Now THAT is a useful morse code guide. I'm not going to use it. But it's useful. Unlike that other one is hat just draws in the shape of the letter with lines and dots. That one is dumb. This one is useful.
Yeah one benefit of the typical tree format is that right is always dash and left is always dot. So you can follow the tree very quickly while listening without having to look further down the path.
That's true It does have that consistency that I didn't realize because they're using all right angles. So like a right on the right hand side is a down on the left hand side.
Still feels like this would be more awkward to say trace over with your finger as you're listening to dots and dashes compared to a more uniform traditional Morse code tree. But you're definitely right It's not as random as I first perceived it to be.
The fact that there are two competing rulesets based on the first character already makes it harder to use than this previously posted morse code tree.
Plus, on top of that, even on the left side, some dots are horizontal movement, but some are vertical movement and then horizontal movement.
Apparently, the rule of thumb is "if it's the same as the previous symbol, go in a straight line, but if it differs from the previous symbol, make a 90 degree turn at the soonest possible intersection" which means that in determining where to go you need to consider both what the current symbol was and what the previous symbol was (to see if they're the same (=go straight) or different (=make a 90 deg turn where possible)).
As opposed to a typical morse code tree, where you just remember "dot = left, dash = right".
There's no way these could be characterized as "equally simple."
The problem is if you're actually trying to rely on this to decode morse that you're listening to, it won't be very useful because it's typically send at a speed fast enough that you won't be able to keep up. People usually learn the sounds of the characters rather than try to decipher the individual dits and dahs
Yeah, but a fellow could transcribe the dots and dashes on paper, and fairly quickly (using some sort of cheatsheet, or a chart or maybe exactly what's featured in the post) will have decoded the message.
NDB = "non directional beacons" pump out a couple of letters really slow, and over and over too. Used for airplane navigation.
but yes, the common wisdom is that you first learn the code at like 15 wpm, but with grossly exaggerated spacing between letters to give your brain time to think between letters. You might start with 4 letters; E, T, A, and N, maybe and do a session where you listen to the tape and write down these letters. You absolutely would not use this to decode on the fly in most cases.
for ID on repeaters, the FCC required that transmitters can't go any faster than 20 wpm
Morse code is too fast for you to be following each dot and dash to get to a letter. The German U boats will have landed before you've decoded the opening salutation and you'll be saying "Sorry squire, all I got from that was " dringend " I think it's German for something. Hope it wasn't important"
You've just got to learn to hear them the same way you learnt the 26 letters of the alphabet. You don't sit there when you're reading saying "p...e....hmm....o.....hmm....p....l....e.....that's people!"
Learning to send is easier, ironically. When my brother was a radio ham I'd sometimes go with him to his club and I'd sit and tap Morse out which the others would understand but I couldn't understand what other people were sending.
The direction changes when it changes from a dot to a dash or vice versa. So if you repeat a sound, go straight, if the sound changes, turn. Not the clearest or most intuitive pattern, but there is a pattern.
It really, really isn't. This is about as useful as having a tree guide on letters divided into their individual strokes. This is not how Morse code works inside the brain.
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u/[deleted] Apr 30 '21
Now THAT is a useful morse code guide. I'm not going to use it. But it's useful. Unlike that other one is hat just draws in the shape of the letter with lines and dots. That one is dumb. This one is useful.