Hey Max, I respectfully AGREE with you.

My post is to learn visual signals whereas you're posting primarily concerns Audio signals.

The big trick is not learning to transmit,,the big trick is learning how to receive at a decent rate.

Max is right on.

Learning and working with the letters at high speed sounds wacky but really works.

I suggest learning by audio rather than visual. Truly high speed code is done by audio rather than by flashing light. You can easily slow down audio but can't speed up flashing light.

Long ago in the last century I taught my best friend Morse over a weekend. ( we were in 8th grade I think) So learn it earlier rather than later!

My current use for Morse is identifying radio nav aids as I fly light airplanes. Most ident by morse letters so for me it's trivially easy vs. other pilots who have to look up the dot-dash sequences.

In the past I've read flashing lights while on the bridge of USN surface ships. Also sat down with the spooks and copied Russian code groups while on my submarine. (totally freaked out our own radiomen who'd been to code school but couldn't remember all the letters because they never used code)

For survival situations though you can only be sure the search party knows S O S. Anything more than that can't be relied upon.

So, why would I want to know Morse Code? SOS is kinda obvious, but the rest? I can see the advantage in radio coms. Just like SMS can get out when voice can't, I suppose Morse could be more understandable with a weak signal than voice in SW but if I don't transmit what would I want to learn it for?
Not a troll question - educate me.

One of my main points was about learning the code as actual signals at the desired speed. It really doesn´t matter whether it´s audio or visual. There are even PC programs to learn the visual signals (e. g. JustLearnMorse IIRC). So the daily practice session with properly formed signals would still be feasible for visual signals.
Making a list and trying to transmit will make learning the code much harder.
As a HAM I have no real use for visual morse signals, so the speed and actual learning method (audio files) were fit for my purpose. Visual signals would be too slow for my needs.

In some respects it's like being able to make fire with a bow-and-drill. Old technology mastered for the sake of mastery, not for efficiency.

But, as I said, I find identifying navaids when flying trivially easy compared to others who have to look it up, listen to it, and verify the dots and dashes.

In exceedingly unlikely scenarios we could signal to each other. Such as blinking SOS by eyelids (as POW held in NVN prisons did), or flashing light across a river to/from rescuers. One ham radio story was of a man in the hospital tapping out code on his buddy's hand when he couldn't speak. Or the ham keying his mic from his position upside down in a wreck off a road. And so on.

That I know Morse is part of my trip plan info left with my wife when I go in the woods. If I'm stuck on a ledge at night, rescuers (who often are ham radio folks some of whom learned code) and I could signal by flashlight and get across real info such as condition, supplies, # in the party, etc. Whistle could also work.

Ultimately it's just a communications tool/option. Your choice as to whether to put in the effort.

HAMs may tell you something different:
For example this guy: W5ESE

There is a small transceiver called Pixie and with its SMD-version you could build a kit in a tobacco tin including the entire periphery and power supply.
I own the Rockmite for 20m and 40m. When I tested it, it drew 50mA (transmitting) from a 2700mAh rechargeable pack with 10 AA cells. That would allow a lot of time on air in the case of an emergency for a pretty small package.
If SAR knows that you can communicate with such a device they are more likely to bring someone who can do that too.
I´m convinced that the local HAM community would also try to help if asked for that.

As affiliations should be noted here, I admit that I am a member of the German chapter of the "Flying Pigs" and the NAQCC. So I´m not totally unbiased as far as HAM, CW and low power operation is concerned.

Just plugging "SOS" into this online Morse Code Translator and playing it back at 30 wpm is almost quicker than my ears can differentiate. I can't imagine being able to translate code at speeds faster than that...

Jim

Well ok.

I carry a 2m HT when hiking if I'll be where there's coverage.

But that's still my opinion.

I've been a licensed ham since 1971 and Extra Class since 1988.

M_a_x, I have been messing with the Just Learn Morse Code program you referred to for a while, but I do not think it has the visual component you are thinking of. Would you be able to check to see what the actual program you used was that had a visual component included. I have been interested in finding one for a while.

Although, I do like Just Learn Morse Code for learning the audio. I think it has one of the best formats for learning out of the majority of the learning aids out there.

Here is a web site with lots of Morse program downloads

http://www.qrz.com/download/morse/index.html