Help in morse code
Four letters and 13 marks. Press Play to hear it and see it blink. In an emergency, send SOS instead: it is shorter, and it is the distress signal.
.... . .-.. .--.
The flashlight needs camera access. Nothing is recorded or sent.
How to blink Help with a flashlight
Count a steady beat. A dit (the short signal) is one count of light, and a dah (the long one) is three. Stay dark for one count between flashes and three counts between letters.
- H: four short flashes.
- E: one short flash.
- L: one short, one long, two short.
- P: one short, two long, one short.
- Stay dark for seven counts, then start again from the first letter.
Download Help in morse code
The pattern as a picture, each letter named under its marks, for a card, a craft project or a tattoo sketch. The PNG is ready to print or share; the SVG scales to any size.
Help as a morse code bracelet
Each dit is a round bead and each dah a tube three times as long, with a small spacer between letters. For a 7 in bracelet in 3 mm beads: 10 dit beads, 3 dah tubes, 3 spacers and 38 plain beads.
How help is put together
H is four dits and E a single dit. L is a dit, a dah and two dits, and P is a dit, two dahs and a dit. That adds up to 13 marks, 10 of them dits.
At 10 words per minute (WPM), the speed the player starts at, help takes 37 units, about 4.4 seconds.
Why SOS, not help
SOS is sent as one signal of nine marks with no letter gaps, so it takes 23 units: about 2.8 seconds at 10 WPM. Help takes 37 units, 60 percent longer, and it has no special meaning on the air.
SOS does. The International Radiotelegraph Conference in Berlin gave the SOS distress signal priority in 1906, and it was the distress call ships sent for most of the century that followed. If you need to be understood, send SOS.
Questions
What is help in morse code?
Four dits for H, one dit for E, a dit, a dah and two dits for L, and a dit, two dahs and a dit for P. That's 13 marks, and the Copy morse button above copies it as text.
How do you blink help in morse code?
Follow the steps above, one letter at a time, with one count of dark between flashes and three between letters. Press Play first to watch the lamp keep the rhythm.
How do you tap help in morse code?
Tap one count for a dit and hold three for a dah, with one count of stillness between marks and three between letters. Tapping morse code explains how to keep the timing.
Is SOS the same as help in morse code?
No. SOS is a distress signal of its own, three dits, three dahs and three dits sent with no gap between the letters, and it doesn't stand for any words. SOS in morse code shows how to send it.
More morse tools
- Morse code translator
Type any text to hear it in morse, or paste morse to read it.
- Printable morse code chart
Every letter and number drawn to scale, for US Letter and A4.
- Morse code numbers
0 to 9, and the pattern that makes them quick to learn.
More phrases in morse code
- Help me in morse code
Six letters in two words, 16 marks in all.
- Hi in morse code
Six dits and nothing else, four for H and two for I.
- I love you in morse code
Eight letters in three words, 24 marks in all.
- I miss you in morse code
Eight letters in three words, 22 marks in all.
- Love in morse code
Four letters and 12 marks, with three dahs in the middle.
Sources
- Codes and timing follow Recommendation ITU-R M.1677-1 (10/2009), International Morse code (International Telecommunication Union, 2009).
- International Radiotelegraph Conference (Berlin, 1906) (International Telecommunication Union).
- Global Maritime Distress and Safety System: introduction and history (International Maritime Organization).