physical therapist again, for more traction and
>>> electro-stimulation, but this time he suggested I try something else 
>>> - a
>>> large lumbar cushion placed vertically in the lower back of my desk 
>>> chair.
>>>   Because my weight would carried on the cushion rather than where 
>>> my upper
>>> back rests against the chair, the effect would be to push my lower back
>>> forward, and shift my shoulders back.  I had been using a small one for
>>> driving, to help relieve some sciatica, so I figured, why not try it?
>>>
>>> In my case, benefit was immediate and dramatic.  Where an hour or 
>>> two in
>>> the chair would produce strong pain, now I can sit for hours with no 
>>> pain
>>> at all.  I'm not about to go 44 out of 48 hours like K0DQ and others 
>>> who
>>> totally defy aging, but this way I can have all the fun I want out of
>>> contesting, pain-free.
>>>
>>> The particular cushion I use is by Tempur-Pedic, and is close to 3 
>>> inches
>>> thick.  No particular brand preference here, except that the 
>>> temperature
>>> sensitive foam adjusts nicely to spread the pressure across my back.
>>>
>>> And of course, I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. YMMV, etc.
>>>
>>> -- 
>>>
>>> 73, Pete N4ZR
>>> Check out the Reverse Beacon Network at
>>> http://reversebeacon.net,
>>> blog at reversebeacon.blogspot.com.
>>> For spots, please go to your favorite
>>> ARC V6 or VE7CC DX cluster node.
>>>
>>> ______________________________**_________________
>>> CQ-Contest mailing list
>>> CQ-Contest at contesting.com
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>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
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