Morse code quiz
Done
Keys: Space or Enter turns the card over. K or → is Knew it, L or ← is Still learning. P plays the sound or the lamp again.
Print flash cards
Four ways to practise
Cards picks what's on the front. Letter → code shows A and asks for dot dash. Code → letter turns it round. Both can be typed: dots and dashes go in as full stops and hyphens, or any of the dot and dash characters a phone keyboard offers.
Listen plays the letter as sound and hides the code, which is the way Morse is heard on the air. The tone starts the moment a new card comes up, and Play again (or P) repeats it. Sound speed sets how fast the dots and dashes come, from 5 to 30 words a minute.
Watch the lamp blinks the letter in a small box beside the card. It's held at 7 WPM, the fastest a dot can flash and stay under three flashes a second, the limit WCAG 2.3.1 sets to protect people with photosensitive epilepsy. Moving quickly between cards can't speed it up, because each new letter waits a full letter gap after the lamp last went dark. If your device asks for reduced motion, the lamp stays off.
Missed cards come back three cards later and are listed at the end. Your place in each deck is kept in this browser and isn't sent anywhere.
The Koch method
Ludwig Koch published his method in 1936. The idea is to hear every character at full speed from the first lesson, but start with only two of them. Once you can copy those with 90% accuracy, add one more, and keep going until you have the full set.
The lessons under Which follow the order used by G4FON's Koch trainer, as printed by KA1DDB: K M R S U A P T L O W I . N J E F 0 Y , V G 5 / Q 9 Z H 3 8 B ? 4 2 7 C 1 D 6 X. Lesson 1 is K and M. Each lesson after it adds one character, and lesson 39 has all 40.
KA1DDB suggests hearing the characters at 18 WPM at least, and preferably 20. So set Sound speed to 20, choose Listen and Lesson 1, and move on when you're getting nine in ten.
Giving each letter time to sink in between cards is close to the Farnsworth method, named after Donald R. Farnsworth (W6TTB). Characters keep their full speed and the gaps between them are stretched to give thinking time.
Printing the cards
The print section prints the cards you've chosen, double-sided with the backs mirrored so each answer lands behind its letter, or as fold-over strips for a printer that only does one side. Listening and lamp cards print as code on the front.
The codes come from the same table as the Morse code translator: ITU-R M.1677-1 for letters, digits and punctuation. For a single sheet with everything on it, print the Morse code chart.
Questions
What's the fastest way to learn Morse code?
Learn it by sound at full speed, a few characters at a time. That's the Koch method. Choose Listen, set Sound speed to 20 WPM and start at Lesson 1. Reading dots and dashes off a card helps for writing it, but on the air you hear rhythms, not dots.
How do I type a dash?
A hyphen works. So do the dashes and dots a phone keyboard offers (·, •, −, –, —), and spaces are ignored. A is .- or · −.
Why won't the lamp go faster?
Faster blinking would pass three flashes a second, which can trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy. The cap is fixed and there's no setting to lift it. Listen has no such limit.
Is my progress saved?
In this browser's storage, if it allows it. Nothing is sent to us. Start this deck over clears it.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Morse code (the Koch and Farnsworth methods)
- KA1DDB: Learning Morse Code By the Koch Method (the character order used here)
- ITU-R M.1677-1: International Morse code
- W3C: Understanding WCAG 2.3.1, Three Flashes or Below Threshold
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