Provided by: libcw3_3.0.2-1_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     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     Ch   Code      Ch   Code
       ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
       "    .-..-.   '    .----.   $    ...-..-   (    -.--.
       )    -.--.-   +    .-.-.    ,    --..--    -    -....-
       .    .-.-.-   /    -..-.    :    ---...    ;    -.-.-.
       =    -...-    ?    ..--..   _    ..--.-    @    .--.-.

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

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

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

       Ch   Prosig      Ch   Prosig   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)