An experienced Morse code operator can fill in gaps caused by interference, poor reception, noise or equipment malfunction.
In a neurological sense, Morse inhabits a very different space, comparable to “reading by ear,” but sending and receiving is more like speaking than writing.
Simple and lasting revolution
Another notable feature of Morse code is its technical simplicity. Anyone with basic technical knowledge can build their own transmitter using standard components.
The signal generated by a Morse transmitter is similarly very small and uses a very narrow bandwidth of 100-150 Hz (standard voice communications use 2500-3000 Hz).
Receivers can use very narrow filters to eliminate ambient noise caused by various types of interference.
Being so efficient, Morse requires only minimal power to travel significant distances.
Radio amateurs demonstrated in 1956 that 78 milliwatts would be enough power to transmit from Massachusetts to Denmark.
That’s less than a tenth of what an LED bulb would use. When a standard coffee maker brews the morning beverage that most people prefer, it uses a thousand times more energy.
This combination of technical simplicity and efficiency proved useful during World War II when members of the Resistance and Allied commandos used their portable Morse transceivers to maintain contact with London from inside German-occupied territory.
This was a very dangerous activity as the Germans were constantly listening to the radios. Morse code, while incomprehensible to the untrained ear, does not in and of itself provide security.
Today, even untrained people can use software to decipher the content of a message sent using Morse code. However, as Weil proposed in 1845, any message can be made secure by encrypting it before sending it.
In fact, one of the most secure forms of encryption, a “single-use pad” requires nothing more than a pencil and paper. Basically, a single-use pad is a random string of characters, at least until the message is encrypted.
The sender uses his pad to encrypt, while the receiver uses a copy of the same pad to decode the message (there should only be two copies, each destroyed immediately after use).
As long as a notebook is never reused, it is theoretically unbreakable, even with the most modern technology (although creating truly random sequences of letters is difficult).
Even with the most efficient digital communication technologies available today, nothing can compete with the unrivaled combination of simplicity and efficiency that has allowed Morse code to survive for more than 150 years.
Today messages are sent in Morse code from Russian bombers to their control centers or from the ships of the Baltic fleet to their headquarters on the ground.
The shortwave bands used by amateur radio are filled with beeps known to enthusiasts as “dits” (.) and “toss” (-), or dots and dashes to the general public. Even spies tune into the shortwave bands to listen to secret stations transmitting in Morse code.
A technology invented in the 19th century
Why is technology developed in the first half of the 19th century still used today?
First of all, Morse code was not created by an engineer or a technical wizard, but a sketch sketch created by a human being. Samuel Morse initially designed a device he called the teleprinter, which received and printed text on paper.
Morse enlisted the help of Alfred Weyl, a mechanist with a keen interest in mechanics. The latter developed the idea of using sound to transmit information, creating dots and lines to represent code.
Originally, the sound was intended only to test a connection. Before long, Morse and Weill realized that the idea of printing was not practical. However, when they added sound, they stumbled upon a concept that was far more clever and useful than they could have imagined.
A remarkable feature of Morse code is that in the form of sound, it creates a rhythm. Hence, it has common points with music. Indeed, El Mostradore concludes that people with musical talent can learn Morse quickly.
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