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From The Times
July 2, 2008

Morse is not dead

Sir, As a former radio officer in the Merchant Navy in the 1960s I found that your report of the demise of Morse code brought back many memories (July 1). On the ships I sailed Morse code was the only means of communicating with the outside world. But it is not true that the code has now been entirely dispensed with. You will often hear two dashes (the letter M for message presumably) coming from mobile phones to indicate that a text message has been received.

Paul Drinkwater
Gloucester

Morse code still has its place. It is possible to transmit and receive a message in Morse code when a signal is very weak & barely audiable, when to do so with a voice message is impossible. Also when relaying signals to other ships, the use of light Morse is invaluable in maintaining radio silence.

Steve, London, UK

Morse code is still very much alive in aviation. All radio beacons and other similar aids used by pilots for navigation are identified by a unique combination of two or three letters broadcast in morse code. Pilots are required to know morse code as part of the radio examination.

Clive W, Witney, UK

I thought for one happy moment that Colin Dexter had favoured us with one more yarn.

Alas!

Steve Pape, Ashford, UK

The audible tones heard on telephone connections also owe their origin to Morse code. The beeps in the busy or engaged tone is 'engage'. Teh short beep heard at the beginning of some country's dial tones produces the dot dash of the letter A or the French 'appel'

Tom Gray, Mansfield Quebec, Canada

As well as "M", you often hear the Morse code for "SMS" from mobiles - three dots, two dashes, three dots.

Martin, Newmarket, Suffolk

One of the alternative "message received" tones available on some phones is the Morse for SMS, i.e. dit-dit-dit dah-dah dit-dit-dit.

Richard Packer, Addlestone, UK

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