Morse Code - Note: This Morse
assessment has been retained in the Foundation syllabus following the
removal of the need for Morse code at WRC03. No further Morse testing is
required and all licences, Foundation, Intermediate and Full allow
access to all frequencies, including HF shown in their respective
schedules.
10a.1 Demonstrate that he/she is able to send correctly by hand, and to receive correctly by ear, texts in Morse code. The text shall be in the form of a contact between two radio amateurs. E.g. M2ABC de M0XYZ Tx here is a kit
Morse code is a useful means of
communication as it requires less power to have a QSO than SSB and
transmitters are much easier to construct. Also, repeaters and
beacons still use Morse code to identify themselves. So a basic
knowledge of how to send and receive the code is useful.
The code is shown opposite. Some key points:
The basic unit is the dot.
A dash is three time longer than a dot.
The space between parts of a letter is equal to one dot
The spacing between letters is equal the time to send three dots
The spacing between words is equal to seven dots
There are different approaches to learning Morse although for the test you can look them up in a table if you wish.
You need to practice
listening for individual letters, writing them down as dots and dashes,
noting spaces between letters and words. Then you need to practice
converting the dots and dashes into letters.
If you want to use
morse Morse code you will need to learn the Morse alphabet and numbers so
that you can write them down straight away.
Receiving. Between 20 and 30 characters
shall be sent by the tutor. The character speed and spacing may be
chosen by the candidate in discussion with the tutor. Procedural characters shall
not be used. Call signs shall be M (0, 3 or 5) plus 3 letters. The
candidate is permitted access to a copy of the Morse code alphabet
during the assessment. The candidate may, if desired, write down the dots and dashes for subsequent transcription and may proceed one letter at a time. The tutor may re-send
characters wrongly recorded or invite the candidate to re-check
characters correctly written in Morse but wrongly transcribed. No
residual errors are permitted.
First of all decode the Morse messages shown opposite.
Then listen to the audio files shown opposite.:
Click on the yellow button. A file will open in a separate window and play about 10 words in Morse.
If
your system only plays the first two words, right click on the yellow
button and then click "save link as.....". Choose a folder and save the
file. Go to the folder and play the file with your normal audio
software. You will then be able to listen to the whole message.
Use the pause button to give you time to write down the Morse or the character if it is too fast.
Listen to the files and write down
the dots and dashes and then use the table to translate the message
into letters and numbers. If you have learnt the Morse Code write down
the letters directly.
