Morse Code

Information gathered at: www.omniglot.com/writing/morsecode.htm (I added, removed, and changed words)

Morse code was invented by Samuel F. B. Morse (1791- 1872), he was a painter and a founder of the National Academy of Design.  He thought about an electronic telegraph system in 1832, he put out the first working telegraph set in 1836. Morse code made transmission much easier, for it sent "What hath God wrought?" from Washington to Baltimore.

Today expert operators copy received text without the need to write as they receive, and they can transmit easy converse at 20 to 30 words per minute. Morse code will always remain an excellent source of highly reliable communication during difficult communication conditions.

Morse code can be transmitted using sound or light, as sometimes happens between ships at sea and plains in the air. It is used in emergencies to transmit distress signals when no other form of communication is available. It is also used to identify incoming plains and ships. The standard international distress signal is •••---••• (SOS)

Since December 2003, Morse code has included the “@” symbol: it is a combination of a “and c”: •--•-• and is also the first change to the system since before World War II.

Morse code can be used to transmit messages in English and other languages. For languages not written with the Latin alphabet, other versions of Morse code are used. There are versions of Morse code for the Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic and Hebrew alphabets, and for Japanese a version known as Wabun Code (和文モールス符号), which maps kana syllables to specific codes, are used.

The Chinese telegraph code is used to map Chinese characters to four-digit codes and then those digits are sent using standard Morse code. Korean Morse code uses the SKATS (Standard Korean Alphabet Transliteration System) mapping, originally developed to allow Koreans to type on western typewriters.

 Here is a diagram: