Self-learning Morse code. Master kit for beginner telegraphists Learn Morse code in 5 minutes

Learn to listen and transmit morse code. The telegraphic alphabet is formed from various combinations of short and long parcels: dots and dashes. The duration of a dash corresponds to the duration of three dots, the interval between characters in one letter or number is equal to a dot.

The spacing between letters in a word is three dots. The spacing between words is seven dots. The study of the telegraphic alphabet is a matter, although difficult, but quite accessible to everyone.

Learning Morse Code

One way to learn Morse code on your own is with the help of a computer. There are many free programs available on the Internet. For example, CW Code Practice Utility under DOS, CW Master, G4ILO morse generator, GenTexts, SUPER MORSE, Super Morse for Windows, LZ1FW Morse code trainer, Morse Cat, ARAK, Morse trainer, Morser, APAK-CWL, CW Beeper, ADKM and other.

When the telegraph was already mastered, programs such as OXYGEN'99, Ultra High Speed ​​​​CW Trainer were written to increase speed. They can be freely downloaded from the Internet.

The table below shows the tunes for the letters and numbers of the telegraphic alphabet that are worth remembering. Each melody begins with the corresponding letter, syllables with vowels "O" and "A" are sung in a drawl, denoting a long parcel (dash), and all the rest short (dots).

The signs of the telegraph alphabet for letters of the Russian and Latin alphabets, numbers, punctuation marks and service marks are shown in Figures 1-2. Punctuation codes accepted in Russian, which differ from international codes, are shown in Figure 3.

Of course, this is just an example of the tunes. You can use your own, as long as they make you associate with the correct letters. You can record a couple of audio cassettes with Morse code and listen to them yourself at home. Of course, in this case it will be more difficult to study the telegraph, but if you wish, you can achieve everything.

Rice. 1. Signs of the telegraph alphabet for the letters of the Russian and Latin alphabets, numbers, tunes.

Rice. 2. Signs of the telegraphic alphabet for numbers, punctuation marks and service symbols, tunes.

Rice. 3. Codes for punctuation marks adopted in Russian differ from international codes.

It is easier, having teamed up with a friend, to study together the auditory reception and transmission of the signs of the telegraph alphabet with a key. But it can be done alone. With an independent study of the telegraph alphabet, key transmission and auditory reception are studied simultaneously. We memorize the musical melody of each sign.

After mastering the signs of the telegraph alphabet, the speed of reception and transmission is increased. What is done gradually with systematic training.

There are always many service and amateur radio stations on the air at a slow speed. You can try to receive individual letters of a telegraph transmission from the air, although reception from the air is more difficult than reception from a sound generator or using computer programs.

A shortwave radio amateur needs knowledge of not only Russian, but Latin letters of the alphabet. When you master Morse code, then, when working on the air with the telegraph, make sure that this is a reliable and noise-resistant form of communication.

If there is no computer, then in order to study the telegraph alphabet, you need to have a telegraph key, a head phone and a simple sound generator.

Diagram of a simple sound generator

A simple sound generator circuit can be assembled with just two transistors, as shown in Fig. 4. For ease of manufacture and repetition, a printed circuit board is designed fig. 5. PCB size 32x28mm. Any germanium or silicon transistors with n-p-n conductivity will do.

Rice. 4. Scheme of an audio frequency generator for studying the telegraph option 1.

Rice. 5. View of the printed circuit board of the audio frequency generator for studying the telegraph option 1.

The scheme is shown in fig. 6 has even fewer details.

Rice. 6. Scheme of an audio frequency generator for studying the telegraph option 2.

The circuit (Fig. 4) on transistors with n-p-n conductivity and the circuit (Fig. 6) can later be used as a tone call or for self-control of the telegraph in the transceiver.

If transistors with p-n-p conductivity are used in the circuit (Fig. 4), then you need to change the polarity of the power source. In this embodiment, the "plus" of the power source will be connected to the emitters of transistors VT1, VT2. The printed circuit board remains the same.

