草稿:美國摩斯電碼

1911 年標準美國摩斯電碼表

美國摩爾斯電碼、（American Morse Code），也稱為鐵路摩爾斯電碼、摩爾斯式電碼、摩爾斯電碼、鐵路電碼是1840年代中期薩繆爾·摩爾斯和阿爾弗萊德·維爾開發的電報機電碼。加上「美國」限定詞是因為，在世界其它大部分地區採用「國際摩斯電碼」後，繼續使用原始摩斯電碼的公司主要位於美國。美國莫爾斯電碼現在幾乎絕跡——它在美國鐵路博物館和美國內戰重演中最常見——而今天的「莫爾斯電碼」實際上總是指取代美國莫爾斯電碼的國際莫爾斯電碼。

American Morse Code — also known as Railroad Morse—is the latter-day name for the original version of the 摩爾斯電碼 developed in the mid-1840s, by 薩繆爾·摩爾斯 and 阿爾弗萊德·維爾 for their 電報. The "American" qualifier was added because, after most of the rest of the world adopted "International Morse Code," the companies that continued to use the original Morse Code were mainly located in the United States. American Morse is now nearly extinct—it is most frequently seen in American railroad museums and 美國內戰重演s—and "Morse Code" today virtually always means the International Morse which supplanted American Morse.

History

美國莫爾斯電碼首先在巴爾的摩-華盛頓電報線上使用，這是一條連接馬裡蘭州巴爾的摩和華盛頓特區國會大廈舊最高法院法庭的電報線，第一個公開信息「上帝做了什麼」被發送到1844年5 月24 日，莫爾斯從華盛頓到巴爾的摩和俄亥俄鐵路(B&O)「外車站」（現為B&O 鐵路博物館）的阿爾弗雷德·韋爾。消息是來自《民數記》 23:23 的聖經經文，由康乃狄克州州長的女兒安妮·艾爾斯沃斯為莫爾斯電碼選擇。韋爾在巴爾的摩收到的原始紙帶現陳列在華盛頓特區的 國會圖書館

American Morse Code was first used on the Baltimore-Washington telegraph line, a telegraph line constructed between 巴爾的摩, 馬里蘭州, and the old Supreme Court chamber in the Capitol building in 華盛頓哥倫比亞特區 The first public message "What hath God wrought" was sent on May 24, 1844, by Morse in Washington to Alfred Vail at the 巴爾的摩與俄亥俄鐵路 (B&O) "outer depot" (now the B&O Railroad Museum) in Baltimore. The message is a 聖經 verse from 民數記 23:23, chosen for Morse by Annie Ellsworth, daughter of the Governor of Connecticut. The original paper tape received by Vail in Baltimore is on display in the 國會圖書館 (美國) in Washington, D.C.

In its original implementation, the Morse Code specification included the following:

1. short mark or dot (  ▄ )
2. longer mark or dash (  ▄▄ )
3. intra-character gap (standard gap between the dots and dashes in a character)
4. short gap (between letters)
5. medium gap (between words)
6. long gap (between sentences)
7. long intra-character gap (longer internal gap used in C, O, R, Y, Z and &)
8. "long dash" (  ▄▄▄▄ , the letter L)
9. even longer dash (  ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ , the numeral 0)

在其最初的實現中，摩斯電碼規範包括以下內容：

短標記或點 ( ▄ ) 較長的標記或破折號 ( ▄▄ ) 字元內間隙（字元中點和破折號之間的標準間隙） 短間隙（字母之間） 中等間隙（單字之間） 長間隔（句子之間） 長字內間隙（較長的內部間隙用於 C、O、R、Y、Z 和 &） 「長劃線」（ ▄▄▄▄ ，字母 L） 較長的破折號（ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ，數字 0）

The first public telegram in America, "What hath God wrought" sent by Samuel Morse in 1844.

