Morse is but another language, another way of imparting information via the medium of sound Unlike speech however it does not rely on varying the sound itself neither does it possess a syntax — a grammatical structure — of its own. It is used to spell out, letter by letter, the language in common use by the sender. This may sound cumbersome but Operators do indeed learn to read it with the same facility as speech.
This is achieved in the same manner as speech is learned ... by listening to it. We learn our mother-tongue by listening to it in daily use first while in the womb and after from the constant talking which most Mothers employ to their offspring following birth. Although young children/babies may not be capable of producing speech there is little doubt that they understand much of it.
Bad habits acquired in early life are very hard to shed later and so it is important, when learning Morse, not to be too hasty to "get sending" by pounding that key. Morse is a language of rhythms and is acquired by listening to transmissions of GOOD Morse; once those rhythms are firmly implanted in the memory then it is difficult indeed to send bad Morse.
This was well-illustrated to me one night when I heard an Operator constantly sending KWA. I was puzzled by this but, returning down the Band about 10 minutes later, I found him still sending this strange call without obtaining a response. Only then did it occur to me that he was intending to send the general call CQ? He had not learned the code properly and fancied his keying technique somewhat; unfortunately instead of sending dah—di—dah—di dah—dah—di— dah he was actually sending dah—di—dah di—dah—dah di—dah. It did not sound like CQ in any way whatever. Probably others had recognised his intention but I doubt that anybody would have wasted time trying to read him.
Start by acquiring tapes of Morse code which have been keyed by a truly skilled operator and listen to them for 5 to 10 minutes at least once per day. Failing this, if you possess a receiver, listen daily to the Slow-morse transmissions which are transmitted on the amateur Bands (details published by the R.S.G.B.). Yet another alternative is to program a computer to send Morse; you can easily arrange for letters or figures to be sent in a random sequence and at any speed you care to define.
A computer will send immaculate Morse code but it is relentless and will drive you into the ground; program it to give you a few seconds rest every so many characters or at set intervals of time.
Start by trying to pick out certain letters. Look at the code shown under 11.4 below and you will see that many characters form pairs; for example A is di—dah while N is dah—di. DON'T think in terms of dots and dashes but get the feel of each rhythm by using the accepted phonetics dah and di (dit). As you begin to recognise the rhythmic pattern of each letter then add another to your search. DON'T be in a hurry !
Because Morse does not use sound-variations the only possible way to introduce variety is by changing the duration of each sound; thus the code uses so-called dots and dashes. (For those who bash keyboards this is equivalent to the Computer's use of binary numbers which, usually, are designated in 0's and i's ).
There is an internationally-accepted structure:
The basic unit is the di or dit (dot)
A dah (dash) is equal to 3 di's
The space between characters is equal to 1 di
The space between letters is equal to 3 di's
The space between words is equal to 5 di's
One way to control the overall speed at which a message is sent (usually given in words-per-minute) is to vary the length of the di but unfortunately this does not work in practice. As stated above to read the code successfully it is necessary to recognise the rhythms of each letter; if the code is slowed down by lengthening the basic unit the rhythm tends to disappear. For example the letter Q is dah—dah—di—dah and this is usually recognised as the rhythm of "here comes the bride" or as "God save the Queen". But try saying it out loud and long as "daaaah daaaah deee daaaah" and you will find that it is not so easy to pick out.
Thus to send Morse slowly it is essential to preserve those basic rhythms and lengthen only the gap between each letter and (perhaps just a little) the gaps between words. In other words each letter should be sent crisply with enough time in between to keep the overall sending rate at the required speed.
That last paragraph however seems to bring me into direct dispute with today's Morse-exam gurus who, in the August 1997 RadCom, report that candidates who were prepared for the Morse Test using this method found difficulty in receiving "correctly-proportioned Morse". Unfortunately the Report does not say anything about the sending skills of those responsible for the training nor of those who sent during the Tests. Professional telegraphists in my acquaintance (including war-time naval instructors) use the above method.
A local club was fortunate in possessing the services of an ex-merchant navy telegraphist who could receive Morse from my computer much faster than he could write it down. He also sent immaculate Morse but he disagreed with the above structural rules — even though the Morse which he keyed sounded very much like the computer-generated code. Alas not all those around today send what they intend.