Almost 150 years have passed since Samuel Morse, the inventor of the electric telegraph, compiled his famous alphabet from dots and dashes, and people still use it without significant changes. Probably, many of you know Morse code by heart, and for those who have not yet had time to learn it, we suggest doing so.

In telegraphy, this conditional alphabet is called Morse code. But remembering combinations of dots and dashes corresponding to individual letters, numbers and signs is not all. Telegraphic Morse code must be mastered in such a way that it is perceived without any tension, just like ordinary letters when reading and writing.

It is best to learn Morse code by ear, transmitting it with the help of a telegraph key, which closes and opens the power supply circuit of the sound generator.

A dot corresponds to a short sound of the generator, and a dash is three times longer. First, slowly pass the individual letters apart, making sure that the interval between the elements of one letter is equal to one point. Take your time - for starters, one letter in three seconds is not bad. When working with a key, only the hand should move, not the whole arm.

Then learn to transmit and receive combinations of two letters, for example, AO, BUT, PE, FE, YES, YOU, HE, WE, and so on. Remember that the pause between individual letters is equal in duration to one dash. Don't rush to speed up. When you make only one mistake in a hundred characters, you can move on to words and sentences. The spacing between individual words is two dashes.

Morse code is useful for everyone to know. It will come in handy more than once in business and in the game. After all, you can talk not only with sound signals, but also, for example, with gestures (one raised hand indicates a dot, and two - a dash).

In order to perfectly know the Morse code, you need to train for a long time and systematically, especially if you try to memorize the characters mechanically. Therefore, many radiotelegraphers are trying to improve the methods of studying Morse code. One of these methods, which we offer you to get acquainted with, allows you to study it in a maximum of two hours.

The signs of the Morse code are "restored" into the letters of the Russian alphabet, that is, they seem to repeat the contour of the corresponding letter. This connection of the signs of the code with the "image" of the letters helps to meaningfully and quickly memorize the telegraphic alphabet.

Take a look at the picture. On it, each letter is repeated in the form of characters (dots and dashes) of the code, shown in a certain order. For example, if the letter "c" is indicated by a dot and two dashes, then the letter itself is depicted in the same order. Signs are read from left to right and top to bottom.

By this method, the letters are especially easy to remember: “a”, “b”, “g”, “e”, “h”, “d”, “l”, “o”, “r”, “y”, “f ”, “c”, “h”, “w”, “s”, “b”, “i”. The letters "g", "i", "m", "i", "s", "t", "x" are not finished, but they are still easy to remember. Somewhat conditionally, with additional elements, images of the letters are given: “v”, “d”, “u”, “u”.

How to use this method to learn Morse code? First consider carefully the outline of each letter. Then draw all the letters of the alphabet from the table several times, not forgetting the alternation of dots and dashes of the code (this is the order in which the letters should be drawn). After you have successfully completed this task, draw the alphabet several times from memory. Next, write down the Morse code characters from memory. If you haven't made any mistakes, pick up a short passage from the book and write it in Morse code.

Learning Morse code means firmly remembering fifty simple sound combinations, training to quickly write down the letters and numbers corresponding to them, and then learning how to reproduce the same with a telegraph key. But with any study, the most important thing is perseverance and regularity of classes.

It is best to learn under the guidance of an experienced radio operator and with the help of computer programs, but it is quite possible to learn completely on your own.

Class mode

The normal mode of study is 3-4 times a week for 1.5 - 2 hours a day (lessons for 30 minutes, with breaks). Even better - every day for 1 hour (half an hour in the morning and evening). The minimum is 2 lessons per week for 2 hours. In a normal mode of study, the reception of texts at a speed of 40-60 characters per minute is mastered in about a month.

The most important thing is the regularity and concentration during classes. It is better to study for half an hour, not being distracted by anything, than to twitch between a lesson and other things for three hours.

