How Morse Code Works

Morse code encodes text characters using dots and dashes.

Morse code uses two signals called dits and dahs for letters.

Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail developed the system together.

Early telegraph equipment with Morse code charts displayed.

Friedrich Gerke refined Morse code simplifying it for Europe.

International Morse code covers 26 letters, one accented, and digits.

A dit lasts one unit; a dah lasts three units long.

Dots and dashes in one character are separated by one unit space.

Letters in a word separate by a space of three dits' length.

Words separate by a space equal to seven dits in Morse code.

Morse code can be sent using sound, light, radio, or electric current.

Operators learned to hear dits and dahs as distinct sounds.

Old Morse code transmitter used for sending telegraph signals.

Morse code was key in aviation and military radio use.

Operators sent Morse code by turning electric current on and off.