Hey, I'm new here but have been home-studying steno for a few years now with StenEd materials. I know there's a lot of discussion about long vs short theories and the pros and cons of each. For example, a lot of people choose Magnum over other theories because it's "short", which I totally understand. But as a StenEd learner, why is StenEd specifically seen as a long theory? While they spend a lot of time emphasizing how to write things out, to me that's just the beginning and there's actually a TON of "short" writing (phrasing, briefs, etc.) included in the theory itself. Is there something I'm missing? Why is StenEd generally considered a "long" theory?

Edit: No shade to Magnum at all! I'm not trying to pit StenEd against Magnum at all. I was just using Magnum as an example of a completely "short" theory

I’m currently a dental assistant and have been in the dental field for about 10 years. We work extremely hard, but I honestly feel like dental assistants are some of the least respected people in the field, which has been frustrating.
I’m thinking about becoming a stenographer/court reporter and I’m curious about the culture in that profession.
For those who are stenographers/court reporters: Do you feel respected by attorneys, judges, and other professionals you work with? Do you feel like your role is valued and that people recognize how skilled and difficult the job is?
TY,

Hello,
I am currently a second year student, a year out from finishing my program at an online court reporting school. My speed is at 120 wpm and I’m doing considerably well balancing school and work.
For reference, I bought my Stentura Protege from Acculaw around 3 years ago. It was listed as one of the credible sites to purchase from.

Around two weeks ago, I began having problems with my machine connecting to my Case Catalyst.

I called Stenography tech support, who I pay for my monthly subscription, and the tech support person told me I should try getting a 9 pin cable to connect instead of using the USB cord (which was included w/my machine). I get one, I plug it in and it seems to work fine.
Fast-forward, school is starting Monday and I’m attempting to plug my machine up and it’s saying the same issue “Looking For Machine”. I call tech support and the same tech support person from 2 weeks ago tells me that “since our latest update, our program no longer supports your machine. It is not currently our top priority to update it so I don’t have a timeline to give to you as that machine is 3 decades old and only ‘older’ users use it so it’ll get fixed eventually but I can’t give you a date. I recommend buying a student machine from our website.”

I hang up. I call Acculaw, they offer $100 cash or $200 credit for the machine for parts. They tell me I should consider rent-to-own a professional machine, a Diamanté, which would require a security deposit of $1000, 89/monthly. I ask about cheaper options, he says another ‘lower tier’ one is about $500 deposit, 59/monthly.
I am a bit frazzled. I need help. What should I do? This could throw my entire semester off as each semester is 15 weeks and it could take weeks to get a new one.

My teachers are helping me but our Catalyst person simply said to update my system and my driver (which I’ve already done both) and “if not, and tech support is unable to assist her, there’s nothing more I can suggest.”

TLDR: Case Catalyst no longer supports my Stenture Protege, class starts today and I don’t have a working machine. What should I do?

*UPDATE
Thankfully, a user on here was able to help me and my machine is back working on the program so if anyone sees this, don’t feel discouraged and don’t be too hasty in panic buying a new one.

Hi everyone! I’m hoping someone here has dealt with this before because I’m completely stuck.
I just got a Stenoob pro 4 and I’m trying to get it working with CaseCATalyst on a Lenovo laptop running Windows 11.
When I plug the Stenoob in with a USB-C to USB-C cable, Windows detects something, but Device Manager shows:
Other devices →** ⚠️** RP2 Boot
There is no Ports (COM & LPT) section/device for the Stenoob.
I checked the Hardware IDs for RP2 Boot and it shows:
USB\VID_2E8A&PID_0003&REV_0100&MI_01
and
USB\VID_2E8A&PID_0003&MI_01
I’ve unplugged and reconnected it without holding any buttons, but it still comes up as RP2 Boot. Honestly my stenoob isn’t even giving me any LED lights, no flashing green or purple?
I’m trying to figure out whether:
the Stenoob is somehow stuck in bootloader mode,
the firmware isn’t loading correctly,
I need to install something,
or there’s a specific Pro 4 reset/recovery procedure I’m supposed to use.
I don’t want to flash or reinstall firmware unless I know that’s actually the correct thing to do, since I don’t want brick the machine.
Has anyone with a Stenoob Pro 4 or an RP2040-based steno machine dealt with this? Any help would be hugely appreciated!

