Provided by: libcw7_3.6.0-5_amd64 bug

NAME

       CW - the international Morse code

DESCRIPTION

       CW  is  an  abbreviation  for  "continuous  wave",  the  commonly  used  technical  term  for  Morse code
       communication.  A basic knowledge or understanding of Morse code is a requirement for Radio Amateurs  and
       Marine Radio Operators in many parts of the world.

   MORSE CODE TIMINGS
       In  Morse  code,  a  dot  or dash is referred to as an element.  The basic timing unit is the dot period.
       This is the time taken to send a dot, not including any space before or after the dot.   The  lengths  of
       all other elements are then derived from this basic unit, using the following rules:

              The duration of a dash is three dots.

              The time between each element (dot or dash) is one dot length.

              The space between characters is three dot lengths.

              The space between words is seven dot lengths.

       The  following  formula  calculates the dot period in microseconds from the Morse code speed in words per
       minute:

              dot period = ( 1200000 / speed )

       This formula arises from the use of the word PARIS as a 'standard' word for calibrating Morse code speed.
       PARIS  is  50  units  long  when  sent  in Morse code.  Analysis of English plain-text indicates that the
       average word is 50 units, including spaces.

   MORSE CODE CHARACTERS
       The  following  list  shows  the  IS0  8859-1  (Latin-1)  characters  that   have   commonly   understood
       representations in Morse code:

              ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789"$()+-./:;=?_@ and space

       In  addition,  following  ISO  8859-1  and  ISO 8859-2 accented characters are also part of the generally
       accepted international Morse code:

              ÜÄÇÖÉÈÀÑŞ (S with cedilla), Ž (Z with caron/hacek),

       Finally, libcw adds the following ASCII characters as extensions to single character procedural signals:

              <>!&^~

   MORSE CODE CHARACTER TABLES
       The following table shows the Morse code equivalents  for  the  ISO  8859-1,  accented  ISO  8859-1,  and
       accented  ISO  8859-2 characters above.  The ASCII portion of this table is taken from the ARRL Handbook,
       and the accented extensions from various other sources:

       Ch   Code      Ch   Code
       ───────────────────────────
       A    .-        B    -...
       C    -.-.      D    -..
       E    .         F    ..-.
       G    --.       H    ....
       I    ..        J    .---
       K    -.-       L    .-..
       M    --        N    -.
       O    ---       P    .--.
       Q    --.-      R    .-.

       S    ...       T    -
       U    ..-       V    ...-
       W    .--       X    -..-
       Y    -.--      Z    --..

       0    -----     1    .----
       2    ..---     3    ...--
       4    ....-     5    .....
       6    -....     7    --...
       8    ---..     9    ----.

       "    .-..-.    '    .----.
       $    ...-..-   (    -.--.
       )    -.--.-    +    .-.-.
       ,    --..--    -    -....-
       .    .-.-.-    /    -..-.
       :    ---...    ;    -.-.-.
       =    -...-     ?    ..--..
       _    ..--.-

       Ch              Code    Ch                  Code
       ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
       Ü               ..--    Ä                   .-.-
       Ç               -.-..   Ö                   ---.
       É               ..-..   À                   .-..-
       À               .--.-   Ñ                   --.--
       Ş (S+cedilla)   ----    Ž (Z+caron/hacek)   --..-

       In addition to the above standard characters,  the  following  characters  are  conventionally  used  for
       punctuation and procedural signals as follows:

       Ch   Code      Ch   Code
       ───────────────────────────
       "    .-..-.    '    .----.
       $    ...-..-   (    -.--.
       )    -.--.-    +    .-.-.
       ,    --..--    -    -....-
       .    .-.-.-    /    -..-.
       :    ---...    ;    -.-.-.
       =    -...-     ?    ..--..
       _    ..--.-    @    .--.-.

       and the following are non-conventional extensions implemented by libcw:

       Ch   Code     Ch   Code
       ───────────────────────────
       <    ...-.-   >    -...-.-
       !    ...-.    &    .-...
       ^    -.-.-    ~    .-.-..

       An alternative view of punctuation and procedural signals is as combination Morse characters:

       Ch   Prosig      Ch   Prosig
       ─────────────────────────────
       "    [AF]        '    [WG]
       $    [SX]        (    [KN]
       )    [KK]        +    [AR]
       ,    [MIM]       -    [DU]
       .    [AAA]       /    [DN]
       :    [OS]        ;    [KR]
       =    [BT]        ?    [IMI]
       _    [IQ]        @    [AC]
       <    [VA],[SK]   >    [BK]
       !    [SN]        &    [AS]
       ^    [KA]        ~    [AL]

NOTES

       Despite  the fact that this manual page constantly and consistently refers to Morse code elements as dots
       and dashes, DO NOT think in these terms when trying to learn Morse code.  Always think of them as  'dit's
       and 'dah's.

SEE ALSO

       Man pages for libcw(3,LOCAL), cw(1,LOCAL), cwgen(1,LOCAL), cwcp(1,LOCAL), and xcwcp(1,LOCAL).

                                                CW Tutor Package                                           CW(7)