Morse Code | The Open Book | Education Videos

Communication using dots and dashes

Communications in the olden days were not as advanced as it is today. It is well-known that initially letters and messages were carried by pigeons and later with the introduction of posts communication became better. This was fine in the normal course of events but when emergencies occurred there was no way messages reached on time.
It was in this background that the Morse code came into existence. In fact a personal emergency to Samuel Morse gave birth to the telegraph as we know it today.
Beginning in 1836 Morse along with physicist Joseph Henry and Alfred Vail developed a system that sent pulses of electric current using wires and an electro magnet. A code was necessary to convert the messages into natural language and that was the Morse code.
The Morse code has been put to a variety of uses one being the ability to communicate for people with disabilities.
It can be translated by a computer and used in speaking communication aid. . People with severe motion disabilities in addition to sensory disabilities can receive Morse through a skin buzzer.

A well-known Morse code rhythm from the Second World War period derives from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the opening phrase of which was regularly played at the beginning of BBC broadcasts.
The Morse code is generally taught using two methods namely the Farnsworth method and the Koch method. In the Farnsworth method the user is taught to send and receive letters and other symbols at their full target speed, which is with normal relative timing of the dots, dashes and spaces within each symbol for that speed.
The Koch method uses the full target speed from the outset, but begins with just two characters. Once strings containing those two characters can be copied with 90% accuracy, an additional character is added, and so on until the full character set is mastered.
Morse code can be sent by improvised methods that can be easily "keyed" on and off during an emergency. The most common distress signal is SOS or three dots, three dashes and three dots, internationally recognized by treaty.
Morse code is most popular among amateur radio operators. Pilots and air traffic controllers usually need only a cursory understanding. Aeronautical navigational aids, such as VORs and NDBs, constantly identify with the Morse code.
Morse code is called as the Victorian internet as it can send messages to any part of the world. The first message sent by Morse code was “What hath God wrought”.
Andrei Bindasov holds the record for sending the fastest message via the Morse code. In fact the Braille was one of the users of the Morse code.
In conclusion it can be said that the major invention has stopped seeing the light of day today thanks to rapid strides in technology but there can be no doubt that in its time it revolutionised communication.