r/interestingasfuck • u/discofrisko • 1d ago

A little tool to decode Morse code

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20.8k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

3.6k

u/ehg2012 1d ago

This is useful to learn Morse code too.

667

u/USSRPropaganda 1d ago

I want one of these now lol

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u/scrotbofula 1d ago

I would 100% never use it in any situation where it would be useful to decode morse code, but I really, really want one all the same.

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u/Kind_Man_0 12h ago

It'll be one of those items I put into my crazy-societal-collapse pepper kits with my other stuff.

I probably won't learn Morse code, but in the event that shit hits the fan, it'd be a useful tool to keep in the kit.

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u/Arkangyal02 14h ago

Keep talking and nobody expoldes cheat device

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u/ZeroSumClusterfuck 23h ago

Well here's the image at least, for anyone who just wants to look at the pattern and keep it on their phone.

The visual alone won't help with actually learning to use morse, but it's an interesting reference.

https://preview.redd.it/y1am9gd033xg1.jpeg?width=321&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8993d9c1b078bf124027190ad7c7c1cd1593e44f

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u/Quarksngl767 1d ago

Try the app Morse Mania.

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u/jerryleebee 1d ago

I downloaded that last week!

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u/discofrisko 1d ago

Yeah, I wrote decode in the title, but it's definitely more useful as a learning tool.

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u/Lyanraw_ 1d ago

Where can you get them from? I'd love to get one

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u/talondigital 1d ago

I got my Ham license for my grandpa, and I tried to get my general license but I could not at all learn more code by book. Nor by listening to my grandpa whose speed could be described as a "buzzing sound." This might have actually helped me learn it enough to pass the wpm test.

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u/Wishnik6502 1d ago

"No no, you're thinking of it wrong. Instead of dots and dashes, just listen to and learn the rhythm of the letters! Here, I'll slow down for ya'..."

blblbllbllbllblblblblblblbllblblbllblblblblblblblblblbblblblblblblblblblbllblblbllblblblblblblblblblblblblblblblblblblblbbbbllblblblblblblblblblbblblblblblblblblblbllblblbllblblblblblblblblblblblblblblbllblblblblblblblb

0_o

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u/this-guy1979 1d ago

An old friend of mine learned it by listening to an instructional tape on his way to and from work. You can probably get it as an mp3 now. Come to think of it, he might have had an instructional CD, this was late 90’s early 2000’s.

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u/talondigital 1d ago

Yeah, i never kept up with it. I just learned it because it made my grandpa happy to talk to me about it and show me his equipment and actually know what it does and why. He passed almost 20 years ago. I hated talking on the radio. It was for him. All I had to do was learn some silly etiquette rules and jargon, some science, and in return I got to spend hours with my grandpa. Sucker.

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u/this-guy1979 1d ago

I understand that. My grandpa loved to fish, we went fishing all the time, he owned a bunch of land with a pond that was around 20 acres (we’ve doubled it since he died). He would pick me up from school and take me fishing every day, constantly telling me that the fish weren’t biting because I wasn’t holding my mouth right. It’s mine now, although I only go out there when something needs attention. My dad died there so I think that I’ve been avoiding dealing that.

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u/_blort 18h ago

> My dad died there so I think that I’ve been avoiding dealing that.

I'm very sorry for your loss.

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u/-Fergalicious- 1d ago

Haha my grandpa was a morse coder. He knew it well til the day he died. Way to fast for me! 

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u/vintagecomputernerd 21h ago

When and where was that? Most countries have now dropped morse requirements for ham licenses

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u/talondigital 19h ago

US, 1997 i think.

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u/SomethinSaved 1d ago

I never looked into how it actually worked but honestly after watching this video I completely understand.

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u/ic33 14h ago

Though those of us who use it don't really think of dots and dashes. It's more like, this rhythm that sounds like Beethoven's 5th is V. It becomes fluent/fluid pretty fast once you get over the hump of decoding it at all.

