
Learning Morse code in the 21st century - hggh
https://airfactsjournal.com/2019/12/learning-morse-code-in-the-21st-century/
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drmpeg
I learned Morse code back in 1992 in order to pass the General class amateur
radio license. Back then, the test was 13 words per minute. I practiced for a
few months with cassette tapes and over the air copy. After I got up to about
18 WPM, I went and took the test. I almost choked, but was able to recover and
pass the test. I haven't used Morse code since then.

~~~
vvanders
There's been a bit of a resurgence with the lower solar cycle, for mobile
radios such as the KX3/2 and FT-817 which top out at 15W, having a mode that
concentrates most of its power in ~500Hz of bandwidth(vs ~3kHz for voice) is a
huge advantage.

Aside from FT-8 and related digital modes it has an impressive ability to
punch though when few other modes will.

~~~
drmpeg
I have nothing against CW, it's just not for me. Also, I don't operate HF any
longer. At this stage of my ham radio adventure, it's all about SDR on UHF and
microwave frequencies. Current project is wideband (10 MHz) digital links on
10 GHz.

~~~
vvanders
Oh yeah totally, just more for context who might not be aware that there's
still some practical benefits along with the historical aspect.

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heelix
I've learned a bit of morse code from flying. The older VOR navigation systems
identify themselves with a three letter code, so to confirm you have the right
frequency dialed in, you listen to the dot/dashes getting beeped at you. I
cheat - I found a font that would translate the VOR name FCM when I printed it
for my kneeboard.

The charts, for example, lists the morse code for the VOR, which translates to
FCM

[https://skyvector.com/?ll=44.80208246787191,-93.453170428716...](https://skyvector.com/?ll=44.80208246787191,-93.45317042871639&chart=117&zoom=1&fpl=%20KFCM%20undefined%20KFCM)

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interactivecode
My uncle used to work as a radio guy. I remember visiting The National
Maritime Museum with him and he just walked up to a morse machine and started
writing stories.

Last weekend when we talked he mentioned being sad that a lot of this
knowledge is getting lost. Must be a strange feeling walking through a museum
and it being the tools of your trade.

~~~
aasasd
I mean, JS coders now can have that experience after a year or two. Only they
don't get their past exhibited in museums.

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ponsin
Does anything have a recommendation of how to learn Morse today? maybe an app?
the app the author recommends is only for iOS and I have Android

~~~
sverige
The best is G4FON's Morse Trainer, requires Windows, works on Wine.

[http://www.g4fon.net/](http://www.g4fon.net/)

Edit: You'll have to navigate to the Morse Trainer link from the main page.

Also, it's the best because it has knobs for all the variables -- speed,
number of characters sent, even options to add QRM (interference) and variable
sending speed (imitating very well someone with an unsteady fist).

As an aside, it's pointless to learn code visually. It's only really useable
as an auditory messaging system.

~~~
SiVal
_only really useable as an auditory messaging system_

What? When I was a kid, it was common for camping flashlights to have pressure
buttons on the side, which was intended for (and we used for) morse code.
Ships used bright, shuttered lights for Morse code, soldiers used it, scouts
used it, kids communicated with friends in the neighborhood at night.

~~~
sverige
OK, yes, but it's still the rhythm of the flashes that are being interpreted,
not _ .... .. ...

Plus, I am willing to bet that far more messages using Morse are sent over
radio than with lights.

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tasty_freeze
Maybe three years ago I dove into cheap SDR receivers for a few months,
exploring different SDR devices, different frequency bands, different
decoders, etc.

One really surprising thing was how little morse code was to be found. And
when I did find it, the decoders (like fldigi) were unreliable in decoding.
I'm not sure if it was because of their decoding algorithms or if the senders
simply had too much variance in their timing.

The bit of traffic I did decode was simply exchanges of contact so each could
log a new call sign in their books. I'm not sure what I was expecting to find:
because the bits seemed to be "secret" due to my ignorance of morse code, my
brain heuristically assumed information they hid must be important.

~~~
thepete2
A while ago I dove into ham radio a bit. I think what you saw was the 40m and
80m bands (HF band, very high range) which are used mainly for "competitions"
(essentially exchanging callsigns).

I still find it intriguing because it's such a simple way of communicating.
You can build the circuits yourself and with a license communicate with others
over kilometers (with a good antenna sometimes thousands of kilometers). Think
about it, without cell phone towers, satellites and all that commercial
infrastructure it's really the only way to reach anyone.

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geogra4
You would think it would make sense for Morse to be the foundation for
computer representation of text, being binary and all. But the real challenge
is that Morse code does not use standard lengths for each character.

It's, imo, one of the earliest technologies that shows the divergence between
what is easy for humans vs what is easy for machines.

~~~
toomanybeersies
Morse code isn't binary, it's trinary.

You have 3 signals: dots, dashes, and spaces.

Here's the relevant extract from the wikipedia article on Morse Code:

> Each Morse code symbol is formed by a sequence of dots and dashes. The dot
> duration is the basic unit of time measurement in Morse code transmission.
> The duration of a dash is three times the duration of a dot. Each dot or
> dash within a character is followed by period of signal absence, called a
> space, equal to the dot duration. The letters of a word are separated by a
> space of duration equal to three dots, and the words are separated by a
> space equal to seven dots

~~~
thepete2
You can represent it as both binary and ternary

R is: .-. (dit dah dit)

which could be 121 in ternary (0 being pause)

or 1011101 in binary, since one dah is three dits long

~~~
dilutedh2o
In that case we may as well use the alphabet tbh

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sdoering
I remember writing morse code letters with my then girlfriend while in my last
years in school. back then I was able to fluently read and write morse. We
didn't want others to be able to easily read what we wrote. It was in the late
90ies and we were so sweetly naive.

Today, except SOS, I can't read/write anything in morse.

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nullandvoid
I recently enjoyed the chapter in "code" about Morse code [1]. After some
googling around I also found this morse chat rook which is a good laugh for
anyone looking to kill some time struggling to spell profanities in morse :)
[2]

[1] [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-
Sof...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-
Software/dp/0735611319)

[2] [http://morsecode.me/?room=1](http://morsecode.me/?room=1)

~~~
lightlyused
[2] was strange, keyboard straight key is the worst.

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obilecantrem
I learned back in 2000 at Ft. Huachuca, it took about 30 8 hour days for me to
get through the basic Morse course, I don't remember how long it took to get
through the rest of it. I do remember getting a certificate, the Samuel B
Morse award, for copying at slightly above the required speed which I think
was something like 22 groups a minute.

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jimmyislive
I wrote a text to morse code converter some time back if anyone is interested:

[https://text2morse.jimmyislive.dev](https://text2morse.jimmyislive.dev)

~~~
gnufx
..././. ./\--/.-/-.-./... --/-....-/-..-
--/\---/.-./..././-....-/.-././\--./../\---/-./.-.-.-

~~~
lightlyused
...- .. -- .... ..

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wglb
Morse code is one of the few signal encodings that can be understood by both
humans and computers.

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madengr
I like to hunt Non Directional Beacons on the long wave band. Unfortunately I
have read they are being decommissioned.

~~~
thepete2
Are you sure? There are some beacons by the IARU [0] - across the world - that
one after the other transmit their callsign. It can be used to test reception
and it can be a challenge to receive a signal from 100s of kilometers away
without a repeater.

[0] [http://www.iaru.org/beacon-project.html](http://www.iaru.org/beacon-
project.html)

~~~
madengr
These can be heard out to a few 100 km:

[http://www.dxinfocentre.com/ndb.htm](http://www.dxinfocentre.com/ndb.htm)

