[UK-CONTEST] Keyboard reduces fatigue

[paul]

Hi all, I have been reading this topic with interest. As Simon has already
said in an earlier post that at G6PZ full keyboard keying is available  but
with the facility of a keyer to be plugged in along side. As a number of
guest op's use the station it is interesting to see who  would bring a key
with them to plug in. Generally younger op's just turn up to operatate and
wonder what that funny box is  with the quarter inch jack on is for, while
shall I say more mature op's instinctively look for it and plug their  keyer
in.Changing time's I guess, but for some they just "enjoy" using the key.
One of our permenant team member's Peter G3TJE, an ex professional op, he
has served at sea, the home office, and coastal radio.He can use the
keyboard faster than anyone I know but ALWAYS uses his home brew keyer
exclusively at incredibly high rates for hour's. I,ve quizzed him on this
and he say's that he gets more enjoyment with the key. To this their is no
answer because that's what it's all about, there is no point either way, key
or keypad if it's not fun anymore, 73 Paul G6PZ ---- Original Message -----
From: "Simon Pearson" <m0clw at ftml.net>
To: "G3SXW" <g3sxw at compuserve.com>
Cc: "UK-Contest" <uk-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2005 2:41 PM
Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] Keyboard reduces fatigue


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

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