Morse code

[John Arton]

Morse code is still part of STCW Officer of the Watch certificate and if you read through the article attached you will see why the royal navy consider it an essential communications method.
Rgds
J.A.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/AMP/20...d_life_at_sea/

[Doc Vernon]

Brings back memories when I was Wireless Operator in the RAF.
Did Ground to Air Communications ,during the small Wars in Aden.

All those dots and dashes sometimes made ones head spin. We used to actually say in our Brains Dit Daa Daa Dit Daa Daa etc etc all day long! LOL
But loved every moment !
Cheers

[Brenda Shackleton]

When I went to see my Mum and Dad I used to press the doorbell. Daa-dit-dit-dit. Then they knew who it was !
regards
Brenda ( - ***)

[j.sabourn]

Your Dad didn’t say to your mam that’s Bravo, we are going to take on explosives then Brenda, by the time got to the door were all smiles. JS.

[j.sabourn]

#2... Its surprising how times have changed. When I first went to sea VHF radio was practically non existence, Radar was still in its birth pangs. Today you wouldn’t go to sea without it. Most deck crews today are certificated as helicopter landing officers , sounds fancy , but is the term for talking a helicopter down by a handheld set , after being handed over communications from the bridge. His duties will have been to check the pad and see that there is nothing loose lying around , see that the wind sock is blowing free, see that the fireman is standing by the foam monitor properly dressed , see that the baggage handlers are standing by with no loose head gear . Will talk to the heli pilot to see if he will be shutting down or not , and how much baggage and passengers he has to discharge , and how many are going off and the number of pieces of baggage and weight of passengers. Will then give a green deck if safe to land, if not will say you have a red deck stand off. Will also find out if he requires fuel and how much. When you are doing this a few times a day it certainly fills in the time. Actually landing the chopper is hand signals on the final approach. The hand sign for shutting down the rotors are the thumb drawn across the throat , and thumbs up or down for affirmative or negative. As regards Morse code today on ordinary ships , don’t know about passenger liners , is all voice radio, think the old type of operators are few and far between. As regards flashing warnings to other vessels it was second nature to always have in your mind K you should stop your vessel instantly, and U you are standing into danger.. Things I will remember on my death bed. JS

[Shaun Gander]

When I was young - very young - I was quite proficient at reading it being into SW listening.

Now I can pick out a few letters if it's sent slow enough. I was told that I'd never forget it once is learned it - wrong!

SDG

[j.sabourn]

Shaun I could still read a lamp. Never was any use on the earphones though too fast for me. 6 words a minute is the speed required for the merchant service and 8 words a minute for semaphore . The navy could send at double that speed. When you are on the lamp or even on the rarity of semaphoring , you send at the speed that you can read at. If you were to try and impress a Navy signalman by your prowess on the lamp he would leave you standing. It is normal to be able to transmit faster than you are capable of receiving. The RN are specialists at it, it is or was only a small part of ours. Apart from signals for second mate you also got the D/F thrown in, that’s those two fixed loops on the monkey Island. ( d/f direction finder) something else that is supposed to stay in your memory banks for ever.... to convert a radio bearing to a mercatorial bearing is half Dlong x cos lat. ... too much useless information for today blocking up other things, still trying to memorise Brian’s poem. Cheers JS

[Doc Vernon]

Funnily Enough Shaun
Even after some nearly 60 Years now I can still read Morse quite well not as fast perhaps as I was when a lot Younger and passed out on Top of Class with three others. I must admit though nowdays I have stopped listening to the SW Broadcasts that I used to ,in quite recent Years,so more than likely not too crash hot at it anymore,but I will never forget the actual Morse Code that's for sure.
Drummed into ones Brain for Three Months day after day sure leaves an imprint on the Mind. LOL

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John.
I can't remember if they taught Morse at the Vindi but I do remember on my first ship talking ! to the apprentices with a torch from aft while they read it from the boat deck. Then later when on the Wave Baron I used to talk to passing ships with the big searchlight from the Monkey Island, with permission of the officer of the watch, still remember some of it but not all.
Cheers Des

[j.sabourn]

The easiest ones to misread when receiving were the numerals 1 to 10. They being 5 symbols as against a maxinum of 4 for letters. Very easy to blink and miss one. JS