sparky

For a serial pedal we require 2 normally open switches?

1 contact on each switch is common and connected to pin 4?

The other side of the switch is connected to pin 1 and 6 for Play and rewind?

o-------------- 1

/ Play - FF

o

|-------------- 4

o

/ Rewind

o-------------- 6

Should this work on all types of serial port (DB9)? Any known exceptions?

How are you guys using the pedal? just keep it pressed till you want it to stop or tapping it to start and tapping it to stop?

I've tried both ways. As soon as you touch the play button it fast forwards! I've tried it with and without the "tap" option set.

I've have run the foot pedal setup many times, but the problem is not resolved.

 

I'll be transcribing in Word as usual without any problems. At any point, I'll lift my foot from the pedal, but the voice file will keep playing. I can tap the foot pedal over and over aGain, but it doesn't stop the voice file. I have to switch over to Express Scribe and manually (F4) stop the voice file. This is extremely annoying and I would appreciate any solution to the problem.

What type of pedal are you using? Does the playback start when you press the play pedal or do you have to start manually?

Sounds similar to the problem I am having with a serial pedal.

I recently rewired a 2-button pedal from a Panasonic transcription machine with good results. The important thing about the Panasonic pedal is that it contains two momentary-on switches. So, my experiences should apply to any such pedal.

 

Supplies needed for the conversion:

 

An existing foot pedal

3-conductor wire (for a two-button pedal) or

4-conductor wire (for a three-button pedal)

9-pin female "D" connector (from Radio Shack)

Soldering equipment and hand tools

 

Procedure:

 

Open the foot pedal, unsolder the existing wires and remove.

(Alternatively, you could simply clip the old connector from the other end of the existing cord.)

 

Solder in the new wire and attach the "D" connector per NCH's wiring instructions.

 

Re-assemble the foot pedal.

 

Plug the "D" connector into an available serial connector on your computer. Some newer computers have done away with the serial connection. In this case, disregard this entire post!

 

You must "teach" Express Scribe which button is which by running the Foot Pedal Control Setup Wizard (Settings-Control).

 

I initially had a problem when wiring my pedal. The NCH instructions called for wiring the "Play" function to pin 1 of the "D" connector, but it did not work for me. I discovered a "work-around". With Express Scribe Foot Pedal Control Setup Wizard running, I played around with a short jumper wire and shorted pin 4 with each of the other pins (on the back of the computer) until Express Scribe would play. I then wired into that pin.

 

If you are uncomfortable playing with wires and soldering apparatus, any electronics technician worth his or her salt should be able to do the job for you in under 30 minutes.

Well I thought I was worth my salt but I can't get it to do anything but fast forward!

I've tried all pins but the only ones that will learn are 1, 6,8 and 9. 6 is Rewind and the others just fast forward. The only work around I can find is to slow the fast forward function down to 100% with no acceleration.

Am I missing something obvious here, we have two normally open switches with pin 4 as common and then pin 6 goes to the Rewind and pin 1 goes to the Play/FF switch. Pin 4 is not "ground" but DTR which is obviously set by the program, 1 and 6 are inputs. See http://www.aggsoft.com/rs232-pinout-cable/...-and-signal.htm for more info.

So is this a hardware problem or is there another setting in the program I need to configure to get my play button to play??

Does the serial port need setting to a specific type or baud? (I would think the software would set that up as it wanted)

Any ideas would be gratefully received.