To add to my post, here is how I take down traffic:

In the old days, before I had a BrailleNote, I used a Perkins brailler.
Each message began in cell 3.  I skipped abbreviations such as nr and simply
wrote the message number.  I used regular numbers, (boy, do I hate Nemeth
code), and grade III braille.  Call signs were brailled without caps.  My
call sign would be brailled k f number sign 6 c a.  Of course, there were no
spaces between the letters.  I used the period, dots 2-5-6, instead of bt
for break.  Most of the time, I wore earphones so I could hear.  I never
taped anything and I never used the slate--boy, do I hate slates!  I used a
period, dots 2, 5, 6 instead of x.  I used r for routine, etc and I brailled
out the handling instructions such as hxg.

Now that I have the wonderful BrailleNote, I simply write it down using the
QT keyboard.  I turn off speech so I don't have that yammering at me.  I
don't even need to use earphones, unless conditions are terrible.  I do
write x for xray and bt for break.  My displays shows the braille in grade
2, so I can simply relay the message using the display.


Terri, Amateur Radio call sign KF6CA.  Army MARS call sign AAT9PX,
California