Example
SOS we need help
... --- ... / .-- . / -. . . -.. / .... . .-.. .--.
Writing Morse code
Letters are separated by a space and words by a slash ( / ). Type dots and dashes as periods and hyphens. Middle dots (·) and long dashes are accepted too.
Playback speed
Speed is set in words per minute using the standard “PARIS” timing. At 20 WPM a dot lasts 60 milliseconds and a dash lasts three times as long.
Supported characters
Letters A–Z, digits 0–9, and the punctuation in the International Morse Code standard: . , ? ' ! / ( ) & : ; = + - _ " $ @. Other characters are skipped.
A short history
Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail developed the code in the 1830s and 1840s for the electric telegraph; the first long-distance message, “What hath God wrought”, was sent from Washington to Baltimore in 1844. The version used today, International Morse Code, was standardized in Europe and is now maintained by the International Telecommunication Union. Ships used it for distress calls until 1999, when it was replaced by satellite systems.
Learning Morse code
Learn the sound of each letter rather than counting dots and dashes: “dit-dah” for A, not “dot, dash”. A common method, the Koch method, starts at full speed with two letters and adds one more each time you reach about 90% accuracy. Use the Play button above to hear letters at 15 or 20 WPM. Amateur radio operators still use Morse, though the FCC stopped requiring it for US ham licenses in 2007.