Subj : Morse code anyone?
To   : All
From : debian
Date : Tue Sep 20 2022 13:05:20

I just recently uploaded a schematic of a CW Practice Oscillator that I built a few days ago. It is uploaded to the HAM Radio Group in the Electronic Drafting area. The file name is "cw practice oscillator.bmp". I decided I would learn morse code as part of upgrading my amateur radio license from Tech to General. I understand that code is not required, but I would still like to learn it anyways. May be helpful to know if I have a radio and a key, but no computer. 

That also got me to thinking - not many people know morse code, obviously the governmental agencies would be able to decode it in a heart beat, but your average joe doesn't know morse code. Most HAMs that are new to the hobby don't know it either and need some computer program to decode it. 

My thought here is that we could pass messages to each other without the public knowing about it. You don't need a gated tone generator nor a radio to do this, there are other ways by which morse can be transmitted. There were devices back in the early years of telegraphy that converted the electrical pulses to dits and daws that were drawn on a strip of paper. I have also seen (and heard) people tap out morse code on a table top, though it can be a bit difficult to distiguish the dits from the daws that way. 

To the untrained ear, tapping morse code on a table top can sound like regular finger tapping and the average joe may not know a message is being communicated. Dits and Daws on paper can look like doodling if done properly. If done audibly, most people will be able to tell you are transmitting morse code, but they won't be able to decode the message. If done at a very high WPM rate (and done audibly), it becomes very difficult to distinguish the characters by ear, but a computer can distinguish them quite easily. Some people can communicate at 20 WPM, I can not.

What are your thoughts on this? I know morse is much easier to decode than an encrypted message, but even a message can be encrypted then transmitted via morse. 

73, de KG7UJH
Debian

How ya gonna do it? PS/2 it!

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