·−−· ·−·· · ·− ··· · / ···· · ·−·· ·−−· / −− ·
"Please Help Me" in Morse code is ·−−· ·−·· · ·− ··· · / ···· · ·−·· ·−−· / −− ·.
Leave a short gap between letters and a longer gap between words. In writing, letters are separated by a space and words by a slash. At standard timing a dot lasts one unit, a dash three units, the gap inside a letter one unit, the gap between letters three units and the gap between words seven. "Please Help Me" takes 109 units, about 6.5 seconds at a speed of 20 words per minute.
Meaning: Morse code for "Please Help Me" (phrase)
What does it mean word for word?
Letter by letter: P is ·−−·, L is ·−··, E is ·, A is ·−, S is ···, H is ···· and M is −−.
How do you pronounce it?
di-dah-dah-dit di-dah-di-dit dit di-dah di-di-dit dit / di-di-di-dit dit di-dah-di-dit di-dah-dah-dit / dah-dah dit
What mistakes should you avoid?
Keep the gaps between letters. Without them, P ·−−· can be read as E and G · −−·, which changes the message.
When do people say it?
SOS is sent as one unbroken signal, ···−−−···, without the usual gaps between letters. It was adopted as the distress signal in 1906 because it is easy to send and hard to mistake.
Did you know?
- Alfred Vail, who worked with Samuel Morse, gave the shortest signals to the most common letters. That is why E, the most frequent letter in English, is a single dot.
- In the United States, amateur radio licences stopped requiring a Morse code test in 2007, yet many operators still use it on the air.
