OK 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, OK is 23 units — 1.38 seconds at 20 WPM: 2 characters, 1 dot and 5 dashes. At a beginner's 5 WPM it would take 5.52 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-dah dah-di-dah

Letters in OK that are easy to mix up

These letters differ from the ones in OK 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 OK

OK is just two characters in Morse: O (three dashes) and K (dash-dot-dash). It is also an official radio abbreviation: ITU-R M.1172 defines OK as 'We agree (or It is correct)'.

Note that K on its own is a signal too — 'invitation to transmit', telling the other station to go ahead. Amateur operators also use R for 'received' and FB ('fine business') for 'great' or 'OK'.

Related radio abbreviations

OK 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

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