Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic EvolutionSM
 Elecraft K1, J38 and a Morse Express Chirstmas Key |
Morse Code A Tribute to Morse Telegraphy!
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Click Here for an Extra Class lament! |
(Click on any of this page's "Thumbnail" images for a larger view!)
Okay, allow me start off by expressing my bias: I LOVE MORSE CODE!
(Even when I'm writing things like this on my computer, I'm listening to live Morse code on the Ham bands...)To me, Morse code (Often referred to as CW, for "continuous wave", when used over radio) is fun, easy, and at times even musical. There's no doubt that Morse code is the original "digital" communications mode. And, although it's not as popular as it used to be, I can guarantee you that it's going to be around for years to come!
Morse code, for me, was very easy to learn. During junior high school (circa 1969) some friends and I were experimenthing with all types of codes and ciphers, just for the fun of it. Looking through my parents' dictionary I found Morse code and thoroughly memorized the entire alphabet in about an hour. A week later I was proficient enough to pass both a receiving and sending test at a solid 5 words per minute in Mr. Manley's (Later I learned his callsign was W6LDT) science class.
From there it was pure joy - I earned my "Ham" (amateur radio) license and was on the air using Morse code every chance I could get. Friends and I experimented with all types of keys, "bugs," and keyers. In fact, I even constructed an electronic keyer made out of vacuum tubes! Nowadays, of course, the entire electronic keyer is on a small chip while many people even send and receive with their keyboards and computers.
My Ham radio experience paid off in that the United States Coast Guard eagerly accepted me at their Petaluma, California Radioman "A" School in 1975. Radioman School was an intensive 5 months of study covering everything from teletype and maritime radio procedure to Morse code and search and rescue communications. Unfortunately the course work was a bit difficult, resulting in a washout rate of over 50% of my classmates.
Luckily, my love for Morse code pulled me through not only the 5 months of training, but I broke the Coast Guard's record for receiving Morse code as well. At the time I was receiving well over 40 words per minute in either plain text, or 5 character coded groups, with an accuracy rate of 99%. That record still stands and unfortunately will never be broken since the Coast Guard officially ended its use of Morse code in the late 90s.
Anyway, you and I can STILL enjoy Morse code on the Ham bands and even on the Internet at times. Obtaining a Ham license is pretty straight forward and offers all kinds of great experiences and friendships. A good place to learn more about earning a license is the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). The ARRL web site is at: http://www.arrl.org
Also, feel free to contact me anytime about Ham Radio and Morse code - I love doing and talking about them both!
73s!
Roger, WBØJNR
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Click Here for the International Morse code alphabet and phonetics |
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Click Here for "Q" and "Z" signals |
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Click on this hand key to hear real Morse code! (227k .wav file) |
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Click Here for Morse code memories from telegraphers |
A brief history of Morse code
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Samuel F. B. Morse (1791-1872) conceived the idea of radio telegraph while returning on a ship from
Europe in 1832. After a number of electrical experiments Morse was able to demonstrate a working telegraph
set in 1836. It was with the invention of the American Morse code that the historic message, "What hath
God wrought?" was sucessfully sent from Washington to Baltimore.
The Morse code used in those days was very different from what we use today. Since Morse code was originally sent over primative telegraph circuits the operators could only hear clicks, not the "dots" and "dashes" (short and long tones) that we're all familiar with today. Back then, a dash was simply two quick dits, or clicks - much different than the longer tone that developed over more sophisticated radio circuits in later years. This "modern" version of Morse code, with tones being sent over radio, became known as International Morse code while the original version, using quick clicks over telegraph wires was called American Morse code. Of course the modern version became even more sophisticated with the advent of computers and keyboards exchanging all the dits and dahs, at faster speeds, until satellites and the Internet replaced most forms of radio communications... |
In honor of the 218th birthday of Samuel F.B. Morse,
Google's main page prominently featured these Morse
code characters for the entire day on April 27, 2009!
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Okay, who was the fastest code operator, ever??
I put that question to my friend Marshall Emm, N1FN, who runs
Morse Express, the world's best key and keyer shop. Marshall provided,
from memory, some tidbits from the Theodore McElroy legend:"Ted McElroy started manufacturing keys in 1934. McElroy was a master of both American and International Morse code and he promoted telegraphy most of his life, first as a telegrapher and later as a manufacturer of keys, bugs, and related equipment.
"By age 15, McElroy was a leading telegrapher (Wirechief) for Western Union. In 1922, he won the world championship in Asheville, NC by copying code at 56.5 WPM. That record was beaten in 1934. So, he went back the following year (1935) and beat the world record again. On July 2, 1939, McElroy broke the world record code speed at 75.2 WPM, which remains unsurpassed today. For the record, there is an individual ham radio operator who claims to have beaten it, on the basis that 75.2 wpm in 1939 currency is only worth about 65 wpm today.
