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Morse Code Migrating To The Net

Rosco P. Coltrane writes "With Morse code slowly disappearing off the air, there seems to be a growing number of people who carry out conversations in Morse over the internet. Several Windows and Linux clients using VoIP or special protocols, such as EchoLink, EchoLinux, MorseMail, CW Communicator or CWirc exist for Morse lovers worldwide to pound brass and make contact with one another. Could the next must-have computer input device be a morse key ?"

44 of 361 comments (clear)

  1. Morseall by bradams · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Morseall is a morse code input server for Linux using the mouse buttons. Morse is being used to help the disabled use computers . A great way to learn morse code is to work on the computer using morse code instead of the keyboard for a few hours.

    --
    I like to build things and wire stuff together.
    1. Re:Morseall by TheIzzy · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yeah, you could do that, or you could just use this translator. Even generates nifty little sound files.

      And I swear that the morse code I tried to post really wasn't THAT lame.

    2. Re:Morseall by timeOday · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Apparently morse code at 20 wpm is not out of reach. At that rate, I don't know of a better input system for tiny computers like the fossil wristwatch pda. And you could enter the text without staring down at the watch.

  2. I can see it now by Sad+Loser · · Score: 4, Funny


    Dear Mr Morse
    Unfortunately your patent application for a serial binary code device (RFC 1) has not been accepted, as a company called SCO claim prior art.

    --
    Humorous signatures are over-rated.
  3. Genious! by aerojad · · Score: 3, Funny

    So computer geeks have finally found a way to make the internet appeal to the older generations!

    --

    SecondPageMedia - Wha
  4. Pound brass? by ryants · · Score: 4, Funny
    ... lovers worldwide to pound brass...
    Can't wait until my wife comes home.
    --

    Ryan T. Sammartino
    "Ancora imparo"

  5. That is just plain silly by nickgrieve · · Score: 3, Funny

    I am at a loss for words. Why? Sure, I can see the "fun" in it. But, its like towing your car with a horse.

    Just f'n IM the dude man.

    1. Re:That is just plain silly by ProfessionalCookie · · Score: 5, Funny

      But, its like towing your car with a horse.

      Not really-
      With todays advanced micro electronics it's possible to create a matrix of keys each one programmed to output the morse equivalent of an alpha-numeric character. This way the sender only has to press one key one time to send a character... In fact the system could be set up so that the receiving computer automatically decodes the morse and displays it on the screen as plain text.

      See, morse is for Everybody!

      PS I wouldn't bother patenting that though.

  6. As a diehard fan... by Kinetix303 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As a diehard fan, it's always made a lot more sense to just plug in the radio if I'm going to do comms in morse. It's a lot more gratifying, and believe it or not, a lot more entertaining than over the net. With a radio, you don't have to pay for air time, nor do you have to set up complicated clients.

    Many a night has been spent in front of a glowing dim console, applying a feather touch to an old worn dial to a hear a faint signal, a single voice coming from a hemisphere away. Sure, the internet is a guaranteed easy, clean connection. That's a given.... but it's just not the same.

    *sigh*

    73, VA3CSG

    1. Re:As a diehard fan... by ebh · · Score: 3, Insightful
      nor do you have to set up complicated clients

      You're saying that "./configure; make" is more complicated than building a 100' tower with a tribander on top? :)

      Back in the day, it took me a couple months of evenings and weekends to set up my "client", a Heathkit HW-101. And you're right, for as much fun as the Internet is, it's somehow missing something that those faint late-night bleeps had, coming through the original "ether" net.

    2. Re:As a diehard fan... by Kinetix303 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well, I might as well use this opportunity while my comment is rated +5.

      This forum is generating a substantial amount of commentary. If anyone in this forum has a son or daughter, niece or nephew who might be interested in ham radio, I have a built 20-metre CW transmitter kit that was sent to me several years ago by the test lab operator for the ARRL's periodical.

      Several years ago, this gesture inspired me. The generosity of this man opened up a world of opportunity for me in communications. He opened my eyes to the entire world. He helped get me where I am today. Little does he know what course he'd set for me when I was in my early teens. I lost track of him; I can't even remember his name. If he's still alive, he has all of my blessings and thanks.

