Origins Of The Morse Code And How It Works
Morse code translator is one of the easiest and most recognized coded communication methods. Did you get that? If you lived in the 1850s or are a modern unprofessional radio operator, you might’ve. That’s morse code, and in an age of constant information communication, it wasn’t too long ago that this transmission method was vital to making the world go round.
It was used in the world wars to convey public messages over great distances. Mail might be sent between continents using it. In a sense, morse code translator was the foremost form of texting.
At The Outset Of The Morse Code
Back in the early 1800s, engineers and scientists were just starting to pioneer electrical transmission methods. In 1836, Samuel Morse, Joseph Henry, and Alfred Vail developed the electrical telegraph system. It was the foremost system that let communication over great distances.
However, there was a problem, it could only transmit pulses of electricity to another machine. This meant that you wouldn’t be able to convey using voice or text, so a new way of getting messages across was needed.
A code was developed by none other than Samuel Morse to decipher electrical pulses back into the original message, though Morse's code wasn't very complex at first. Originally, Morse’s code only incorporated numbers. This was useful for conveying some information but proved to not be enough to establish a firm communication capability.
Vail was permitted to expand the code to include letters and special characters. Morse Code was thus born. The code assigned a series of short and long electrical pulses to numbers and letters. Later these pulses would be considered dots and dashes.
On a side note, Samuel Morse was a fairly interesting individual. He was an avid painter and in fact, tried to make painting his occupation for several years. It was only after failing to make ends meet with painting, that he turned to electricity, his other desire during his lifetime.
Morse began researching the field of electromagnetism and electrical communication, but he had a lot of competition along the way. Men by the name of William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone secured a lot of resources to create a working telegraph machine. Morse, on the other hand, was working with a man by the name of Leonard Gale on his telegraph, who helped him develop his telegraph range to 10 miles.
However, neither of these men had a great deal of money to support the project. This is what eventually led Morse to work with Alfred Vail, who had financial backing and ultimately helped morse bring the telegraph and his code to life.
The Rules Of The Morse Code
The rules of the morse code are as follows. Each “dot” acts as the basis of time for the code. Three dots are the length of one dash. After each character, there is a silence that is comparable to the length of one dot. This relative timing allows morse code to easily speed up and slowed down all while keeping the same pace.
As far as how Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail decided on how to assign the precise series of dots and dashes to each letter, they studied the frequency with which each letter was used in the English language. They then assigned the easier dot and dash series to the most used letters during that period. For example, E, the most common letter, is defined by a single dot.
Originally, telegraph machines would mark sheets of tape with the message, but eventually, telegraph operators understood to decipher the dots and dashes audibly, making the tape unnecessary. This also meant that morse code started being taught as an audible language, rather than a written one of symbols.
The international morse code distress signal,· · · — — — · · · also known as SOS, was first employed in 1905. This became the usual maritime distress signal around the world within the coming years.
These series of letters or signals were chosen for their clarity, not for the letters SOS. It wasn't until much later that phrases like "rescue our ship" and "save our souls" started to be connected to those letters.
So, morse code was invented as an essential of the first mass communication method utilizing only electrical pulses. It was and to some degree still is a vital means of transmission throughout the years.
Translating And Using Morse Code
If you're interested in using morse code today, it's a fairly simple procedure. Not only are there plenty of training materials and guides out on the web for the best way to understand and use the code, but there are numerous translation tools that can swiftly encrypt or decrypt standard morse code.
For example, this translator even allows you to play back your message with sounds or lights to get an idea of how it would normally be communicated.
Learning written morse code is by far the most effortless part of the task. Learning to decipher morse code as it is being transmitted through radio, light, or another medium is the hardest part. This isn't the least useful skill. There is a legend about a POW who, while communicating with his captors on television, flickered a hidden message across the screen.
It's an amazing story that deserves a listen and watch below. Understanding morse code makes for a pretty interesting party trick, and hey, you never know when you'll be watching TV and realize there's a person on it sending a secret message to you. Maybe you'll be the only one that comprehends and you can be a hero. All of this is a result of your decision to study Morse code.
Conclusion
Morse code offers a slow but trustworthy means of transmitting and receiving wireless text messages through conditions involving noise, fading, or interference. This is primarily because its easy binary code (key down or key up) permits an extremely narrow bandwidth.
In addition, the human ear and brain make an incredibly good digital receiving device. Amateur radio operators, landline telegraphers, and military radio operators still occasionally employ Morse code in modern times.
