[Elecraft] paddle key training

[WILLIS COOKE]

Hi Kate!  Nice to see you on this forum.

I will offer you another option.  Learn to key while holding a pen or pencil.  I 
hold the pencil between my middle and index fingers and in the fork of my thumb 
and index finger.  It is much quicker to get it into writing position.  Head 
copy is difficult for a lot of us and it is more difficult when trying to get 
and remember calls as in a net than trying to copy text.  


I was trying to head copy some bug sending on a video by IK0XCO and just could 
not get it.  Then I figured out he was sending in Italian and the only thing I 
could get was that he was in QSO with Favio.
 Willis 'Cookie' Cooke 
K5EWJ 




________________________________
From: Kate Hutton <katehutton at gmail.com>
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Sent: Sat, March 26, 2011 12:37:47 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] paddle key training

I'm a rightie with my dits on the left.

I also don't head copy very well.

The first few times I had the opportunity to be NCS on the slow-speed net, I
could not figure out how to write* everything *down, keep the traffic list,
etc. & also put the pen down to send & then pick it back up again, etc.  A
comedy to watch, I'm sure.

Figured out I would have to 1) learn to head copy, 2) learn to write left
handed, or 3) learn to key left handed.

Finally chose to work hard on option 1, but I did practice enough with
option 3 to convince myself that it could be done, provided that I reverse
the keyer.  In other words, dits always on the thumb.  Option 2 is pretty
hopeless.

73 Kate K6HTN