Morse Code Translator

How to write Morse for this tool

Put one space between letters and a forward slash between words. .... .. is HI, and .... .. / - .... . .-. . is HI THERE. A vertical bar also works as a word break. Anything the tool cannot recognise comes back as ␣.

Character speed and effective speed

These two sliders are the difference between a toy and a practice tool.

Character speed is how fast each individual letter is sent. Effective speed is how fast the whole message arrives. When the effective speed is lower than the character speed, the extra time goes into the gaps between letters and words rather than slowing the letters down. This is Farnsworth timing, and it is how most operators learn.

The reason is that a letter sent slowly sounds like a string of separate beeps, so you count dots instead of hearing the shape. Sending each letter at 18 WPM but spacing them out to an effective 7 WPM teaches your ear the real rhythm from the start and leaves thinking time between letters.

The spacing follows the standard ARRL formula, so a message at 18/7 here takes the same time it would on any other properly built trainer.

Speed reference

A dot at any speed is 1200 divided by the words per minute, in milliseconds. A dash is three dots, the gap inside a letter is one dot, between letters three, and between words seven.

Morse code chart

Other alphabets

Morse is not only Latin. These tables cover the alphabets this tool can translate. Pick one from the Alphabet menu above and the translator switches to it.

Note that several alphabets give two letters the same code. In Russian, Е and Ё are both a single dot. In Latin Extended, À, Á, Â and Å all share one code. That ambiguity is part of Morse itself, not a shortcoming of this tool: a receiving operator resolves it from context, and so must you.

Questions

Why does my recording of this not decode in other software?

Check the tone setting. Some decoders expect a narrow range around 600 to 800 Hz.

Does it handle prosigns?

Run the letters together with no space and most decoders will read them correctly. For example .-.-. is AR, the end of message signal.

Is the audio real CW?

Yes. It is a keyed sine wave with shaped edges, which is what a real transmitter sends. The edges are ramped over a few milliseconds to avoid the clicks that a hard square edge would make.