Gloves

Sadly they are not astronaut’s gloves which I hoped for when I read your description, Richard. Astronomer’s gloves do have a spacey feel about them though, and technically at least, astronomers have a view of astronauts. 20 quid though… phew.
Disappointed, NSW Oz.
:wink:

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Surprisingly, I manage quite well with my fleece gloves even on CW.

If you don’t need it quite so sensitive… there is another alternative for the smartphone.
There are gloves that are suitable for operating touch displays. They are specially marked.

73 Armin

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That isn’t expensive for decent outdoor fingerless gloves. The ones that I swear by, Millar Mitts, are nearly 50% more expensive! I think the best solution that I have come across is thin gloves that don’t much affect your sense of touch and a pair of Dachstein Mitts over the top of them when you need to warm up - but Dachsteins are over £30, and worth every penny!

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Well spotted Richard. I think they look OK at the price. Quite a unique design and another addition to my colelction of gloves for various uses… With a birthday coming up towards the end of the month I’ll get of the family to get me a pair as a present. I will report back on their effectiveness unless someone beats me to it.

73 Phil

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Free ones from work. Used to replenishment of chillers and freezers. They are £1.03 a pair to buy.

Perfect for SOTA and the grippy palm is handy for walking poles, ice axes and collapsing telescopic masts.

I put fleece gloves over these if it’s really cold or mountaineering mitts over them if it’s absolutely Baltic!

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These look good gloves too Fraser, but lack the necessary finger and thumb opening for twin paddler CWers like me, who make more mistakes when thumb and finger are covered in glove material. Would appreciate knowing where your chiller and freezer gloves can be purchased. I wouldn’t mind a pair of those to try out as well.

Thanks for the QSO yesterday with GM/CS-077 on 5 MHz. It was getting dark in Yorkshire by then - you were the last station of the six I logged yesterday…

73 Phil

I had a quick Google but could only find packs of 12. As a Yorkshireman, you could do a bulk buy and make a few Bob selling the rest on. :wink:

Thanks for the QSO! Yes, it was getting dark. Interesting on 17m, working a station in North Carolina USA, then one near Edinburgh in the next minute!

I managed to get down without using my headtorch, but only just.


traffic heading through Glenshee in the gloom

Cheers, Fraser

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Thanks info Fraser. Cheap enough for a pack and can use them for gardening too. I’m not actually a Yorkshireman, but I’ve lived here since 1993. I come from the “dark side” - Yorkshire folks parlance for Lancashire.

73 Phil

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Enemy territory.

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Will try something similar…
have also some gloves that have a thin “skin”, will see which one workes better for the paddle.

Thanks for the ideas… forgot about the gloves for bikers :slight_smile:

73s
Ingo

Well Phil, as previously suggested you could keep your paddling hand warm inside your winter jacket side pocket whilst keying with this method …

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I have heard of someone who can hold his Palm key with the same hand with middle finger, ring finger and little finger that he gives with thumb and index finger.
Unfortunately I can’t do that… but that would be perfect. Then the button could stay in the sleeve. I always hold it with one hand and give with the other.

I’ve even noticed that the Palm with the metal casing gets uncomfortably cold and I prefer the one with the plastic casing in winter.

73 Armin

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This may work for those keying with one hand and writing with the other, but I see no benefit for those like me, who send and write with the same hand.
Perhaps it would be interesting to try sending with paddle and hand in the pocket, as per your proposed method, while recording the audio, so there’s no need to write a log at the summit.
Cheers,

Guru

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handwarmer

maybe that would be something nice…

a seat cushion that you can also use as a hand warmer…

I think that will go on my wish list for christmas. :grinning:

73 Armin

Well Guru, we have discussed this a few times and the cold weather pocket paddling method is yet another advantage of learning to paddle with the non-writing hand. For me, it’s not just a suggestion, it’s been a practical solution for several winters now.

Problem is Andy, my Palm Pico key is fixed to the front of my KX3 and it won’t fit in my pocket and be operable LOL. The other option is to use my HB1B and deny the SSB HFers QSOs - but I like to work a few of them if I can. I’m not big on winter bonus points, operating in sub zero condx I don’t find that enjoyable and it’s got worse since I started taking a blood thinner tablet for my heart. Unlikely I will be out earning WB points anytime soon.

73 Phil

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I have a couple of fingerless mitts Similar to these and excellent for handling in cold weather and no problem writing or sending morse.

I use this gloves for my contact less paddle.


73 Chris

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Armin, it’s not hard to do, it just takes a bit of practise [If an old dog like me can do it, so can you!]. Try it at home with your rig in practise mode. The 3.5mm to 2.5mm jack cable between the paddles and KX2 rig is 1m long [1.5m would allow even more freedom in operating positions].

My steel plate is 14cm x 6cm [7cm would have been better]. You don’t need to put a lot of pressure on the plate with the middle, ring and little fingers because a) the bottom of the plate is somewhat constrained by the bottom of the pocket, and b) [of course] you are paddling very gently with your index finger and thumb.


Obviously I can’t show it inside the pocket. The side pockets of my North Face jacket aren’t deep to get the wrist-end of my hand completely inside the pocket whilst keying but the keying fingers are snug and warm.

73 Andy

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I’m tying one of these to see if I can hold my key in there with one hand and then reach in the other end and key with my writing hand. Then pull my writing hand out and grab my captive pen that is on a string for logging. I need to eliminate gloves while operating because gloves affect both my keying and my writing.

(No, I did not get a Pink one - I got a Gray one)

Probably will slow down my responses to callers a little bit, but should keep me on the summit longer if my fingers are not numb.

73,
Jody - K3JZD

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