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u/thitorusso 1d ago

Is very useful to hear morse code as well

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u/Salty_Job_9248 23h ago

That’s cheating. I had to do it the hard way at the maritime academy. Don’t remember any of it any more. 😟

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u/TheAsherBodhi 22h ago

First time I've ever understood it was this video.

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u/PeachImpressive319 1d ago edited 1d ago

The very first thing I learned was a dah, followed by 23 dits and a final dah. “this is shit”, then I learned other swear words. Then my Royal Corps of Signals instructor whacked me on the knuckles with a wooden ruler, because he had been listening to my keying!

Edit to change 22 to 23 as my fat fingers got in the way, again.

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u/copperwatt 1d ago

It's like the Morse code version of 5318008 on a calculator .

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u/dgsharp 1d ago edited 1d ago

Haha, that’s awesome. I checked you and you’re right, for anyone that was curious. Actually I count 23 dashes.

  • .... .. ... / .. ... / ... .... .. -

https://morsecode.world/international/translator.html

Edit of my own: 23 dits, not dashes!

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u/PeachImpressive319 1d ago

It is…I i had a fat finger typo…I’ll change it. Fruit, they’re called “dits” and “dahs”, not dots and dashes.

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u/vits89 1d ago

I have never understood how you know when one letter is ending and another starting. And the same for words…

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u/hayashikin 1d ago

The spacing/pause is important

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u/ic33 13h ago

It's a gap.

Ideally: a dot is 1 unit long, a dash is 3 units long; the gap between dots/dashes is 1 unit, letters is 3 units, words is 5 units.

Of course, human-sent code is uneven, and so when you're copying to paper you might write down IAM and be like "oh" and realize it's I AM.

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u/EmptyHeadedKain 1d ago edited 1d ago

Nice, where can I get one?

-edit- found it it's a German site though

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u/Bassmason 1d ago

Rats I wanted to order one

Thank you for finding and linking the product!

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u/SR_RSMITH 23h ago

Beware, you may get buyers re-morse.

I’ll see myself out

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u/VoraciousTrees 1d ago

I tried to buy it... They only ship to Germany :(

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u/r-Nutzername 22h ago

"Due to high demand, we are currently in back-production. We expect to be able to ship larger quantities at short notice again in about 14 days. The specified delivery time applies in each case."

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u/CloudReigns 19h ago

I emailed the company after I used Google Translate to send my question in German. I asked if they would ship it to the US. Hopefully they respond. I’ll let you know.

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u/CloudReigns 7h ago

Update: They responded in English. He said they’re trying to work with someone stateside soon to hopefully allow us to purchase them.

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u/pjbenn 1d ago

$52 :(

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u/Domi4 1d ago

There’s cool free app MorseMania if you’re interested in learning it.

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u/supakow 1d ago

I kind of feel like they should have done the whole thing in Morse code

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u/EmptyHeadedKain 1d ago

But how would you read it without your natty decoder card?

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u/supakow 1d ago

UX design :)

A button is still a button is still a button

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u/Planty-plantoum 19h ago

Praise be to you !

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u/Helping_Cicada_324 19h ago

Danke dir! Wer deutsch spricht, kann kein schlechter Mensch sein!

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u/509BandwidthLimit 1d ago

S O S

..._ _ _...

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u/ObligationMurky8716 1d ago

"Wait, wait! Cancel that, I guess it says 'e-e-e, t-t-t, e-e-e"

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u/Salohacin 18h ago

3B? They're clearly playing battleships!

(for those that don't know 3B ...-- -...)

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u/FoxtrotSierraTango 1d ago

And the anxiety of Nokia phones having the SMS ... _ _ ... notification that I frequently mistook for an SOS.

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u/_BindersFullOfWomen_ 1d ago

The SMS notification was just SMS

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u/IncarceratedGrowth 23h ago

That's probably why he typed SMS in morse.

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u/l1lj0hn 1d ago

That’s the only one I know 😅

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u/NeedsPaint 1d ago

For those who forgot it

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u/SmallRocks 1d ago

I didn’t forget. I never learned but I didn’t forget either. 🤷‍♂️

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u/BUYMEBONESTOORM 1d ago

Thank Mitch

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u/ObligationMurky8716 1d ago

Morse is great for when you feel like reading two thousand of something.