Significant breaks during the training phase can bring all the work done to naught. Lessons not fixed by practice disappear from memory easily, and you have to start again almost all over again.

When the “morse code” is fully and reliably mastered, it is not forgotten and remains with a person for life. Even after a long break, it is enough to practice a little - and all the old skills are restored.

There are no people who are unable to master the reception and transmission of Morse code up to speeds of 70-90 cpm. It all depends on the time required for this - from 2 to 6 months.

Where to start studying?

You should start only with the reception. Transmission on the key should be started after the reception of all letters and numbers is more or less mastered.

The speed of transmission of individual characters by the computer must be set to 70-100 characters / min (18-25 WPM). However, the rate of transmission of one character after another should first be set to no more than 10-15 characters / min (2-3 WPM), so that sufficiently large pauses are obtained between characters.

From the beginning, you need to memorize the sound of the codes as solid musical melodies, and in no case try to count or remember how many “dots and dashes” there are.

There is a way to remember with the help of "chants". They select such words that, when sung, resemble the melodies of signs transmitted by “Morse code”. For example, G = “gaa-gaa-rin”, L = “lu-naa-ti-ki”, M = “maa-maa”, etc.

This method has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that a number of letters can actually be remembered faster. There are many more disadvantages. Firstly, it is far from possible to find meaningful melodies for all the signs of the alphabet, especially those that begin with the sign that they should resemble.

Secondly, when recognizing a sign, the brain is forced to do double work: first, match the tonal signals with a chant, and then translate the chant into the corresponding sign. Even with a quick mental reproduction of the tunes, they sound much slower than the real Morse Code. This makes it difficult to further increase the reception speed.

The chanting method was invented during the Second World War, when tens of thousands of radio operators had to be quickly trained. At the same time, they proceeded from the fact that it was enough for such a radio operator to somehow master the Morse code, and in a month or two he would still die at the front. At the same time, candidates for class radio operators were selected, and they were always taught carefully - without chants.

How to study?

Once again, remember the sound of signals as solid melodies, but never try to count how many “dots and dashes” there are!

The characters of the alphabet must be transmitted concisely from the very beginning, so that individual tonal messages in them cannot be isolated and counted. The transmission rate in the initial period of learning can be reduced only by increasing the pauses between characters, and even better by increasing the pauses between words (groups of characters).

According to one of the methods start with letters A, E, F, G, S, T, in the next lesson - D, I, M, O, V, then - H, K, N, W, Z, B, C, J, R, L , U, Y, P, Q, X.

By another method- first E, I, S, H, T, M, O, then - A, U, V, W, J, N, D, B, G, R, L, F, K, Y, C, Q, P, X, Z.

According to the third method- you can master the letters according to the frequency of their use in the English language. Then, already at the initial stage of study, it will be possible to make many words and meaningful phrases from them. This is more interesting than training with meaningless texts. In this case, the order of learning letters can be as follows: E, T, A, O, I, N, S, R, H, L, D, C, U, M, F, P, G, W, Y, B, V, K, X, J, Q, Z.

The numbers start after all the letters. First, even and zero are taught: 2, 4, 6, 8, 0, then odd ones: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9.

Punctuation marks (question mark, slash, division mark, and comma) can be left for last.

You should not be distracted by the study of additional letters of the Russian alphabet, at this stage it is important to master the international alphabet well (the Latin alphabet of 26 letters and numbers).

At each lesson, they first train in receiving previously studied signs, then separately learn the next batch of new ones, then they accept texts made up only of new signs, and then - from old and new signs with a certain predominance of new ones.

New signs should be added only after the reception of previously studied ones has been reliably mastered. During most of the classes, each accepted sign must be written down each time - in some trainings by entering them on the keyboard, in others - by hand on paper.

In order to remember the alphabet signals faster, try to whistle them or hum them at every free moment.

