[UK-CONTEST] Keyboard reduces fatigue

[Simon Pearson]

Hi guys,

Roger hit the nail on the head. Very good point. Indeed, an operator 
can rest momentarily between exchanges, TUs and CQs.

It is, however, always important, as you say, to keep a paddle to 
the side of the keyboard for those moments where you may want to 
send something such as 'NR' or the like, but due to sleep 
deprivation maybe cannot remember the F-key in question. However, 
you could also use the keyboard, if you are a competent keyboard 
user. I often find myself just hitting alt-K and typing NR or whatever.

The discussion goes yet further when we begin incorporating SO2R 
into the picture. Using the keyboard is paramount here. However, on 
the other hand, SO2R does really _require_ keyboard operation 
because of the style of operating (for example, knowing which rig 
the CW will TX on when using the paddle can be an issue and working 
it out is not an option, you have wasted more than a second which is 
too long ;)).

A good example of efficient SO2R operation is José/CT1BOH who is 
probably better known as P40E/EA8ZS. He is, IMO, one of the best 
SO2R ops around. You can hear a 7 minute clip on his website[1], and 
it is interesting to hear that the majority of the CW is sent via 
the computer (i.e. he is listening on 10m whilst exchange/TU is sent 
on his run freq on 20m) but he too uses a key in-line with the 
keyboard. He also works 28 stations in this time frame, which 
include working 3 mults on his second rig whilst running :)

IMO, those who put in the best contest scores in the major 
competitive categories primarily use a computer for sending, but 
definitely do not ignore the key. It's always close-by.

[1] http://www.qsl.net/ct1boh/

73,
-- 
Simon A. Pearson, M0CLW