Basics
Morse code is made up of dots and dashes or dits and dahs.
The International Morse Code encodes the 26 English letters A through Z, some non-English letters, the Arabic numerals and a small set of punctuation and procedural signals (prosigns). There is no distinction between upper and lower case letters. Each Morse code symbol is formed by a sequence of dots and dashes.The dot duration is the basic unit of time measurement in Morse code transmission.
The duration of a dash is three times the duration of a dot. Each dot or dash within a character is followed by period of signal absence, called a space, equal to the dot duration.The letters of a word are separated by a space of duration equal to three dots, and the words are separated by a space equal to seven dots.
SOS, the standard emergency signal, is a Morse code prosign
The standard SMS tone Nokia started is actually a Morse Code.
Rules
There are rules to help people distinguish dots from dashes in Morse code.
- The length of a dot is 1 time unit.
- A dash is 3 time units.
- The space between symbols (dots and dashes) of the same letter is 1 time unit.
- The space between letters is 3 time units.
- The space between words is 7 time units.
Morse Codes
- A • —
- B — • • •
- C — • — •
- D — • •
- E •
- F • • — •
- G — — •
- H • • • •
- I • •
- J • — — —
- K — • —
- L • — • •
- M — —
- N — •
- O — — —
- P • — — •
- Q — — • —
- R • — •
- S • • •
- T —
- U • • —
- V • • • —
- W • — —
- X — • • —
- Y — • — —
- Z — — • •
- 1 • — — — —
- 2 • • — — —
- 3 • • • — —
- 4 • • • • —
- 5 • • • • •
- 6 — • • • •
- 7 — — • • •
- 8 — — — • •
- 9 — — — — •
- 0 — — — — —
- . • — • — • —
- , — — • • — —
- ? • • — — • •
- / — • • — •
- @ • — — • — •
- + • — • — •
- - — • • • • —
- ! — • — • — —
- : — — — • • •
- & • — • • •
- ' • — — — — •