Do people still use it?

It was officially retired for maritime distress in 1999 (replaced by GMDSS satellites), but Amateur Radio (Ham) operators still love it.

Yes! Torture victims (like Jeremiah Denton) famously used eye-blink Morse to send messages in propaganda videos.

World records exceed 75 words per minute, which is faster than most people type on a smartphone.

Morse Code Broadcast

Translate text to audible Morse Code dits and dahs.

📜 The Origins

Invented by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail in the 1830s. It revolutionized long-distance communication by sending electrical pulses through telegraph wires.

🚀 Master the Tool

Type your message to see the dots (dits) and dashes (dahs). Use the broadcast button to hear the rhythmic pulses of the 19th-century internet.

Text Input

Morse Output

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The Original Digital Code

Long before binary (0s and 1s), there was Morse (Dits and Dahs). Samuel Morse revolutionized the world by proving you could send information instantly over a single wire.

The Rhythm of Language

Morse isn't random. The code lengths are based on letter frequency in English (circa 1830). * E: The most common letter. It is just one dot (.). * T: The second most common. It is one dash (-). * Q: Rare. It is (--.-). This compression made messages faster to send—a concept we still use in ZIP files today!

The "SOS" Myth

SOS (... --- ...) doesn't stand for "Save Our Souls" or "Save Our Ship." It was chosen because the pattern is unmistakable and easy to loop. It is a distinctive rhythm that cuts through static.