      I want someone else to have the same opportunity that I did. If you know of a youth in your community that's passed their licensing test but can't afford their first rig, please, send me a message.

      I want to make sure they get a good start.

      73, VA3CSG

  7. Sure! by El · · Score: 4, Funny

    The next big thing: horse hitch accessories on the front of cars!

    --

    "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

  8. Effect of Morse chat on today's youth? by Corporate+Drone · · Score: 5, Funny
    and if you thought that on-line chatting was going to adversely effect the vocabulary, spelling, and grammar of today's youth, just wait and see what typing in Morse will do to them!

    --
    mmm... yeah... You see, we're putting the cover sheets on all TPS reports now before they go out...
    1. Re:Effect of Morse chat on today's youth? by alyandon · · Score: 4, Funny

      No doubt. Ham's shorthand puts modern day teenager IM message shorthand to shame. :)

  9. Morse over IP... by crass751 · · Score: 3, Funny

    .. MoIP?

    Has a ring to it.

  10. Not if you have half a clue by Angst+Badger · · Score: 5, Funny

    Could the next must-have computer input device be a morse key?

    Something wrong with any randomly selected key on the keyboard?

    Of course, the real danger is that net.poseurs will use ASCII-to-Morse translators with programmable semi-random delays to simulate mad Morse skillz.

    Hey, I hear cuneiform is dying out. Will the next must-have computer input device be a slab of wet mud?

    --
    Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
    1. Re:Not if you have half a clue by Elwood+P+Dowd · · Score: 5, Funny

      Will the next must-have computer input device be a slab of wet mud?

      Look, these anti-Macintosh trolls need to stop.

      --

      There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
  11. Apple's Mouse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wouldn't a morse key describe the Apple's mouse?

  12. Sco Jokes (TM) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    So SCO walked into a bar, and ...

    Nah, I think it still works. :)

  13. Learn or go insane? by zipwow · · Score: 4, Funny

    Entering morse code sounds like it would be worse than trying to type on my cellphone.

    I guess that's why it's not my hobby.

    -Zipwow

    --
    I don't know which is more depressing, that 2/3 didn't care enough to vote, or that 1/2 of those that did are crazy.
    1. Re:Learn or go insane? by Kinetix303 · · Score: 4, Informative

      To issue a correction in morse code, you enter eight dits. ........

      Just like that. Easy as pie.

  14. Great use for morse code by pesc · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I happen to know morse code but I rarely find a use for it anymore.

    What I would really like to have is an option to my mobile phone that converts incoming SMS messages to morse code, beeping them out! With that feature I would not have to actually pick up the phone to read my SMS messages. Maybe this would be possible to program on the newer Java-enabled phones?

    (The standard "ring tone" on my Nokia for a SMS message is ... -- ... (SMS in morse). My feature is just one step beyond what the Nokia handset already provides! ;-) )

    --

    )9TSS
    1. Re:Great use for morse code by PapaZit · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I want this feature, but I want it to vibrate, not beep. Then I can get my SMS messages in meetings, in the theater, etc. Add in a morse response button, and I could respond w/o pulling out the phone, too.

      'course, all that fiddling in my pocket might look bad...

      --
      Forward, retransmit, or republish anything I say here. Just don't misquote me.
  15. The Next Big Thing by volpe · · Score: 4, Funny

    VRML smoke signals

  16. IP over Morse by mph · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now somebody just has to implement IP over Morse, and we come full circle. I expect the RFC to come out sometime in April.

  17. dash dot dash dash dot dot dash by jeffkjo1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Did anyone know that slashdot has a filter to prevent me from posting in morse code??!?! The irony is striking.

  18. Emerging Technologies: Wireless by krystal_blade · · Score: 3, Funny

    Praise be to our "step backwards" regime, for today, in 2008, a brand new technology has been revealed to us, the people of the world.

    It has been discovered that by using a sheet, or other covering, disruptions can be made in the smoke that comes from burning uncured/wet materials. These distruptions, when agreed upon in a certain format, can be used to communicate messages great distances.

    The Berkely campus was set ablaze today by techno geeks attempting to create the first "smokey net". MIT students held a joyful party claiming "It's the first method created that you HAVE to let the smoke out to use!"

    Of course, being an emerging retro technologie, it is not without it's limitations. Currently there is no capability for P2P or Secure networks, shy of committing genocide on a grand scale.

