What this Morse code translator does
Type text and you get Morse code; paste Morse code and you get text back — the translator detects the direction on its own. The character table follows the ITU recommendation M.1677-1. You can play the result as sound, with a pitch between 400 and 1,000 Hz and a speed between 5 and 40 words per minute, or save it as a WAV file.
How do I translate text into Morse code?
Type into the input field. Letters are separated by one space and words by a slash between two
spaces, so “SOS SOS” becomes ··· −−− ··· / ··· −−− ···. Upper and lower case make no
difference. Characters without a Morse equivalent, such as € or an emoji, are never dropped:
they stay in square brackets in the result, and the translator lists them.
How do I read Morse code back into text?
Spaces separate letters, however many there are. Separate words with /, with | or with a
line break. An underscore counts as a dash and a dot may also be · or •, so copied code
works without editing. A sequence without a meaning stays in square brackets, which shows you
where the error is.
How long are dots, dashes and gaps?
Every length is a multiple of one dot, as set out in section 2 of ITU recommendation M.1677-1:
| Element | Length |
|---|---|
| Dot | 1 unit |
| Dash | 3 units |
| Gap inside a character | 1 unit |
| Gap between two letters | 3 units |
| Gap between two words | 7 units |
What does wpm mean in Morse code?
Words per minute, measured with the standard word PARIS, which is exactly 50 units long including its word gap. At 20 wpm that is 1,000 units a minute, so one dot lasts 1200 ÷ 20 = 60 milliseconds:
| Speed | Dot | Dash | Word gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 wpm | 240 ms | 720 ms | 1,680 ms |
| 12 wpm | 100 ms | 300 ms | 700 ms |
| 20 wpm | 60 ms | 180 ms | 420 ms |
What is Farnsworth spacing?
A learning aid: characters sound at full speed, so you learn each one as a sound pattern instead of counting dots, and only the gaps get longer. The translator follows Jon Bloom (KE3Z), QEX 1990, published by the ARRL: of the 50 units in PARIS, the 31 inside the characters stay fixed and the 19 gap units are stretched. With characters at 20 wpm and an overall speed of 10 wpm, PARIS takes 6 seconds instead of 3.
Are there Morse codes for Ä, Ö, Ü and other special characters?
Ä (·−·−), Ö (−−−·), Ü (··−−) and CH (−−−−) are common in German radio traffic but not
part of the ITU standard; the translator flags them. With “ITU standard only” selected, “Öl”
becomes OEL. German ß has no Morse code (as the overview by radio amateur DK5KE also notes) and
is sent as SS. For other signs, section 3 of the recommendation defines substitutes: “15%”
becomes 15-0/0, the multiplication sign × becomes X.
What are procedural signals like SOS?
Procedural signals (prosigns) are letters run together without a gap. SOS is one character of
nine elements, ···−−−···; sent with letter gaps it would be four units longer. In text you
write them in angle brackets, such as <SOS> or <AR>. According to part II of the
recommendation, AR (·−·−·) ends every telegram, and it shares its code with the plus sign —
when reading, the translator shows the character and names the second meaning.
What the translator cannot do
- Listen: it reads written Morse code, not tones from a recording or the microphone.
- Other alphabets: Cyrillic or Japanese Morse codes are not included. Of the accented letters, only É is in the ITU table; all others are marked.
Privacy
Text, sound and WAV file are created in your browser; nothing is uploaded. Only your settings, such as speed and pitch, are stored locally — not the text.