[RTTY] Station ergonomics (was Keyboard vs Mouse)

[Ktfrog007 at aol.com]

Hi,
 
I have been using Logitech's thumb-driven trackball instead of a mouse for  
a couple of years now.  Mine is right handed; don't know if it comes left  
handed.  Initially I got it because I was running out of  mouse-movement 
real estate on my desk.  I position it toward the  left side my laptop, resting 
my elbow on the desk and my right arm crossed in  front of me.  I use it 
for almost all my computer work, ham radio and  otherwise, and have never 
experienced any discomfort.  With mice I always  develop wrist pain before too 
long.
 
I was surprised how adept I became with the trackball.   Sometimes if I 
have done a lot of physical labor beforehand my thumb doesn't  work quite 
right.  That happened last night when I did some casual late  evening operating 
in the NAQP.  Then I just went to my regular mouse but  this morning I'm back 
on the trackball.
 
I'm not proficient on keyboards, so I like to use a mouse or trackball if  
possible.  Of course, in CW or SSB contests I have to type, so I  fumble 
through it.
 
On a different note, I elevated my laptop with a board at the back to  tilt 
it up toward me and put a small furniture floor protector under the left  
front corner.  The right corner floats and I can slide papers (like  
scribbling paper in contests) partially under the laptop to have effectively  more 
room on my desk.  All this sits on a desk pad with a nice writing  surface.  
I like laptops but they chew up a lot of desk space and don't  allow much 
flexibility in positioning.
 
The laptop screen is exactly in the right location and distance for my eyes 
 with variable focus glasses. 
 
My rig, keypad and key paddle are to the right.  The front of the  rig is 
elevated just high enough for my forearm to rest comfortably on the desk  
with my hand on the tuning knob.  I've never experienced any hand or wrist  
problems with this either.
 
I eventually bought the largest mouse pad I could find, about 14x17, which  
sits under the rig and extends out in front almost to the edge of the  
desk.  Now there is plenty of room to run a mouse if I need  to.  The optical 
mouse doesn't require a pad but it but it looks nice and  my key paddle stays 
put.
 
I don't operate much phone and have only a handheld mic kept lying on the  
desk to the left side of the laptop.  It would be nice to hang it up, but  
there is no convenient place to do it.
 
The coffee cup heater is to my left so I can sip java with my left hand and 
 tune and operate RTTY with my right.
 
Across the room is a cardio exercising machine I hop onto periodically to  
keep the blood flowing and the limbs limber.  There's also a set of  
dumbbells to lift and hand squeezing things (don't know what to call them) on  the 
desk for keeping my fingers flexible.  I have mild arthritis in my  fingers 
and exercise them relentlessly.  There's a bottle of Advil on  a shelf if 
needed and a Yoga meditation book on my desk to remind me to focus  and stay 
in the moment.  
 
There's much room for improvement.  I need a more comfortable  chair and 
better lighting.  Long contests leave my backside pretty sore and  that dark, 
gloomy rig front panel really needs some Brail-like controls.   My desk 
lighting is at the wrong angle to light the panel properly.   I use an LED book 
light for supplemental lighting if necessary.
 
All this is really important to me.  I'm 68 and constantly need to  mind my 
maintenance.  I just got back in from shoveling out my driveway for  the 
umpteenth time this winter.  Nothing works like it should any  more.  It takes 
a long time to recover from a 48 hour contest even though I  take sleep 
breaks.  My rule of thumb is that recovery time is about  the length of the 
contest itself.  
 
What would I give to be 20 again?  A lot.  Especially if I knew  what I 
know now.
 
What do the rest of you do?  I'm sure there  are many folks out there who 
have put a lot of thought and action into  this.
 
73,
Kermit, AB1J
 
 
In a message dated 2/27/2011 2:55:23 P.M. GMT Standard Time, chen at mac.com  
writes:

I had in  the last year  
or two been using Ergomotion's mouse because standard  mice forced my  
right hand into a fixed angle -- the mouse appears to  work for me, but  
even better would be no mouse at all  :-).