Morse code charts
| Character | American Morse | International Morse |
|---|---|---|
| A | . _ | . _ |
| B | _ . . . | _ . . . |
| C | . . . | _ . _ . |
| D | _ . . | _ . . |
| E | . | . |
| F | . _ . | . . _ . |
| G | _ _ . | _ _ . |
| H | . . . . | . . . . |
| I | . . | . . |
| J | _ . _ . | . _ _ _ |
| K | _ . _ | _ . _ |
| L | ____ | . _ . . |
| M | _ _ | _ _ |
| N | _ . | _ . |
| O | . . | _ _ _ |
| P | . . . . . | . _ _ . |
| Q | . . _ . | _ _ . _ |
| R | . . . | . _ . |
| S | . . . | . . . |
| T | _ | _ |
| U | . . _ | . . _ |
| V | . . . _ | . . . _ |
| W | . _ _ | . _ _ |
| X | . _ . . | _ . . _ |
| Y | . . . . | _ . _ _ |
| Z | . . . . | _ _ . . |
| 1 | . _ _ . | . _ _ _ _ |
| 2 | . . _ . . | . . _ _ _ |
| 3 | . . . _ . | . . . _ _ |
| 4 | . . . . _ | . . . . _ |
| 5 | _ _ _ | . . . . . |
| 6 | . . . . . . | _ . . . . |
| 7 | _ _ . . | _ _ . . . |
| 8 | _ . . . . | _ _ _ . . |
| 9 | _ . . _ | _ _ _ _ . |
| 0 | ______ | _ _ _ _ _ |
| Period | . . _ _ . . | . _ . _ . _ |
| Comma | . _ . _ | _ _ . . _ _ |
| Question | _ . . _ . | . . _ _ . . |
The original "Morse Code", used by Samuel Morse since the 1840's to allow letters to be sent as short electrical signals (dots) and long electrical signals (dashes) along with some embedded spaces, was also called the "American Morse Code". This was a great improvement over an early British "five needle" system that required multiple wires.
This "Morse Code" was widely used throughout Europe and America in very early (mid 1800's) land-line communications and continued to be used well into the 1960's in America for this form of "Land-Line" telegraphic communication (in which the signals were carried across the "land" by "lines" of wires supported by poles).
Land-line communications originally used inking mechanisms to draw dots and dashes on paper strips but as operators learned they could copy the messages "by ear" from the sounds of the mechanism faster than reading the marks on the paper, "sounders" were developed to optimize aural reception.
The original "Morse Code" was well suited for this "sounder" form of communication but could not as easily be used for spark and CW radio telegraphic communication due to the embedded spaces which were actually an integral part of several letters. For instance, the letter "o" was dot-space-dot in the original Morse Code.
The original Morse Code had been replaced in England in the 1800's by a somewhat similar code which eliminated all of the embedded spaces and long dashes within letters in the original Morse Code. For instance, the letter "o" became Dash-Dash-Dash. This new code was called the "Continental Morse Code" and eventually "International Morse Code" as it became the universal standard for European land-line and radio telegraphic communications. It was only in America that the original "American Morse Code" continued to be used by railroad and inter-city land-line telegraph operators.
last updated 2001.02.06