Morse Code: Practical Uses & Benefits?

[FeDeX_LaTeX]

Hello;

I am sorry I didn't know where to create this thread, it isn't really academic or career guidance...

I know morse code, I can get every letter if played slowly (I can't decipher it when played at a quick rate). I have known how to 'speak' morse code for about a year or so now, but it was one of those things that I learned as a hobby. However, are there any practical uses for morse code at all? I have been told by everyone that it is pointless trying to get better at morse code, as no one uses it, not even people who work at radio broadcasting channels. Of course, morse code has great historical significance, but is it seen as a useful skill at all (by employers, universities, etc.) or is it regarded as 'just a hobby with no practical uses'?

At the moment, I have not really practiced my morse code for a while now. I still know the entire alphabet, 0-9, and some punctuation (and some accented letters, such as è). Is it worth it trying to get better at it? Or should I just focus on something more worth my time?

Thanks.

 

[phyzguy]

I don't think anyone views knowledge of Morse code as a useful skill anymore. You should focus on something more worth your time.

 

[lisab]

I don't think there is a practical use for it.

But if you find it personally rewarding, maybe even relaxing, then you could take it up as a hobby. Do it for pleasure, not for a payoff.

 

[JaredJames]

I actually searched this because I wanted to give you something positive, but this is all I could find:

http://blog.promomachine.co.uk/morse-code/

I agree with lisab on this one, hobby yes, useful no.

 

[FeDeX_LaTeX]

Hello;

Thanks to all for replying. I guess it should just be a hobby, then.

Also, is it considered a useful skill to be able to convert hexadecimal to ASCII in your head? I used to do a lot of experimenting with changing hex values in things and after a while I got used to converting to hex and ASCII quickly (i.e. reading 50 48 59 53 49 43 53 as 'physics'). Should this also be a hobby or does it have no practical use in modern society? I realize that it is common knowledge to convert between bases but slightly lesson common to do so with ASCII. Is this a useless skill?

Thanks.

 

[JaredJames]

Also, is it considered a useful skill to be able to convert hexadecimal to ASCII in your head? I used to do a lot of experimenting with changing hex values in things and after a while I got used to converting to hex and ASCII quickly (i.e. reading 50 48 59 53 49 43 53 as 'physics'). Should this also be a hobby or does it have no practical use in modern society? I realize that it is common knowledge to convert between bases but slightly lesson common to do so with ASCII. Is this a useless skill?

This gets the hobby vote from me.

You don't half pick some strange things to learn. As much as I admire your willingness to learn these things, I can't help but think you should be focussing elsewhere.

 

[berkeman]

Thanks to all for replying. I guess it should just be a hobby, then.

You should look up your local HAM radio group, and find out what kind of long-range ("DX") communication and contesting they do. The sunspots are nearing the good part of their 11-year cycle, and the "skip" has been improving a lot the last couple of years.

You may enjoy listening to the long-range contacts that can be made with the right (long) wavelengths and skip.

BTW, for those who didn't know this, Morse code was used for early radio communications because it has a much better signal-to-noise ratio for attenuated, noisy signals, as compared to voice. It has a much lower datarate too -- that is the trade-off.

 

[FeDeX_LaTeX]

Hello;

How do I get in touch with my local HAM radio group? (I live in London)

Also, I don't know why, but I love to learn strange things because I want to know them, despite intrinsically knowing that it is mostly useless. For example, when I was about 9 years old, I memorised 500 digits of pi because I found it fun. Yet when I think about it, this is an incredibly strange thing to do, even as a hobby...

The sunspots are nearing the good part of their 11-year cycle,

This sounds interesting, could you explain what you mean by this?

Also, I may have to be honest, I did find one practical application, through partially cheating on a spanish test. They give you a 'plan' sheet to take into the exam and you are allowed to draw pictures on it. I drew pictures, but put in faint words written in morse code (dots and lines). They were not visible unless you looked extremely closely at it, and after moderation they didn't find out. I guess what I did was wrong, but it helped me get a few good words in.

 

[JaredJames]

Also, I don't know why, but I love to learn strange things because I want to know them, despite intrinsically knowing that it is mostly useless. For example, when I was about 9 years old, I memorised 500 digits of pi because I found it fun. Yet when I think about it, this is an incredibly strange thing to do, even as a hobby...

I learned the entire periodic table at age 12 - get this - because I saw it in the film Evolution (first time to take notice of it) and thought it would be awesome to know by heart. You're not alone on this.

