Hello 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, HELLO is 49 units — 2.94 seconds at 20 WPM: 5 characters, 11 dots and 5 dashes. At a beginner's 5 WPM it would take 11.76 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:

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

Letters in HELLO that are easy to mix up

These letters differ from the ones in HELLO 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 HELLO

HELLO is often the first word people translate into Morse, and it makes a good practice word: it contains E, the shortest character in the code (a single dot), the double L (·−·· ·−··), and O, three dashes.

On the air, Morse operators rarely send the word HELLO. A contact usually starts with a general call (CQ) or the other station's call sign, and greetings are abbreviated: GM, GA and GE for good morning, good afternoon and good evening appear in amateur clubs' lists of common CW abbreviations.

Related radio abbreviations

HELLO 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

• Rochester (NY) Amateur Radio Association — Common CW Abbreviations
• ITU-R M.1172 — Miscellaneous abbreviations and signals (CQ, DE, K)