I stick with what I said!
I'd add that operating a station is similar to operating a computer,
except from more extreme positions when operating a station for bifocal
wearers.
Ergonomic Specialists and Physical therapists go through fads just like
other groups. Some prove to be good and others just fade away. Whether
good or bad they always have a stack of good reasons for doing it that
way. Many Ergonomic Specialists have minimal training.
Easily switchable positions? How many of us have the space for that? I
have two computers (full size towers) in a computer hutch in front of
me, plus two servers on the shelves. I only need to turn the chair 90
degrees to the right and move about two feet to access the HF station.
I can reach the VHF/UHF station from this position by just reaching to
the right. I have two nearly identical computers in the shop with a 1.8
through 440 MHz station. Unfortunately the desk extension only has room
for one monitor. The other sets on the left side of the desk, hiding
some of the station.
Anyone else either stands in the doorway, or puts a chair there. Space
is limited!
Ergonomics specialists? A while back, a wrist rest let your fingers hang
down with those specialists trying to get us who spent hours, often
many consecutive hours at keyboard(s). They pointed out that if you
held your hands out and relaxed the fingers were down. Nary a thought
to that position being the limit for the wrist, or basically hyper
extended. The natural position is half way between full up and full
down. It only took one day of trying that wrist rest to end up with
wrist pain.
I'm not talking about the shallow wrist pads that come with some kbds
I get to go through a lot of PT and OT, working to get the full use of
my left arm and leg back. As I've worn a brace on my left leg since 2012
it has created problems with my lower back and hips and I'd really like
to get back to typing with both hands.
I agree that changing positions is as important as changing the distance
we use for reading. IOW, it's bad for your eyes to continually look at
a monitor at a fixed distance. At least look away every few minutes.
Whether at the station, or a computer, I find it's a good idea to stand
and stretch at least every hour. Too long and my muscles complain, not
my joints.
I use large monitors and normally have two computers running at a time.
The larger monitor (normally) is almost twice the distance of the
closer. Currently I have e-mail running on this one (distance abt 18")
and QEX, QST, or one of the handbooks. on the other to the right, facing
me(distance abt 36"). I no longer collect QSTs. When I gave them to a
new ham it took two trips with a small pick-up truck. I'd like to load
the entire collection on my server(s) with a master index, but the very
early ones are somewhat crude.
With the typical desk mounted monitor bifocal wearers will invariably
end up, leaning closer and tilting their head back which is bad for the
neck, eyes, back, and hips
Lumbar support is why I mentioned, or stipulated using a fully
adjustable chair that fits you. My chairs all provide support to the
lower back. To get full support I need the correct height, correct
tilt, correct position for the lumbar support, correct height, and
surprisingly the correct distance to the screen.
Standing on a hard floor which is normally concrete, or the rugged
Indoor, out door carpet which offers little support at the office or out
in the plant is hard on nearly everything.. Our skeletal and muscular
structure developed long before modern conveniences. How do we rest our
legs and feet? It's either sitting, or laying down.
I've never been able to stand in one position for long even when young.
It makes my feet, legs, hips, and back hurt.
Adjustable desk height is good, as I find the standard desk height to be
inconvenient. Given a choice, I'd place the primary display a few
inches, maybe 6, above the keyboard tilted up to face me. I find the
standard monitor placement to be quite inconvenient and it produces a
lot of neck strain As a touch typist, I didn't need to look at the kbd
to type 60 - 70 WPM.
73
Roger (K8RI)
On 10/14/2016 Friday 10:24 AM, Gary Johnson wrote:
>Another fad.
>Those are fine in a lab, or where you walk up and making entries, BUT
>working from a "stationary" standing position can damage feet, knees,
>hips and even your lower back.
NOT a fad. And you missed the point: This device, like other modern
height-adjustable desks, allows you to easily SWITCH between sitting
and standing. Ask any ergonomics consultant, ask any physical
therapist, and they will confirm that 1) sitting puts higher stress on
the lumbar region of your back than standing; 2) our skeleton and
anti-gravity musculature evolved in a way that is optimized for
standing, not sitting; 3) changing positions is always better than
remaining eternally in one position. The only thing better would be a
desk that lets you waltz around the room, or maybe we should just
operate from our mobile devices. The reason we end up sitting all the
time is that we are lazy! So lazy that many of us can't handle a
decent hike at middle age. No wonder everything hurts... Walking the
halls at work, I saw at least half the offices outfitted with
electrically-actuated adjustable-height desks, folks have learned how
to use them, and they are popular. That's the result of an effective
ergonomics program.
Gary NA6O
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73
Roger (K8RI)
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