Morse Code Translator

How It Works

Both directions run live on every keystroke. Text-to-Morse upper-cases your input and maps each letter, digit and supported punctuation mark through the standard ITU table; spaces become word breaks written as " / " (the written stand-in for the BT break prosign). Morse-to-text normalizes the dot and dash variants you are likely to type (·, −, — all fold into . and -), treats a single space as a character gap and a triple space or slash as a word gap, then looks each dot-dash sequence up in the reverse table. Playback builds the tone event list from the text, times it with a 600 Hz Web Audio oscillator at your chosen speed, and flashes the dot indicator in sync so you can also read it visually.

Timing in units

Morse timing is all multiples of one unit — the dot (dit). A dash is three units, the silence inside a character between elements is one unit, the gap between characters is three units, and the gap between words is seven. "PARIS" (fifteen units plus its own gaps) measures exactly ten dit-spaces, which is why sending speed is quoted in words-per-minute: at 18 WPM one unit equals 1200 ÷ 18 = 67 ms, the value this tool's slider uses.

Why the word gap is seven units

A seven-unit gap is long enough that no double- or triple-character sequence can be mistaken for a word boundary — the decoder's only clue to grouping. It is deliberately asymmetric: since the most common letter E is a single dot, a six-unit inter-word pause would leave ambiguity between an E, a letter gap plus E, or the start of a new word at normal rhythm. Seven is the margin that made break-in communication possible, which is why operators still send it generously.

Common prosigns

Prosigns are single runs of characters sent without letter gaps, each with its own code: SOS ··· ——— ··· is the distress signal (one letter of Morse, not an abbreviation); CQ ———···—· is the general call to any station; AR ·—·—· means "end of message"; SK ···—·—· marks the end of a contact. BT —···— is the classic word separator on the straight key; this tool writes it as /.

Frequently Asked Questions