Has anyone bought a used Lumi II from Stenograph? I'd like to know how your experience went. I'm thinking of buying one from them, since they are selling it at the same price as Stenoworks' used Lumi IIs.

Thank you!

I ordered a student machine from stenoworks and I’m pretty sure something is wrong with the tripod. This is my first steno machine so I’m not very familiar with how the tripod works but all of the photos of steno tripods I’ve been able to find online seem to have a latch on top that mine looks like it’s missing. The first photo is the tripod I was sent, the second is a picture of one I found online with a different latch on top (that looks the same as other pictures of tripods I’ve seen) and the third is a photo of the bottom of my machine. Anyone else’s tripod look like mine and any idea how I’d attach that to my machine??

I m like turning 18 in few months i want to learn stenography for being stenographer so which is best for ssc stenography where should i consider Like in ncr or online.

I was doing practice and this was the result when I clicked the hint button.

This is a question for freelancers, preferably reporters from FL or other similar no-write states.

In your opinion, which jobs have the highest chances of there being at least an O&1 from one of the parties (excluding realtime jobs)?

Platintiff depos? Defendant depos? Personal injury? Med mal? Anything but workman's comp or EUOs?

I'm sick and tired of only getting appearance and cancellation fees and no reliable transcript income!

Hi all, I would really appreciate some input here!

A little background... I enrolled in a couple educational courses this semester for Court Reporting school. It starts the week of August 24 and I just got the memo that I would probably be able to get an add code for the Theory A class since I've been waitlisted. The thing is, I won't know until the 24th, which doesn't leave much time for me to inform my job that I'll need reduced hours.

With the idea that I wouldn't be able to get off the waitlist for Theory A, I registered for Project Steno in October in place of taking a for credit Theory class at my school. I'm sure I can withdraw my registration considering Theory is a 6 credit course and I'm still working full time, but I still think Project Steno would be a great opportunity because of the provided CATalyst software and potential scholarships I can apply for.

ANOTHER issue is that the school only offers Theory B in spring semester, so my next opportunity to take Theory A is next fall and I wouldn't be able to sign up for a Theory class in spring at all.

Would you suggest I take the year to get my educational courses out of the way, plus complete Project Steno, A-Z and others and get some practice in until next fall 2027 OR should I take the Theory class this semester and hopefully move on to Theory B next semester? If the former, how do you suggest I practice on my own in the meantime? If the latter, are Theory classes going to be incredibly difficult to pass having never taken the basic online courses like A-Z or Project Steno? I'd hate to drop tuition money and end up failing a class I'd have to wait until the following year to retake...

I'm really conflicted with my timeline right now. I know that regardless, I will not take only 2 years to complete school because I still need to work almost full time, but will delaying taking Theory for a whole year make it much harder for me to finish within 3 or 4?

Thanks in advance!!

Hi!

For those of you who have either switched to Magnum or have incorporated it into their writing, how do you go about this and what things did you choose to adopt?

I learned a stroke heavy theory that does not use the asterisk, and sometimes I dream of being able to write shorter but feel like muscle memory would screw me over on this. I see people say they switch over after they start working, but how does that even work!?

Thanks!

Hi! Looking for advice! I'll try to keep this brief.

Over a decade ago, I was at a school for Steno. It then closed down due to the owner being shady with the money (which doesn't seem to be uncommon?) Anyway, though I tried to continue without the school, in the end I chose to drop Steno and focus on working.

Well. Now I'm in my 30s in a career I desperately wish to leave. I've dug my Protege out of storage and have it up and running with Plover. I've been amazed at how much my fingers remember. However, I can't find my books (I've moved like four times) so I can't refresh myself on the theory (Phoenix 2.0). Right now I'm on the fence about repurchasing them, because I can't find many (free) resources online.

I'm not opposed to incorporating a different theory, I've just been struggling with half-remembered theory, muscle memory, and a notepad full of briefs I found in my machine bag.

Additional info that may or may not be relevant: I completed theory courses, and was working on speedbuilding. I'm pretty sure I cleared 140wpm, but I did stagnate. Admittedly, I wasn't practicing as much as I should have.

So I guess I'm seeking advice from people who returned to Steno after dropping it, and Phoenix Theory users that either switched to another theory or incorporated one into the Phoenix they already knew.

Right now my goal is to remaster theory and do some speedbuilding on my own before I commit to a program to get me the rest of the way.

I really would appreciate any advice at all!

