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Morse Code Chat

morse.halb.it

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Re: Morse Code Chat

#11

Post by biggieshellz »

luke_cq wrote: post #9

Does anyone have any data on how much use Morse Code still gets today? Are there any people still using it actively for communication, or are there literally zero practical applications anymore?

Plenty of use today in amateur radio, especially amongst QRPers (low power enthusiasts, signals <= 5 watts). It's easy to build transmitters/receivers for, and it's more efficient than, say, voice modes like SSB in terms of spectrum usage and how far you can get per watt.

Re: Morse Code Chat

#12

Post by ryancnelson »

When I saw the URL, I thought "did Smitty Halibut get a new domain name"? But it's not the same person/people, apparently. "Different fish, people!"

(halibut.com is the QTH of well-known podcaster/hacker/dude Mark Smith)

Re: Morse Code Chat

#15

Post by ksherlock »

luke_cq wrote: post #9

Does anyone have any data on how much use Morse Code still gets today? Are there any people still using it actively for communication, or are there literally zero practical applications anymore?

In aviation, VOR stations broadcast their identifier in morse (so you can confirm it's the right station) but VOR is being killed off in favor of GPS.

Re: Morse Code Chat

#16

Post by kawfey »

luke_cq wrote: post #9

Does anyone have any data on how much use Morse Code still gets today? Are there any people still using it actively for communication, or are there literally zero practical applications anymore?

Morse code (aka continuous wave/CW) is in very common use in amateur (ham) radio, predominantly in CW Contesting [0], DXing, and low power (QRP) and portable operations (like parks on the air/POTA, summits on the air/SOTA [1]) as CW an extremely robust, efficient modulation.

In other words, a 5w CW signal is roughly equivalent to a 100w voice signal -- more miles per watt. Plus you can fit a lot of signals in less spectrum. It's slower than voice or data modes but you don't need to say much to exchange enough information for a valid contact. And learning Morse code is just fun and a superb mental exercise; amateur radio enables Morse code to be actually useful and enjoyable in the modern era.

It's also used for:

* amateur radio direction finding/ARDF (radio orienteering) [2]

* High speed CW competitions (which used to be much more popular in Eastern Europe) [3]

* automatic identification of radio beacons and repeaters (e.g. aviation Navaids like NDBs and VOR, EMS/fire/police/business radios)

* backup/emergency communications for governments & armed forces

[0] https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cw+contest. Also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgnEGSLeedg - the radio displays a spectrum waterfall in which you can see dozens of CW signals.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=parks+on+the+ai...

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9H8irEMnf4

[3] https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=high+speed+cw+

clarification: CW is a modulation type, on which Morse code is encoded using an on/off carrier wave. Much like how Amplitude Modulation/AM is a modulation on which voice is encoded by changing the amplitude of the carrier wave.

Re: Morse Code Chat

#19

Post by AlbertCory »

If only this had existed when I was studying for my General, back when there was still a Morse requirement!

Back then, there was a nightly practice session on broadcast, somewhere. Details are foggy... --- ...

Re: Morse Code Chat

#20

Post by seabass-labrax »

ksherlock wrote: post #15
luke_cq wrote: post #9

Does anyone have any data on how much use Morse Code still gets today? Are there any people still using it actively for communication, or are there literally zero practical applications anymore?

In aviation, VOR stations broadcast their identifier in morse (so you can confirm it's the right station) but VOR is being killed off in favor of GPS.

NDB stations, an even older type of radio navigation beacon, also broadcast their identifier like this. I fancy they might even outlast VORs due to how much cheaper they are to operate. The real survivor though might be the ILS (Instrument Landing System): ILS transmitters broadcast their identifier in Morse code, as did the prototypical Lorenz systems, making them very nearly a century old already (Lorenz systems were first installed in the 1930s). ILS approaches are the most common type for commercial aviation in most countries.
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