However, there came a point when I no longer had enough free time to do stuff like that and priorities had to be reconsidered.

Also, I may have to be honest, I did find one practical application, through partially cheating on a spanish test. They give you a 'plan' sheet to take into the exam and you are allowed to draw pictures on it. I drew pictures, but put in faint words written in morse code (dots and lines). They were not visible unless you looked extremely closely at it, and after moderation they didn't find out. I guess what I did was wrong, but it helped me get a few good words in.

I'm impressed and annoyed at the same time!

 

[Averagesupernova]

When I mark wires when disassembling something I mark them with a sharpie pen in morse code by their function, where they hook to, etc. I could mark them with one dot, two dots, three dots, etc. but then I would need a sheet to reference to what one dot, two dots, three dots, etc. means.

 

[FeDeX_LaTeX]

Hello;

I learned the periodic table too a couple years ago! Unfortunately, I can't remember it all anymore, but it was probably one of the more useful things to remember! My peers also told me to stop doing it because I was wasting my life... do you think it is at all worthwhile, as a hobby?

Also, I too have less free time, I am in my final year of GCSE but that does not mean I have a completely full schedule. At what stage should this stop?

The marking wires sounds like a good application. I have never thought of using them as labels like this. Thank you!

 

[JaredJames]

I learned the periodic table too a couple years ago! Unfortunately, I can't remember it all anymore, but it was probably one of the more useful things to remember! My peers also told me to stop doing it because I was wasting my life... do you think it is at all worthwhile, as a hobby?

I'll be honest, I started learning it because I wanted to but the finish was aided because I was offered a prize by the science department if I could recite it perfectly.

It was a completely worthless act. The ability for me to recite it, in order, was meaningless. I didn't know what it meant and didn't know how to use it.

Also, I too have less free time, I am in my final year of GCSE but that does not mean I have a completely full schedule. At what stage should this stop?

Only you know the answer to that.

 

[FeDeX_LaTeX]

Hello;

Are you still able to recite it? For me, the worst feeling is memorising something for a good few months up to a year, but then forgetting it due to lack of use.

I think I could fit it in all the time, because I don't have a lot of hobbies. I am usually studying. The only hobby I really have is watching far too much tennis for my own good. I just don't want to have to make up everything under the hobby section of my CV...

 

[JaredJames]

Are you still able to recite it? For me, the worst feeling is memorising something for a good few months up to a year, but then forgetting it due to lack of use.

Nope, spent a week learning it, recited it to the teachers, claimed the prize, pretty much forgot it.

 

[berkeman]

Hello;

How do I get in touch with my local HAM radio group? (I live in London)

London Amateur Radio Club ! http://www.larc.ca/

Tell them KI6EGL sent you

This sounds interesting, could you explain what you mean by this?

Sunspot cycle -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunspot_cycle#Effects_on_Earth

Skywave (skip) using the ionosphere -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywave

 

[JaredJames]

Ha, berkeman I've just realized what's written in your signature.

Sort of says it all for this thread doesn't it - the only thing I could think of for morse code was amateur operation.

 

[berkeman]

Yeah. Is it true in the UK also, that Morse code is no longer required for an amateur radio license?

In the US, the FCC got rid of the Morse requirement for the entry-level Tenichan license about 7 years ago (?), and for all levels of license a couple years ago. It's really helped grow the ranks of the voice amateur radio operators for emergency operations and preparedness.

 

[JaredJames]

Nope, you don't need to know morse code in the UK.

It went in 2003 by the looks of it when the international requirement was dropped.

They teach it but don't test it.

http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk/foundation/html/f10-1-0.htm

 

[cobalt124]

Nope, spent a week learning it, recited it to the teachers, claimed the prize, pretty much forgot it.

I was going to ask if you could sing it like Tom Lehrer.

 

[JaredJames]

I was going to ask if you could sing it like Tom Lehrer.

Despite being Welsh, singing is not one of my strong points.

 

[waht]

I think military officers of many countries, including the US, are required to learn to the Morse code.

 

[JaredJames]

I think military officers of many countries, including the US, are required to learn to the Morse code.

Well you've got a potential career path FeDeX_LaTeX!

Last time I saw 'military officers' using morse code was in Independence Day to tell the worlds fighter pilots to fight back.

 

[mugaliens]

When I mark wires when disassembling something I mark them with a sharpie pen in morse code by their function, where they hook to, etc. I could mark them with one dot, two dots, three dots, etc. but then I would need a sheet to reference to what one dot, two dots, three dots, etc. means.