    SCO International Dominion Corporation, in response to this announcement, stated "That's actually OUR wireless communications system, and we want royalties. As our evidence will certainly show, we introduced the genetic make up of trees, and it was US, not prometheus, who gave fire to the masses. Of course, we will not disclose this evidence at the time. But it's mine... gimme!

    krystal_blade

    --
    It will be easy to motivate our fellow man; there is hardly anything people treasure more than not being annihilated.
  19. As another diehard fan... by freeio · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Quite so. As an old guy, I learned Morse long ago, and use it to this day, but only on the radio. It is fun to be able to send and receive it (in my head - I do not bother writing it down) as fast as I can type, or even faster. I can listen in and follow along with the conversation, without having to take my eyes off of my work.

    On the other hand, the most efficient communication I have ever been involved in involved using a sound board on my PC, hooking it up to the audio in/out of the radio transceiver, and using the computer to generate PSK31 encoded signals.

    Hansi Reiser has written linux software for doing this: http://www.qsl.net/dl9rdz/#psk

    73,

    W4TI

    --
    Soli Deo Gloria
  20. Re:cryptonomicon by Suicyco · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yeah Randy had his compute blink his NUMLOCK light in morse code to defeat van eck phreaking. He would have fake shit on the screen and the real info coming out of the blinking light. Cool scene in the book, and a nice look at how to deal with known active attempts at getting at your data, and defeating it right under someones nose. Neat!

  21. If Morse-code became popular online by phorm · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dotdadotdotdot...etcetc

    E-N-L-A-R-G-E
    Y-O-U-R
    P-E-hey!!!

    You know somebody's gonna try it...

  22. morse code translator by circletimessquare · · Score: 3, Informative

    java morse code translator

    follow the link if you are java-in-your-browser-hater anyways, because there is a cgi morse code translator there too (includes audio! ;-)

    soon to be slashdotted into oblivion

    wait...

    slashdot you suck!

    i tried to post some cryptic output for the uber-morse geeks to read and i got this:

    "Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
    Reason: Please use fewer 'junk' characters."

    oh well, i'm stuck with this titanic message then: ... --- ...

    poo ;-(

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  23. Sigh... by niko9 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I was suprised at all the negative comments this story has received. I guess it's easy for most people to forget where they come from.

    Morse code, in my opinion, is an invaluable tool in opening the doors to the young in such fileds as electrical engineering, physics, computers and radio communications.

    There is no way most parents could/would shell out 500 dollars and upwards for even a used HF rig for their kid to get started in their "hobby".

    But I bet you that same kid would never foget his first QSO with his home built, 200mw, 9 volt battery operated rig and a wire antenna. Especially if he's chatting it up with another ham 2 states away. These kist are available for as little as 20 bucks online, minus the cost of the soldering iron.

    As for the art of morse code "dying", the poster has no idea that there are hundreds of contests that take place yearly on a international level.

    I guess it's easier for parents to sit their kids in front of a tv/interet enabled computer than to sit with them and help them learn their first morse charachters.

    1. Re:Sigh... by tcgroat · · Score: 3, Insightful
      One who applies the material studied to pass the license test probably has more real electronics knowedge than the typical sophomore EE major. He may not ace the midterms, but who do they ask for help when it's time for the lab classes? Somebody who has used the test equipment before. Somebody who knows what a cold solder joint looks like. Not every ham will be a good EE, and not every good EE was a ham--but the correlation is stronger than mere coincidence. Just because you have a degree doesn't mean you're qualified.

      Calculate the input impedance and frequency response of a Tschebeychev low-pass filter filter. Now do it again, with real component values for parts you can actually buy. Connect that filter to a frequency-variant complex load through a real transmission line (not the easy ideal one from your textbook). Calculate the new input impedance and frequency response. Now match it to the proper load line for your output transistor. Is that not appreciable math?

      Just because you don't have to know the math to pass the test doesn't mean math isn't involved. The license is only the starting point--your chance to get your hands dirty and really learn about the technology--or you can sit on your butt, play with your toys, and vegetate. You can do that with voice, or a keyboard, or Morse code, or a computer; the tools and techniques make no difference. What does matter is the motivation to work at learning something.

