Morse code is less sensitive to poor signal conditions in bad weather conditions.
Morse code is a method of transmitting text information as a series of on-off tones , lights , or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment .. text. written language. It is named for Samuel F. B. Morse , an inventor of the telegraph .. Samuel F. B. Morse. Samuel F. B. Morse. The International Morse Code encodes the ISO basic Latin alphabet , some extra Latin letters , the Arabic numerals and a small set of punctuation and procedural signals -LRB- prosigns -RRB- as standardized sequences of short and long signals called `` dots '' and `` dashes '' , or `` dits '' and `` dahs '' , as in amateur radio practice .. ISO basic Latin alphabet. ISO basic Latin alphabet. Arabic numerals. Arabic numerals. prosigns. Prosigns for Morse code. amateur radio. amateur radio. Because many non-English natural languages use more than the 26 Roman letters , extensions to the Morse alphabet exist for those languages .. Each Morse code symbol represents either a text character -LRB- letter or numeral -RRB- or a prosign and is represented by a unique sequence of dots and dashes .. text. written language. The duration of a dash is three times the duration of a dot .. Each dot or dash is followed by a short silence , equal to the dot duration .. The letters of a word are separated by a space equal to three dots -LRB- one dash -RRB- , and the words are separated by a space equal to seven dots .. separated by. Delimiter. The dot duration is the basic unit of time measurement in code transmission .. To increase the speed of the communication , the code was designed so that the length of each character in Morse varies approximately inversely to its frequency of occurrence in English .. the length of each character in Morse varies approximately inversely to its frequency of occurrence. entropy encoding. Thus the most common letter in English , the letter `` E '' , has the shortest code , a single dot .. Morse code is used by some amateur radio operators , although knowledge of and proficiency with it is no longer required for licensing in most countries .. amateur radio. amateur radio. licensing. Amateur radio license. Pilots and air traffic controllers usually need only a cursory understanding .. Pilots. aviator. air traffic controllers. air traffic controllers. Aeronautical navigational aids , such as VORs and NDBs , constantly identify in Morse code .. VORs. VHF omnidirectional range. NDBs. Non-directional beacon. Compared to voice , Morse code is less sensitive to poor signal conditions , yet still comprehensible to humans without a decoding device .. Morse is , therefore , a useful alternative to synthesized speech for sending automated data to skilled listeners on voice channels .. Many amateur radio repeaters , for example , identify with Morse , even though they are used for voice communications .. amateur radio. amateur radio. In an emergency , Morse code can be sent by improvised methods that can be easily `` keyed '' on and off , making it one of the simplest and most versatile methods of telecommunication .. telecommunication. telecommunication. The most common distress signal is SOS or three dots , three dashes , and three dots , internationally recognized by treaty .. SOS. SOS