Morse Code Translator

How to use the Morse code translator

1. Text to Morse code. Type or paste in the Text box. The Morse code appears in the other box as you type, and the tape prints every letter under its dots and dashes.
2. Morse code to text. Type or paste dots and dashes in the Morse code box, with a space between letters and a slash (/) between words. Dots written as · or • and dashes written as _ – or — work too, so code copied from most places reads correctly. On a phone, the dot and dash keys under the box save switching keyboards.
3. Play it. Press Play. Sound plays it as a tone, Light flashes it in the lamp beside the tape, and Vibrate buzzes it on Android phones. Loop repeats it until you press Stop. The sliders set the speed, spacing, tone and volume, and they are remembered next time.
4. From a recording or a video. Choose Audio or video and pick a file, or drop it on the page. The translator finds the beep, works out the speed and writes out the dots, dashes and letters. Choose Microphone to listen live instead.
5. From a photo. Choose Photo and pick a photo or screenshot of the code, or paste one. Each dot and dash it finds is outlined on the picture.
6. Share or save it. Share makes a link with the message in it. Tick “Hide the text” and the other person sees only the code until they press Reveal. Download saves the message as a WAV sound or a PNG picture of the tape.

How Morse code timing works

Morse code is built from one basic length of time, called a unit.

• A dot is 1 unit long and a dash is 3 units.
• Inside a letter, dots and dashes are 1 unit apart.
• Letters are 3 units apart, and words are 7 units apart.

Words per minute. Speed is counted with the word PARIS, which takes exactly 50 units including the gap after it. At 20 words per minute (wpm) one unit lasts 1,200 ÷ 20 = 60 milliseconds, so a dot is 60 ms and a dash is 180 ms. The tape above is drawn to the same scale: every dot, dash and gap is a whole number of units.

Farnsworth spacing. Learners often hear each letter at full speed but with longer gaps between letters and words, so the letters keep their rhythm while there is time to think. Set Speed to the letter speed and Spacing to the slower overall speed. The extra time goes into the gaps, split the way the ARRL’s Farnsworth timing standard describes.

Morse code alphabet

Press any letter, number or sign to hear it at your current speed and tone.

Letters

Numbers

Punctuation

Procedural signals

This is International Morse code as published by the ITU (Recommendation ITU-R M.1677-1). The !, &, ;, _ and $ signs are not in the ITU list but are widely used. Accented letters such as É, Ä, Ñ, Ö and Ü have codes of their own; É is the only one in the ITU list, and other accented letters are sent as the plain letter. Procedural signals are sent as one run, without gaps between their letters: type them in angle brackets, like <SOS>, to play them that way.

SOS in Morse code

SOS is three dots, three dashes and three dots, sent as one unbroken signal without the gaps that would normally separate S, O and S. It became the international distress signal through the 1906 International Radiotelegraph Convention, which took effect on 1 July 1908. The letters don’t stand for anything; phrases like “save our souls” were attached to them later.

Ships stopped using Morse code for distress calls in 1999, when the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System replaced it, but SOS is still recognized as a distress signal however it is sent. To flash it, type <SOS> in the Text box, turn on Light and Loop, and press Play. In a real emergency, call your local emergency number first.

Common words in Morse code

Reading Morse code from a recording or a photo

Recordings and videos

• It works best with one clear beep, as in radio recordings, games, video clips and practice files. Talking or music over the beep makes it harder.
• It finds the pitch and the speed by itself and copes with uneven, hand-sent code. If a letter comes out wrong, fix the dots and dashes in the Morse code box.
• Any file your browser can play works, up to 10 minutes long. With the microphone, play the sound close to it in a quiet room.

Photos and screenshots

• Crop close to the code and keep it level and evenly lit.
• Printed, typed and drawn dots and dashes work best. Slashes and wide gaps are read as the end of a word.
• Beads and engraved jewelry vary a lot, so check the result and correct it in the Morse code box.

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