What is Morse Code
Morse code is the simplest and most reliable way of
sending messages across the wireless or telephone wires.
It only has two
levels On and Off, today all our computers
use a similar system, to
communicate over the internet.
Who invented Morse code
Morse was invented by Samuel Morse in c1834, his main
fame at the time was as an Artist, but his code invention
soon became popular.
Before Morse the main way of communicating was by
flags, known as Semaphore. The position of each
Semaphore flag
indicated a letters and numbers. The
main problem was that you could only
send a message as
far as you could see with a telescope. The Main users
were the Navy signaling between ships and bases.
You can make two flags out of a stick and
paper click on flags to print
With the invention of Morse code, an on-off
beam of light
from a candle with a reflector, messages could be sent
much faster than semaphore.
When did Morse become
popular.
Because of its vast size, America had most of its
towns
miles apart. These towns were often joined together by
a
railway lines, which at the time was the main way
of traveling between
towns. Along the tracks they ran
wires on poles for thousands of
kilometers. Messages
could then be sent from town to town in Morse
Code.
The system was known as the Telegraph, with the
messages known
as Telegrams. Unfortunately the Morse
signal slowly reduced in strength for
each Kilometer
traveled, so it was only sent to the next town, where a
Telegrapher, in the
Telegraph office, would write down
the message and resend it onto the
next town.
With only a few wires going between each town and only
one message on each wire, the system was very slow, so
telegram message were
very short, only usually giving
important news to the recipient.
When was Morse first used over
the Wireless.
With the discovery of magnetic waves (wireless) in the
1870's, the
only way that anyone could send a message,
was in Morse code.
Many people
had contributed to the development of radio,
including, Sir Oliver Lodge and Guglielmo Marconi.
Marconi was an excellent salesmen, not an inventor, but
he did mange to get
the British Post office and the Military interested in the new fangled
wireless.
Some of first Morse wireless transmission ever made,
were in and around Salisbury.
Click picture to enlarge
Marconi Demonstration @ Larkhill
Post office tests Salisbury
Plain Sir Oliver Lodge at Home In Salisbury
Click here to see
the route and distance some of the
first wireless transmissions ever made.
How were the first wireless waves generated
The original transmitters were very basic,
consisting of a
coil of wire with thousands of turns on it.
This produced a
very large spark across a spark gap balls,
as in the picture above.
This spark generated a signal across the radio spectrum.
A tuned circuit then selected the frequency.
These transmitters were
mainly used on ships until the
invention of the Valve, which revolutionized
Transmitting. This allowed speech to be sent
for the first time and the first
radio broadcast
by the BBC started in 1922.
The Titanic had a big spark transmitter
and aerial,
which allowed it to sent out the distress signal CQD
in Morse code, back to England.
Radio Operator Jack Phillips also sent the new distress
signal SOS (Save
Our Soles) which is still used today
when a ship is in danger.
SOS is easy in Morse Code ... --- ... over
520 people saved because of the use of wireless.
Back to Spy's Spy's
used Morse code for several reasons:
A Morse code signal can be read when the
signal is extremely weak.
All the transmit power goes into the signal as it is just On or Off .
The Transmitter is reliable, simple to build and efficient on power.
Morse messages can be sent quickly, before the enemy
hears you.
In Morse code you can easily send encrypted
messages See CODES
Is Morse difficult to learn
Most people can learn Morse up to eight words a
minute,
after that speed you don't have time to think about what
you are
hearing. What you actually need to hear is the
rhythm of the letter, which
your subconscious converts to
a letter for you to write down. This only
comes after lots
of practice when you could might be able to achieve
speeds of up to 40 WPM
.
This is why Morse code is not Dot and Dash as commonly
thought, but Dit
and Dah.
Try repeating the letter "C" out loud to yourself, very fast:
Dash Dot Dash Dot and now
Dah Di Dah Dit
Have a go and repeating the
code in this video:CLICK
HERE
Is Morse Code Still Used
Today
With the advent of computers, most of the
communications is sent by Data Transmissions.
Your Parents will remember
the strange noises their
computer used to make when connecting to the
internet, this was Digital Data similar to Morse code,
but mega times faster. The internet still runs on the same
system today, using on
and off tones representing letters
and numbers.
Radio Hams are frequent users of Morse to communicate
all over the world.
To obtain a radio license, most
Radio Hams had to pass a test at 12 WPM,
which was
a real challenge.
Today Spy's send and receive Morse by
computer,
This is now being phased out in favor of encoded data.
Some Navy trainees still learn Morse for use in an
emergency,
when satellites communication fails,
or possible signaling commands to
near by ships by light,
to keep a radio silence.
Sending Morse Code to you
friend.
If you can find a torch which switches on and off quickly,
you can send messages to your friends over 100,s of
meters especially at night.
Don't forget to space the Morse out correctly,
a Dah is 3 times a Dit,
leave a long gap between each word.
You could always encode the message as a Spy would do,
on the CODE
page.
Print off a pair of Morse code
sheets: Here
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