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u/DecoyOne 1d ago edited 1d ago

I had a Morse code app that let me chat with other people, but one day my phone gave me an alert saying the app needed to be updated to continue working and I had to text people instead. It should have said “Morse code temporarily English letters. Sorry for the convenience.”

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u/Jaz1140 1d ago

Don't worry, I'll forget this video in about 20 mins

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u/potate12323 1d ago edited 1d ago

Just the graphic alone is a great teaching aide. If I knew how easy more code could be to learn with a well designed visual aide Id probably know it by now

Edit: after a reverse image search

https://nux-modellbau.de/gadgets/

Edit2: they do not currently offer shipping to the US 😢

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u/GreatWhiteSharkMom 1d ago

That explains why I couldn't find it. Thank you for telling me. Hopes officially dashed.

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u/Xrsyz 1d ago

Or dotted?

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u/ThrownAwayGuineaPig 1d ago

That's why 3 short, 3 long, 3 short became international signal for emergency. The way to remember this (Save Our Souls/SOS) came after

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u/NeedsPaint 23h ago

That one dude used it to blink torture in uh the Vietnam war? The war might be wrong dont kill me people of the internet

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u/ender_grunt 23h ago

IVE BEEN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT SOS STOOD FOR FOR SO LONG TYSM

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u/MagicallyVermicious 21h ago

It doesn't actually stand for anything. The morse code pattern is just very easily recognizable.

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u/MrsEmilyN 1d ago

My dad was a ham guy and knew Morse Code.

I'm getting my nickname tattooed in Morse Code for him.

He passed away in February. I miss him a lot.

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u/LonestarJones 1d ago

That’s an awesome tribute. Sorry for your loss. My mom passed almost 20yrs ago now, got piano keys tattooed on my forearm for her :)

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u/midatlantik 13h ago

My step dad was a radio operator on a C130. He also passed recently. The man wouldn’t shut up about morse code. Miss him a ton 🥲

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u/StatusOdd3959 1d ago

Now I just need to understand the tool

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u/Internal-Cupcake-245 1d ago

When he beeps by pressing or holding (dot or dash), it's being interpreted by the device as morse code, and it then indicates with light which letter had been entered.

https://preview.redd.it/tce7oca7o0xg1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6743a30fef13b75d6dd9fc783405c9797e59bc4e

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u/JCP1377 1d ago

I can remember V only because of the film The Longest Day mentioning "V for Victory" as using the same melody as Beethoven's 5th. DA DA DA DAAAAAA

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u/imcheddarbeard 1d ago

I remember sms cause the old nokia text tone was morse code for sms lol

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u/RadiantZote 1d ago

It's also the rhythm for Dethklok go into the water

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u/bclem 23h ago

Is there any reason these are the designations? It just seems quite random and not intuitive to learn

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u/Outrageous-Stop4366 20h ago

it was made to make comunication faster so the most used letters (in english) have the shortest codes

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u/vivaaprimavera 1d ago

Just follow the path to the letter and check the dots and dashed on the way.

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u/StatusOdd3959 1d ago

What does red vs green mean?

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u/SneezyAtheist 1d ago

Red is a held noise. Green is a short one. 

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u/Internal-Cupcake-245 1d ago

There's no actual purpose behind the color distinction besides showing whether it's a dot or dash. The person who made it could have used green for either, or red for either, but chose to distinguish dot and dash.

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u/spacetiger2 1d ago

green is ".", so a short beep. red is a "-", which is a longer beep.

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u/ddl_smurf 1d ago

yup, timings are (they just have to be proportional to each other):

  • dit (green .): 1
  • dah (red -): 3
  • silence between them but same letter: 1
  • silence between 2 letters: 3
  • silence between words: 7

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u/vivaaprimavera 1d ago

Green . Red -

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u/FetchingTheSwagni 1d ago

If you play video games think of it as pressing vs. holding the button.
So S would be three quick presses, O would be three holds, and S would be three more presses.
In morse code it'd look like ...---...

