HELP in Morse Code
HELP is .... . .-.. .--.. It is a perfectly good word in Morse - and the wrong thing to send if you actually need help.
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HELP is .... . .-.. .--. - 37 units, about
2.2 seconds at 20 words per minute. SOS is
... --- ..., sent as one unbroken signal without gaps between the
letters. If there is a real emergency, the second one is what people are listening for.
Why HELP is not a distress signal
Distress signals are not chosen for meaning. They are chosen for how they sound when everything else has gone wrong - a weak signal, a shaking hand, someone listening who does not speak your language.
SOS was picked in 1906 at the Berlin radiotelegraphic conference and came into force in 1908. It won because of its rhythm: three short, three long, three short, run together as a single character with no letter gaps. Nothing else in Morse sounds like it. You can recognise it half asleep, through interference, without knowing a word of the code.
HELP has no such property. It is four ordinary letters with ordinary gaps, and it sounds like any other four-letter word. Someone would have to be reading Morse fluently, in English, and paying attention, to notice it. Under the conditions where you would actually send it, none of those three is safe to assume.
The SOS page has the signal itself, the timing, and the rules about when it may be sent.
What HELP is good for
Plenty, as long as nobody's life is on it. HELP is a normal word, and in ordinary traffic it carries the ordinary meaning - a question, a request, a note in a message. Nothing about it is wrong except the belief that it summons anyone.
It is also a good word to practise on. Four letters, one of each kind: H is all dots, E is the shortest character in the code, L and P differ by exactly one element in the middle, which makes them one of the pairs beginners swap most often.
- H
....- four dots - E
.- one dot, the shortest of all - L
.-.. - P
.--.
The other distress and urgency signals
SOS is the top of a short ladder, and the levels below it matter too:
- SOS
...---...- grave and imminent danger. Everything else stops. - XXX
-..- -..- -..-- urgency. Something is wrong and it is serious, but nobody is about to die. - TTT
- - -- safety. A navigational warning or a weather message follows.
These are maritime radiotelegraph signals, and the service that used them closed in 1999 when satellite distress systems took over. They are worth knowing anyway: they are what the Morse distress traffic in every book and film is made of.
Frequently asked questions
-
What is HELP in Morse code?
.... . .-.. .--.- 37 units, roughly two and a quarter seconds at 20 words per minute. -
Can I send HELP instead of SOS?
You can, and it will very likely not be recognised. SOS is sent as one unbroken signal with no gaps between the letters, which makes it sound like nothing else in the code. HELP sounds like an ordinary four-letter word, and reading it requires someone who is fluent, listening, and reading English.
-
Is it illegal to send SOS when there is no emergency?
In most countries, yes. A false distress call ties up rescue services and is a criminal offence. Use it here to learn what it sounds like, not on the air.