Sometimes, after learning about 20 letters, it can be felt that progress has slowed down and with the addition of a new sign, more and more errors in reception occur. This is quite natural. Then you need to completely put aside for a few days everything that is already well learned, and deal exclusively with new letters. When they are reliably learned, it will be possible to separately recall previously mastered ones, and then to train in the reception of the entire alphabet.

It is very important not to stop there, but to try to constantly develop and consolidate successes. Once you have learned all the letters and numbers, start listening to the “live radio broadcast”, starting from the areas where beginner radio amateurs work (this will not work right away!).

Until a reception rate of about 50 zn / min is reached, you should not compete with others. Compete only with yourself.

How to increase the reception speed?

After the alphabet has been learned, one should gradually move from receiving compressed characters with long pauses between them to receiving texts with standard ratios of the duration of all elements. Pauses between characters need to be gradually reduced (primarily within groups and words) so that the actual transmission speed approaches 50-60 characters / min (14-16 WPM), and further - even higher.
Texts for training should consist of words (short at first), as well as three to five-digit numerical, alphabetic and mixed groups. The volume of radiograms should be gradually increased so that the time required to receive each one would first be about 2-3 minutes, and later, up to 4-5 minutes.

Try to write down the groups almost without tearing the letter from the letter, and the pencil from the paper. If, when receiving the text, it was not possible to immediately write down some sign, then it is better to skip it (make a dash in its place), but do not linger, do not try to remember, otherwise skip the next few.

If it is found that the same similar-sounding signs are constantly confused (for example, V / 4 or B / 6), then two methods should be used alternately:
1) accept training texts from these characters alone;
2) temporarily exclude from the texts one of the confusing characters. For example, delete the letters V and B, leaving the numbers 4 and 6, and the other day - vice versa.

Absolutely error-free reception can not yet be achieved. If there are no more than 5% errors in the control texts and they are not repeated explicitly, then it is possible and necessary to increase the speed.

It is convenient to use a computer for training. Very good program RUFZXP, it transmits randomly generated amateur callsigns. You type the received callsign on the keyboard as you receive it and press “Enter”. If the call sign is received without error, the next one will sound faster. If a mistake is made, the next callsign will sound slower. For each received callsign, the program gives you points, which depend on the speed, the number of errors and the complexity of the callsigns. After a certain number of callsigns have been transmitted (50 by default), the program ends and you can analyze what mistakes were made, what was the maximum reception rate and how many points were scored.

In the third (current) version of the program, you can change the tone of the sound and request the repetition of the transmitted callsign if it was not possible to receive it immediately. Training with the RUFZXP is a lot of fun and pushes the operator to the limit all the time.

A good, useful exercise is listening to familiar texts at increased speed while tracing them along the finished printout.

Try to make your workouts varied - vary the speed, the tone of the signals, the content of the texts, etc. From time to time, you can try speed "jerks" - accepting a small text from a limited set of letters or numbers alone, but at a speed much faster than usual.

When the reception at a speed of about 50 characters per minute is reliably mastered, it is necessary to begin the transition to recording the received character WITH A lag of one character. That is, recording the next character not immediately, but during the sound of the next one - this will help increase the reception speed. Experienced radio operators record characters with a delay of 3-5 characters and even a few words. From this time on, you can start training to receive words and whole phrases by ear without recording. First, try to mentally build in front of your eyes something like a “creeping line” of the signs that have sounded. In the future, frequently occurring words and amateur radio codes should be used to recognize them as a whole, without dividing them into separate letters.

Especially for training in receiving texts, the central radio station of the American Amateur Radio League W1AW regularly broadcasts. Quite powerful signals from this station are usually well audible here at frequencies of 7047.5, 14047.5, 18097.5 and 21067.5 kHz (depending on transmission). As a rule, excerpts from articles from the QST magazine are transmitted there.