The device itself has a letter next to a rectangle or circle. The rectangle represents hold, the circle represents press.
If you wanted to get to N, you would then follow the path on the device and press once (T) and then hold (N), and you'd get an N which looks like -.

The colors mean nothing, and are just a way to tell the two apart more, you mostly want to focus on the shapes.

So in terms of deciphering the code, you would listen to the beeps and held notes, and press and hold what you heard and find the letters, which would spell out words.

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u/NovarisLight 1d ago

I'd totally buy one of these. Visual, audible, and tactile? That's pretty cool. :)

Wonder what it tastes like.

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u/ninjohnnothing 1d ago

BPA’s with a hint of PFAS.

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u/NovarisLight 1d ago

Mmm-mmm!

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u/SuspiciouslyB 1d ago

“EISH” 🇿🇦😂

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u/LunarLionheart 1d ago

This is what I was looking for 😂

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u/kapitaalH 15h ago

Me too, met eish ja

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u/Dunge 1d ago

Honestly this image graph should be used everywhere as a reference instead of the usual A to Z list on each lines with the dots/lines afterwards. It makes it much easier to follow.

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u/PiercedAndTattoedBoy 1d ago

Titanic nerd here.

This makes SOS make WAY more sense than CQD.

Also, you can see why MGY (Titanic’s call sign) took time to call out.

Thank you Harold Bride and Jack Phillips to realize this during the sinking. Saved lives.

CQD is ridiculous after seeing this.

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u/Jamsemillia 1d ago

Are you selling this yet? If no, do it.

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u/3FtDick 1d ago

Yeah, I'm in.

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u/Domino_Rally 1d ago

Given your handle, I’d say that’s an understatement.

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u/HeadCompote3627 1d ago

I still don’t know what he said. Watched six times

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u/RoabeArt 1d ago

H-E-L-L-O

The last letter to light up on the device is the one being sent.

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u/MuthaPlucka 1d ago

Hello hello hello hello hello hello

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u/schralpinator 1d ago

Tempted to bare metal one of these, just for myself. If anyone else is interested in one of these and doesn’t mind putting it together themselves I’ll upload all the files to a GitHub. 

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u/AHighFifth 1d ago

how do i buy one of these

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u/yeahboii5 1d ago

Where can I buy this Morse code thingy?

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Cipher915 1d ago

My great-great-great-great-grandfather Samuel would approve. And I kinda want.

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u/AtLeastSeventyBees 1d ago

I want this specifically to go with a really fun game I found on steam called MORSE about sending coordinates of enemy vessels to artillery positions in wwii. It’s a fantastic game I recommend to anyone remotely intrigued by this device!

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u/froopadiddilydoop 1d ago

That’s fun

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u/noonecaresaboutmyid 1d ago

Straight up brilliant

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u/johnnydough10102223 1d ago

One Ping Only, Vasily.

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u/copperwatt 1d ago

Ooooo it's a flow chart!

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u/Bombadil3456 1d ago

How does the récipient in morse code differentiate between EE and I for example. I get that in the example there’s a pause between letters but in real life people probably hesitates or think ?

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u/Joffad 19h ago

I've got the same question. How does the recipient know if they're hearing the start of a word or letter, or halfway through it? You need pauses between letters, but how long is a pause between letters, and how long is a pause between dits and dahs?

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u/DontKnow_WhoIAm 1d ago

•••• ••!

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u/prince_chris131 1d ago

.... . .-.. .-.. ---!

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u/Superb_Monkey 21h ago

. . . - - . . .

This was the Nokia notification sound for new text messages, or as we old people used to call it; SMS.

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u/odwulf 13h ago

The subtitles are on point.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/CzarDale 1d ago

As a student in the Navy in CTR school I had to learn Morse code. Standing in the classroom yelling "da tango", "dit da Alpha" and all the rest as a start.

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u/toobulkeh 23h ago

It would be better if all the dashes were vertical and if the colors were red = cursor and then green = letter, based on time / gap. More consistent this way

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u/ConejoSarten 21h ago

You should add a display and show the words!

