📟 How to Communicate WITHOUT Talking

4 min readOct 15, 2022

No I am not talking about telepathy. I am talking about Morse Code!

Morse code is a communication method that relies on signals. In this article, we learn about the history of Morse code. It is what started innovation in communication methods. Towards the end, there is a framework for understanding Morse code using mnemonics.

Welcome to TonyTriesStuff,

We here are keen on trying new hobbies to increase our repertoire of skills. Whether you’ve stumbled across this for the first time or are a regular, thanks for taking the time to look through what I have created. Read on to start your journey towards mastering skills you are passionate about.

Today we learn how to use Morse code. Morse code is a system that uses electromagnetic signals to transmit dashes and dots over long distances. It can also be communicated using light or sound. This skill was showcased in the second season of Stranger Things. If you are interested in a simple method to learn Morse code, stick around until the end!

I wonder what life was like when the fastest communication available was Morse code Telegraph. Photo by Chris Curry on Unsplash

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History of Morse Code

The invention of Morse code helped invent the telegraph, which sowed the seeds for communication systems like the internet, the telephone, etc. Jordan Harbinger said in episode 721 of his podcast that crisis is opportunity. And a crisiscould’ve been the reason for its invention.

Some say that the event that inspired Samuel Morse to develop Morse code was the passing of his wife. In 1825 when Morse was in Washington, D.C., he received a letter from his wife in New Haven, which was four days’ travel away. He replied that he longed to see her. Little did he know that at the time of sending the letter, she had already passed away due to a heart attack. By the time he rushed back home, the final rites were already complete.

Crisis is opportunity.
-Jordan Harbinger, The Jordan Harbinger Show

Morse started to work on an electric telegraph of his own, inspired by a conversation he had on a ship. While travelling from Europe to America, he conversed with some people about electromagnetism. He later learnt more on the topic from an American Physicist named Joseph Henry.

He developed the system alongside Gale and Vail. In the 1830s, Morse and Vail developed what is now known as Morse code. After much struggle, on 24 May 1844, the very first telegraph message based on this system was sent between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland. If this system existed back in February 1825, the news that took four days to arrive would’ve taken around four seconds. This could’ve given him a chance to spend some final moments with his wife or attend her funeral.

What is Morse code?

Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called dots and dashes, or dits and dahs. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of the inventors of the telegraph.
-Wikipedia

The image below shows the codes for English alphabets and numbers according to the International Morse Code.

Each character can be transmitted across a wire using a signal that lasts one unit (dot) or three units (dash). The space between letters and words is three and seven, respectively. By following this method, we can transmit any message across long distances as long as it is connected by a wire. It can also be communicated through sound or light.

How to learn Morse Code

This YouTube video by Nelson Dellis, a memory expert, is an excellent place to quickly learn all the characters in Morse code. He uses mnemonics to make it easy to remember each code with ease. After spending sufficient time memorising and practising it, you too can use Morse code to communicate!

In the video, Nelson Dellis explains the origin of Morse code and provides two frameworks to memorise Morse code. He recommends learning what each character sounds like instead of what they look like. This is because experts suggested that learning only what a character looks like makes it difficult to translate that into sound. Therefore, he provides us with mnemonic phrases that help ease us into learning each letter.

Attempting to communicate in Morse code!

All this talk of Morse code makes me want to attempt something in Morse code. Here’s my attempt at saying ‘subscribe to TonyTriesStuff’ in Morse code (I used the cheat sheet from earlier)!

... ..- -... ... -.-. .-. .. -... . / - --- / - --- -. -.-- - .-. .. . ... ... - ..- ..-. ..-.

I’d love to hear from you. Have I inspired you to learn? Do you already know Morse code? What would you do if you could speak and listen in Morse Code? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments below or tweet at me with your thoughts.

That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed reading about Morse code. I hope you found the story behind it interesting and found the framework to learn Morse code helpful. Leave a comment (in Morse code if possible 😉) and subscribe if you want to be inspired to learn new skills on a week-ish basis.

Until next time,

Tony

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