Home > Categories > Science and Technology > Computers and Electrical Engineering > Electrical Engineering > Morse code

Morse code

From: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008

Morse code [for S. F. B. Morse ], the arbitrary set of signals used on the telegraph (see code ). It may also be used with a flash lamp for visible signaling . The international (or continental) Morse code is a simplified form generally used in radio telegraphy. The American Morse differs from the international Morse in 11 letters, in all the numerals except the numeral 4, and in the punctuation code. The unit of the code is the dot, representing a very brief depression of the telegraph key. The dash represents a depression lasting three times as long as a dot. Between the depressions there is a pause equal in time to one dot, except in a few letters and signs, when there is a wait of two dots. The pause between letters in a word lasts as long as one dash, between words it lasts as long as two dashes. The International Morse code is shown in the table entitled Morse Code . Morse code is now mainly used by amateur (ham) radio operators. The U.S. Coast Guard stopped monitoring Morse code transmissions in 1995 when their use in sending distress calls had been almost entirely superseded by automated systems using satellite relay.

Author not available, MORSE CODE., The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press

For permission to reuse this article, contact Copyright Clearance Center.

Related articles from HighBeam Research:

	Interview: Rick Lindquist discusses the addition of a symbol for the `at' sign in e-mail addresses to Morse code All Things Considered (NPR); 2/17/2004; ROBERT SIEGEL; 635 words; ... at' sign in e-mail addresses to Morse code Host: ROBERT SIEGEL Time: 9:00- ... THINGS CONSIDERED ... (Soundbite of Morse code) SIEGEL: ... and that was Morse code for `from NPR News.' We're informed by those who ... step of adding a character to Morse code to represent ...
	Morse code sends out an SOS Proficiency in 'dits' and 'dahs' is no longer needed for license International Herald Tribune; 12/28/2006; Miguel Helft; 964 words; ... 12-28-2006 It may be the ultimate SOS. Morse Code is in distress.The language of ... that community has been shaken by news that the U.S. government will no longer require Morse Code proficiency as a condition for ... and that the very survival of Morse Code is in question.''It's ...
	An obituary for Morse code.(history of Morse code) The Economist (US); 1/23/1999; 1621 words; Morse code is being replaced by a new satellite-based ... over the airwaves in the dots and dashes of Morse code on January 31st 1997, was not a desperate ... message signalling the end of the use of Morse code for distress calls in French waters. Since ...
	Morse code fans send out SOS Sunday Gazette-Mail; 3/12/2006; John McCormick; 796 words; ... during local and national emergencies. Morse code, a slowly dying language, has become ... radio operators debate the need for Morse code, military officials say it is taught ... 1993, the Coast Guard shut down its Morse code emergency distress network, a system ...
	For speed, venerable Morse code tops 'texting'. The Record (Hackensack, New Jersey) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News); 6/2/2005; 630 words; ... Australian museum pitted a 93-year-old Morse code aficionado against a 13-year-old ... radio operator Chip Margelli used Morse code keys to dit and dah the sentence ... received and translated. And like all Morse code experts, Miller didn't read the ... he listened to the sound of the ...
	THE LONG AND SHORT OF THE CODE; Samuel Morse's revolutionary code keeps a dwindling group of Minnesota telegraph operators in touch.(VARIETY) Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN); 4/27/2004; Meier, Peg; 1268 words; ... about the telegraph and Morse code more than 100 years ago. Things ... progress. Branchaud learned the code at age 16, and it provided him ... them as words. And once they knew Morse code, it was with them forever, the ... Branchaud brought a tape recording of Morse code ...
	Tap-tap-tap of Morse code is slowly going silent at sea: Satellites make telegraphic system nearly obsolete.(Culture, Et Cetera) The Washington Times; 10/7/1998; Roemhildt, Rachel A.; 955 words; ... vessels on international voyages. Morse code has been fading from use for years ... communication on ships has made Morse code archaic. The Global Marine Distress ... Safety System (GMDSS) is replacing Morse code. If a ship is in trouble, an operator ... Jim Adkins, president of the ...
	Recalling Dashing Days of ... -- ... Distress.(two-way radios and satellite communications are making Morse code obsolete, but it was once widely used)(Brief Article) Insight on the News; 11/16/1998; Roemhildt, Rachel A.; 712 words; ... telegraphic equipment that employs Morse code. As of Feb. 1, 1999, however ... voyages no longer will use the code as a means of communication. Morse has been fading from use for years ... GMDSS, generally has replaced Morse code. If a ship is in trouble, an operator ... the system. But in ...
	Heritage Center puts Morse Code on display Dayton Daily News; 6/28/2007; Tom Stafford Staff Writer; 887 words; ... Amateur Radio operator to learn Morse Code. -- Notice in Springfield News-Sun SPRINGFIELD -- When sunspot ... amateur radio operators to learn Morse Code and a month in which the Clark ... Advancing technology might have Morse Code supporters sending out an S.O ... ham operator ... .
	Will FCC Move Be the End of Morse Code? NPR Weekend All Things Considered; 2/24/2007; REBECCA ROBERTS; 652 words; ... language. (Soundbite of Morse code) LARGEY: It may be beautiful, but if learning the code isn't required anymore, does it ... Ms. NANCY KOTT (International Morse Code Preservation Society) Let's face ... dedicated to preserving the use of Morse code. Ms. KOTT: The chances of ...
	Morse code fans sending out an SOS. Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL); 3/7/2006; 1111 words; ... environment of CB radio if the Morse code requirement is dropped. A bigger ... OPTIONAL TRIM) Backers of the code requirement, meanwhile, maintain that Morse has tremendous advantages during crises. Morse can be sent and received when ... times of need. (END OPTIONAL TRIM) Morse ...
	MORSE CODE BOWS OUT IN FRANCE.(NEWS) Daily News (Los Angeles, CA); 2/2/1997; 214 words; ... send that message - their last in Morse code - at midnight Friday, putting an ... communication. The U.S. Coast Guard abandoned Morse code in 1995, and the 130-year-old system ... American who invented it in 1837, Morse code became the principal French medium ...
	Send the SOS: Venerable Morse Code grows obsolete. (Originated from Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel) Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service; 8/24/1993; Borenstein, Seth; 550 words; The news made Jean Fitzgerald feel old and reminded Manny Papandreas that death is inevitable. An old friend, Morse code, is fading from existence. It's time to send out an SOS: (dot-dot-dot) (dash-dash-dash) (dot-dot-dot). The language, which ushered ... the naval battles of World War II. It is now the Latin ...
	Translation: Morse code fans sending out an SOS. Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL); 3/2/2006; 1068 words; ... environment of CB radio if the Morse code requirement is dropped. A bigger ... public service. Backers of the code requirement, meanwhile, maintain that Morse has tremendous advantages during crises. Morse can be sent and received when ... communicate in times of need. Morse ...
	Profile: Experiment to remember the first dit-dit-dits of Morse Code sent as electromagnetic waves across the ocean by Guglielmo Marconi 100 years ago Weekend Edition - Sunday (NPR); 12/9/2001; LISA SIMEONE; 767 words; ... remember the first dit-dit-dits of Morse Code sent as electromagnetic waves across ... waves carried the sound dit-dit-dit, Morse Code for the letter S, across the ocean ... static) SIMEONE: It sounds like Morse Code, I gotta say. PALCA: Yeah. Right ...