Morse Code Alphabet Facts and Info
Facts and information on the morse code alphabet
International Morse code is composed of six elements:
1. short mark, dot or 'dit' (·)
2. longer mark, dash or 'dah' (-)
3. intra-character gap (between the dots and dashes within a character)
4. short gap (between letters)
5. medium gap (between words)
6. long gap (between sentences — about seven units of time)
These six elements serve as the basis for International Morse code and therefore can be applied to the use of Morse code world-wide.
Beginning in 1836, Samuel F. B. Morse and Alfred Vail developed an electric telegraph, which used electrical currents to control an electromagnet that was located at the receiving end of the telegraph wire. The technology available at the time made it impossible to print characters in a readable form, so the inventors had to devise an alternate means of communication. Beginning in 1837, William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone operated electric telegraphs in England, which also controlled electromagnets in the receivers; however, their systems used needle pointers that rotated to indicate the alphabetic characters being sent.
In contrast, Morse and Vail's initial telegraph, which first went into operation in 1844, made indentations on a paper tape when an electrical current was transmitted. Morse's original telegraph receiver used a mechanical clockwork to move a paper tape. When an electrical current was received, an electromagnet engaged an armature that pushed a stylus onto the moving paper tape, making an indentation on the tape. When the current was interrupted, the electromagnet retracted the stylus, and that portion of the moving tape remained unmarked.
Read more about morse code at wikipedia
| Morse Code Chart for English Letters and Numbers | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | · — | J | · — — — | S | · · · | 1 | · — — — — |
| B | — · · · | K | — · — | T | — | 2 | · · — — — |
| C | — · — · | L | · — · · | U | · · — | 3 | · · · — — |
| D | — · · | M | — — | V | · · · — | 4 | · · · · — |
| E | · | N | — · | W | · — — | 5 | · · · · · |
| F | · · — · | O | — — — | X | — · · — | 6 | — · · · · |
| G | — — · | P | · — — · | Y | — · — — | 7 | — — · · · |
| H | · · · · | Q | — — · — | Z | — — · · | 8 | — — — · · |
| I | · · | R | · — · | 1 | — — — — — | 9 | — — — — · |
| Morse Code for Special Characters | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Period . | · — · — · — | Colon : | — — — · · · |
| Comma , | — — · · — — | Semicolon ; | — · — · — · |
| Question mark ? | · · — — · · | Double dash = | — · · · — |
| Apostrophe ' | · — — — — · | Plus + | · — · — · |
| Exclamation mark ! | — · — · — — | Hyphen, Minus - | — · · · · — |
| Slash / | — · · — · | Underscore _ | · · — — · — |
| Parenthesis open ( | — · — — · | Quotation mark " | · — · · — · |
| Parenthesis closed ] | — · — — · — | Dollar sign $ | · · · — · · — |
| Ampersand & | · — · · · | At sign @ | · — — · — · |
| Morse Code for non-English Letters | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ä (and æ) | · — · — | ch | — — — — | é | · · — · · |
| à (and å) | · — — · — | ð | · · — — · | ĝ | — — · — · |
| ç (and ĉ) | — · — · · | è | · — · · – | ĥ | — · — — · |
| ĵ | · — — — · | ŝ | · · · — · |
| ñ | — — · — — | þ | · — — · · |
| ö (and ø) | — — — · | ü (and ŭ) | · · — — |
Morse Code Alphabet Facts: Info and Disclaimer:
I've tried to verify the morse code alphabet and the info as best as possible, but I can't guarantee that it's 100% correct.
All use of the letters, characters etc. are at your own risk.