Pedal Placement/Ergonomics

• Typing with your keyboard in your lap - JudithD
  • When I first started transcribing, - Z
  • Typing with your keyboard in your lap - Jeeperbelle
    • Try propping your pillow against your desk or - me
  • I type with my keyboard in my lap... - i_am_mtheaded
    • Keyboard trays and pedal placement - JudithD
      • My desk came with a keyboard tray, as do most of them - me
    • Pedal Placement/Ergonomics - txcatgirl
      • We aren't the only ones wanting - Me
  • I am also interested in this post. - any and all suggestions welcome.

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If anyone is using a keyboard tray, where did you get it and what type is it?

And, using the foot pedal when reclined has always confounded me.  I've heard of people typing reclined for years now, and have always scratched my head about how to use the foot pedal in this position.  I get up often when typing but still at the end of the day have swollen ankles/tight calves.  I have chronic fatigue syndrome so salt is one of my staples as this helps. 

I hope this post keeps going for a while and more people share their tips and techniques.

Thanks to those of you who have already shared!  I'll be trying to type with my keyboard in my lap this weekend.

JudithD

community college you actually intern somewhere, with a service or in a doctor's office and they offer job placement.

If you don't have experience and don't have job placement your changes of getting a job are very slim.  There are companies that will hire you without experience of you went to Andrews or M-Tec, but very difficult otherwise.

I suggest putting your resume on the various job boards.  There are companies that will hire from resumes only, they don't place ads.  I would also explore your options locally.  A small doctor's office might be willing to give a newbie a chance, might have to perform othe duties also such as filing.  

I have recently returned to transcription after several years of editing.  My left wrist has become very sore while transcribing.  Can anyone recommend a good keyboard or any other devices you have found useful in combating this problem?

Your hubby may be right!  Probably you're under significant amount of stress lately, from work.  Try some exercises for relaxation and take frequent breaks in-between.  Make sure you get 8 hours of continuous deep sleep.

I started using a split keyboard years ago.  I love them.  The first one I had was PC Concepts, I believe.  When I finally wore that one out and went to get another, I couldn't find that brand.  I got Microsoft's keyboard next.  It's okay, although the #6 key is on the left, which I found to be true of all the split keyboards.  My PC Concepts KB had the #6 on the right, which made more sense to me.  I was never able to adjust to this, so I constructed a "bridge" for the #6 key.  I have never been able to find a split keyboard with the #6 on the right.  Does anyone know of one?

Also, I use my mouse too much and I'm starting to get pains.  Yea!!  So, I'm wondering, does anyone use a split keyboard with a built-in mousepad-thingy on the bottom of the keyboard?  I was thinking about trying one of these next, but I hate to spend the $ w/o getting some opinions first.  If you use one, what brand; do you like it; does it really work; any suggestions? 

Thanks!!

I love the idea of being portable, and I've never tried it. But I'm SUCH a stickler about having the right physical setup -- desk, chair, sitting in EXACTLY the way I need to sit, the keyboard in EXACTLY the right position under my fingers... I just don't see how I can be happy without my desk and chair. Suggestions? Thoughts?

cm

Hi all...

For those of you who have been doing this awhile, what have you found to be the best practice for avoiding back pain while sitting? Should your arms be resting while you type, or should they dangle by your sides?

Also, can anyone recommend a good chair for sitting for long periods of time?

TIA 

I have been having tremendous problems with upper back pain right between my shoulder blades and up into my neck and right shoulder for weeks now.  It makes typing just miserable.

Doc said I had brachial plexopathy, and gave me narcotics and told me to quit transcription.  Since that isn't an option -- any ideas as to how to keep from getting this excruciating pain after an hour of typing?  It goes away on weekends when I don't sit at the computer, so I'm sure it's largely related to my positioning.  I've tried to fix my posture, but sitting up completely straight hurts worse than slouching.

Share any stretches, techniques for arm positioning, etc.  I will be extremely grateful.

Thanks!

They were given to me from a friend. He got them from work.  I also wear a Smart Glove at night. It has a brace on the top of the glove and beaded cushioning on the palm.

I also have a kinesis keyboard but haven't used it much yet. Too busy working to practice with it.

You can probably find all the above on ebay. That's where I found both the gloves and the keyboard.

tia

computer so you can transcribe wav files.  There are many other formats such as DSS, but they are all digital voice files. 

I don't think brand of foot pedal is important, but need to know if it is game port, serial port, or USB and how many pins it has.   The majority of them are made by Infinity in some foreign country, but sold by many companies. 

PLEASE HELP! Are wav pedals and USB port foot pedals one in the same?  I've only transcribed from audio tapes, and all this is new to me.  Thank you for your help.

play voice files  you have on your computer.   You can get them on the equipment board here, e-bay, or you can Google and get lots of other places.  Some pedals are fairly generic and can play multiple "wav" types, but some only work with certain software.  You can have a serial port connection, a game port connection, or a USB connection.

If you do not already have a job that you need a pedal for I'd suggest waiting because you don't know which kind you will use.  If you need it for testing you can download ExpressScribe for free and use the function keys to test. 

will I need a 9-pin or a 15-pin.  Also, which transcription software for playing back audio files is the best?  I've used one that was a fee download, I think it was called Bytescribe or somethingl ike that.  Does that work for most all files or should I look into purchasing something like Start/Stop or GearPlayer?

Oh and does anyone know where I can get Microsoft Word or Office Suite for a reasonable (I'd say cheap, but cheap usually means bootleg) price? 

Sorry to ask so many questions, but it's been a while since I've worked for a national.  Before the hopsital job I'm being laid off from, I worked in the office at a hospital.  So I've been out of the loop so to speak.

Thanks guys.

I am curious about this Express SCribe you are all talking about.  My doctor asked me to check out WAV pedal so we can go tapeless so that is the program etc we are looking at through Medword.com.  My cost is $190 for pedal and software.  Is there a better and cheaper way of doing this?   Another question, I am not understanding how to post questions on these boards/website.  Can someone tell me how to do it?  TIA

Hello.

I just got the WAV pedal and cannot figure how to work it.  I got it hooked up right, just can't get it to play. The company wants me to pay for tech support.  I'm not ignorant,  I work presently for a doctor and soon to work for a company online, so I hope I get the info I need too.

Good luck,

G

I use my S/S 9-pin serial pedal with my laptop.  The USB cable I bought came from Radio Shack and had its own driver I had to install.

After installing the driver for the cable, you can plug in the foot pedal.  You will need to go in to S/S under tools and change the COM port to 6, I believe.  It could be COM 7....I cannot remember.

I am in the process of buying a wav pedal. Do you have to purchase software to go with the pedal?  I want to test with a company that requires a wav pedal and when I asked which type their response was any type of wav pedal.

I changed to a new computer and downloaded by wav pedal but it is not working.  i do believe i must have to change some settings but how?  Any ideas??

Regarding the pedal, I had to purchase one recently and found a good deal on a refurbished one here:

http://dictran.com/refurbished-dictaphone.html#d148519

Look at the bottom of the page on that website.

Now, there is also an adapter that is necessary.  Here is another link that includes foot pedals as well as adapters:

http://tvps.com/search.aspx?keyword=148649