Thread by @tonyingesson

Most people have some idea what Morse code is, but few people realize that it's still used today. So, here's a thread on why Morse code is still useful, why the Russians use it both for military and clandestine comms, and the link between POTUS and Morse code.

THREAD
(1/23)

First of all, Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, who was actually a painter rather than an engineer (this is a self-portrait). He was also an inventor who made things like a stone-carving machine and a water pump for fire companies (neither of these were successful).
(2/23)

In France in the early 1830s, Morse observed the use of semaphor telegraphs, a kind of visual signalling. He also noted the problems with semaphors, i.e. they're very slow and dependent on daylight and good weather.
(3/23)

Morse's early attempts to develop a better telegraphing solution made use of something more akin to a teleprinter than what we today associate with Morse code. It used a mechanical contraption to print a kind of squiggly code on paper, from which "points" were read.
(4/23)

This contraption could only transmit numbers, which first had to be decoded and then converted into letters. This is when a less-known but very important figure enters into the picture: Alfred Vail. He had technical skills and some money. He became Morse's partner.
(5/23)

Vail was actually the one who developed the dots and lines, representing letters, to replace Morse's previous solution. Frankly, I think "Vail code" would be a better name than Morse code (esp. since Morse was a pretty vile character).
(6/23)

Vail's code became the American Morse alphabet. Vail was also the one who invented a way to make the code audible, through the use of a "hummer", which was initially used as a test device (the idea was still at this point to create a printing telegraph).
(7/23)

It should be noted here that the International Morse alphabet was actually invented by Gerke, a German, who modified Vail's American Morse into what is today known as International Morse, changing more than half of it. In the U.S., American Morse was used until the 1960s.
(8/23)

American Morse does have a legacy that's still around today, though. Telegraph operators using American Morse created standardized abbreviations to facilitate transmission of messages. This is where SCOTUS and POTUS comes from.
(9/23)

At some point, Morse and Vail realized that sound had clear advantages over printing. The reason is for this is simply that when we use print, the conversion is done mechanically, by a machine. But when we use sound, the conversion is done by our brains.
(10/23)

Thus, instead of relying on the relatively crude technology of the 1800s, the real brilliant innovation was to create a system that uses the human brain as part of the interface. In essence, the brain becomes the modem, allowing the transmission system to be very simple.
(11/23)

For this reason, Morse code can be used with signalling lamps, by tapping fingers, pounding hammers against hulls, etc. The human instinctive sense of rhythm can be trained and shaped into a modem for coding and decoding.
(12/23)

Thus, it's not really the sound part that is relevant, it's all about the rhythm. This is also why people with musical talent and/or training are often said to be easier to train in Morse.
(13/23)

This combination of technological simplicity and the power of the human brain is the reason Morse is so useful. The brain can filter out a lot of noise, fill in blanks, and compensate for poor transmission conditions.
(14/23)

This also allows Morse code to use an extremely limited bandwidth, a fraction of what voice communications need over radio. By combining Morse with high-frequency (HF) a.k.a. shortwave radio, we get a very efficient and robust long-range communications method.
(15/23)

This is why Morse code was often used for both standard military and clandestine transceivers during WWII. The Whaddon Mk VII Paraset, for example, was used by Allied operatives behind enemy lines. Here, a replica is demonstrated. (16/23)

The Soviets, and later Russians, have historically favored robust technical solutions. This is one of the reasons they still use HF/shortwave communications. It's extremely robust, since it only requires a transmitter and a receiver, using the ionosphere for propagation.
(17/23)

Today, Russian strategic bombers and naval vessels still routinely use Morse for communications. There are several good accounts here for up-to-date intercepts, such as @shortwave78, @olga_pp98, @te3ej, et al.
(18/23)

The Russians also still use Morse code for some clandestine communications, such as the M12 numbers station. The transmission schedule and an audio sample can be found at :
https://t.co/gjvEE5WEGA
(19/23)Priyom.org
priyom.org/number-station…

There are also new Morse code transceivers still being produced for the civilian market (for amateur radio operators). The QRP Labs QCX-mini, for example.
(20/23)

Ironically, computer-based Morse decoders are still not as good as the human brain at handling Morse, even though it's essentially a binary language. This is because human operators are usually not entirely consistent in speed/rhythm, which throws off the computers.
(21/23)

For computers, there are much more efficient solutions, of course. Typically, you'd include more tones and some error correction. But you still can't beat Morse when it comes to simplicity, robustness and versatility.
(22/23)

If you want to know more, Rutkowski's "The CW Way of Life" is an excellent book (which I've used as a source for this thread). There are also good apps for phones for learning Morse, as well as the website.

END

(23/23)lcwo.net

@Brand762 I'm actually pretty bad at copying by ear myself (although I started practicing again recently), but even I recognize some common words, which helps tremendously.

I can't really keep up with all the replies (my notifications are a bit of a mess right now) but thanks to all of you!