foot pedal : Computer Hardware Buyers’ Glossary

• left foot pedal: tap to leap back.
• middle foot pedal: press and hold to play, release to stop.
• right pedal: tap to leap forward

Installation is as snap. You just plug the foot pedal into a free USB (Universal Serial Bus) port.

What to Look For In A Foot Pedal

• Heavy

  You want it so sit still in one place under your desk. It is hard to find with your feet and you don’t want it sliding about. Ideally you would glue it down in some way. I have not figured out how to glue a footpedal to a carpet in a way that does not damage the carpet. Feet would probably help it dig into a carpet.

• Sturdy

  You are going to be pounding this thing with your feet. It had better stand up.

• Big

  You want it big so it is easy to find the correct pedal. Feet, especially covered in socks and/or shoes don’t have much tactile feedback. Look at the design of piano or organ pedals. That is the ideal size and spacing. If the pedals are too small, you will confuse them.

• Three pedals

  You can then fast-forward, play, and reverse. The order of the pedals is the reverse of what you would expect. A fourth pedal can be used for next-job.

• Supported

  You want to pick a vendor with a history of providing drivers to keep old models going. Otherwise you may be stuck with perfectly functioning hardware and no software to drive it. Ideally you should not need a CD (Compact Disc) of any kind to install the footpedal.

• USB

  Make sure you get an unit with a USB port designed or use with a PC (Personal Computer) (or Mac). Many are specialty units designed to work only with various dedicated dictation machines. A USB connector will be simpler to use than older serial or proprietary connectors. USB drivers are self-installing.

Care and Feeding

• You first need to install a low level foot pedal driver, then you install the application software such as Transcription Buddy.
• After a while your foot pedal will become flaky. It will fail to notice your taps sometimes. The problem is dust and carpet fluff clogging its insides. Open it up and clean it out with a blast of compressed air. Clean any contacts, including those in the footpad cable, with DeoxIT Red.
• The cord is easy to catch with your feet. You want to cover it in some way. If you have a cheap carpet acting as a carpet protector, you could consider cutting a hole in it to keep the cord out of harm’s way and as a side effect anchor the foot pedal. There are all sorts of cable organisers, basically flattened tubes, intended for the purpose.

My first introduction to foot pedals was not successful. The separate small light foot pedals for the Kinesis keyboard would not stay put. I could not find them with my feet. I had much more success with the much heavier Olympus RS23 unit for transcription. However, the drivers did not work with my new Windows 7 OS (Operating System). Even though a USB foot pedal driver is about as simple as drivers come, if Microsoft or your foot pedal manufacturer does not write new drivers for each model of footpedal for each new OS, your foot pedal becomes useless. Further, every piece of transcription software supports just a tiny subset of the possible footpedals. Upgrades may not longer support your model. Microsoft is to blame. It has not defined a standard foot pedal API (Application Programming Interface) the way it has for other types of hardware. Once they do, foot pedals will become interchangeable, like mice or hard disks.

Tips

• Oddly, Windows Media player is not designed to work with any foot pedal to control it. You would need transcription software that can display various media formats by itself.
• Check out your foot pedal vendor history for continuing to support old models under new OSes (Operating Systems). Check out how many software packages support your candidate so you have a backup should your chosen software fail.

Shopping

electronic link to Express Scribe Software Pro Transcription Software

	recommend electronic⇒Express Scribe Software Pro Transcription Software
	asin	B00UZHHOC0
CDROM version. Has a free version that works only with AltoEdge pedals. The pro version has a free trial you can get from NCH. foot pedals that work with Express Scribe Pro.
Online electronic stores carrying Express Scribe Software Pro Transcription Software amazon.com bestbuy.ca amazon.ca canadacomputers.com amazon.de ncix.ca amazon.es newegg.ca amazon.fr www.staples.ca amazon.it tigerdirect.ca amazon.co.uk bestbuy.com junglee.com ncixus.com other stores newegg.com www.staples.com tigerdirect.com
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock

