In reply to G0CQK:
ooops
Hold your clicks a moment please…
Flickr has the hiccups. We’re looking into the problem right now.
In reply to G0CQK:
There is the old standby of Miller Mitts, they’ve been around for at least 40 years to my knowledge and that’s because they really work. The hooded version is new to me but seems a good idea!
http://www.chesterjefferies.co.uk/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=18
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G8ADD:
I’ve got Steptoe style fingerless gloves etc. They make a difference. What they don’t do is counteract the problem of 15years diabetic problems. Poor circulation to my toes and hands is the issue. So when it’s cold and I’m still then they need to be covered or they’ll lose all sensation within minutes.
As soon as I start walking and swinging my arms about using walking poles then they’re fine. Thanks for the suggestions though.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to G4OIG:
Well, when I took my 12wpm morse test, the examiner at the coastal
radio station at Mablethorpe said that all their traffic was at 14wpm
because it was easy to read without having to write it down.73, Gerald G4OIG
Gerald,
I think he was telling Porkies!
Two points:
- All traffic had to be written down either long hand or with a typewriter.
I defy anyone to remember; " Berth 67 reserved at Castellón de la Plana. Shipping agent Angélique Daniël. Bunker fuel 147.85 Francs/Tonne. Shipping line stocks closed up 13 3/8" in the middle of a 500 word telegram, regardless if it was 14 or 28 wpm!
- Of all the years taking Coast station traffic I never heard anything below 20wpm. 22 - 26 was certainly quite normal with collations taking only a few seconds at the end of each item.
Traffic through Portishead was always much faster (they had huge traffic lists)
Maybe Mablethorpe was an outlier!
Was that GKZ, Humber Radio or was it GCC, Cullercoates? My memory is fading of the East coast stations.
Anyway this is the way you take traffic, Graham GM4BES on the key.
Wonderful days…
Pete
In reply to MM0FMF:
In reply to G8ADD:
I’ve got Steptoe style fingerless gloves etc. They make a difference.
What they don’t do is counteract the problem of 15years diabetic
problems. Poor circulation to my toes and hands is the issue. So when
it’s cold and I’m still then they need to be covered or they’ll lose
all sensation within minutes.As soon as I start walking and swinging my arms about using walking
poles then they’re fine. Thanks for the suggestions though.
You could always go back to a straight key and learn to palm it with your gloves on! Then there are heated gloves available, too, but that means extra battery weight to be carried.
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G4ISJ:
Anyway this is the way you take traffic, Graham GM4BES on the key.
Wonderful days…
http://youtu.be/XSdl7eIsD_o
Great video Pete 
73,
Mark G0VOF
In reply to G4ISJ:
I think he was telling Porkies!
Probably trying to put me at my ease… which he did. I took the receive part easily enough and then charged off on the sending part at considerably more than 12wpm, only to trip myself up and have to send the obligatory string of 8 dots. That made the examiner laugh.
The station was at Trusthorpe, just south of Mablethorpe. http://coastradio.intco.biz/uk/gkz/index.htm
I still remember arriving early and walking on the beach with my co-examinee Dave G8EXL (who is now G4OIH) to calm the nerves. It was such a big thing in those days when morse was the key (no pun intended) to open the door to HF operating.
73, Gerald G4OIG
In reply to G8ADD:
You could always go back to a straight key and learn to palm it with your gloves on!
Easier said than done Brian. Morse is rhythmical and hammering it out with the palm of your hand just doesn’t work very well. I’ve started using fingerless mittens with fold over finger covers. These have helped considerably as I suffer from Reynaud’s which has similar results to Andy’s affliction. At least I can keep my fingers wrapped up during my 2m SSB session and then unwrap them for HF CW. Even so, after working a 30 minute pile up they are decidedly chilly.
73, Gerald G4OIG
In reply to G4OIG:
Fair enough, Gerald, I’m not a CW man myself but I remember being told about palming by a war-time RAF W/Op, he and others trained themselves to palm to cope with cold at high altitudes. I can’t remember what he flew in, probably not Lancasters as I know the heating vent was right by the radios!
73
Brian G8ADD
PS I just tried it out with a wartime key and it seems OK at about 12 wpm but I imagine the gloves could cause problems at higher speeds.
In reply to G0CQK:
Or even these Jim:
I’ve used this type of glove for years for winter activations. Though I can get them far cheaper from and outdoor shop, just next to Queen Street Station, Glasgow. (in case any GM activators are interested it’s heading out the side entrance heading up to Cathedral Street - good for all sort of outdoor gear - small place and no large overheads - hence low prices)
Trust you are well and your feet are ‘shaping’ up ok?
73
Jack(;>J
GM4COX
Oops - should have read further down the thread Brian had also identified this type of glove - hi! But can certainly vouch for them!!
In reply to GM4COX:
I use gloves which I recycle from work. Once they are too dirty and would normally be disposed of, I take them home and put them through the washer.
The gloves are tight fitting and provide good feed back, I can honestly say that it doesn’t affect my ability to send CW at all. They are not the warmest gloves of course, they are designed for abrasion and dirt protection not warmth, but they do keep out a little bit of the cold. I find the gloves really useful for setting up the antenna too - another task for which dexterity is important.
I am aware that Kjell, LA1KHA, also uses this kind of glove for his winter activations in Norway.
I sometimes wear these gloves inside of my normal gore-tex gloves and just remove the outer glove for doing precision tasks.
http://www.arco.co.uk/products/14A1000/70224/Arco+PU+Gripz+lite+Knitwrist+Glove
Just an idea to look in to perhaps - there are probably quite a lot of high dexterity work type gloves out there.
73
Colin, M0CGH
In reply to G8ADD:
I just tried it out with a wartime key and it seems OK at about 12wpm but I imagine the gloves could cause problems at higher speeds.
Chilled hands + gloves + driek = bad morse… at least by my hand. Not sure how the sideswiper fraternity cope with chilled hands + gloves + driek.
Anyway, what’s this? ADD on the key? - come on Brian, you’ve given yourself away! 
73, Gerald G4OIG
In reply to G4OIG:
Why do you think I said “I imagine”? That was flat out turbo for me!
Perhaps one day…
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to M0CGH:
In Antarctica we wore silk gloves, on top of which we wore Dachsteins, on top of which we wore a kind of huge canvas mitten which had a pad of sheepskin on the outside that you used to defrost frozen bits of your face.
Silk inner gloves are readily available and are nice and comfy. No doubt there are far better modern equivalents?
73
Richard
G3CWI
In reply to G3CWI:
I used to use Dachsteins for winter climbing, they were very warm - I must put some on my Xmas list, my old pair seem to have vanished!
73
Brian G8ADD
Did anyone try to “integrate” a palm paddle etc. in a bigger glove or kind of it, so that the complete hand and paddle is hidden in? I once teached me to send CW with the left hand when that made things quicker in contests, so I could allow to pack the left “CW-hand” plus paddle warm, while using a light complete glove for the writing right hand. Ideas?
73, Chris
In reply to DL8MBS:
Hi Chris,
While experimenting with a lightweight home brew paddle to take on activations I even considered using separate hands for the dits & dahs with the electrical contacts attached to my clothing.Wearing gloves would not really make a difference, but I abandoned that idea as I would probably look a little strange doing a kind of Bavarian folk dance on a summit in order to send CQ SOTA. Hi!
In the end I made a simple twin paddle using micro-switches, which worked fine up to about 18-19 WPM. I have since made a similar design using some springy steel & drawing pins, which is a bit more rugged & adjustable. I am not a big CW operator so 19-20 WPM on an activation is fast enough for me. Nothing like the silly speeds used in the CQ WW contest going on at present, although working a few contest stations running at 30 WPM+ is certainly helping my receive speed
Thanks & 73,
Mark G0VOF
In reply to G0VOF:
…CQ WW contest going on at present, although working a few contest stations running at 30 WPM+ is certainly helping my receive speed
I remember working a DX station that was sending so fast I had to use my HSCW meteor scatter tape recorder to slow down the received audio in order to get the call before I made contact. I later worked out the speed at approximately 40wpm. At least I managed to read the 599 report without having to resort to assisted means.
73, Gerald G4OIG
In reply to G4OIG:
Hi Gerald,
I am sure there comes a point when a contest station realizes they are sending way too fast for anyone to read them. However, if a rare CW operator like me only takes a couple of listens at 30WPM to determine a callsign then I can only take my hat off to those who can operate for hours on end at those speeds. You still need the thing between your ears to decipher what you receive & all those I have worked have had no problems reading my call first time at whatever speed they were calling at.
SOTA has definitely improved my Morse & I still remember the pain of hitting a barrier at around 8WPM & thinking 12WPM was a million miles away. Mostly, as with you, I think it was the pressure / stress, that you knew you had to pass at 12WPM to access HF. I listened to Colin G4OTN’s GB2CW transmissions on 145.250MHz FM while learning, & he was a superb tutor. After passing the 12WPM test I had the pleasure of assisting Colin while he assessed the local Sea Cadets on their their Morse skills.
Most Contest Morse is sent using a computer / memory keyer, but I have yet to see a computer program that reads Morse better than the human brain.
Having had the pleasure of working you on the key, I can honestly say your sending with a straight key is amongst the best I have heard.
Thanks & best 73,
Mark G0VOF
In reply to G0VOF:
Flattery will get you everywhere… is PayPal okay? 
Seems like you have better grey matter than I have Mark. Mine tends to go into overload mode once it gets above 25wpm, particularly with respect to distinguishing 5’s and H’s, F’s and L’s, etc. I have considerably more difficulty with computer generated morse, probably on account of its “sterile” nature, somewhat lacking in rhythm.
Hopefully catch you on the mode next month when I will be up in GM/SS again.
73, Gerald G4OIG