While Morse Code is no longer part of military radio communications, apparently the Navy is still using it for ship-to-ship communications using signal lamps. According to a fascinating article on Wikipedia, navies have used signal lights for ship-to-ship communications since the late 1800s, and the Commonwealth Navies and NATO forces still use them to prevent foes from intercepting their messages or otherwise interfering with radio communications.
The Navy no longer routinely teaches sailors Morse Code, though. So, how do signalmen keep the light on? The answer, according to a YouTube video recently released by the Office of Naval Research (see below) is to computerize it.
The Navy recently tested the system aboard the USS Stout. Sailors on the Stout sent and received messages from the USS Monterey, moored at a dock in Norfolk, Virginia. According to the article the test went very well. According to Navy engineers, sending and receiving messages via the FLTC is very similar to sending and receiving text messages with a smartphone, a skill which most sailors already have.
Although the system is still just a prototype, ships could be outfitted with production systems as early as 2018. In addition to reducing the need to train sailors to send and receive messages, the Navy also thinks that the system will allow them to send messages faster than they can currently, with speeds of up to 100 words per minute or more being possible.
AA7US says
I want one!
Yohei, N8YQX says
If they’re going to use a computer on both sending and receiving end, why use morse code? I think it would be easier to encode with some error tolerant digital scheme. Infact, if preventing detection is one of the primary goals of using the light signal, it would make more sense to use something very directional and non-visible like IR laser.
I think this project could use some more improvements.
Dan KB6NU says
Well, maybe by using Morse Code they have some amount of human backup.
Jonathan says
Also agree w Dan. The comment about 100wpm is interesting only bc it certainly suggests that the human is out of the loop but both sides are using the system…. in which case they should use something else… perhaps a nice modulated laser or alternate protocol on the light panels.
No reason to use morse once they know both sides are running tbr same Android app on their screen.
Final point… the whole system is designed so humans can still be at one of the two ends. How is their software at decoding the different “hands” that send the code? This is always where software seemed to have a hard time to me…. I’m poor at cw but, at speeds i am capable of copying, software does when a computer or electric paddle is used for sending but less well in a key or bug sender
Dave New, N8SBE says
CW may be preferred so that in case the receiver breaks down, a video recording could be played back (even at slow speed) so that a human could still get the message. Redundancy abounds.
For the poster that suggested using IR to obscure the transmission, it would be simple for an enemy to obtain an IR sensor, as well. Bzzt! Try again. Think security, not obscurity.
And hopefully, the military has advanced beyond that venerable old TM 11-485 manual, Advanced Military Cryptography. published 8 June 1944. What a hoot.
Jonathan says
Check out the Wikipedia link… they do use ir for the signal lights. At least sometimes.
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The Commonwealth Navies and NATO forces use signal lamps when radio communications need to be silent or electronic “spoofing” is likely. Also, given the prevalence of night vision equipment in today’s armed forces, signaling at night is usually done with lights that operate in the infrared (IR) spectrum, making them less likely to be detected. All modern forces have followed suit due to technological advances in digital communications.
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James says
It may be a better idea to make the light emitted from the device infrared instead of visible light.