Learning and Using Morse Code

The morse code was invented by Samuel F. B. Morse, a portrait painter, of Charlestown, Massachusetts. His interest in wire telegraphy began in 1832, and a simple relay system was constructed in 1835, this was demonstrated in 1837. Morse developed "lightning wires" and the "Morse code" alphabet. (Which was not the same as we know it today.) The International Morse Code version that we now use was generated in 1848 by Friedrich Clemens Gerke. It was subsequently modified in 1865 and standardised at the International Telegraphy congress in Paris. This revision paid attention to the frequency with which letters are used in English texts.

Many books present the code characters in alphabetic order which actually makes the learning more difficult. Morse code (or at least the form we deal with in radio transmission) is a language of sounds and rhythms and I will use the words Dit & Dah instead of dot and dash.

My battered copy of A.W. Eley's Morse Code Manual is illustrated at right... It was given to me in the early 1950s by his son, John Eley G3LMR, who went on to be proprietor of Eley Electronics, which was a surplus electronics store. John also had the doubtful honour of being awarded the "most untidy shack" award in 1995.

There is a basic structure to morse code that starts from the letter "E", as this is the most commonly used letter in English words, it is given the shortest code, which is one Dit. "T" is the next most common and gets one Dah, "I" translates into Di Dit and "M" becomes Dah Dah. The alphabet and punctuation are developed in a similar progression. Procedural signs and "Q" codes are shortcuts that allow whole sentences to be sent using only three letters. The "Q" codes are also both questions or statements according to context.

To learn morse you need to practice sending and receiving... A simple "straight" key (upper & downer) and an audio oscillator are all that is needed. The oscillator should be set at a low frequency so that it's sound mimics the Pah Pah Pi Pah sound of an incoming signal that is close to it's beat frequency. If you can do your initial training like this it makes easier listening for a low frequency beat amongst higher frequency unwanted signals, when you use morse "for real".

Timing, spacing and rhythm are very important... The basic unit is the "Dit", a "Dah" is equal in length to three "Dit"s, the space between elements of a letter is one "Dit", letters are spaced at three "Dit"s and the space between words is five "Dits" (spaces of up to seven "Dits" are sometimes used).

Practice by vocalising the sounds as Dits and Dahs (or Pits and Pahs)... I obtained much practice by vocalising the morse code equivalent of the car number plates that I saw on my journey backwards and forwards to work, this also increased my observation skills.

Learning should best be done with a partner or in a group, but if you are on your own you can send morse and record it on a tape machine and then play it back. Start with E, I, S, H and add the rest one or two letters at a time. There are automatic morse generators, and computer programs, to provide you with practice and translation to ensure accuracy as well. Cassette tapes can be used whilst driving, but ensure the morse on them is hand sent... As computer generated code is more perfect than a human fist can produce and it is a bit sterile to listen to. As you obtain more proficiency, you will notice that morse transmissions have dialects and each operator is recognisable in the same way as we recognise a person's voice.

The Code Itself      (Learn the groups in this order.)

E I S H

	This group of letters is all Dits... E= Dit, I= Di Dit, S= Di Di Dit and H= Di Di Di Dit.

Error We all make mistakes, and if you send an incorrect character you must correct it by sending the error code immediately after the incorrect one. The code is two "H"s barred together (the barring means that you only put one dit space between the letters giving eight consecutive Dits...

	ERROR= Di Di Di Di Di Di Di Dit. There are no English words with two consecutive "H"s so you will not be confused even if the code gets separated into two actual "H"s (a common failing). I confuse matters even more, as some of my error codes come out as only seven Dits.

T M O

	The letters that are all "Dah"s fall into this group T= Dah, M= Dah Dah and O= Dah Dah Dah. Add them one by one to your E's I's S's & H's making the error code every time you make a mistake then sending the character that you should have sent.

A U V

	These are leading Dits letters... A= Di Dah, U= Di Di Dah, and V= Di Di Di Dah "V" can be remembered as the opening bar of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

N D B

	The leading single Dah set reverses the previous group N= Dah Dit, D= Dah Di Dit, with B= Dah Di Di Dit.

W J P

	"J" can often be considered an "O" with an extra bit tacked on and is the inverse of "B" W= Di Dah Dah, J= Di Dah Dah Dah, P= Di Dah Dah Dit

R L F

	R= Di Dah Dit, L= Di Dah Di Dit, F= Di Di Dah Dit The rhythm of "F" has been likened to the slang expression "did it 'urt U" (properly, did it hurt you?).

K C G

	"K" is the inverse of "R" and is used as the "invitation to transmit" in a two way conversation. "C" is a barred "NN" and "G" is the reverse of "W" K= Dah Di Dah, C= Dah Di Dah Dit, G= Dah Dah Dit

Now that we have covered both the "K" and the "A" we can introduce the barred "KA" or attention sign. We should, from now onwards, automatically include this
Dah Di Dah Di Dah signal before sending any text or test groups.

Q Y X Z

	"Q" occurs in morse code much more frequently than you would expect as most of the abbreviated codes start with this letter which is also the inverse of "F". "Y" is the reverse of "Q" and the inverse of "L". "X" is the inverse of "P" and "Z" is on it's own.

As we have covered all the alphabetic letters we can bring in two more procedural items. The end of message or barred "AR" group
Di Dah Di Dah Dit can now be instigated and should be used as a matter of course. The end of transmission or barred "VA" signal
Di Di Di Dah Di Dah is used to terminate a session of messages.

NUMERALS

These fall into two groups, "1 to 5" and "6 to 0", All numerals have five elements and the first group has leading Dits...

1= Di Dah Dah Dah Dah,   2= Di Di Dah Dah Dah,   3= Di Di Di Dah Dah,   4= Di Di Di Di Dah,   5= Di Di Di Di Dit.

The second set has leading Dahs...

6= Dah Di Di Di Dit,   7= Dah Dah Di Di Dit,   8= Dah Dah Dah Di Dit,   9= Dah Dah Dah Dah Dit,   Zero or 0= Dah Dah Dah Dah Dah.

It helps when receiving numbers to remember that the first five numerals have a number of leading Dits equal to the number. The second set can be considered to be ten minus the number of trailing Dits (at least this helps some people).

The real breakthrough in learning the code, comes when you write down the letter without having actually translated it. Saying the sounds of the alphabet and writing the letter at the same time will help this to come more quickly.

Punctuation Codes and Mathematical Symbols

Often not included in simple morse tests, but punctuation deserves more attention than it usually gets, especially if you are sending 'third party' messages.

Procedural Signs