Various other companies and countries soon developed their own variations of the original Morse Code. Of special importance was one standard, originally created in Germany by Friedrich Clemens Gerke in 1848, which was simpler—it eliminated the long intra-character spaces and the two long dashes—but also included changes in the sequences for eleven of the letters and most of the numerals. The Gerke code had a distinct advantage for use on undersea telegraph cables. Cables suffer from a type of distortion called 色散關係 that gets progressively worse with the length of the cable. Dispersion severely limits the rate that Morse can be sent because of intersymbol interference. For instance, the first 跨大西洋電報電纜 of 1858 could only sustain a transmission rate of less than 1 單詞每分鐘. This interference is worse with American Morse because it has a greater proportion of closely spaced dots than the Gerke code.

其他許多公司和國家很快就開發了自己的原始莫爾斯電碼變體。特別重要的是一個標準，最初由Friedrich Clemens Gerke於1848 年在德國創建，該標準更簡單——它消除了長的字符內空格和兩個長破折號——但也包括了十一個字母和大多數字母的序列變化。格克碼在海底電報電纜上的使用有明顯的優勢。電纜會遭受一種稱為色散的失真，隨著電纜長度的增加，這種失真會逐漸惡化。由於碼間幹擾，色散嚴重限制了莫爾斯電碼的發送速率。例如，1858年第一條跨大西洋電報電纜只能維持每分鐘不到1個字的傳輸速率。[1]這種幹擾對於美國莫爾斯電碼來說更嚴重，因為它比格克電碼具有更大比例的緊密間隔的點。[2]

The Gerke code was adopted as a standard for transmission over cables by the Austro-German Telegraph Union (which included many central European states) at a conference in 1851. It was necessary to have a common code as the Union had also agreed to direct connection of cables across borders (as opposed to recoding and retransmission by an operator). The code was adopted as the European standard in 1865, and was known at first as "Continental Morse," although as its use spread it also became known as "International Morse." At this point the original Morse Code started to be called American Morse, to differentiate between the two main standards.

Gerke 代碼在 1851 年的一次會議上被奧德電報聯盟（其中包括許多中歐國家）採納為電纜傳輸標準。和重新傳輸相反）。[3] 該電碼於 1865 年被採用為歐洲標準，最初被稱為「大陸莫爾斯電碼」，但隨著其使用的擴展，它也被稱為「國際莫爾斯電碼」。此時，最初的莫爾斯電碼開始被稱為「美國莫爾斯電碼」，以區分這兩個主要標準。

There was some resistance to adopting International Morse in the US. This resulted in international Morse operators in the US needing to be proficient in both codes since messages on transatlantic cables were in the international code, and incoming messages needed to be recoded and sent on in American Morse. An attempt in 1854 to make International Morse the standard within the US was rejected by the telegraph companies. Overhead wires, used for most land routes in the US, have nowhere near as big a problem with dispersion as undersea or underground cables, and the companies had no wish to retrain their staff. The Chilean telegraph regulation of 1872 required operators to know both "German and American" code; some lines with the state system seem to have generally used one, some the other (and a few lines had Wheatstone equipment and so did not use Morse Code at all).

在美國採用國際摩斯電碼遇到了一些阻力。這導緻美國的國際莫爾斯電碼操作員需要精通這兩種代碼，因為跨大西洋電纜上的消息採用國際代碼，並且傳入的消息需要重新編碼並以美國莫爾斯電碼發送。 1854 年，電報公司拒絕了讓國際莫爾斯電碼成為美國標準的嘗試。美國大多數陸地線路都使用架空電纜，其分散性問題遠不及海底或地下電纜那麼大，這些公司也不想再培訓員工。[2] 1872年智利電報法規要求接線員同時了解「德國與美國」電碼；一些採用國家系統的線路似乎普遍使用其中一種，另一些則採用另一種（少數線路擁有惠斯通設備，因此根本不使用摩斯電碼）。[4]

In the late 1890s, radio communication—initially known as "無線電報"—was invented, and used Morse Code transmissions. Most radio operators used the version of the Code that they were most familiar with—the American Morse Code in the United States, and Continental Morse in Europe. However, because of the long range of radio signals, a single international standard was needed, especially for seagoing vessels.

