Remarkable Tablet as a ship’s logbook

[Daydream believer]

I am not sure that when we fished out the Seafix in the '60s and 70s we deluded ourselves that we were actually "doing" morse code. All that was required was to look up the station you wanted to use in ALRS or elsewhere, look up the Ident and listen for that pattern. Simply listening for and identifying a sonic pattern that happened to be from the morse alphabet is pretty trivial. How many of us at that time could actually listen to and transcribe an intercepted morse transmission or indeed make such a transmission in the first place? I met very few other than those who were communication specialists. Making a record by writing something down that could be used by you or another person at some point in the future does, in my view, more closely fit the bill of "everyday life".

My wife's uncle Claude was a radio ham. Call sign George,2,Dog,Peter,Queen. He was assigned to Blechley in WW11 to pick up morse transmissions from UK spies. He was given various ones & could tell if any of his spies were compromised by the change in pattern of morse signal.
Some years after the war he was reading about the work done at Blechley & it stated that only 9 people could read & send 2 morse transmissions sent over each other at the same time. He said. "Hang on. I did that", but was never told that he was only 1 of 9. He was chairman of the local club & his garden was full of aerials. He had 1 small room with equipment on every wall. He had contacts all over the world.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

I am pleased to say my grandchildren are taught to write at school so thankfully the government dont think the way you do.
More code on the other hand , never really has had a use in everyday life.

Surprisingly, Morse Code IS still in everyday use; the "Localisor", the unidirectional radio beam which guides aircraft down the flightpath when landing, transmits the airport's three letter identifying code e.g DUB at Dublin or LHR at Heathrow.

 

[FWB]

Surprisingly, Morse Code IS still in everyday use; the "Localisor", the unidirectional radio beam which guides aircraft down the flightpath when landing, transmits the airport's three letter identifying code e.g DUB at Dublin or LHR at Heathrow.

I learnt to fly at Hamble in the early 70’s. The beacon at Fawley is indelibly printed on my mind ..-. .- .- -

 

[[70521]]

I still prefer a pen and paper, BUT transfer some of the data to an electronic log book, add pictures and other stuff to share my travels with others online.

 

[Momac]

Surprisingly, Morse Code IS still in everyday use; the "Localisor", the unidirectional radio beam which guides aircraft down the flightpath when landing, transmits the airport's three letter identifying code e.g DUB at Dublin or LHR at Heathrow.

I don't doubt it
but the comparison made earlier with handwriting is hardly appropriate .

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

I don't doubt it
but the comparison made earlier with handwriting is hardly appropriate .

You said;" Morse Code ...never really has had a use in everyday life" I was countering that claim with a statement that it incontrovertibly is. I made no reference to handwriting.

 

[lustyd]

Landing a plane at Heathrow is hardly every day life. I very much doubt many of the pilots know morse either, they are probably also pattern matching as said earlier, although in reality they probably use an automated system anyway

 

[Daydream believer]

Landing a plane at Heathrow is hardly every day life. I very much doubt many of the pilots know morse either, they are probably also pattern matching as said earlier, although in reality they probably use an automated system anyway

Try including the major airstrips all over the world, rather than just one then

 

[Momac]

You said;" Morse Code ...never really has had a use in everyday life" I was countering that claim with a statement that it incontrovertibly is. I made no reference to handwriting.

There is always someone who is an exception and you seem to fall into that category

Earlier in this thread someone wrote


I challenge the association of handwriting and morse code in the above sentence.
I believe handwriting is an important skill bur Rupert does not

I would say the public in general have not ever needed to use morse code but all of them who are alive today in the UK have used handwriting (with only few exceptions ).

 

[Nauti Fox]

Try including the major airstrips all over the world, rather than just one then

And the VOR's when I was flying, they all had a morse ident. I used to pattern them out on a knee pad.

 

[Nauti Fox]

Surprisingly, Morse Code IS still in everyday use; the "Localisor", the unidirectional radio beam which guides aircraft down the flightpath when landing, transmits the airport's three letter identifying code e.g DUB at Dublin or LHR at Heathrow.

