In Morse code, prosigns or procedural signals are dot/dash sequences that have a special meaning in a transmission: they are a form of control character. They are normally written as if they were composed of one, two or three ordinary alphabetic characters but they are sent "run together", omitting the normal inter-character spaces that would occur if they were being sent as normal text. These ligatures are properly represented in print by a ligating bar or overline above the letters, indicating that they are linked and sent as one contiguous character.
| Sign | Code | Meaning | Comment | Mnemonic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AR | ·-·-· |
Stop (end of message) | Often written + | "All Received" |
| AS | ·-··· |
Wait (for 10 seconds) | Often written &. Respond with C (yes). AS2 means wait 2 min, AS5 5 min, etc. For pauses of 10 min or longer, use QRX (see Q code) | wait "A Sec" or AmperSand |
| BK | -···-·- |
BreaK | Often indicates "BacK-to-you". Used for fast exchange between two stations. | |
| BT | -···- |
Separator within message | Often written =. In practice, indistinguishable from TV, and sometimes written thus | |
| CL | -·-··-·· |
Going off the air | "CLear" or "CLosing down" | |
| CT | -·-·- |
Start (beginning of message) | In practice, indistinguishable from KA, and sometimes written thus. | "Commence Transmission" |
| DO | -··--- |
Shift to wabun code | ||
| K | -·- |
"go" or "over" - another station is invited to reply | "oK" (as in, "'K, go ahead") or "STANding BY" as per rhythm | |
| KN | -·--· |
Invitation to a specific named station to transmit | 'K' means "go" or "over;" KN is short for "go oNly" and signifies that only the called station should reply. | "oK, Named-station" |
| SK | ···-·- |
End (end of contact) | In practice, indistinguishable from VA, and sometimes written thus | "Silent Key" |
| SN | ···-· |
Understood | In practice, indistinguishable from VE, and sometimes written thus | "Sho' 'Nuff" |
| SOS | ···---··· |
Serious distress message and request for urgent assistance () | Not to be used unless there is imminent danger to life or destruction of property. See SOS | "Save Our Souls" |
Although these are not really prosigns, an error may be indicated by some series of Es:
······· |
Error, correct word follows (six or more dits in a row) |
· · · |
Error (easily identifiable by "broken" rhythm) |
K, KN, and SK are also commonly used in text modes such as RTTY and PSK31. Notably, SK ("stop keying") is also used by TTY/TDD users, though "GA" ("Go Ahead") is typed rather than "KN".
Having sensible and efficient conversations in Morse code involves more than simply knowing the alphabet. To make communication efficient, there are many internationally agreed patterns of communication.
A sample CW conversation between station 1 (A1AA) and station 2 (A2BB) might go roughly like this:[1]
A1AA: CQ CQ CQ DE A1AA A1AA AR
A2BB: A1AA DE A2BB A2BB KN
A1AA: A2BB DE A1AA = GA DR OM UR RST 599 HR = QTH TIMBUKTU = OP IS JOHN = HW? A2BB DE A1AA KN
A2BB: A1AA DE A2BB = TNX FB RPRT DR OM JOHN UR 558 = QTH HIMALAYA = NAME IS YETI AR A1AA DE A2BB K
A1AA: A2BB DE A1AA = OK TNX QSO DR YETI = 73 ES HPE CUAGN A2BB DE A1AA K
A2BB: A1AA DE A2BB = R TU CUAGN 73 A1AA DE A2BB SK
A1AA: E E
In practice, A1AA and A2BB would be conventional amateur callsigns uniquely identifying each of the parties to the contact.
With heavy use of the Q code, prosigns and Morse Code Abbreviations, surprisingly meaningful conversations can be had with relatively short transmissions, rather like "TXT speak" using SMS on mobile phones. Note that very few full English words have been used in the conversation ("is" and "name"), with most words and phrases abbreviated. S1 and S2 might not even speak the same native language, merely learning to translate their native tongue into the correct Morse abbreviations.
Of course, real rag-chewing (lengthy conversations) cannot be done without a common language, a lingua Franca. On the worldwide amateur bands this is most often English but long Morse contacts may occasionally be heard in French, German, Spanish, Russian etc. Likewise, common words in these languages have their own abbreviations, such as "MCI" for "merci", "AWDH" for "auf Wiederhören" and "DSW" for "do svidaniya". It is considered courteous to use such simple non-English abbreviations when completing a contact with a non-English speaker.
Contesters often use an even shorter, stylized format for their contacts. Their purpose is to complete as many contacts as possible in a limited time (e.g. at a rate of 100–200 contacts per hour). They typically omit superfluous procedural signals and repeats unless the band is noisy and/or the other party seems likely to have trouble copying correctly. Accuracy is particularly important, especially for callsigns, to avoid points being deducted during the scoring process so good Morse operators regulate their style according to conditions and the other party (e.g. matching their speed).
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