1890 年代末，發明了無線電通訊（最初稱為「無線電報」），並使用摩斯電碼傳輸。[5]大多數無線電操作員使用他們最熟悉的電碼版本－美國使用美國莫爾斯電碼，歐洲使用大陸莫爾斯電碼。然而，由於無線電訊號的傳輸距離較遠，因此需要單一的國際標準，特別是對於海船。

At the Radiotelegraphic Convention meeting in London in 1912, the section of the Convention covering "Transmission of Radiograms" included the statement that "The signals to be employed are those of Morse International Code." Even after this, the original Morse Code continued to be used throughout much of the United States. American Morse remained the standard for U.S. landline telegraph companies, including the dominant company, 西聯匯款, in part because the original code, with fewer dashes, could be sent about 5% faster than International Morse. American Morse also was commonly used for domestic radio transmissions on the 五大湖, and along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. However, International Morse predominated for ocean-going vessels, and many U.S. shipboard operators became skilled in transmitting both versions of the Code as needed.

1912 年在倫敦舉行的無線電報大會上，公約中涉及「無線電報傳輸」的部分包括這樣的聲明：「所使用的訊號是莫爾斯國際電碼的訊號」。即使在此之後，原始的莫爾斯電碼仍在美國大部分地區繼續使用。美國莫爾斯電報仍然是美國固定電報公司（包括主導的西聯公司）的標準，部分原因是原始代碼的破折號較少，發送速度比國際莫爾斯電報快 5% 左右。美國莫爾斯電碼也常用於五大湖區以及大西洋和太平洋沿岸的國內無線電傳輸。然而，國際莫爾斯電碼在遠洋船舶上占主導地位，許多美國船上營運商已經熟練地根據需要傳輸兩個版本的電碼。

Advantages and disadvantages

As already mentioned, American Morse is less suitable for use on cables because of the high density of dots. However, this same feature, together with the shorter dash, leads to the advantage of a more compressed code and a faster sending rate. The same operator could send at least 20% faster with American Morse than with International Morse.

如同已經提到的，美國莫爾斯電碼由於點密度高，不太適合在電纜上使用。然而，同樣的功能加上更短的破折號，帶來了更壓縮的代碼和更快的發送速率的優勢。同一業者使用美國莫爾斯電碼的發送速度比使用國際莫爾斯電碼的發送速度至少快 20%。[6]

美國莫爾斯電碼的複雜性意味著操作員更容易出錯。美國莫爾斯電碼有多種長度的破折號和空格，新手操作員無意中傳輸了錯誤的破折號和其他計時錯誤，這被稱為「大莫爾斯電碼」。

The greater complexity of American Morse meant that it was easier for operators to make errors. American Morse has multiple lengths of dashes and spaces and inadvertently transmitting the wrong ones and other timing errors by novice operators is known as hog-Morse.

Later developments

Over time, with the disappearance of landline telegraphy and the end of commercial radio use of Morse Code, American Morse has become nearly extinct. In the United States, the ranks of amateur radio operators used to include many active and retired commercial landline telegraph operators, who preferred to use American Morse for their amateur radio transmissions, so the 連續波 (continuous wave) amateur bands used to have a mixture of American and International Morse. However, today even U.S. amateurs use International Morse almost exclusively.

隨著時間的推移，隨著固定電話的消失和摩斯電碼商業無線電使用的結束，美國摩斯電碼幾乎已經滅絕。在美國，業餘無線電操作員的行列曾經包括許多活躍和退休的商業固定電報操作員，他們更喜歡使用美國莫爾斯電報進行業餘無線電傳輸，因此 CW （連續波）業餘頻段過去混合了美國和國際莫爾斯電碼。然而，如今，即使是美國業餘愛好者也幾乎只使用國際莫爾斯電碼。

比較

American (Railroad) vs. International Morse (similar codes highlighted)

