The Morse Code

The popular view of Morse code (a.k.a. CW, Continuous Wave) as a collection of dots and dashes is the first thing one must forget when trying to learn morse code! For this reason, you will not find the usual table of letters and their corresponding dot/dash equivalents. What you will see is a table of the letters and their sound equivalents.

It is far better to learn to associate a letter with a sound from the beginning, rather than trying to translate the sound into a letter via dots and dashes. The table below shows the sounds for the letters, numbers, punctuation and some of the common procedural signals often used in amateur radio contacts.

 

The Letters of the alphabet
A B C D E F G H I J K L M	di-dah dah-di-di-dit dah-di-dah-dit dah-di-dit dit di-di-dah-dit dah-dah-dit di-di-di-dit di-dit di-dah-dah-dah dah-di-dah di-dah-di-dit dah-dah	N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z	dah-dit dah-dah-dah di-dah-dah-dit dah-dah-di-dah di-dah-dit di-di-dit dah di-dit-dah di-di-di-dah di-dah-dah dah-di-di-dah dah-di-dah-dah dah-dah-di-dit
The Numbers
1 2 3 4 5	di-dah-dah-dah-dah di-di-dah-dah-dah di-di-di-dah-dah di-di-di-di-dah di-di-di-di-dit	6 7 8 9 0	dah-di-di-di-dit dah-dah-di-di-dit dah-dah-dah-di-dit dah-dah-dah-dah-dit dah-dah-dah-dah-dah
Punctuation
Question Mark Full Stop (Period) Comma		di-di-dah-dah-di-dit di-dah-di-dah-di-dah dah-dah-di-di-dah-dah
Procedural Signals
Commencing Transmission(CT) Stroke (/) Break Sign (= or BT) End of Message (+ or AR) End of Work (SK) Error Wait (AS) Open invitation to transmit (K) Invitation to named station (KN) Closing Station (CL)		dah-di-dah-di-dah dah-di-di-dah-dit dah-di-di-di-dah di-dah-di-dah-dit di-di-di-dah-di-dah di-di-di-di-di-di-di-dit di-dah-di-di-dit dah-di-dah dah-di-dah-dah-dit dah-di-dah-di-di-dah-di-dit