How to Increase or Decrease Spacing on your Stenograph Stentura SRT

If you own a Stenograph Stentura 400 SRT steno machine and want to know how to adjust the paper spacing, this post is for you.

Knowing how to adjust this spacing is helpful in that when you're trying to save paper, you can decrease the spacing. Or conversely, if you know you're going to be reading back from your notes in class, you might want to increase the spacing to make it easier to read. I found the instructions here but I'll put them here too.

-To make the adjustment, turn the power switch on your machine to the off position.

-Hold down the S- key as you turn it on.

-Press PH- (M- for more) to increase the spacing between strokes or press HR- (L- for less) to decrease the spacing between steno outlines.

-When you are done adjusting the spacing, press KWR- (Y- for yes) or TPH- (N- for no) to save the setting and go back to writing and test it out. Repeat until you have it how you want it.

Have a Stenograph other than the 400 SRT? Check this link for the online versions of user manuals. Click your type of machine in the left column.

Ink About your Steno Machine

Here are some tips for economical and efficient use of your steno machine ribbon cartridge.

So what does a court reporting student do when only the tops of your letters print on the paper of one's Stenograph machine? It's probably one of two things. If it's just a letter here and there, the individual key contact switch may need to be adjusted. I never seem to have my owners manual on me when this needs to be done, so follow the directions at this link to for a refresher course on which way to turn the allen wrench.

If all the letters print partially or are just printing really lightly, you probably need to re-ink your ribbon. "Re-ink your ribbon?" That's right. I said it. You don't need to keep buying $24 ink cartridges every time you start not being able to read the letters on your steno paper. All you need is a bottle of steno machine ink like the one pictured below which can be found at numerous online court reporting supply stores for around $10 or under.

If you look at where the red arrow is pointing in the picture below, there's a little sponge next to the wheel where you can put a few drops of ink at a time and then wait for it to absorb. Put the tip of a pen or similar tool in the hole indicated by the green arrow and spin the wheel around several times to work the ink into the ribbon. You may need to repeat the process to get your letters to show up again, but just err on the side of caution. And voila, a money-saving solution that all steno students can benefit from as long as your machine uses a Stenograph ink cartridge. This article is also quoted over at GDW's site, too, for and other money and time saving tips.

Steno Machine Blues: Trouble Under the Hood

When you're living the steno student life, there's going to be ups and downs. The last few weeks, I've been telling fellow students and other people in my life that I'm going to start looking to buy my first professional steno machine real soon.

Well, today I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that it may happen sooner than I thought. The bad news? If I do, it'll be on account of my attempt to be cheap/go green and having been writing paperless on my Stenograph 400 SRT paper machine for the past few weeks.

I went to take some speed tests this morning only to find that my ribbon cartridge no longer fits in my machine, I assume, because I take it out when I write paperless. Some thin cylindrical metal piece running underneath the key contact switches has somehow slid askew and neither it nor the cartridge goes back in. So a word to the wise: Don't write without your ribbon cartridge until further notice unless you're monetarily and emotionally prepared to upgrade at this time.

Thankfully, my state fall convention is coming up soon.  There's supposed to be someone that does machine repairs/service there, so I'm going to see if they can A) fix it for a nominal fee, or B) pronounce it dead, and I can move on to greener pastures, a new professional steno writer. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

Update: The steno guru at the convention was able to fix my machine for free. Yay!

More Free Steno Audio Drills and Dictation

source

Any successful steno transcription, practice or otherwise, starts with being able to understand what is said. If it's an in-person situation, that means sitting close enough to the speakers to hear and see them clearly. If it's a recording, important factors are the quality of the audio file itself and also to isolate what you're trying to transcribe from outside noise or distractions.
One of the first investments I made as a new reporter -- after a writer and laptop -- was a pair of high-quality, noise-canceling Bose headphones. When it comes time to replace them, I want the newest wireless version here, but the QC 15s have been going strong with pretty much daily use since ~2011! The over-the-ear style is comfortable and great for tuning out noise right next to you and/or going on in the other room. In addition to amazing sound quality, I noticed with these I was able to hear things that I missed with regular earbuds, like when witnesses trailed off or said something under their breath. Bose has amazing quality products, customer service, and warranty department, so what are you waiting for?

Well, then, without further ado, here are more sources for free steno drills and dictation found since my last post on the subject, now that we've gotten the audio quality thing sorted out:

• Actual Business Letters Dictated at Various Speeds Ranges from 90-110 wpm. Click on the links underneath "VBR MP3" to download the individual files. Challenging stuff!

• 12th Week's Practice Podcast Excellent recordings and some good advice as well. I like the 70/30 rule that Candis Bradshaw recommends on page 1. Most files are labeled from 90 wpm to 200 wpm.

• Machine Speed Shorthand - Sydney Institute More good stuff with the added challenge of writing through Australian accents. Or here's another link to the same files, I think, hosted on iTunes. 70 wpm to 180 wpm.

• Court's Podcast Several months worth of steno drills and dictation!

• Shorthand - NCTJ 60 wpm through 120 wpm. More good practice with accents. See right side of page for audios and pdf transcripts.

• Teeline Shorthand Online Dictation One free sample/example shorthand lesson with some dictations.

• Shorthand Shorthand Shorthand  Audio files range from 60 wpm to 140 wpm and are available at the bottom of the page. The current audio is about insurance, and the site says it's updated monthly.

• Victation's Podcast Located on iTunes. Five files at 60 and 80 wpm only.

Want more free dictation? Click here, here, and here to see the rest of my free court reporting dictation list.

Let Them Eat Cake

After reading a fellow CR blogger's most recent post about The pros and cons of going paperless as a student, I was inspired to share with you how you can have your cake and eat it too prior to buying your first professional steno machine. Included in the wealth of steno knowledge known as Cheap and Sleazy is an article about a how to temporarily shorten your keystroke depth on your Stentura or similar machine, thus making it more like a professional machine.

I did this to my Stenograph Stentura 400 SRT, and it's made a world of difference! It's not as hard a procedure as it sounds, and I'm not mechanically inclined by any stretch of the imagination. I could tell almost immediately that it made a positive difference in my writing speed. If I had to put a quantitative number on it, I'd say it added 5-10 words a minute in speed after doing this. See full article for complete instructions.

And call me eco-girl, but I reuse my paper pads over and over unless I'm taking a speed test. Some people just remove their ink cartridges to go paperless, but it seems like the platen (AKA rubber roller) still is getting direct impact by the keys with that setup. Personal preference, I guess. And as I write this, I'm reminded that reading back notes is an essential part of solidifying your steno strokes, so after I'm done testing, I'll be saving the paper notes for future readback.