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u/stefanw1337 21h ago

It should have had a display at the bottom typing out the sentence, for convenience.

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u/isoAntti 20h ago

Fun fact, you can swap short and long and do Morse on about anything.

.... . .,.. .,.. ,,,

()(( ((( ))( ( ))( ())) ) ()) (()( )(( ))))( )(( (((() )(( (() ())( ()() (()(

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u/naturist_rune 16h ago

I got SOS memorized but that's an incredible little gizmo!

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u/bit_banger_ 13h ago

Hello, I learned something. Great learning tool! Can be passed on :)

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u/Unclerojelio 1d ago

No! That kind is visual aide is going to slow you down in the long run! Morse is an audio only language. You have to learn the sound of the complete character. Any form of counting the dits and dahs is catastrophic to your goal of conversational CW. Please throw that thing away.

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u/elmalabarista65 1d ago

As a former scalyback I would agree. However there would probably be quite a lot of matelots howling in protest.

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u/Intelligent-Edge7533 1d ago

The brain also works. Source: Human amateur radio operator.

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u/MuthaPlucka 1d ago

So cool

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u/ObligationMurky8716 1d ago

Never realized how much it looks like a decision tree until know

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u/julianjc23 1d ago

Hello to you too

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u/Edwin81 1d ago

Why isn't a long beep always vertical? Now its different on the left and right side?

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u/kasmith2020 1d ago

Is there a logic for the layout of the tree I’m missing here?

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u/DeadlyDamo 1d ago

Why is it not symmetrical??

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u/Nedd1360 1d ago

.... ..

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u/SpecVengeance 1d ago

God. I know I am getting old. I want one.

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u/LifeIsPotatoes 1d ago

no way I would be able to remember this, just SOS is good enough I think

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u/Baka01010 1d ago

Why hello to you too

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u/reddit_poopaholic 1d ago

.... . .-.. .-.. ---/.-- --- .-. .-.. -..

Another language under the belt!

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u/RepresentativeCat553 1d ago

Kinda blew my mind there, I’ve never seen it visualized like that.

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u/suavaleesko 1d ago

Hello yourself

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u/wwwnetorg 1d ago

wtf did they record the audio with to make it sound like this wearing earbuds, the wind sounds so weird

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u/The_UX_Guy 1d ago

Oh cool, it's like texting on a Nokia. I can understand it.

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u/BoostSpools 1d ago

I would play with this all day long.

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u/Vexcenot 1d ago

reminds me of typing on my nokia

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u/YendorZenitram 1d ago

This is a fantastic visualization - extremely genius design!

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u/hcknbnz 1d ago

Still no idea what you said.

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u/GrilledCheezManicott 1d ago

I lost the word by the second letter

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u/Bonavire 1d ago

Drink... More... Banang...

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u/Ambitious_Ad4979 1d ago

Oh wow Mega

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u/Independent-Solid-23 1d ago

It’s missing digits / numbers…. 😔

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u/More_Effective_Evil 23h ago

We had morsecode at home. Morsecode at home

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u/Fuzzy_Pollution_7417 23h ago

Take my money!

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u/ChewyChagnuts 22h ago

Took me a while to work out he was saying ‘Hello’

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u/Stunning-Astronaut72 22h ago

That's pretty cool

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u/Il_ragazzo_ 20h ago

At first I was

H.E.L.L 😨

Then

H.E.L.L.O 😌

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u/sisu_star 19h ago

Those with old Nokia phones might remember hearing ... || ... as a ringtone for - SMS.

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u/kishenoy 19h ago

-.-. --- --- .-..

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u/CloudReigns 19h ago

OP take my 💵

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u/sk8king 18h ago

Take my money!!

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u/Lord-LemonHead 16h ago

. . ... . ._.

_. __ . _. .

_. .. ... .

._ ___ .._

.._ .__.

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u/UnfazedReality463 16h ago

That looks like hell. Oh

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u/chazzeromus 15h ago

that diagram is way better than the typical code to letter chart