Morse Code - Letters, Numbers, Punctuation

Letters, Numbers, Punctuation

Character Code Character Code Character Code Character Code Character Code Character Code
A · – J · – – – S · · · 1 · – – – – Period · – · – · – Colon – – – · · ·
B – · · · K – · – T 2 · · – – – Comma – – · · – – Semicolon – · – · – ·
C – · – · L · – · · U · · – 3 · · · – – Question mark · · – – · · Double dash – · · · –
D – · · M – – V · · · – 4 · · · · – Apostrophe · – – – – · Plus · – · – ·
E · N – · W · – – 5 · · · · · Exclamation mark – · – · – – Hyphen, Minus – · · · · –
F · · – · O – – – X – · · – 6 – · · · · Slash, Fraction bar – · · – · Underscore · · – – · –
G – – · P · – – · Y – · – – 7 – – · · · Parenthesis open – · – – · Quotation mark · – · · – ·
H · · · · Q – – · – Z – – · · 8 – – – · · Parenthesis closed – · – – · – Dollar sign · · · – · · –
I · · R · – · 0 – – – – – 9 – – – – · Ampersand, Wait · – · · · At sign · – – · – · (=A+C, see below)

There is no standard representation for the exclamation mark (!), although the KW digraph (– · – · – –) was proposed in the 1980s by the Heathkit Company (a vendor of assembly kits for amateur radio equipment). While Morse code translation software prefers this version, on-air use is not yet universal as some amateur radio operators in Canada and the USA continue to prefer the older MN digraph (– – – ·) carried over from American landline telegraphy code.

The &, $ and _ signs are not defined inside the ITU recommendation on Morse code. The $ sign code was represented in the Phillips Code, a huge collection of abbreviations used on land line telegraphy, as SX. The representation of the & sign given above, often shown as AS, is also the Morse prosign for wait. In addition, the American landline representation of an ampersand was similar to "ES" (· · · ·) and hams have carried over this usage as a synonym for "and" (WX HR COLD ES RAINY, "the weather here is cold & rainy").

On May 24, 2004 — the 160th anniversary of the first public Morse telegraph transmission — the Radiocommunication Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R) formally added the @ ("commercial at" or "commat") character to the official Morse character set, using the sequence denoted by the AC digraph (· – – · – ·). This sequence was reportedly chosen to represent "A C" or a letter "a" inside a swirl represented by a "C". The new character facilitates sending email addresses by Morse code and is notable since it is the first official addition to the Morse set of characters since World War I.

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