Morse Code

Morse Code is a method for transmitting information, using standardized sequences of short and long marks or pulses -- commonly known as "dots and dashes" -- for the letters, numerals and special characters of a message. Originally created for Samuel Morse's electric telegraph in the mid-1830s, it was also extensively used for early radio communication beginning in the 1890s. However, with the development of more advanced communications technologies, the use of Morse Code is now largely obsolete, although it is still employed for a few specialized purposes, including navigational radio beacons, and by CW (continuous wave) amateur radio operators.

Related Topics:
Samuel Morse - Telegraph - Radio - Radio beacon - CW - Amateur radio

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Morse Code can be transmitted in a number of ways: originally as electrical pulses along a telegraph wire, but also as an audio tone, as a radio signal with short and long pulses or tones, or as a mechanical or visual signal (e.g. a flashing light). Because Morse Code is transmitted using just two states -- on and off -- it was an early form of a digital code. International Morse Code is composed of six elements:

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• short mark or dot (·)
• longer mark or dash (-)
• intra-character gap (between the dots and dashes in a character)
• short gap (between letters)
• medium gap (between words)
• long gap (between sentences)

However, the variable length of the Morse characters made it hard to adapt to automated communication, so it was largely replaced by more standardized formats, including the Baudot code and ASCII.

Related Topics:
Baudot code - ASCII

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What is called Morse Code today actually differs somewhat from what was originally developed by Morse and his assistant, Alfred Vail. In 1848 a refinement of the code sequences, including changes to eleven of the letters, was developed in Germany and eventually adopted as the worldwide standard as "International Morse". Morse's original code specification, largely limited to use in the United States, became known as Railroad or American Morse code, and is now very rarely used.

Related Topics:
Alfred Vail - American Morse code

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The short and long elements of Morse Code have traditionally been referred to as "dots" and "dashes". However, a later convention developed which reflects the sound of audio transmissions, and refers to dashes as "dah", and dots as "di", unless the dot is the final symbol in the character, in which case it is voiced as "dit".

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