On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 19:21:00 GMT, "Dan/W4NTI" w4nti@get rid of this
mindspring.com wrote:

Somewhere in a older QST I saw some articles about using touch keying. It
is a device that detects the human finger. Forget the name it was called,
but it is a capacitive effect system.

Perhaps that would work ??

Some concerns with these:

The precision of when/where exactly they activate is a bit variable,
and it could be hard for crisp code xmissions. There is a fairly wide
"maybe" area with this type of switch.

Experiment with the ones on some elevators.

OSHA does allow them in limited circumstances in lieu of the spring
activated buttons used as go/no go switches for industrial equipment,
but that is a different situation.

Also note that some capacitive switches are sensitive to stray RF.

Worth a look, but I would go for some sort of photolectric device
first, where the user holds a paddle or some opaque object and waves
it back and forth to cut the dit circuit or the dash circuit. Much
more particular about the on/off distinction. One could use these NO
or NC as the situation warranted.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom