Skip over navigation
Encyclopedia
Dictionary
Thesaurus

More Sponsored Links For:

Morse code
Columbia Encyclopedia entry: Morse code
Morse code [for S. F. B. Morse], the arbitrary set of signals used on the telegraph (see code). It may also be used with a flash lamp for visible signaling. The international (or continental) Morse code is a simplified form generally used in radio telegraphy. The American Morse differs from the international Morse in 11 letters, in all the numerals except the numeral 4, and in the punctuation code. The unit of the code is the dot, representing a very brief depression of the telegraph key. The dash represents a depression lasting three times as long as a dot. Between the depressions there is a pause equal in time to one dot, except in a few letters and signs, when there is a wait of two dots. The pause between letters in a word lasts as long as one dash, between words it lasts as long as two dashes. The International Morse code is shown in the table entitled Morse Code. Morse code is now mainly used by amateur (ham) radio operators. The U.S. Coast Guard stopped monitoring Morse code transmissions in 1995 when their use in sending distress calls had been almost entirely superseded by automated systems using satellite relay.
Wikipedia search results for: Morse code
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment. The International Morse Code encodes the Roman alphabet, the Arabic numerals and a small set of punctuation and procedural signals as standardized sequences of short and long "dots" and "dashes", or "dits" and "dahs". Because many non-English natural languages use more than the 26 Roman letters, extensions to the Morse alphabet exist for those languages. Morse code speed is specified in words per minute and associated with an "element time" equal to 1.2 seconds...more »
Columbia Encyclopedia search results: Morse code
Results 1 - 8  of 8
  • Morse Code (table)

    Morse CodeInternational Morse CodeLettersA· –B– · · ·C– · – ·D– · ·E·F· · – ·G– – ·H· · · ·I· ·J· – – –K– · –L· – · ·M– –N– ·O– – –P· – – ·Q– – · –R· – ·S· · ·T–U· · –V· · · –W· – –X– · · –Y– ...

  • code, in communications

    Code, in communications, set of symbols and rules for their manipulation by which the symbols can be made to carry information. By this extended definition all written and spoken languages are...

  • Morse, Samuel Finley Breese

    Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 1791–1872, American inventor and artist, b. Charlestown, Mass., grad. Yale, 1810. He studied painting in England under Washington Allston and achieved some success...

  • SOS

    SOS, code letters of the international distress signal. The signal is expressed in International Morse code as … — — — … (three dots, three dashes, three dots). This combination was establishe...

  • radio range

    Radio range, geographically fixed radio transmitter that radiates coded signals in all directions to enable aircraft and ships to determine their bearings. An aircraft or ship can determine it...

  • telegraph

    Telegraph, term originally applied to any device or system for distant communication by means of visible or audible signals, now commonly restricted to electrically operated devices. Attempts ...

  • signaling

    Signaling, transmission of information by visible, audible, or other detectable means. Since prehistoric times humans have sought and employed ever more effective means of communicating over d...

  • radio

    Radio, transmission or reception of electromagnetic radiation in the radio frequency range. The term is commonly applied also to the equipment used, especially to the radio receiver. The prime...

More Sponsored Links For:

Morse code

Reference Center To Go

Get Dictionary at your fingertips!

Download the Toolbar Now
About This Page | Browse Directory | Tell Us What You Think
© 2010 ReferenceCenter.com. All Rights Reserved.
powered by AOL Search