IS MORSE CODE STILL VIABLE COMMUNICATIONS?

William Duncan

It has now been over two years since the FCC dropped all code proficiency requirements to become an amateur (ham) radio operator in the United States. Several other countries have also discontinued the practice of requiring amateur radio operators to demonstrate their ability to send and receive Morse code. Many consider Morse code to be an antiquated outmoded means of communication which only has a place in history books.

The telegraph was the beginning of electronic communications. With the invention of the telegraph was the invention of the Morse code which was originally composed of a series of marks written on a moving strip of paper. The marks composed of short marks and longer marks that when sent alone or in groups represented letters, numbers, or punctuation (i.e. a short mark followed by a long mark was an A while a long mark followed by three short marks was a B). Thus a message could be sent by wire over a long distance. After listening to the writer making its marks, operators began to realize they could write the message by listening to the sounds made by the writer and thus bypass reading the tape. Morse code then became a series of clicks that was listened to and written down.

While wire telegraph is a series of clicks, radio telegraph became a series of long and short bursts of sound or tone. It was also found that this code could be sent by flashes of light thus ships can use the flashing light to communicate short distances while at sea.

Now with the ability of voice communications and high speed data communications the trained and experienced Morse code operators have gone the way of horse drawn buggy drivers.

One criticism of Morse code is that it is slow. The truth is that two good code operators can send messages faster and more accurate than even experienced voice operators. Modern digital transmissions send the message then the receiving stations send the message back to check the accuracy of reception in such short time that no Morse code operator can even come close to matching its speed or accuracy.

So is there any reason to continue to clutter our radio frequencies with the noise of Morse code? Does Morse code have any future? For the purpose of everyday normal communication needs, Morse code has become as outmoded for communications as the horse has for transportation. But just as there are some places where no motorized vehicle can go and a horse beats walking, so there are times and places where Morse code still has a place in the modern world.

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