What this tool generates
Unlike translators that emphasize decoding, the generator is built for people producing output — a phrase to send on a radio key, a pattern to hand to a jeweler, a caption for a gift. It returns:
- The morse pattern itself as dots and dashes with ITU-standard spacing (letter gap = 3 units, word gap = 7 units).
- A sine-tone audio render at any speed from 5 to 40 WPM, Farnsworth optional.
- A copyable string for text contexts (
... --- ...) plus a shareable URL that re-opens the page with your phrase pre-loaded.
Typical uses
- Ham radio practice. Generate sample text at your target WPM to drill against.
- Jewelry mockup input. Pattern goes into our bracelet or necklace preview to see beads.
- Tattoo spec. Copy the pattern, hand it to your artist, or use the tattoo designer for an SVG export.
- Classroom or scout demos. Generate the phrase once, project it, let learners decode by ear.
Why not just use a lookup table?
Because real morse has timing. A static table gives you S = ..., but it does not tell you how a sentence sounds at 15 WPM, and it does not handle spacing. The generator on this page uses the same core as our full translator — unit-tested on every letter of the ITU alphabet, plus numbers and punctuation — so the output is the same pattern a CW operator would actually send.
Generator, translator, or decoder — which do you need?
The three tools sound interchangeable but do different jobs, and picking the right one saves you time:
- A generator (this page) goes one way: plain text in, morse out. It's built for producing a pattern — a phrase to key on the air, a design to hand a jeweller, a caption for a card.
- A translator goes both ways and is the tool to reach for when you're not sure which direction you need — it encodes text to morse and decodes morse back to text in the same box.
- A decoder goes the other way: dots and dashes in, readable text out. That's the one you want when someone has sent you a string of
.- -...and you need to read it.
If you only ever produce morse, bookmark this generator. If you regularly do both, the translator is the single tool that covers everything.
How morse timing actually works
Morse isn't just dots and dashes — it's a rhythm measured in a single base unit, and the generator gets all of it right so the audio matches what a real operator sends. Everything is a multiple of one unit:
- a dot is 1 unit; a dash is 3 units;
- the gap between elements inside a letter is 1 unit;
- the gap between letters is 3 units; the gap between words is 7 units.
Speed is defined against the reference word “PARIS”, which happens to be exactly 50 units long including its trailing space — so “20 WPM” literally means 1,000 units a minute. The generator also offers Farnsworth timing, which keeps each character crisp at a fast speed but stretches the gaps between them, so a learner hears realistic-sounding letters while still having time to recognise each one. That single option is the difference between audio you can learn from and audio that just sounds like static.
From pattern to signal
The output isn't only for the screen — it's meant to be sent. Once you have the dots and dashes, you can key them anywhere: a short press for a dot and a press three times as long for a dash on a flashlight or torch; the same rhythm tapped on a pipe or wall, which carries surprisingly far through solid material; or a straight key into a real radioif you're a licensed operator. Keep the gaps honest — the most common mistake, whether flashing or engraving, is running letters together with no space, which turns a clear message into an unreadable blur.