The schedule of these programs for the winter period is as follows:

UTC Type Days of the week
00:00 CWs Mon, Wed, Fri
00:00 CWf Tue, Thu
03:00 CWf Mon, Wed, Fri
03:00 CWs Tue, Thu
14:00 CWs Wed, Fri
14:00 CWf Tue, Thu
21:00 CWf Mon, Wed, Fri
21:00 CWs Tue, Thu

CWs = slow transmissions 5, 7, 10, 13 and 15 WPM
CWf = fast transmissions 35, 30, 25, 20 WPM

The full W1AW schedule can be found at

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Morse code was developed in 1844 by Samuel F. B. Morse. More than 160 years have passed, and this type of messaging is still used, especially by beginner radio amateurs. Morse code can be quickly transmitted using the telegraph, and it is also very convenient for transmitting a distress signal (SOS signal) using a radio, mirror or flashlight. This method can be used even by people with limited communication capabilities. But learning Morse code is not so easy - you have to try the same way as when learning any new language.

Steps

Listen carefully to slow Morse code recordings. You are essentially listening to long and short signals (lines and dots, respectively). Long signals sound 3 times longer than short ones. Each letter is separated from the others by a small pause, and the words from each other are longer (also 3 times).

• You can look for or buy records in Morse code, or use a shortwave transmitter and try to listen to them live. There are educational computer programs that are usually not expensive or even free. They are more effective for practice than notes, as they can be used to translate any text into Morse code, which will prevent memorization of one text and help you choose the learning method that is right for you. Never count long and short signals - learn how each letter sounds. If you're using the Farnsworth app, you can set the pause between letters to sound slower than the speed of the letter itself. Choose a letter playback speed slightly higher than what you are equal to, and never reduce it - only reduce the pause between letters. In this way, Morse code is studied - at a speed of 15-25 words per minute or more. The following methods are good when you learn Morse code without expecting to use more than five words per minute, they will force you to discard the wrong ways of learning code and start over.

1. Find a copy of the Morse code (such as shown at the bottom of the page). You can use a basic table like the one shown on the right (click to enlarge) or you can use a more complex one that includes punctuation, abbreviations, set expressions, and codes. Match what you heard with the letters of the alphabet. What word came out? Were you right? Some people find it easier to learn Morse code by writing down dots and lines and then comparing them to a table, as shown in the picture; others believe that this method only slows down the learning process. Do as you please. If you choose a method that does not involve transcription of the recorded dots and lines, then you can use a pronunciation table that contains the sounds of Morse code signals, the way you hear them.

   Speak. Practice translating simple words and sentences into Morse code. At first, you can write down the word, then voice it, but over time, you should try to pronounce the word right away. Take, for example, the English word "cat". Write it down: -.-. .- - then say the word (you can use the buttons on your mobile phone or say it with your voice - this is the method most likely to help you learn Morse code faster). To pronounce Morse code, you must remember that dit is pronounced with a short "i" and a voiceless "t". Dah is a short sound. In English, the word "cat" is pronounced "dah-dee-dah-dee dee-dah dah". Once you're comfortable, choose a children's book and try to translate it into Morse code without writing down the letters. Record yourself and play the recording afterwards to see how well you did.

   • Don't forget about pauses. Each letter should be separated by pauses equal in length to the voice acting of a dash (that is, three times longer than the sound of a dot). Each word should be surrounded by pauses, the length of the pauses should be about 7 times the length of the dot sound. The better you work out the placement of pauses, the easier it will be to understand your code.

2. Start by memorizing the simplest letters. If we talk about the English alphabet, then the letter T is denoted as “-”, and the letter E is written as “.”. The letter M is written as “- -”, and I - “. .”. Gradually move on to letters that require 3-4 dots or dashes in a row to write. Then start memorizing combinations of dots and lines, from simple to complex. Leave the most difficult combinations to learn last. Luckily, these are the most rarely used letters (in English, these are Q, Y, X, and V), so once you understand the principle of building letters in Morse code, then focus on the most commonly used letters at the beginning. Note that in English the letters E and T have the shortest form, while the letters K, Z, Q, and X have the long form.