electronic link to Olympus AS-49 DSS Player Standard 1.0

	recommend electronic⇒Olympus AS-49 DSS Player Standard 1.0
	asin	B00L7EBIYU
Computer Support Software for Olympus foot pedals: DS-Series, WS-Series and VN-3200 and VN-5200 PC Digital Voice Recorders. I don’t think this includes drivers.
Online electronic stores carrying Olympus AS-49 DSS Player Standard 1.0 amazon.com bestbuy.ca amazon.ca canadacomputers.com amazon.de ncix.ca amazon.es newegg.ca amazon.fr www.staples.ca amazon.it tigerdirect.ca amazon.co.uk bestbuy.com junglee.com ncixus.com other stores newegg.com www.staples.com tigerdirect.com
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock

electronic link to Vec Infinity USB Digital Foot Control with Computer plug (IN-USB2)

	recommend electronic⇒Vec Infinity USB Digital Foot Control with Computer plug (IN-USB2)
	asin	B002MY6I7G
	dim	22.61 × 19.30 × 4.83 cm 8.90 × 7.60 × 1.90 in
Claims to be the best-selling foot pedal. spec. list of compatible software. Works with NCH Express Pro.
Online electronic stores carrying Vec Infinity USB Digital Foot Control with Computer plug (IN-USB2) amazon.com bestbuy.ca amazon.ca canadacomputers.com amazon.de ncix.ca amazon.es newegg.ca amazon.fr www.staples.ca amazon.it tigerdirect.ca amazon.co.uk bestbuy.com junglee.com ncixus.com other stores newegg.com www.staples.com tigerdirect.com
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock

electronic link to Universal USB Transcription Foot Pedal

	recommend electronic⇒Universal USB Transcription Foot Pedal
	asin	B01AYKUAPK
	dim	19.81 × 17.02 × 5.59 cm 7.80 × 6.70 × 2.20 in
3 pedals. Works with Express Scribe Pro.
Online electronic stores carrying Universal USB Transcription Foot Pedal amazon.com bestbuy.ca amazon.ca canadacomputers.com amazon.de ncix.ca amazon.es newegg.ca amazon.fr www.staples.ca amazon.it tigerdirect.ca amazon.co.uk bestbuy.com junglee.com ncixus.com other stores newegg.com www.staples.com tigerdirect.com
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock

electronic link to Olympus RS-27 USB Transcription Foot Pedal

	recommend electronic⇒Olympus RS-27 USB Transcription Foot Pedal
	asin	B000VDJFFC
	dim	21.84 × 12.70 × 4.57 cm 8.60 × 5 × 1.80 in
Inexpensive. Works with Wreally Transcribe. specs. Also works with the Olympus DSS software.
Online electronic stores carrying Olympus RS-27 USB Transcription Foot Pedal amazon.com bestbuy.ca amazon.ca canadacomputers.com amazon.de ncix.ca amazon.es newegg.ca amazon.fr www.staples.ca amazon.it tigerdirect.ca amazon.co.uk bestbuy.com junglee.com ncixus.com other stores newegg.com www.staples.com tigerdirect.com
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock

electronic link to Olympus RS31 Foot Switch for PC

	recommend electronic⇒Olympus RS31 Foot Switch for PC
	asin	B00A2X5JCO
	dim	22.10 × 17.53 × 5.33 cm 8.70 × 6.90 × 2.10 in
4 pedals. Very solid. Olympus has a history of dropping models and not providing drivers for new OSes. specs. Requires Olympus DSS Player Pro Software v5.0.13 or above.
Online electronic stores carrying Olympus RS31 Foot Switch for PC amazon.com bestbuy.ca amazon.ca canadacomputers.com amazon.de ncix.ca amazon.es newegg.ca amazon.fr www.staples.ca amazon.it tigerdirect.ca amazon.co.uk bestbuy.com junglee.com ncixus.com other stores newegg.com www.staples.com tigerdirect.com
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock