So-called Continental Morse was created by a German by the name of Gerhke (sp?)
& evolved into or became the same as International Morse. ("Continental" often
being a term used by Americans to describe something from Europe, i.e. the
Continent) as opposed to being of American origin.
Thus for all intents & purposes for nearly a century there have been 2 Morse
code systems, American & International with a few variances within countries
with odd alphabets. I know from experience working in Air Force intelligence
during 'Nam, the Red Chinese & Russians had slight variations from each other
so it made it easy to tell one from the other BUT both were using International
Morse Code. (an aside: it was a LOT easier for us to learn their lingo, ie.
International Morse, than for them to learn the alphabet and relate it to their
alphabet and send same via code. Then add in the fact our radios, antennas &
satellites were/are far superior plus better cryptology, we knew far more about
what they were up to then vice-a-versa such as when a new Mig was being shipped
to China from Russia and possibly on to No. Vietnam) But back to RRing:
My Christmas list to the gift will touch on code words used by CB&Q that
allowed operators to communicate even faster; i.e. using a 4-6 letter 'word' to
mean an entire phrase.
Gerald
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
From: gbrewer@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:49:25 +0000
Subject: [CBQ] Re: FW: Morse Code: A Lost Language
Nelson,
I believe we have a confusion over names here. As I understand it, WU
and the RRs used "American Morse", I'm not sure what the difference
between International Morse and Continental Morse is, but neither is the
same as American Morse. Just to confuse the issue further, I believe the
old operators used the Philips Code as well. This was a shorthand for
words and concepts (ie, -30- for end of message).
Glen
Railroad Glory Days <http://railroadglorydays.com>
--- In CBQ@yahoogroups.com, "Nelson Moyer" <ku0a@...> wrote:
>
> Actually, International Morse is faster to send and easier to copy at
high
> speed, where the spaces in Continental code get lost above 35-40 words
per
> minute. It takes longer to send C in Continental Morse at high speed
because
> you have to pause for the space. I timed myself send C using both
codes to
> verify that high speed Morse is really faster and more intelligible
than
> Continental Morse using an iambic keyer. Of course, if you're using a
bug,
> you can't send intelligible code above 35-40 wpm because the
mechanical
> action of the bug is the limiting factor. Bugs are instantly
recognizable
> because every operator has a distinctive 'fist'. With an iambic keyer,
all
> proficient operators sound alike. Code proficient hams routinely
contest and
> rag chew at 40 wpm. An exceptional few can copy International Morse in
their
> head at 55 wpm. I don't know anybody that can send or receive
Continental
> Morse at that speed. I think Continental Morse was a hold-over from
the
> early telegraph days when the sounders couldn't send dashes, only
clicks,
> and the spaces between the clicks carried intelligence. Once it was
possible
> to send dashes, Continental Morse was abandoned in favor of
International
> Morse because it is faster and easier to send and easier to copy,
especially
> when sent using an iambic keyer. Morse code isn't a "lost language",
it's
> just that fewer people are learning it since the Navy and Coast Guard
> stopped using it and FCC dropped the code requirement for amateur
radio
> licenses. Most of my radio contacts are in Morse code, and I prefer it
to
> voice communication because it's easier to work weak signals through
the
> noise using code.
>
> Nelson, KU0A
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: CBQ@yahoogroups.com [mailto:CBQ@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
glen
> brewer
> Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2010 10:37 AM
> To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [CBQ] Re: FW: Morse Code: A Lost Language
>
>
> --- In CBQ@yahoogroups.com, "Dale Reeves" drale99@ wrote:
> >
> > Not accurate to say the codes are slightly different. Continental
> Morse has
> > fewer dashes, many letters different. Uses spaces, much faster.
For
> > instance, C is .. .., much faster than -.-.
>
> Dale,
>
> In conventional (land) Morse, a C is ".. ." vs "- . - ." in radio
code.
> The SOS well known as "... --- ..." in radio code, would be "... .
.
> ..." in Western Union or RR code. The real difference is that
> International or Continental eliminated the pauses and elongated
dashes
> using only dots and dashes. Yes, quite a few letters are different.
>
> Glen
> RailroadGloryDays.com <http://railroadglorydays.com>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
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