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The article provides the entire Morse Code alphabet table, but neglects to mention 'SOS' the simplest and most important bit of Morse anyone should know. I was

The article provides the entire Morse Code alphabet table, but neglects to mention 'SOS' the simplest and most important bit of Morse anyone should know. I was surprised last night to learn my wife doesn't know how to signal SOS in Morse. Granted I was a boy scout for a few years, but I thought this was something everyone was taught. It's a sham that is apparently not the case.

deleted 8y ago
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vectorEQ 8y ago
it totally depends on where you are from if that is in any way relevant. for example, where i am from, i wouln't expect anyone to know it. so doing SOS in morse, would just get some frowns at best. and i couldn't conceive of a situation apart from total catastrophic civilisation meltdown where it would be needed. literally. and most cases which could occur to make that happen will render your electronics etc. useless so good luck sending it out... if you're on a boat all day with a ham radio or such devices, sure it's useful to know. but in a big city or urban area with no general access to such devices? are you going to write dashes and dots on the wall??? not saying that it's useless to know. i learnt a lot of these things from my parents, and i would teach my children if i had any, but i can totally relate to people not caring about it in my area and finding it some niche interest for 'nerds' or so.
- carapace 8y ago
  A building collapses, you're trapped in the rubble, you have just enough range of motion and strength to move your hand, and the dust has clogged your throat so you can barely breath, let alone yell to rescuers. How can you let people know you're there and alive? Tap out SOS. Even if the people searching the rubble don't know SOS, they will still recognize that it's not a natural noise.
  - bryondowd 8y ago
    To play devil's advocate, any unnatural pattern would suffice. You could tap out 'shave and a haircut, two bits' and probably more people would recognize it. Bonus, you could tap the first part, and many people would probably think to tap the ending back to you.

deleted 8y ago

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vectorEQ 8y ago

it totally depends on where you are from if that is in any way relevant. for example, where i am from, i wouln't expect anyone to know it. so doing SOS in morse, would just get some frowns at best. and i couldn't conceive of a situation apart from total catastrophic civilisation meltdown where it would be needed. literally. and most cases which could occur to make that happen will render your electronics etc. useless so good luck sending it out... if you're on a boat all day with a ham radio or such devices, sure it's useful to know. but in a big city or urban area with no general access to such devices? are you going to write dashes and dots on the wall??? not saying that it's useless to know. i learnt a lot of these things from my parents, and i would teach my children if i had any, but i can totally relate to people not caring about it in my area and finding it some niche interest for 'nerds' or so.

carapace 8y ago
A building collapses, you're trapped in the rubble, you have just enough range of motion and strength to move your hand, and the dust has clogged your throat so you can barely breath, let alone yell to rescuers. How can you let people know you're there and alive? Tap out SOS. Even if the people searching the rubble don't know SOS, they will still recognize that it's not a natural noise.
- bryondowd 8y ago
  To play devil's advocate, any unnatural pattern would suffice. You could tap out 'shave and a haircut, two bits' and probably more people would recognize it. Bonus, you could tap the first part, and many people would probably think to tap the ending back to you.