Word · Copy · Practice
Equals (=) in Morse Code
Copy the Morse code for Equals (=), hear it played back, or open it in the translator to edit it.
Letter by letter
How "Equals (=)" is built in Morse
Equals (=) is 1 character — 3 dots and 2 dashes in all. Here is each letter with its Morse code so you can send or write it one symbol at a time:
Sending Equals (=) by sound or light
Equals (=) is 13 Morse units long, counting a 1-unit gap inside each character. At a beginner's 5 words per minute that is 3.1 seconds of signal; an experienced operator at 25 WPM sends it in 0.6 seconds.
| Speed | 5 WPM | 13 WPM | 20 WPM | 25 WPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time to send | 3.1 s | 1.2 s | 0.8 s | 0.6 s |
Easily confused with
One dot or dash separates Equals (=) from each of these. They are the likeliest misreadings when copying by ear.
- - -....- one symbol added
- 4 ....- one symbol changed
- 6 -.... one symbol changed
- B -... one symbol dropped
- V ...- one symbol dropped
- X -..- one symbol dropped
Same pattern as the BT prosign
-...- is also the prosign BT (New paragraph (=)). The sound is identical, so an operator tells them apart by context: in the middle of a sentence it is punctuation, while between parts of a message it is the procedural signal. See BT on the prosigns page.
What the standard says
Equals (=) is part of International Morse code: Recommendation ITU-R M.1677-1 lists -...- under the name “Double hyphen”. In message handling it separates the preamble, service indications, address, text and signature.
Compare every symbol on the punctuation chart.
How to read it
The format in one line
- Dot
- . one short signal (1 unit)
- Dash
- - one long signal (3 units)
- Letter gap
- a single space between letters (3 units)
- Word gap
- / with surrounding spaces (7 units)
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