Morse code and divers.

[js9999]

I am shure that many of you know about Morse code in combination
with flashing lights used by the Navy when radio silence is orderd.
This way of communicating was common from around 1870 and up
to the 1940's.
It's still a very effective way of communicating. All you need is a flash light.
Range can be up to 30 miles (at night).

I gess range under water can be anything from 1 to 300 yrds.
Still i think this can be an effective way for divers to communicate under water.
(And above).

I searched a long time for a simulator program that could improve my
morse lamp skills.
I could't find any. So i made one my self.
Here it is, and it's free !

http://home.no.net/fenja256/superaldis/

 

[jbd]

I am shure that many of you know about Morse code in combination
with flashing lights used by the Navy when radio silence is orderd.
This way of communicating was common from around 1870 and up
to the 1940's.
It's still a very effective way of communicating. All you need is a flash light.
Range can be up to 30 miles (at night).

I gess range under water can be anything from 1 to 300 yrds.
Still i think this can be an effective way for divers to communicate under water.
(And above).

I searched a long time for a simulator program that could improve my
morse lamp skills.
I could't find any. So i made one my self.
Here it is, and it's free !

http://home.no.net/fenja256/superaldis/

Your comment on the website about it being hard to decipher the messages is enough to indicate that this is NOT and effective means of communication for pretty nearly all scuba divers.

The Navy personnel that sent and read these messages were specifically trained for this task. Very few divers would or be interested in this kind of training.

 

[H2Andy]

well .... there's what jbd says ... you'd need to rather well-trained individuals

also, why would you be so far away from your buddy that you'd need Morse code, especially on a night dive, which is when the dive light will be the brigthest?

if you can see your buddy's light, just swim on over there and get with him.

nice idea, but i don't think practical

 

[js9999]

Agree 100 %, most scuba divers don't need this. (perhaps navy seals :mooner: )
Made it mostly for fun.

And yes , decoding flashes from the Navy can be hard.
The reason is, this are high speed messages sendt by personel with
perhaps years of traing.

But that is not the same as it's
very hard to learn.
1-2 Hours a day for or 4 days, and you should be able
to communicate slowly.

 

[herman]

Morse by light is a good bit harder to do than by sound. When you learn Morse you actually learn it by the complete sound of the letter, not as individual dots and dashes, much the same way we recognize words by the sound, not the actual letters. With light you would have to learn to put the flashes together and timing would be critical. A sounder of some kind would be a lot more effective and easier to use. And easier to build for that matter. Keying a light at reasonable speeds would be a pain. I have not been an active Morse operator in several years but at one time I was good to about 25 wpm, with a little practice I could be back to speed. There are a lot more of us around than you might think, any ham (amateur radio operator) should be at least know CW (Morse) to 5 wpm or so. That said, I would be game to do some UW CW if I could find another operator. It actually is pretty efficient, a lot more so than say sign language.
_ . _. . _ _ .. ... _ _._ .._ _.

 

[H2Andy]

i know:

... _ _ _ ...

repeat ad nauseam; it's not like you'd have anything better to do

 

[ChrisA]

It takes months, at least to learn Mosre Code. I doubt I could learn to read by sight. The human brain is wired to translate strings of sound and translate that to words. Morse is like a sencond language. but the brain is not built for decoding flashes. Maybe if I imagine a tome when I see a light. But it don't matter, my point is that Mose is hard it is like learning Spanish or French.

So if you are going to put in this effort why not learn Amican Sign Language? ASL is perfect for diving and muh faster then morse too. Morse faster than about 5 WPM i very hard. I can write faster then 5WPM on my slate.

 

[H2Andy]

yeah, i think ASL would be the way to go

 

[herman]

It takes months, at least to learn Mosre Code. I doubt I could learn to read by sight. The human brain is wired to translate strings of sound and translate that to words. Morse is like a sencond language. but the brain is not built for decoding flashes. Maybe if I imagine a tome when I see a light. But it don't matter, my point is that Mose is hard it is like learning Spanish or French.

So if you are going to put in this effort why not learn Amican Sign Language? ASL is perfect for diving and muh faster then morse too. Morse faster than about 5 WPM i very hard. I can write faster then 5WPM on my slate.

If you study a little it only take a couple of weeks, it's really not that hard. It is a lot faster than ASL, 20 to 30 wpm is easy with some practice. Another advantage would be you would not have to have direct sight of the sender, perfect for low vis. Faster speeds come fairly quickly with use. The key is you don't write it down, you learn to hear the words, much the same way we do words. I use to keep up with conversations at 20 -30 wpm while doing other work, friends of mine could do it to around 50wpm.
...dern you js9999 you may have made me fire up the old soldering iron.

 

[LavaSurfer]

I am thinking that sign would be cool underwater
I just don't know that I have it in me to train myself or my buddies