[MacLoggerContest] The number of dit durations in a word

[Don Agro]

Hi Chuck,

On 13-Mar-05, at 3:12 PM, Chuck Counselman wrote:

> At 4:15 AM -0500 3/13/05, Don Agro wrote:
>> ...assuming an average of 48 dit durations in a word....
>
> This off-topic and trivial, but perhaps others are interested as I am.
>
> I don't know where I learned it, much less whether it's correct, but 
> for about 35 years I've thought that the canonical "word" for 
> measuring the speed of sending Morse code in words per minute was 
> "PARIS_" where I've typed an underline character to represent the 
> space between words.  Assuming that the duration of a dah is equal to 
> three dit-durations; one dit-duration between each dit or dah within a 
> letter;

http://users.erols.com/k3mt/morse/cw.htm

the dit - two dit spaces long
the dah - four dit spaces long
the letter space - two dit spaces long
the word space - four dit spaces long.

>  one dah-duration between letters; and three dah durations between 
> words, I calculate that the duration of "PARIS_" is 52 dit-durations.
>
> So, I wonder, whence comes the value 48?

PARIS - the standard word - takes 48 dit spaces of time.


73 Don Agro VE3VRW

D o g   P a r k   S o f t w a r e   L t d .

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