      If the license is the means to an end, the first waypoint on a journey of learning and discovery, then it's doing something for you. Something that is one of the core reasons Amateur Radio exists.

      If it's the end in and of itself, a mere formality to be dealt with with as quickly as possible, then you'll get out of it what you put into it. Diddley-squat.

      Like sports, music lessons, computer programming, drama clubs...Ham Radio won't make a star of somebody who lacks the talent and motivation to do so. But it is a way to challenge and nurture those who do have the potential, the curiosity, and the motivation to pursue electronic technology.

  24. It's called a bug. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A high-speed key, with weights on the back to allow the thing to send a string of dots or dashes just by holding the paddle one way or the other. Once you could send code using a key, using a bug was easily learned, and was necessary for speeds approaching 20 words per minute. The advantage of using code over voice was simplicity, no modulator needed, just break entire carrier on and off to send your message over short wave to the receiver, who then hetrodyned your signal locally in the receiver circuitry using an adjustable knob to produce an audible note. I was K5HLW in the 1950's, and used this form of communication in the 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands for a few years.

    At the time, we had no idea that PC's such as we use today would be invented, even though we were the techies of the day. Could this happen again? Sure. Give it a few years, and everyone will be using something now unimagined.

  25. What I wanna see ... by jc42 · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... is the Morse-Code column (after the oct, dec and hex columns) in the UniCode docs. We need Morse encodings for at least utf-16.

    --
    Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
  26. Receive message by secret via vibration! by Fu+Ling-Yu · · Score: 3, Interesting

    One other use, which I have been investigating as a personal project, is using the vibrating phone feature so you can get message without anyone else knowing. I did not look at morse code initially as a solution as it too slow, but if you can get phone to vibrate in way in which you can work out the message, you could receive message in secret..

    --
    -- Dr. Fu Ling-Yu, Internal Technology Consult; Tongji University, People Republic of China.
  27. Re:What's the point? by ONOIML8 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think you guess right, at least for some. Morse code is one of those things that you kind of have to do to understand. If you haven't held a QSO (conversation) in morse and developed the skills then there is no way to fully appreciate the art.

    You are correct that it doesn't have any practical use, especially on the net. Then again there isn't any real use for the Mona Lisa, Dixie Chicks CD's, or internet pr0n. There doesn't have to be a use for something to be done, used, enjoyed, whatever.

    --
    . Quit playing Monopoly with Bill. Switch to one of many non-Microsoft products today.
  28. A Response: by cygnus · · Score: 4, Funny
    Could the next must-have computer input device be a morse key ?

    dash dot
    dash dash dash.

    --
    Just raise the taxes on crack.
  29. Danger Hiptop SMS by leighklotz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've been working on an app for my Danger hiptop to play incoming SMS and email subjects/senders in code...

  30. Open Source Morse Code Beeper for Windows by haroldhunt · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A friend of mine had an idea to write a program that beeps in morse code while you type in Windows applications. I was so intrigued with the idea that I had to try it, and wound up finishing it :)

    Morse Code Beeper

    Both the source code and compiled binaries can be downloaded from the above site. Enjoy.

    Harold

  31. Sending out an SOS by yintercept · · Score: 3, Funny

    Personally, I prefer to send my SOS to the World in a hundred billion bottles.

    Of course the coast guard is mad at me 'cause my hundred billion bottles tend to wash up on the shore.

    Every idea has its Sting.

  32. Ah, but the real test is... by Julian+Morrison · · Score: 3, Funny

    The apprentice types morse, referring to a guide for each letter.

    The journeyman types morse fluently from memory.

    The master codes perl in morse.

  33. Re:What's the point? by batemanm · · Score: 3, Informative
    Then again there isn't any real use for ... internet pr0n.

    This article would suggest otherwise, it's about how masterbation could cut the risk of cancer in men.

  34. Re:What's the point? by starbuck5250 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I see little value in Morse on the net, but it is incredible for getting a weak RF signal through noise. On 2.4 GHz (the Wi-Fi band!) I can carry on a conversation with 100mW over 100 miles, no problem.

    In the future, when the RF spectrum is even nastier than it is today, I suspect CW or some variant like JT44 will be the best way to have a reliable link, even between machines.

    73 de KC2HIZ FN32at