Letter	International Code	American Morse		Letter	International Code	American Morse		Digit	International Code	American Morse
A	▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄▄		N	▄▄▄ ▄	▄▄ ▄		0	▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄	▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
B	▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄	▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄		O	▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄	▄  ▄		1	▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄
C	▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄	▄ ▄  ▄		P	▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄	▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄		2	▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄ ▄▄ ▄ ▄
D	▄▄▄ ▄ ▄	▄▄ ▄ ▄		Q	▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄ ▄▄ ▄		3	▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄ ▄
E	▄	▄		R	▄ ▄▄▄ ▄	▄  ▄ ▄		4	▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄
F	▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄	▄ ▄▄ ▄		S	▄ ▄ ▄	▄ ▄ ▄		5	▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄	▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄
G	▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄	▄▄ ▄▄ ▄		T	▄▄▄	▄▄		6	▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄	▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄
H	▄ ▄ ▄ ▄	▄ ▄ ▄ ▄		U	▄ ▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄ ▄▄		7	▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄	▄▄ ▄▄ ▄ ▄
I	▄ ▄	▄ ▄		V	▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄		8	▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄	▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄
J	▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄	▄▄ ▄ ▄▄ ▄		W	▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄▄ ▄▄		9	▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄	▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄
K	▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄	▄▄ ▄ ▄▄		X	▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄▄ ▄ ▄
L	▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄	▄▄▄▄		Y	▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄  ▄ ▄
M	▄▄▄ ▄▄▄	▄▄ ▄▄		Z	▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄	▄ ▄ ▄  ▄

Common punctuation

Symbol	International Code	American Morse		Symbol	International Code	American Morse
句號 [.]	▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄ ▄		撇號 [']	▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄	▄ ▄ ▄▄ ▄   ▄ ▄▄ ▄ ▄  (QX)
逗號 [,]	▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄▄ ▄ ▄▄		斜線 [/]	▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄	▄ ▄ ▄▄   ▄▄  (UT)
問號 [?]	▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄	▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄ ▄		連字號 [-]	▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄ ▄ ▄   ▄ ▄▄ ▄ ▄  (HX)
嘆號 [!]	▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄	▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄		括號 (open) [(]	▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄	▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄   ▄▄ ▄  (PN)
& [&]	▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄	▄  ▄ ▄ ▄		括號 (close) [)]	▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄	▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄   ▄ ▄   ▄ ▄  (PII)
段落	▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄	▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄		引號 (open) ["]	▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄	▄ ▄ ▄▄ ▄   ▄▄ ▄  (QN)
分號 [;]	▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄	▄ ▄ ▄   ▄ ▄  (SI)		引號 (close) ["]	▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄	▄ ▄ ▄▄ ▄   ▄▄ ▄ ▄▄ ▄  (QJ)
冒號 [:]	▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄	▄▄ ▄ ▄▄   ▄   ▄  (KEE)

See also

• Telegraph in United States history

Bibliography

• Chesnoy, Jose, Undersea Fiber Communication Systems, Academic Press, 2002 ISBN 0-08-049237-1.
• Coe, Lewis, The Telegraph: A History of Morse's Invention and Its Predecessors in the United States, McFarland, 2003 ISBN 0-7864-1808-7.
• Lyall, Francis, International Communications: The International Telecommunication Union and the Universal Postal Union, Routledge, 2016 ISBN 1-317-114345.
• Pope, Frank L. Chapter VIII Hints to Learners. Modern Practice of the Electric Telegraph: A Handbook for Electricians and Operators 11th. New York: D. van Nostrand. 1881.  Also available in PDF.

External links

• Samuel Morse's first "What hath God Wrought?" telegraph message, sent May 24, 1844 (American Morse recorded on a paper tape)
• Circa 1910 recording of an American Morse radio transmission
• Morse Telegraph Club, Inc.
• The Dot and Line Alphabet, a sketch from Edward Everett Hale about (American) Morse code, first published 1858
• Morse Code Sounder Allows conversion and sounding of American Morse