The silences in Morse code matter as much as the tones. Short gaps separate parts of a letter; longer gaps separate letters and words. CipherSteps changes the tones and gaps together using standard timing ratios. Separate Farnsworth spacing is not available.
One dot is one timing unit
| Part | Units | At 20 WPM |
|---|---|---|
| Dot | 1 | 60 ms |
| Dash | 3 | 180 ms |
| Gap inside one letter | 1 | 60 ms |
| Gap between letters | 3 | 180 ms |
| Gap between words | 7 | 420 ms |
The dot, dash, and gap ratios follow ITU-R M.1677-1. Speed uses the 50-unit PARIS convention: one unit lasts 1200 ÷ WPM milliseconds. At 20 WPM, that is 60 ms. The convention sets a common speed reference; it does not mean that every five-letter word takes the same time.
Follow SOS from start to finish
SOS as three letters
SOS20 WPM; 600 Hz; no trailing gap... --- ...
| Segment | Units | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| S | 5 | Three dots and two internal gaps |
| Letter gap | 3 | One complete inter-letter gap |
| O | 11 | Three dashes and two internal gaps |
| Letter gap | 3 | One complete inter-letter gap |
| S | 5 | Three dots and two internal gaps |
| Total | 27 | 1620 ms at 20 WPM |
The gap between letters is three units altogether, not a one-unit gap followed by three more. A word gap is seven units in total. This example ends on the last tone, with no trailing gap. It treats S, O, and S as separate letters rather than a continuous prosign.
Listen at your own pace
- Choose a speed from 5 to 40 WPM and a tone from 400 to 1000 Hz.
- Set a comfortable volume and press Play. The browser starts sound after you press the button.
- Press Stop to end playback immediately. Clearing the message, leaving the page, or switching it into the background also stops it.
- If there is no sound, check your device volume and audio output, then try a short message again.
Try another speed
At 10 WPM, how long are one dot and the same separate-letter SOS sequence?