Q in Morse Code

How long Q takes

Q is 1 dot and 3 dashes. With the gaps that comes to 13 units, number 25 of 26 by length.

• 5 WPM: 3,120 ms
• 13 WPM: 1,200 ms
• 20 WPM: 780 ms

The arithmetic behind them is on the timing page.

What Q gets confused with

3 characters sit one element away from Q:

• G --. - the last dash missing
• X -..- - a dot in second place instead of a dash
• Z --.. - a dot in fourth place instead of a dash

Q in the tree

• Built from: - = T, -- = M and --. = G, then --.-
• Carries on into: no other letter - a leaf of the tree
• Backwards: -.-- = Y
• Koch position: 21 of 26

The tree shows the whole shape, the trainer teaches it by ear.

Why Q has this code

Q makes up about 0.095 per cent of English text, which is number 25 of 26 by frequency, against number 25 by length. The two ranks are identical - as good a fit as the code manages for any letter.

The lengths were set by counting, not by theory - the alphabet page has that story.

Q in American Morse

The American code, used on the landline telegraph until the 1920s, wrote Q as ..-. instead of --.-. That sequence is F in the international code, so the same rhythm meant two different letters depending on which side of the Atlantic you were sitting.

The full table has the other ten.

Worth knowing about Q

Every Q-code starts here: QRL, QSB, QTH and the rest. The Q-code was introduced for British maritime radio in 1909, and the letter was chosen because no English word begins with Q without a U after it - a Q on its own could not be mistaken for plain text.