Sorry to be a bit of a pedant but not quite right, there are four runways at Heathrow, all use different idents, none of them LHR. (EGLL)

 

[doug748]

Landing a plane at Heathrow is hardly every day life. I very much doubt many of the pilots know morse either, they are probably also pattern matching as said earlier, although in reality they probably use an automated system anyway

Yes, It is automatic now a flashes the pilot the decoded letters, also understand it is being phased out not sure why.

However, it's the only function of RDF that ever seemed to be used successfully on a small boat (not by me). Places like Guernsy, Plymouth etc you could home in on the signal (single position line) rather than trying to obtain a fix.

 

[Daydream believer]

Yes, It is automatic now a flashes the pilot the decoded letters, also understand it is being phased out not sure why.

However, it's the only function of RDF that ever seemed to be used successfully on a small boat (not by me). Places like Guernsy, Plymouth etc you could home in on the signal (single position line) rather than trying to obtain a fix.

If you are suggesting that one would not obtain a fix using RDF on a small boat then I would tend to disagree. There was over a dozen transmitting stations in the Thames estuary & surrounding area that were available to use to get a fix. I found it essential for finding places such as the Longsand Head at night. The LSH buoy was not always as visible as one might like. If it was a bit misty the Galloper & Kentish Knock LVs were not always where one expected them & not always visible when coming back from Ostend. I found my DF set invaluable. I still have it, but it has not been used for years. ?

 

[FWB]

Morse examples

 

[ylop]

Some obviously very smart people who know a lot about morse who seem to nothing about reading in context. “Everyday life” in the context it was used clearly does not mean “the used every day by specialists”. The pedantry is fun so don’t stop on my account - just be aware that most people are laughing at you rather than in awe of your wisdom!

 

[Daydream believer]

The pedantry is fun so don’t stop on my account - just be aware that most people are laughing at you rather than in awe of your wisdom!

Who ascertained that they are laughing -- You ?

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Sorry to be a bit of a pedant but not quite right, there are four runways at Heathrow, all use different idents, none of them LHR. (EGLL)

Well, I live quite close to the flightpath of Dublin Airport's Runway 10/28, now 10R/28L, and some time ago I tuned my airband radio to a frequency continually transmitting in Morse Code and discovered that it was transmitting "dash dot dot, dot dot dash, dash dot dot dot", which signify DUB, the letters that appear on my luggage tag when I fly home, so I logically assumed that the letters applying to my luggage tag when flying to Heathrow would also be the letters localising the operational runway there at the time of my arrival. I have since discovered that "DUB" is only one of eleven different signals transmitted in Morse, and four in non- Morse combinations of dots and dashes, by various components of the Instrument Landing System.
To increase the pedantry count, I should add that LHR has only two runways, 27L/09R and 27R/09L.

 

[Nauti Fox]

Well, I live quite close to the flightpath of Dublin Airport's Runway 10/28, now 10R/28L, and some time ago I tuned my airband radio to a frequency continually transmitting in Morse Code and discovered that it was transmitting "dash dot dot, dot dot dash, dash dot dot dot", which signify DUB, the letters that appear on my luggage tag when I fly home, so I logically assumed that the letters applying to my luggage tag when flying to Heathrow would also be the letters localising the operational runway there at the time of my arrival. I have since discovered that "DUB" is only one of eleven different signals transmitted in Morse, and four in non- Morse combinations of dots and dashes, by various components of the Instrument Landing System.
To increase the pedantry count, I should add that LHR has only two runways, 27L/09R and 27R/09L.

So, that counts as four runways.... Meaning four different idents, but perhaps I'm getting too pedantic and can see your point of view.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

So, that counts as four runways.... Meaning four different idents, but perhaps I'm getting too pedantic and can see your point of view.

Yes, but only two can be used simultaneously, one for landings, one for takeoffs depending on wind direction. There are physically only two strips of concrete.

 

[FWB]

AA /RR BB/LL