Understanding The Morse Code System For Communications



by Erna Walls


Morse code may be one of the first high speed forms of communication ever developed. It was invented by Samuel Morse in the 1800's to be used on telegraph lines. The first one was built between Washington, D. C. And Baltimore, to convince U. S. Lawmakers to pay to build telegraph lines.

Basically, it was made up of patterns of dots and dashes. Dots are sounds or clicks that are of a short duration. Dashes are sounds that last 3 times longer than the dots, so it is easy to distinguish the sound pattern of each letter.

A telegraph operator taps out the message on a special handset that turns the dots and dashes into electrical impulses that travel through the line to a receiver at the other end. The operator on the other end then hears the sounds to determine what they mean.

With the development of radio in the early 1900's, it was first used for wireless communication on ships at sea. Radio technicians could send messages to not only other ships, but also land based stations. One famous example was the distress signals sent out by the crew of the Titanic after it had hit an iceberg in the north Atlantic.

Almost every country used the system during World War II, even though radio technology was more advanced and could easily handle voice communications. The system was also used on ships to communicate directly with other nearby ships, using high powered lights, which could be switched off and on to set the letter patterns.

Although Morse code was first developed to be used on telegraph lines, it is still being used in the high-tech world of today. It is a simple way of communicating when many other forms of sending messages may not be available during a natural disaster or an emergency. Morse Code




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