.--. --- .--. POP

Morse code, how many of us have actually used it? The code was used extensively during the expansion of America, where the railway tracks went the telegraph poles followed. The code kept shipping, aircraft and armies in touch with their bases during wartime, and of course it was used by the Telegram Service of the Post Office, the first being sent in 1845. It was instrumental in sending a message across the Atlantic that enabled Canadian and British Police to detain the murderer Dr Crippen when he arrived by ship in the St Lawrence seaway . It is still used in aviation to identify navigation aids, but is also backed up by voice transmissions on some aids.

The morse in the title of this Blip is POP, my Grandfather. He commenced work as a Telegram boy at the O'Connell St Post Office in the heart of Dublin, site of the Easter rising; by hard work he finally retired as a senior member of the staff. This is his Morse Key. Manufactured by Lucas it was connected to the main telegraph via the two terminals at the very front of the image. Behind the main bar are some sockets into which were plugged light bulbs, which indicated when the set was operational. It is known that most operators can tell another users signature morse 'style,' this may seem odd but it occurs because the key stroke may be adjusted by the spring and knurled nut at the left, the key bar is then on a fulcrum just to the right of the spring screw. The morse dots and dashes are created by electrical contact between the small domed housing beneath the main key and the contact which is attached to the brass strip leading to the front right. The morse 'button' is made of bakelite, an early plastic, presumably to prevent electrical shock or interference. The screw on the right prevents the whole thing falling apart.

During the summer of 1979 I went to Oxford Air Training school to sit my commercial pilot's licence exams; military pilots do not receive a civilian licence. One of the radio exams was Morse. The room was mostly filled by Middle Eastern students who were less than worried about passing. The examiner had only just started the session when I raised my hand and asked him to stop the test. I then advised the Iraqi sitting across the aisle from me that if he continued tapping his foot on the floor I would do horrible things with a pair of compasses. Tolerant moi? Mais non.

It is amazing how familiar codes used for years remain in the darker recesses of the mind. Aberdeen for example, .- -.. -. ADN.