Is morse code still used today?
Yes, in the places where a plain on and off tone still beats the alternatives. Aviation navigation aids identify themselves in morse, amateur operators use it every day, and Android ships a morse keyboard for people who cannot type. Shipping is the big exception: morse watchkeeping at sea ended when the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System came fully into force on February 1, 1999.
.- -... -.-.
The flashlight needs camera access. Nothing is recorded or sent.
A radio beacon repeats a three-letter identifier like this one so a pilot can confirm which aid the receiver is tuned to.
In the air
Aviation is where morse is still doing a daily job. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Aeronautical Information Manual is blunt about it: the only positive method of identifying a VOR is by its morse code identification, or by a recorded voice announcement where one has been added. Radio beacons, apart from compass locators, transmit a continuous three-letter identification in code.
That is a real safety function, not a leftover. A pilot who tunes a navigation aid listens for the identifier to confirm the receiver is on the right station, and an aid taken out of service for maintenance stops sending its code so that nobody trusts it.
On the amateur bands
Morse is no longer a requirement for a US amateur license. The Federal Register rule that removed the five words per minute telegraphy examination from the General and Amateur Extra classes took effect on February 23, 2007.
Operators kept using it anyway. Keyed morse, known on the air as CW, is still a normal mode, and the ARRL publishes code practice recordings at speeds from 5 to 40 words per minute for people learning it now.
At sea, no longer
Shipping is the clear break. The International Maritime Organization’s account of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System puts it fully in force on February 1, 1999, and from then on ships raised the alarm through that system rather than by keying SOS. Our SOS page covers what the signal was and how it was sent.
On a phone
The newest use is an accessibility one. Google’s Gboard keyboard for Android includes a morse code layout, so someone who can operate two large keys, or a single switch, can type with dits and dahs instead of tapping letters. The steps to turn it on are in is morse code in Google Translate.
Why it survives
Morse needs almost nothing to work: one tone, switched on and off, in two lengths. That gets a message through noise and weak signals that would swallow speech, and it can be sent with a lamp, a whistle or a pair of eyelids when no radio is available. Type anything into the morse code translator to hear how little there is to it.
Questions people ask next
Do pilots still use morse code?
They still read it. The FAA's Aeronautical Information Manual says the only positive way to identify a VOR is by its morse identification, and radio beacons repeat a three-letter identifier in code.
Do ships still use morse code?
No. The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System replaced it, and the International Maritime Organization records it as fully in force on February 1, 1999.
Do you need morse code for a ham radio license?
Not in the United States. The rule removing the five words per minute telegraphy exam from the General and Amateur Extra licenses took effect on February 23, 2007.
Is morse code used by the military?
Far less than it was, since voice and digital modes replaced it for most traffic. The signal survives mainly in navigation aids and station identifiers rather than in message traffic.
Why would anyone use morse code now?
Because it needs almost nothing. One tone switched on and off gets through noise, weak signals and cheap equipment that would defeat voice, and a person can send and read it without any equipment at all.
Related answers
- Why is morse code called CW?
CW stands for continuous wave, which is the kind of radio signal that carries it.
- Is morse code the same in every language?
It is the same wherever the Latin alphabet is.
Sources
- Codes and timing follow Recommendation ITU-R M.1677-1 (10/2009), International Morse code (International Telecommunication Union, 2009).
- Aeronautical Information Manual, chapter 1: navigation aids (Federal Aviation Administration).
- Amateur Service Rules, 72 FR 3082 (FCC 06-178, WT Docket 05-235) (Office of the Federal Register, 2007).
- Global Maritime Distress and Safety System: introduction and history (International Maritime Organization).
- Learning morse code (American Radio Relay League).
- Use morse code on Gboard (Google).