Because the technique of sending messages letter by letter is laborious a range of accepted abbreviations has come into use and now receive official acceptance. These are expected to be used in the official Morse Test. It is important to remember however that, as with any system of coding, unless the standard and accepted codes are used it is unlikely that a message can be deciphered.
The so-called Q-code is another useful device but it is both misunderstood and greatly abused in the amateur world. Radio-communication, with its ability to span the World, quickly ran into trouble with language barriers. The Q-code is an internationally-agreed collection of three-letter symbols to which have been allotted specific meanings; thus the letters QTH are concerned with location — when sent it is a request that the receiving station state its location while, in the reply ,it means "... my location is...".
Each group begins with the very distinctive letter Q (here comes the bride) and so is immediately recognisable . Clearly , in an emergency , it is possible to pass all relevant information quickly and accurately without need for interpreters. The amateur world has hijacked this code to its own purposes; of itself this is not necessarily a sin but the practice now borders on farce. For example QRP, which means either "please reduce power" or "I have reduced power" or perhaps even "shall I reduce power" is used as an adjective in reference to low-power stations which operate with less than 5-watts.
The practice becomes ludicrous however when R/T operators use it in voice communications. I have seen/heard few more silly exhibitions than a grown man screaming into a microphone "QRZ. QRZ. QRZ. Did somebody call me? QRZ. Come in unknown caller." When there is a deal of interference with the channel it is important to speak slowly and clearly and to repeat everything that is said; under these conditions the contact is not at all likely to read a gabbled statement that "thes a lotta QRmmm about". Morse can deliver even when voice contact is totally destroyed and the letters QRM indicate that the message is being obscured by interfering signals while QRN indicate that the interference is naturally-caused "static". But exactly what the spoken "QRN" conveys when voice contact is being denied is a matter of whimsy.
The ability to cope with these antics is required in the Morse test.
To gain an amateur Morse certificate it is necessary to demonstrate an ability to send and to receive Morse at an average 12 w.p. minute but this does not mean that, in practice, neither slower nor faster speeds can be used. There is a golden rule however that messages should never be sent at a speed greater than the operator is able to receive. There used to be a well-meant injunction never to send to a Royal-navy vessel nor to a Royal Air Force plane at your maximum speed... they can always send back at a greater speed.
A slow but accurate message will get through first time and so save time and effort. In conditions of bad propagation/interference send slowly and repeat each word. It is bad manners to respond to a slow message with a burst of high-speed Morse — it is also self-defeating . Additionally it might be a beginner who could dispense with a bout of discouragement.
You will find that one of the attributes highly prized in the amateur world is Manners. Behave badly and you will be ignored. Everyone can hear your transmissions but they are not obliged to reply.
(I am reminded of an anecdote from an elderly Operator late one night on-air. He used to join a Net conducted by an old boy in the Midlands who would not tolerate the ill-mannered microphone hog. Whenever anyone held the channel for more than 3-minutes he would come on and say "Down five". The entire Net tuned down 5 kHz and left the offender nattering to himself alone).
| A | di-dah | N | dah-di | |
| B | dah—diddy—di | O | dah—dah—dah | |
| C | dah—di—dah—di | P | di—dah—dah—di | |
| D | dah—diddy | Q | dah—dah—di—dah | |
| E | di | R | di--dah—di | |
| F | diddy—dah—di | S | diddy—di | |
| G | dah—dah—di | T | dah | |
| H | diddy—diddy | U | diddy—dah | |
| I | diddy | V | diddy—di-dah | |
| J | di—dah—dah—dah | W | di-dah-dah | |
| K | dah—di—dah | X | dah—diddy—dah | |
| L | di—dah—diddy | Y | dah—di—dah—dah | |
| M | dah—dah | Z | dah—dah—diddy |
A & N B & J B & D G & W E, I, S, H
P & L K & R P & R P & X T, M, O
Numerals are simple and easy to distinguish because they are unique in composition. Each has five digits and they progress, in order, from one to five dis and then from one to five dah's. Zero ( five dahs ) can be included as the fourth in the family of dah's shown above with the letters T, M & O.
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