Word · Copy · Practice
Plus (+) in Morse Code
Copy the Morse code for Plus (+), hear it played back, or open it in the translator to edit it.
Letter by letter
How "Plus (+)" is built in Morse
Plus (+) 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 Plus (+) by sound or light
Plus (+) 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 Plus (+) from each of these. They are the likeliest misreadings when copying by ear.
- ; -.-.-. one symbol added
- . .-.-.- one symbol added
- " .-..-. one symbol added
- @ .--.-. one symbol added
- & .-... one symbol changed
- C -.-. one symbol dropped
- F ..-. one symbol dropped
- L .-.. one symbol dropped
- P .--. one symbol dropped
Same pattern as the AR prosign
.-.-. is also the prosign AR (End of message (+)). 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 AR on the prosigns page.
What the standard says
Plus (+) is part of International Morse code: Recommendation ITU-R M.1677-1 lists .-.-. under the name “Cross or addition sign”. Every telegram ends with it; followed by K it marks the end of a transmission.
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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