[Elecraft] Off-Topic - Straight-key speed cpontrol

[David Y.]

Hi All,

May I offer another suggestion?  First of all, I tend to agree with those 
who say the forearm should be supported by the table, with the upper arm 
vertical.  Seems to me that not supporting the arm with the table would 
substantially add to the probability of fatigue.

Anyway, my suggestion is this--relax!  Seriously, I think a substantial 
contributor to fatigue and "glass arm" is tension.  The wrist and hand 
cannot really perform effectively when tension is permitted.  Under tension, 
the muscles soon tire.  I like to compare this to a golf swing, in that 
nothing will defeat a golf swing more than tension.  There is absolutely no 
way you can properly execute a golf swing if your arms are locked and tense. 
I think the same principal applies here.

I taught CW for a while when I was in the Army.  I probably didn't have 
command of all the appropriate techniques, but when I saw a student (most of 
them actually) with a "death grip" on his key, I knew the output was going 
to be pretty stinko--at least after a short while.  By just getting them to 
relax their forearm and wrist, the improvement was really quite dramatic. 
It sometimes took a while to adjust their rhythm to a "proper" and relaxed 
rocking motion of the wrist, but it usually worked.

There's a lot more to good technique than just what I have described.  I 
think folks like Ron, KU7Y, (he wrote a booklet on this sort of stuff), and 
others, could add a great deal.  I'm pretty sure my overall technique was 
lacking in many ways, but there are some folks out there who can make a hand 
key sing!

Dave W7AQK


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Cutter" <d.cutter at ntlworld.com>
To: "Ron D'Eau Claire" <ron at cobi.biz>; "'Ken Kopp'" <k0pp at rfwave.net>; 
<elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 11:48 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Off-Topic - Straight-key speed cpontrol


> Well, you could knock me down with a feather !  (As mum used to say)  I
> cannot imagine sending for more than a few minutes like that.  From your
> description, the upper arm must be at a considerable angle to the body,
> whereas the way I'm used to, the upper arm is vertical, ie in a 'natural' 
> or
> relaxed position.  Similarly, with the lower arm horizontal, the wrist has
> an easy time because it is also in an easy, relaxed position.  With your
> description, the wrist must be bent quite sharply and I can imagine glass
> arm following quite quickly, hence the bug key invention so the whole arm
> rests on the table.
>
> I had a quick look in that book but couldn't find a picture of the method
> you describe.  I drew a side view for RADCOM several years ago showing the
> sitting position and received no comments.
>
> There's a modern equivalent: the computer key board and mouse.  I use 
> these
> several hours a day and need my chair raised quite high to get my arms as
> near horizontal as possible, but it's never quite right, hence I use wrist
> supports for both.  That's why typist chairs are so much higher than desk
> chairs.
>
>
> The way I've explained it to trainees is that the wrist and fingers are 
> like
> a gearbox, or, perhaps in modern parlance - an interface - between the 
> heavy
> weight of the arm and the delicate instrument which is the fingers.  The
> fingers stay flexible and springy as the wrist bounces up and down over a
> range of 2 to 3 inches which is translated by the fingers into a movement 
> of
> perhaps only 2 to 4 thou, ie less than a paper thickness for high speed
> work.  By the way I used a spring setting around 2oz.
>
> I could go on...
>
> Thanks for the education Ron, Ken and all.
>
> 73
>
> David
> G3UNA
>
>
>
>
>> Ha, ha David. We're separated by more than a "common language"!
>>
>> The first time I saw the form of sending you describe with the arm in
>> mid-air was about 10 years ago and I was astounded!
>>
>> Here in the USA since the the military and so civilian services taught
>> everyone to lay their arm on the desk as Ken described. That goes back 
>> to,
>> at least, the mid 1930's. That's how I've always used a straight key.
>>
>> I visited a buddy in Holland for the first time a few years ago and took
>> with me as a gift a nice straight key. He immediately put it on the edge
>> of
>> his desk and wailed away on it with his arm in the air. My jaw dropped.
>>
>> We did do that here but only in mobile units where the key was strapped 
>> to
>> one leg. In that use we also cranked the spring tension down much tighter
>> than normal when the key was on the desk.
>>
>> Ron AC7AC
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> "The elbow should rest on the desk and the fingers on the key's knob. "
>>
>> I couldn't disagree more!  I have always taught as I was taught that the
>> key
>>
>> is at the edge of the desk and no part of your body touches the desk,
>> except
>>
>> perhaps the other hand.  The forearm should be horizontal, sit up 
>> straight
>> and relax the shoulders.  It's very similar to typing.  The telegraphers
>> of
>> old had to send for hours and this is the way they did it; I was one 
>> once.
>>
>> 73
>>
>> David
>> G3UNA
>>
>
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