Morse Code is a communication system using dots and dashes. The advantage of Morse code is it can be transmitted by light, sound or in writing. Cadets at military academies across the world were taught Morse code. Morse code works whether flashing a spotlight or blinking your eyes – or even tapping on a smartphone touchscreen. It is probably the oldest cipher based code that survived even until now in usage.
Below is the Morse Code Alphabet
One can use this online Morse code translator to play around with Morse code both ways and get an intuitive understanding of these cipher codes.
About the Invention of Morse Code
Morse code was co-invented by Samuel Morse, an American painter and inventor who initially worked on portrait painting and then later contributed to the invention of single wire telegraphy. The other co-inventors of Morse Code are Leonard Gale, and Alfred Vail who worked alongside Samuel Morse on telegraphy . Before the invention of Morse Code, there was no proper large distance communication system and people used to use messages through pigeons and horses. The invention of Morse code allowed people to communicate across large distances fairly quickly and it changed the paradigm of communication systems. The Morse code especially had tremendous applications in war scenarios across the world.
The First Usage of Morse Code
The very first message to be transmitted using Morse code read “What hath God wrought,” a quote from The Bible. It was sent by Samuel Morse to Alfred Vail in May, 1844. The two men were 40 miles apart at the time – Morse in Washington, D.C., and Vail in Baltimore, Maryland.
SOS Morse Light Signal
The below three videos provide a good sense of how light is used to transmit Morse code across a long distance. You can literally use anything from a shoe tap to a light to a written notes to transmit the message in Morse code.
Our Ethical Hacking and MicroController Courses
We cover Morse Code and a range of other enciphering, encryption, and hashing techniques in our Ethical Hacking course for youngsters. Similarly, in our Microcontroller programming courses, we cover building Morse code translators using Arduino and other microcontrollers.
Hope this helped to provide a simple understanding and application of Morse Code, thank you.
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