The use of modern technology in warfare is not new, and modern warfare is filled with all kinds of technology, from artificial intelligence to drones and hypersonic missiles. However, technology like Morse code, which is more than a century old, is also showing its importance and continues to be used.
The waves of staccato tones that were instantly recognizable to railway workers of the time 150 years ago are still being used by the Russian military in the war in Ukraine. Even today, many people can recognize the distinctive sound of Morse code, which consisted of the familiar pattern of three short, three long, and then three short bells as an emergency signal, and this was the SOS, or emergency signal used for rescue.
Even today, Morse code messages are sent from Russian bombers to their control rooms or from ships in the Baltic Fleet to their land headquarters. For amateur radio users, the shortwave bands are filled with beeps, known to the general public as ‘dots’ (.) and ‘dashes’ (-). Even spies listen to shortwave bands to listen for secret stations sending messages in Morse code.
19th Century Invention
So why is this technology, invented at the beginning of the 19th century, still being used today?
First of all, let me tell you that Morse code was not conceived by an engineer or a technician, but by a man who was himself an artist. It was initially designed by Samuel Morris for what we now call a teleprinter. This is a device that receives text and prints it on paper.
Morris enlisted the help of Alfred Weyl, a mechanical engineer with an interest in mechanics, to invent the machine. He was the one who created the dots and dashes to represent the code and came up with the idea of using sound to transmit information.
At first, the purpose of sound for them was just to test a connection, but then they realized that the idea of printing was not practical. But when they added sound to their experiment, they hit upon a concept that was much more brilliant and useful than they had imagined.
The distinguishing feature of Morse code is that it creates a tone and rhythm in the form of sound. So it has points in common with music, and then it was seen whether people with musical talent could learn Morse code faster.
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‘Ear-Reading’ Technique
By activating the innate human sense of rhythm and pitch, Morse code patterns also activate our sense of identity. This is a skill that is deeply embedded in our brains and has a great capacity to understand messages, even if they are incomplete.
An experienced Morse code operator can fill in gaps in the message caused by interference, poor reception, noise, or equipment failure in received messages. Neurologically, Morris occupies a very strange position, which has been described as ‘reading by ear’ because the message here resembles the act of speaking more than writing.
Another remarkable aspect of Morse code is its simple technique. Anyone with basic technical knowledge can build their own transmitter using standard components. The signal produced by a Morse transmitter only takes up 100 to 150 Hz, meaning it uses a very narrow bandwidth, while 2500 to 3000 Hz is used for standard voice communication.
This also means that receivers can use very narrow filters and thus eliminate most of the noise generated by various forms of interference. Being so effective, Morris requires minimal power to cover the distance.
Ultra-Low Energy Consumption
Radio enthusiasts experimented in 1956 to show that as little as 78 milliwatts of power could be sufficient to transmit a message from Massachusetts to Denmark. This is less than a tenth of the energy used by an LED bulb, while brewing a standard cup of coffee uses a thousand times more energy.
This combination of technical simplicity and efficiency proved useful during World War II when German resistance fighters and Allied commandos used their portable Morse trans-receivers to maintain contact with London from inside German-occupied territory.
This was a very risky task because the Germans were constantly listening to the airwaves. Morse code, although incomprehensible to the untrained ear, did not provide security in itself. Today, even untrained people can understand messages sent via Morse code using software. However, any message can be secured by encoding or encrypting it before it is sent, as Vail proposed in 1845.
In fact, one of the most secure forms of encryption is a ‘single-use pad’, a pad that requires nothing more than a pencil and paper. Essentially, a single-use pad is a random string of characters, at least as long as the message is kept secret. The sender uses his pad to encrypt while the receiver uses a copy of the same pad to decode the message (there should only be two copies and each should be destroyed immediately after use).
As long as a notebook is not reused, it theoretically remains intact, even with the latest technology. Although there are more effective digital communication technologies today, nothing can compete with this unparalleled combination of simplicity and efficiency, and it is this characteristic that has kept Morse code alive for over 150 years.