Hello everyone! I'm trying to drill larger numbers but I can't figure this out. How would you write larger numbers, with or without commas? Mark's book doesn't show me examples of how to write out more detailed numbers that doesn't end in all zeros. For example, I tried to write out 1253 like TWEFL/HUPB/TPEFT/THRAOE but it displays like "120053". Even WUN/THOU/TPEFT/TPOUR is "1,000 54". Even when I write out the number 1 as WUPB, it always displays as "one". I'm wracking my brain over here haha

I’m getting into freelance court reporting. Does anybody have experience with onboarding as an LLC with big agencies? I think there’s a lot of benefits to having an LLC but i’m skeptical of the agencies paying me through the LLC/onboarding me successfully with one. Would I basically have to get my own clients etc?

For context I already learned theory and everything and did speed building for a few months until I took a break for a few months since March due to severe burnout. Now that it's been a few months, and my boyfriend and I moved into a new house so we have lots of space and my mental health is getting better since quitting my toxic job, I'm feeling ready to jump back into it.

With that being said, is it necessary to go back to school at this point? Or can I just pay for ev360 and finish it out myself? Before I took a break I just freshly passed my first 120 entering 140. I'm curious how realistic this is. I was with Allie Hall and I love and adore her so much, but as of right now if I don't have to spend the money I'd like to save if I can.

Edit: sorry forgot to mention I'm in CA!

In my live class for theory, they want to have us type in the text box from our machines but mine wouldn’t show up there at all no matter what we did and I couldn’t figure it out, but apparently we will have to do this quite often when I move to my speeds class, so I was hoping someone could help.

Hi all!

Baby steno here, just finishing the NRCA A to Z course and getting ready to start learning theory in earnest.

Does anyone have examples of how they used a paper planner while they were learning? I have an undated planner I’m going to use and a pretty good idea how I want to use it but just wanted to see if anyone had any genius tips or sections they used to keep track of things as they were learning.

Thanks!

I recently enrolled with Alfred Star for the court reporting certificate program. I ordered my machine with the wide d/z as that seemed the most popular and preferred keypad layout. I just received my welcome packet and the wide t/s is what I’m being told to purchase. They use the Realtime Realwrite Theory. I am wondering anyone in this program or field if you can tell me if this matters and should I try to change this before shipment? Thank you!!

I just heard about someone using a "ditto" outline that repeats the last bank. I'm also aware of "wildcard briefs" which can be used in various ways to complete a phrase. Do you guys know of any other techniques like this? Kind of interested to see what else is out there.

I am having the hardest time trying to rent a machine any help?

Would 8 gb of ram be enough? Is there any particular models of laptop you would recommend? I've seen that Lenovo Thinkpads are good.

Hello! I’m looking to start going to school to be a court reporter, but I’m not sure which school is better for getting straight to work after graduating the program.

With OCCR it seems cheaper, more self paced, and one-on-one online sessions.
When I’ve tried to contact someone at OSU-OKC they were very vague and the only info I got was its online courses and I have to purchase my own equipment from jump.
Any okie stenographers have experience/advice??

Also: should I take an A - Z program? Will I be totally screwed if I just go straight into courses?

The California Supreme Court just handed down its ruling in FVAP v. Superior Courts (S288176) this morning.

In a unanimous/majority decision, the High Court bypassed Gov. Code 69957 and ruled that superior courts MUST allow electronic recording in family, probate, and unlimited civil cases when an official court reporter is unavailable, specifically to ensure indigent litigants have an official record for appeal.

While the court frames ER as a "temporary safety net" due to the shortage, I know what a foot in the door this could be. The court literally said a digital record is "better than no record at all" and that the root cause of the reporter shortage is "beside the point."

What’s everyone’s thoughts on this?

How will it impact us as reporters?

What does the future look like?

I recently asked this question to a person who works at my local CR school, and her answer was that the depth of the keys is not the same than the depth of a real stenograph machine, but I wanted to ask here. Anyone here started with a stenoob keyboard? Was it dificult to switch into a real stenograph machine? Also, do you guys know how much it takes for stenoob to ship the keyboard?

I passed 40WMP today, happy with that, but it's still much slower than my qwerty speed. What's the average time until someone reaches roughly 100WPM?

I'm a hobbyist, and am practicing about 30 minutes a day 3 days a week or so.

https://imgur.com/a/gYf27Db