That's an outstanding application, Averagesupernova! As one who has had to track down cabling in a network wiring closet, the task could have been greatly reduced if someone had simply bothered to mark the cables.

We did, however, use a standard table. Since we kept it in Excel, it was a simple matter to sort it on the closet wiring panel (A4 (first column, fourth row)) or by room and jack number (122-3).

 

[berkeman]

BTW, I hope EVERYBODY on the PF knows how to tap out SOS in Morse code. That is one very special application, and you only need to remember 2 Morse code characters...

 

[Proton Soup]

percussive communication might come in handy in prison

 

[berkeman]

percussive communication might come in handy in prison

LOL. No not the POW code. Just SOS. C'mon, give it to me!

 

[dlgoff]

I use to know Morse Code years ago when I was a novice. Now I'm considering 2 meter applied to weather spotting. Living high on a hill in Kansas gives me a good vantage point for tornadoes. What do you think berkeman? I'm not quite sure where to begin.

I don't mean to derail this Morse Code thread.

 

[berkeman]

I use to know Morse Code years ago when I was a novice. Now I'm considering 2 meter applied to weather spotting. Living high on a hill in Kansas gives me a good vantage point for tornadoes. What do you think berkeman? I'm not quite sure where to begin.

I don't mean to derail this Morse Code thread.

That's SkyWarn, Don. And they would love to have you as part of the network:

http://skywarn.org/

/hijack

 

[cobalt124]

When I mark wires when disassembling something I mark them with a sharpie pen in morse code by their function, where they hook to, etc. I could mark them with one dot, two dots, three dots, etc. but then I would need a sheet to reference to what one dot, two dots, three dots, etc. means.

This is the sort of thing that raises learning seemingly pointless skills slightly above being a hobby, as, finding non-intended uses for them like this can be a time and effort saver. Its a bit like using a coin or a butterknife when you need a screwdriver and there isn't one to hand, another semi useful skill that has its moments of need, but possibly only if your collection of tools is scattered around god knows where, as mine are at the moment. The nearest I've come to this is I read an encycleopedia from front to back when I was about eight, and credit to my parents and my school that they let me. I still dip into dictionaries/encycleopedias occasionally and pick entries at random and read them, so very indirectly have more knowledge than I would have done otherwise. Its purely for enjoyment, and a good way to kill ten minutes if you need to.

 

[JaredJames]

BTW, I hope EVERYBODY on the PF knows how to tap out SOS in Morse code. That is one very special application, and you only need to remember 2 Morse code characters...

Three dots, three dashes, three dots.

The only morse code I've ever learnt.

 

[FeDeX_LaTeX]

Hello;

Thank you for the link, but I live in London, UK, not London, Ontario!

I have no real desire to become a military officer, but it is good to know that this is one example of a great practical application in the working world.

Thank you for all your replies.

 

[JaredJames]

Here's the UK: http://www.rsgb.org/

Google "UK HAM Radio" and you get loads of links.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

BTW, for those who didn't know this, Morse code was used for early radio communications because it has a much better signal-to-noise ratio for attenuated, noisy signals, as compared to voice.

I think this is why it was required long after it had become practically irrelevant. It was hoped that ham operators would be able to communicate during the worst of disasters. My brother got his ham license more than 40 years ago and he learned it. I was an avid DXer ( that's a hobby where you try to hear long distance radio signals) and wanted a ham license but was unwilling to learn the code and never got it. Now that I don't need it, I am no longer interested in it. Most of what I could do with difficulty DXing is done easily over the net.

 

[Gokul43201]

Of course, a knowledge of Morse Code is invaluable. It might, for instance, help one answer the following trivia question (without recourse to Google et al):

Because of a striking similarity between the Morse Code signal for a particular letter of the alphabet and the opening notes of a famous symphony, it is often conjectured that there might be a connection between them (though no evidence of such connection has been documented). Which letter? Which symphony?

Here's another trivia question that is somewhat more likely to be answered correctly by someone that knows their Morse Code well (you could also accidentally come up with an acceptable answer if you went by general knowledge):

What's the standard Morse Code distress signal?

 

[cobalt124]

Because of a striking similarity between the Morse Code signal for a particular letter of the alphabet and the opening notes of a famous symphony, it is often conjectured that there might be a connection between them (though no evidence of such connection has been documented). Which letter? Which symphony?

Must be Beethovens Fifth Symphony, don't know what the letter is.