"Anyone considering the nature of the record should recognize that the 1939 contest was a PROGRESSIVE test, with around a dozen candidates, but only two surviving to the final round. Each round consisted of a 15 minute transmission of text from a newspaper. Speed calculation was about as scientific as you could get-- they cranked up the speed a couple notches, and at the end of the 15 minutes they counted how many words had been sent.
"Hams struggle with 5 minute tests (in which they only have to have solid copy for ONE minute!), and the two finalists in the 1939 test had to survive multiple, consecutive 15 minute tests at ever increasing speeds.
"The legend is that Mac astounded the audience by not doing anything when the sending started-- except to take a drink of water, and light a cigarette. He didn't start typing until a full 15 seconds of code had gone by. When the tape finished, he kept typing for that same 15 seconds. And it's no coincidence that he also won touch typing contests! Ever the showman, Ted "Mac" McElroy put his name and "World's Champion Radio Telegrapher" on his keys and bugs, which are highly prized today by discriminating operators and collectors."
73
Marshall Emm
N1FN/VK5FN
[ed note: On February 12, 2009 Marshall and I were discussing the Morse issue and he
reminded me that the code requirement, for U.S. hams, ended in early 2007...]
Fun Stuff!
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Remember "QLF," the old (unofficial) Q signal complaining that an operator was sending Morse code so poorly it sounded like it was being sent with the op's left foot? Well, during the Colorado QRP Club's 1999 picnic an actual "QLF" contest was held and captured on video! See and hear this "historic" event at: http://www.cqc.org/gallery/picnic99/index.htm!!! |
In March, 2004 David J. Ring, Jr. (N1EA) gave me permission to post this 1980 photograph of him sending with his left foot on the tanker Williamsburgh (WGOA). David said this: "Here is my version of the same, to some guy on KPH who couldn't send a message to me. In case you can't read my lips, I am saying: "Send clearly, I am sending with my left foot, certainly you can do better with your fist... I got him to send clearly after that."
On Friday evening, May 13, 2005, Jay Leno sponsored a Text Messaging vs Morse Code "Shoot Out" on the Tonight Show: Click Here for the 8 mb high-resloution video clip
Click Here for the 1.3 mb low-resloution video clip
Morse vs text messaging!
On March 12, 2005 we held our annual "Key Day" at
the Colorado QRP Club. Here's a small sampling of
the photos I took of the wide variety of interesting
keys and paddles folks brought to the meeting:
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Braggin' Rights: Who holds the Coast Guard's record for receiving Morse code? - ME!
Coast Guard 40 wpm certificate.
Armed Forces Day 25 wpm certificate.
ARRL 20 wpm certificate.
ZUT - Coast Guard CW Operators Association
Member # 1363
ZUT was the unofficial Coast Guard signal for "CW (Morse code) Forever!"
Click on these "Thumbnails" for a larger view:
Membership Card
Membership CertificateCoast Guard Speed Key Certificate Front
Coast Guard Speed Key Certificate Back
Sadness:
The ARRL ran this front page headline on its website in January, 2007:
"It's Official! Morse Code Requirement Ends Friday, February 23 (Jan 24, 2007 [REVISED Jan 26, 2007 14:15 ET]) -- Circle Friday, February 23, on your calendar. That's when the current 5 WPM Morse code requirement will officially disappear from the Amateur Radio Service Part 97 rules in accordance with the FCC's Report and Order (R&O) in the "Morse code proceeding," WT Docket 05-235. Beginning on that date, applicants for a General or Amateur Extra class Amateur Radio license no longer will have to demonstrate proficiency in Morse code. They'll just have to pass the applicable written examination. Publication of the new rules in the January 24 Federal Register started a 30-day countdown for the new rules to become effective. Deletion of the Morse requirement -- still a matter of controversy within the amateur community -- is a landmark in Amateur Radio history."
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This letter was one of my earlier attempts at convincing the FCC to keep Morse code as an amateur radio requirement... (Okay, it was 1983, I was young, full of myself, and typewriters didn't have grammar and spell checkers!) |
The ARRL had this to say on page 9 of the February '07 edition of QST:
"Late in the day on Friday, December 15, 2006 the FCC took a step that had been long desired by some and long dreaded by other, but long expected by everyone who cared either way. An FCC news release issued that same evening announced the Commission's decision to eliminate the Morse code examination requirement for the General and Amateur Extra Class licenses." ARRL Chief Executive Office David Sumner, K1ZZ, wrote; "The best reason for developing Morse proficiency is that it makes Amateur Radio more rewarding and more fun. If one's sole motivation for learning Morse is to get past a 5-wpm exam, it's unlikely to be either rewarding or fun - or ever to result in real fluency. If on the other hand the driving force is a real desire to use CW on the air - a desire that those of us who love CW can supply - then that's a horse of a very differnt hue."
For some Morse code "Music," try sending this character sequence: BEST BENT WIRE /5
If you put a little "rhythm" into your sending the sound is, indeed, rather musical!!
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