Morse Codes trumps SMS in head to head combat

Okay, the world title for fastest text messaging is still raging in the streets. The victor in the most recent contest was a bit of a dark horse — 93-year-old telegraph operator Gordon Hill delivered a resounding whoopin’ to his rival, 13-year-old Brittany Devlin, using Morse Code. Of course, Mr. Hill does have nigh on 80 years of practice under his belt, which was enough to help him triumph even despite Brittany’s liberal use of texting slang (Mr. Hill transmitted the chosen phrase verbatim). The showdown was sponsored by the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia, and the rivals had to transmit the following message: “Hey, girlfriend, you can text all your best pals to tell them where you are going and what you are wearing.”

http://engadget.com/entry/1234000463042528/

 

I dug back thru the links & heres the original article. ..JW..

http://www.160characters.org/news.php?action=view&nid=1541

Submitted by Mike Grenville on Thu, 05 May 2005 23:01

It seems that morse code is still faster at sending text messages than using txt speak. Even when the morse code sender is 93 years old and the SMS challengers were teenagers!

According to The Times , an Australian museum staged a contest that pitted the oldest type of electronic text messages with the newest.

morse code Devised by Samuel Morse in 1832, the simple combination of dots and dashes was the mainstay of maritime communication up until 1997.

Not only was the technology a battle of ages, but so were the contestants. Tapping out the winning morse code message was 93-year-old telegraph operator Gordon Hill, who learnt to use the technique in 1927 when he joined the Australian Post Office.

He easily defeated his 13-year-old rival, Brittany Devlin, who was armed with a mobile phone and a rich vocabulary of text message shorthand. Mr Hill, whose messages were transcribed by another telegraph veteran, Jack Gibson, 82, then repeated the feat against three other children and teenagers with mobile phones.

In the competition, at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Mr Hill and his rivals were asked to transmit a line selected at random from an advertisement in a teenage magazine.

It read: “Hey, girlfriend, you can text all your best pals to tell them where you are going and what you are wearing.”

While the telegraphist tapped out the line in full, to be deciphered by Mr Gibson, Miss Devlin employed text slang to save time. She keyed: “hey gf u can txt ur best pals 2 tel them wot u r doing, where ur going and wot u r wearing.”

Just 90 seconds after Mr Hill began transmitting, Mr Gibson announced that he had the message received and written down correctly. It took another 18 seconds for Miss Devlin’s message to reach the mobile phone belonging to her friend. Mr Hill said that he was impressed by modern technology, even though his clunky telegraph machine emerged on top in three further contests.

Want to brush up your Morse Code skills? This site claims to be able to teach you in just a minute!: www.learnmorsecode.com

 

I have heard people referring to their radio as a:

1. Transmitter
2. Rig
3. Rice box
4. Buckets of bolts
5. Boat anchor

I guess that I will have to add "clunky telegraph machine" to the list!!


Keep on a clunking,


Tom kcØw

 

How fast was Mr. Hill sending the code at? I didn't see where the article mentioned that.


Best of Luck and 73!

Eric Stewart
KD7ATV

 

I counted up the characters, using straight count, not the way they count in a Morse test and divided by 1.5 minutes [90 seconds] which came out to 77.33 wpm.

Heck, I can't even type that fast!!!!

Jim Tuggle

 

Unless it's been broken, the world speed record for copying morse is supposed to be still held by Theodore McElroy, who copied a message at the speed of 75.2 WPM on July 2, 1939.

If the guy at the other end of this contest copied it at 77.33, that would be a new record.

 

Huh? 21 words in 90 seconds is roughly 14wpm, plus punctuation. Isn't it?

 

Testing count of 90 characters (1 for letters, 2 for punctuation) = 1 cps

assuming 5 characters/word = 90 chars/5 = 18 words
18 words / 1.5 minutes = 12 wpm

 

And to think many countries have either gotten rid of the requirement, or are considering it.

I may not be big on morse, but it still holds a place in communication. Based on reading this, I think we know what the ultimate answer is.

 

Counting characters, then dividing by minutes, gives you characters per minute, not words per minute.

Using the nominal 5 characters per word, 77.33 cpm gives just over 15 wpm. This is about the same as what the others have calculated.

 

And was it Farnsworth code speed?

 

I LIKE IT!!! I REALLY LIKE IT!!

 

Hi guys,

Have you ever sent a text message on a mobile (cell) phone? It's rather like that left foot contest when you get down to it, one finger on a keyboard can't come close to a straight key let alone a bug. I know one ham who has never used anything but a plain old Speedex and sends at an average speed of 18WPM, pretty much the same as everyone else's average the type of key not withstanding. Naturally that "everyone else" is proficient in Morse and is a regular CW op.

Just more proof that your fears about the CW exam being dropped are unfounded. It will remain a viable mode as always and has always been an option as any other, never has anyone been forced to use it. Freedom of choice? YOU BETCHA!

BTW, I love the bit about the OB beating those smug kids with their lightning fast video game reflexes, sometimes newer ain't so better there sonny, ARRRR! -O)

 

I don't follow your logic.  How does this one demonstration show that no government radio regulatory agency will end IMC testing?  All it shows is that a very experienced CW op can send text faster than a relatively inexperienced T9 op.  Especially since the T9 system for sending text by a phone was never intended to be fast, just convenient since the letters on the keypad already existed from a previous use.

The cell phone has other advantages over a CW ham radio.  The cell phone is smaller, the Morse code key is probably larger than the cell phone  itself and you still don't have the transmitter.  The cell phone has a store and forward capability.  While you could make a store and forward capable CW system it would be just as complex as a voice or T9 text system and lose on speed compared to voice.  Text messaging or voice on a cell phone can be done on a bumpy train or car ride more easily than Morse code.  Sending voice or text does not depend on the recipient knowing Morse code.  Those are just a few reasons from the top of my head and most relate to voice ham radio just as much to cell phones.

This text sending race was a demonstration of old vs. new, a way to show that our ancestors were not stupid and that what we have today is built upon and derived from what was done 100 years ago.  Showing this to a teen is not likely to convince them that they should learn Morse code, it is more likely to show that they need to practice their skills on the T9 pad or think of a better keyboard for the cell phone.

IMC is a great skill to have and CW will remain a viable mode however the times where both are needed to communicate are shrinking all the time.  There is much more to radio communication than Morse code.  People are free to use it, or not.  I believe that freedom to choose to use IMC/CW will remain I don't think the testing requirement will remain for much longer.

 

Translation: "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa gsnork waaaaaaaaaa"!

(I am paraphrasing of course).

Translation: "Oh puleeeeeeeeeeeze do away with the code, FCC, puleeeeeze!"

(Paraphrasing again, of course).