The mistake about Morse
Before the satellite communication vanished our profession from the seas, we used for several decennia the Morse key and transmitted or received our messages by Morse signals. What kind of error we have made in all these years, because Mr. Morse has invented a total different thing.
The desire, to forward messages has always been the dream of mankind through all eras. Whether by beat signals, smoke signals or other visible signals, it was really difficult to transmit important telegrams accurately, promptly and preferably secret.
Not until the invention of the Volta column, electricity could be stored and thus being available at any desired location.
Shortly thereafter professor of anatomy Sömmering developed the first telegraph device, which via a cable with 27 cores (for each letter one core) was connected to the receiver.
When putting an electric tension on two pens (letters) at the transmitting side, the corresponding pen at the receiving end –all pens were placed in a glass basin, filled with water- began to gas.
It was necessary to send always two characters at once (i.e. C and H), for the electric current of the Volta column flowed from the letter C of the transmitter to the gold-pen of the letter C at the receiving side back via the gold-pen H at the transmitting side. In that way only there was a closed circuit that thus disintegrated through the water and showed at the negative character C a bigger gasification than at the positive character H, since hydrogen comes free at the negative pole.
When the Danish pharmacist and physicist, Örstedt, discovered the influence of a wire -wherein an electric current runs- on a magnetic needle, shortly after the mathematician Gauss and his colleague Weber developed the first needle telegraph. In this telegraph, magnetic needles were deflected from their North-South direction by electrical currents, running through bobbins and used for the transfer of characters. The idea brought the inventor of many telegraph systems, Charles Wheatstone, to his five-needle and later on to the one-needle telegraph. In spite of the invention by the optician, Steinheil, the earth to use as leader, this telegraph systems required several cables between the transmitter and the receiver. With the development of electromagnets, the most curious telegraphs were processed, among others also by the artillery lieutenant Siemens and his engineer Halske.
It has been the fate of telegraphy till the middle of the nineteenth century, that it was mostly promoted by men, that –technically- nothing had to do, neither with transmitting messages nor teaching electricity.
Samuel Finley Morse, the father of the modern telewriting art, was an American history and art painter. He has always been interested in physical matters and has participated in lectures about electricity in New York. During the voyage from Le Havre to New York the ship's society discussed the new invention of the recent telegraphy. Morse kept these discussions in mind and soon after his return; he started to create an electrical telegraph device.
What was closer than to use an easel as a receiver? A large heavy horseshoe-shaped electromagnet was horizontally attached. Trough the around wound wires, connected to both distant wires, flew an electric current, when at the transmitting side a contact was closed and the current disappeared when the contact was opened.
We encounter for the first time a digital data transfer, that recognizes just an on or off, yes or no as basis and uses one wire only (the return is the earth). Opposite the armature is a writing lever attached, that carries a pencil that moves over a tape of paper, moved by clockwork.
While the tape runs over a movable roll and the writing lever is in rest position, the pencil draws a line on the tape. The moment the writing lever is attracted by the magnet, a slanted slash arises, that the line moves to the edge until the magnet does not receive an electric current. Morse arranged from the angles, built up by the slanted slashes, the first alphabet, which had not any relation to the present Morse alphabet (image 44).
Every angle point indicated a digit. Digit 1 was shown, when, at distance, the electric circuit was closed for a short time -as long as the writing lever needed to get from its rest position to the magnet- and immediately disconnected again. Digit 2 arose by two closings of the electric circuit. With the help of a dictionary (by that time a kind of signal book), in which different groups of digits had specific meanings, words and sentences could be sending.
A special configuration had zero. To indicate that digit, the electric circuit was closed for a longer while, than shortly interrupted and again closed for a longer while.
For a correct transmission, the angle signs had to be given with great regularity. It became clear, that operating the electric circuit by hand did not achieve the required quality. Therefore Morse created a mechanical key (image 45). Same as done in lead type setting, into -a by clock work from right to left moving- rail, letters and metal pieces with jags were put, scanned by a wooden lever and equivalent to the jags and deepenings the electrical circuit was closed and opened. The separation, between the numbers of angle points was created by a dead current pause.
With this configuration the Morse device, with its weight of 184 pound and special in view of the key, did not posses the simplicity that would procure to Morse such an extended spread.
However the writing got a different appearance. Still the zigzag lines stayed, but the meaning of the digits of the single signs that first needed a dictionary for translation had vanished. Instead the Morse device wrote directly characters that out of points and angle points, as well as short and long signs were assembled. At the upper side of the tape appeared the angle points as dots and dashes side by side.
Although Morse already by that time had built a key for the electric circuit, this key was however at first inappropriate, because the sign, given by this key were not regular enough and thus not often decodable. Instead of, Morse developed a particular key, that –much later- was rediscovered.
It consisted of an isolated plate, on which have been brought many longer and shorter strips of copper, however among each other leading to the one end of the distant wire. When striking horizontally with a metal pen -connected to the other end of the distant wire- onto a strip, trough the distant wire flew an electric current, corresponding to the length of the copper strip. In this way very accurate Morse signs could be given, without in the same time learning the alphabet by heart.
Just this configuration had revived the Morse contact table during World War I. The observers in the aeroplanes were able to send their radiotelegraphic observations, without mastering the Morse alphabet.
The new dot-dash writing brought finally the crucial turning point. One day Morse realized that the dots and dashes could be read, when the zigzag lines were left out. He changed the movement of the writing lever, thus that the side wards movements were abandoned and the lever only could move upwards and downwards. With that adjustment of the Morse device in principle all was achieved, what we nowadays possess.
In this configuration the Morse telegraph rapidly conquered the United States and also soon thereafter Europe. In England and France no success was achieved, because in these countries the pointer telegraph was tested and answered to the requirements of that time.
In Germany the Morse telegraph encountered many friends. The first Morse telegraph connection originated of 1848 between Hamburg and Cuxhaven. Their first inspector, Gerke, has contributed a great deal to the perfection of the equipment. He is –as a fact- the real father of the Morse alphabet.
The order of the signs that came from the USA has been completely simplified. There existed dashes of different length or ambiguous combinations (see character C).
Gerke cleared that and composed the alphabet consisting of two elements only: a short and a longer dash, because a standard dot was not possible with the Morse device. For the short dash however, the designation dot has been maintained.
Gerke installed the following principles:
Gerke provided furthermore, that the most frequently occurring characters obtained the simplest configuration. Thus arose for e one dot, for t one dash and for i two dots. No character consisted of more than four elements. The digits all consist clearly of five elements. Not until now an improved electric circuit switch –a key- was applied.
For a long time every telegram had to be recorded at the border and from there once more forwarded to its destination. In 1865 the Gerke's alphabet was accepted by the International Telegraph Society. In the USA however, they held on to the old method.
The dot-dash writing replaced rapidly the other telegraph types as Winker and Heliographer. Morse was lucky. He was able to take part till old age of the triumphal march of his invention.
For years, the paper tape writer was used as a news medium, until the telegraph officials noticed, that they could already hear the text from the tick of the relay and so immediately could write down the plain text.
Practical as the techniques necessarily is, it made the gained experience -monitoring the writer- usable and created a –exclusive for sounding- equipped device, that gave extremely sharp sounds.
With the sounder 1200 words per hour could be transmitted, while with the colour writer they did not achieve over 700 words in the same time. Not until now the for us so familiar sounding key was built, that makes it possible for faster working with then the electric circuit key of the colour writer
From: Artur Fürst: "Das Weltreich der Technik", Publishing House Uhlstein, Berlin, 1923
DH4PB Sylvester Föcking, 27th October 2003
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