The other day I quipped that, as I acquire the use of Morse Code, I was augmenting my study by watching episodes of Inspector Morse. One person caught was I was talking about. Apart from the name, the show’s musical theme is founded on Morse Code for the name “M-O-R-S-E”. Furthermore, the show’s composer at times puts clues for the episode into the music using Morse Code, including at times the name of the perp.
A reader alerted me to a story that the Boy Scouts now have a language interpreter “strip” for Morse Code.
A blast from the past—in code
4 May 2012Get ready to dot-dot your I’s and dash your T’s.
Today, the Boy Scouts of America released the Morse Code Interpreter Strip, an official patch for Scouts and Scouters who can demonstrate their ability to “speak” this special language.
Morse Code joins languages like Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Sign Language, and several others as interpreter strips available for wear on Scout uniforms (above the right pocket). [I think there is also one in Klingon.]
To get a typical interpreter strip, you must carry on a five-minute conversation, translate a two-minute speech, write a letter in the language, and translate 200 words from the written word.
But Morse Code, a vital communications tool during World War II, doesn’t really work with those requirements. So Jim Wilson and the BSA team crafted new ones:
Morse Code Interpreter Strip requirements
Carry on a five-minute conversation in Morse Code at a speed of at least five words per minute.
The patch design spells the message M-O-R-S-E
Copy correctly a two-minute message sent in Morse Code at a minimum of five words per minute. Copying means writing the message down as it is received.
Send a 25-word written document in Morse Code at a minimum of five words per minute.
If you want to hear the Inspector Morse theme – poignant and suited to the tragic protagonist – try this!
Anyway… catch up with the hams HERE.
