The Morse code |
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In the early days of radio communication, and in fact even prior to radio in days of telegraph, morse code was the only method of communicating over both wires or radio. This is a picture is of a telegraph Sounder and a Morse Key from the days of telegraph (before telephones). The sounder was used at the remote end of the telegraph lines and it clicked in sympathy with the operation of the morse key thereby giving an audio signal. A battery was required to power the system. When wireless transmissions were first attempted it was basically a matter of keying the transmitter on and off with a morse key. Voice transmissions via radio took a little longer to invent. |
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To quote from a Dictionary, Morse code is "A system of communication in which letters of the alphabet and numbers are represented by patterns of short and long signals, which may be conveyed by sounds, flashes of light, written dots and dashes, or by the waving of flags."
The code is named after Samuel Finley Breeze Morse (1791 - 1872). He is credited with the refinement of the electric telegraph and earlier telegraph codes (1838). |
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