"Vito" wrote
"SB" wrote

I think there should be a qualification for using code....

Me too, just not *Morse* code. Unlike Morse, tap code can be learned
instantly and doesn't need "dashes" or "dahs" (Try sending Morse with a
hammer). Simply arrange the alphabet in a 5 by 5 matrix omitting "K". "A"
is 1-1, "B" is 1-2 (tap pause tap tap) ... "L" is 3-1, and so on. Send "C"
for "K". Simply write the numbers to copy tap code then decode using your
matrix. Now you too know tap code. It takes mucho longer to learn Morse.


I've seen independence day....and how morse saved the day!!

You sure that wasn't Tap Code? That's what all the trapped miners,
submariners, etc, used in the other "B" movies.

Now here you are adrift with a radio, but the microphone is busted. It'll
key the transmitter but not modulate it. Would you send Morse and hope
somebody out there knows it, or send tap code tht everybody understands?


Vito, I'm sure creative imaginations could find more reasons for code, but
they fit movie scenarios better than realistic needs for communication
today. I don't see today's offshore cruiser or even occassional venturer
being without an EPIRB, DSC-capable vhf, DSC-capable SSB, satcom, cellphone,
etc. Of course a good floatplan is filed with a responsible person and the
missing of more than one check-in would initiate a trackline SAR.. Morse or
"tap" are just not in the picture. Leave the code to hollywood, and the
printed card that could be kept in a ditch bag and the nav/comm station, so
nobody ever has to memorize it.

Jack Painter
Virginia Beach, Va