Goodbye in Morse Code

Timing at 20 WPM

International Morse timing is measured in units: a dot is 1 unit, a dash 3, the gap inside a character 1, the gap between letters 3 and the gap between words 7. At 20 words per minute, one unit is 1200 ÷ 20 = 60 ms.

In total, GOODBYE is 79 units — 4.74 seconds at 20 WPM: 7 characters, 8 dots and 13 dashes. At a beginner's 5 WPM it would take 18.96 seconds.

Sound it out

Operators learn Morse as sound, not as dots to count. Say “di” for a dot inside a character, “dit” for a final dot and “dah” for a dash, with a pause between letters:

dah-dah-dit dah-dah-dah dah-dah-dah dah-di-dit dah-di-di-dit dah-di-dah-dah dit

Letters in GOODBYE that are easy to mix up

These letters differ from the ones in GOODBYE by a single dot or dash — one flipped element, or one extra or missing at the end — so they are the usual misreadings when you are copying by ear or by light:

About GOODBYE

GOODBYE is a single seven-letter word in Morse. Radio operators usually say it more briefly: GB (good bye) appears in amateur clubs' lists of common CW abbreviations, and 73, 'best regards', is customarily sent toward the end of a contact, according to the ARRL.

The final signal of a contact is the prosign SK (···−·−), which ITU-R M.1677-1 lists as the 'end of work' signal and ITU-R M.1172 abbreviates as VA. The ARRL traces 73 to the 1850s telegraph world, and SK to the landline telegraphers' number 30, which meant 'the end'.

Related radio abbreviations

GOODBYE in other codes

Convert your own text with the Morse code translator, the NATO alphabet converter or the binary translator, or print the Morse code alphabet.

Sources

• ARRL — Ham Radio History (73 and SK)
• ITU-R M.1677-1 — International Morse code (end of work signal)
• Rochester (NY) Amateur Radio Association — Common CW Abbreviations (GB)