   Create associations. For example, “p” - “pee-laa-poo-et, pi-laa-noo-et”. Considering that there is more than one alphabet in the world, and you are reading this article in Russian, then you are most likely interested in associations suitable for symbols of the Russian alphabet. For this reason, we do not provide options for the Latin alphabet in this paragraph. Instead, we advise you to study the article, paying special attention to the mnemonic form of each letter. There are mnemonic codes for memorizing Morse code that were invented many years ago; you can buy them or find them online.

3. Enjoy learning. Want to get your friends to study? Teach them to blink in Morse code. And if, say, a friend takes you on an unfortunate blind date, then you can blink him “SOS”! Use Morse code to encrypt your secret notes, or keep a diary or even tell dirty jokes so that no one but you and your friends will understand them! Send someone a postcard with Morse code. Confess your love in Morse code (it's very romantic). In general, have fun, do what you like using Morse code for this - and you will learn it much faster.

   • Download the Morse code app on your smartphone or download the tutorial - it can be very helpful!
   • Practice! When you have free time, ask a friend or family member to sit with you and listen to you translate the text into Morse code. Give them the table and ask them to decipher your messages. This will not only help you and your assistant understand the code better, but it will also help you identify errors or bad habits that prevent you from transmitting the code correctly, and correct them to prevent mislearning.
   • To indicate that you made a mistake when passing the last word, send 8 points. This will let the receiver of the signal know that the last word can be crossed out.
   • Do not give up! Learning Morse code will not be easy; it is as difficult as learning any new language. It has unfamiliar letters, abbreviations, grammatical styles and many other aspects that need to be explored. Don't be discouraged if you make mistakes, just keep practicing until you're perfect.
   • Listen very carefully. At the beginning of the training, listen to the Morse code messages at a slow speed until you get used to it.
   • Learning Morse Code Can Be Easy if you are using the right tools. Print and laminate the table below and put it in your wallet. You will remember the code faster, as the plate will be at your fingertips all the time. Read the table from top to bottom. White is a dot, color is a dash. Start with the Latin letters E and T, which are dots and dashes. Going down, read each line. So V is ". . . -”. Good luck.
   • You should not rely on the image, for you cannot train the ears with the help of sight. Don't learn slower methods, or you'll have to relearn when you need to learn to work faster. Your goal is to instantly recognize letters and then whole words, not count dots and dashes. Computer programs like Koch and Farnesworth will help you with this.

We bring to your attention Morse code translator online.

What does it mean? Suppose you need to translate or listen to how your text translated into Morse code will sound. You enter your text in the left box, indicate the language of the text below and press the arrow to the right. In the right window you will get the Morse code of your text. By clicking on the "play" button below, you can listen to your text in Morse code. This way you will use our Morse code translator online.

Online text translator
to Morse code and back

In the textual interpretation of the code, the “partition sign” (-···-) is used to indicate a space. This is done solely for ease of copying.

Attention! The built-in player works well in Chrome, normally - in Opera (if it shuts up, you can re-encode the text in Morse code, it helps), very mediocre - in safari. Doesn't work at all in Firefox and Internet Explorer .

In the audio version of the message, all the rules are observed: the duration of one point is taken as a unit of time; the length of a dash is three dots; pause between elements of the same character - one dot, between characters in a word - 3 dots, between words - 7 dots.

The sound file for download is presented in the formatWAV (it needs to be downloaded, not opened in a browser). It is large: for example, the Morse code for sending"Greek rode across the river. sees a Greek, a cancer in the river. put the hand of the Greek into the river, cancer by the hand of the Greek tsap. it weighs 209 KB(although it contains only835 bit information).

Do you want to test your strength? There is nothing easier.

Morse code tunes: