Morse Code Reader

- August 26, 2013

Unrated

( 1,320)

Description

Listens to Morse code through your phone's mic and translates it to text.

The application is somewhat picky about the listening conditions, so if it doesn't work, try adjusting the volume or repositioning the phone in relation to the speaker.

If you can't get it to work, send me an email with a link to a recording of the transmission and I will see if I can improve the application.

Any other feedback welcome.

Reviews

3.9

1,320 total

5 668

4 252

3 140

2 72

1 188

Chris Kimball

Comparison with MRP40 PC software Morse Code Reader was compared side-by-side to the commonly-available PC commercial software MRP40 via audio link from a transmitter sidetone speaker output. The nominal transmission rate was 18 wpm and the test message was 50 5 character code groups. Very little audio noise was present. MRP40 copied the message completely, Morse Code Reader did very poorly. Note that Morse Code Reader finds the sidetone frequency and the transmission rate itself, whereas MRP40 was running with a specified (and correct) sidetone frequency and transmission rate. Wish Morse Code Reader was a better performer. It might do better if it allowed specification of the sidetone frequency and transmission rate. NQ8Z

A Google User

Surprisingly bettern than a paid app I actually paid for the paid app which I found out that this FREE app is actually better. The other Decoder is horrible, can't decode anything. This one, decodes really well as long as you have low noise. Still, I now am discovering that I need to really put my thinking cap on to learn the proper copying method such as Koch or Fansworth. Long live CW!

michael huss

Only works under limited conditions. I tested it on a slow, repeating signal in my area. I didn't have control over the threshold or the speed, and the program didn't figure them out on its own, so it kept truncating letters or listening to static. Otherwise, it's a neat idea. It probably works with faster hams and/or clearer signals.

Joesph Koen

I absolutely love this! It's a good app, and does what it promises . There is one slight issue though. When ever I encode the sign ' ( " it will decode it as " ) " i tried many speeds and frequencies. I think you have a minor error. Other then that, 5 stars. for you

richard nabi

BETTER THAN A DEDICATED CODE READER This app is terrific and works better than my MFJ Pocket CW Reader. There are no controls to tweak, you just turn it on, put it near a radio receiving CW (Morse Code) and it works! It cannot decode weak signals lost in static but if you can get a signal that's stronger than the static, even by a little, it works very well. It does have a tendency to display random characters, especially the "+" and "=" signs when not locked on to a strong signal. Overall, I give it four stars for ease-of-use, accuracy, type and size of font and nice screen display with a little signal strength gauge. It gets a fifth star because it's free! I would be willing to pay for this app and I would highly recommend it to people considering installing it.

A Google User

Good start, not so good results This is a great attempt that only needs some improvements in future versions. Cant decode anything so far but it shouldnt be hard to make it better at decoding. Thanks for your work Jacek!

User reviews

Chris Kimball October 22, 2014

A Google User September 11, 2011

michael huss April 11, 2013

Joesph Koen March 28, 2016

richard nabi December 28, 2012

A Google User May 15, 2012

A Google User October 29, 2011

Not bad Not bad, had some trouble with static coming out of the speaker. Would be nice if it offered an option to decode recordings, or to record the audio while decoding. Then I could run the audio through a DSP and try to clean it up first prior to decoding.

A Google User October 22, 2011

Good start, needs tweaking Nice simple, compact app. Wants to jump up the decode speed too quickly and longer characters end up getting chopped into strings of one and two element characters (E, T, A, N, M, I). Some "click" and low amplitude discrimination would really polish out the app nicely. All in all, apps holds some good promise for future development.

Bobs Dragon March 27, 2015

Needs Mic Sensitivity Slider This app needs a slider to control mic sensitivity. My mic is too sensitive and ambient noise triggers spurious recognition. I'd like to turn the app's sensitivity down until only taps with a fingertip guitar pick can trigger it using a tap/gap scheme where gap between taps replaces tone length. There might be an app for simple mic adjustment but I can't find it.

A Google User December 22, 2011

The best I've found so far. Quite accurate however in its early development stage. Still not customizable, lacks manual adjustment of microphone sensitivity, doesn't recognize HAM radio codes (CQ). But still the best I've found.

Garrry Schumacher May 3, 2016

Used this before and it works well to do what I want. I see complaints about various things in regard to the app but when you keep in mind that all the cw copy programs I have tried in the past have the same issues regardless of cost, then this one deserves to be right up near the top of the list. I always enjoy to copy the code in my head and watch the display to see if the software can copy as well as the brain.

Kyle Gus September 8, 2013

Good for audio translation Works well for audio translation as long as the volume is high enough from the source you want translated. I was working off of a very quite (15 - 20dB) so I had some issues trying to get the app to recognize the sound. It would be nice if there were a way to adjust the sensitivity, there is a minimum dB (i dont know what it is) that is needed to register a . or - so faint sounds cause problems.

Baris Bal April 4, 2015

Does not work.! Waste of time! Don't waste your time installing this. Despite playing back a very clear recording of morse code, this app could not transcribe a single word. Don't waste your time with this one.

A Google User December 15, 2011

Doesn't load I downloaded this app anxious to see how it would work, however every time I open it, it immediately force closes. I'm running the Samsung Acclaim with 2.1, and the program is listed as only requiring 1.6 and up. I hope it works better for other users out there.

Darren Smith June 13, 2013

Works ok It does work, just not great. It will give erroneous letters if any ambient sound is picked up from the microphone. In a quiet environment with a clear CW signal, it does do a fairly good job of decoding. Needs some tweaking like bandwidth and frequency filters.

Rido Kilos November 10, 2015

Works pretty well. Tends to have trouble if things aren't just right, but it's the only app doing the job

Richard H. June 17, 2015

Needs work Will read well under ideal conditions. Introduce QRM/N and you have a disaster. Control of the mic (level, bandwidth, etc.) may be an improvement.

paul warren February 15, 2017

Used to work flawlessly but now it constantly spews gibberish even when there is no sound being played at all. Basically the app can't tell the difference between low level ambient white noise and morse code tones.

A Google User December 27, 2011

Touchy, missing punctuation I found this app to be inferior to the free Morse Code Reader. I tested with perfect noiseless generated code and it just couldn't lock in and decode. It failed completely on most punctuation. Sorry but I got a refund.

Katherine C. July 26, 2015

A few issues Well firstly, the app crashes if the microphone is being used by another app, such as Google. Other than that, it only functions on signals at a fairly quick rate.

Eric Harris May 17, 2014

S5 Doesn't work, I put my phone up to my doctor who10th doctor sonic screwdriver that plays a message in morse code and all 5 hat came up on the screen was a bunch of "E" & "T". Then my dog came in to get some water and her drinking also translates to "E"s & "T"s. Uninstalling

Doug Horrigan February 24, 2015

Useless Great at generating the letter E with no input sounds, can sometimes do an N as well. Other than that it's a waste of time

April 8, 2014

Sort of works There's no digital noise filter, which would be utterly simple to implement and improve results drastically. Also, it often just goes off on a wild rampage of E, T, and I. Clearly the algorithm isn't that well written, it should 'learn' the current average length of dits and dahs and decode accordingly. However - when it works, it works well. The example video shows the absolute ideal situation with no background noise. If there's any fuzz, or static then the decoded message goes berserk.

KILLZ66 December 24, 2014

One of the best. I'm not sure why people are having problems with this app. I find it works better than all the other free apps and most of the pay ones. Im using this on an android tablet and running a cw stream from both glsdr and qt radio and this app works great just using the built in mic and one computer speaker, The key is to make sure you don't have a lot of background noise and turn up the volume.I also tested it with an online cw generator @100 wpm and this app didn't miss a beat, I'm only giving this 4 stars because nothing is perfect but this comes close.

Ray Harkins October 21, 2015

Not to bad For a free program it is not bad. Its audio bandpass is very narrow and it hears to well. Can copy noises other than what your wanting to decode. Try it, it is a fun program.

Bryon Baldwin April 12, 2014

Good Start It does a good job of deciphering characters up to 50+ words per minute on my ASUS tablet. Word spacing is all over the place though - never quite right, missing deliberately long breaks and adding random others. I tested with an iambic Keyer and with a Morse trainer running on my phone. It gets confused by background noise. I wish there were some adjustments. It would help if you could at least adjust the Mic level, and needs an option to Exit, as it slows down everything in the background.

A Google User April 8, 2012

No configurability (ratio, gap time etc.) Almost complete failure to decode. Fair play though, a good attempt. Thanks for trying. Rooted HTC Desire S.

Stephen Graybeal May 4, 2013

Worked Worked with electronic beeping played over pc speakers. No options. Self-adjusts sensitivity.

Randy Ott July 12, 2014

Does a decent job. Decoding Morse code is not an easy process. This program does a better job than most PC based and stand alone decoders I have tried.

Olav Racin June 12, 2015

Well, I needed it to solve a task and it did it's job. For a guy who doesn't know morse code this app is quite fine

Shayban Sawan July 5, 2014

Variable Rate Wow tried 3 different transmission rates and the walrus got it every time. I know the algorithm can get it only if the signal is clear but this was in noisy environment from phone Mic. That was spectacular.

Tom Hartenstein May 20, 2015

Great for help Helpful for learners and its very sensitive to help you become perfect at Morse code. I told it my name in Morse code and I got it wrong due to the sensitivity but I adapted to it, and became perfect . get this app!

A Google User August 16, 2012

No good for me I installed and all it gives me are E's and T's even with no static in the speaker... Need something to be able to adjust sensitivity...

Ed September 21, 2016

It is a whole lot better than using my Universal M-400 reader. You will come across some typos but otherwise it is a very good app !

A Google User September 19, 2011

Sucks on Captivate Just get jibberish.... Trying to decode cw on the ham bands and get noting intelligible. Tried volume too... No luck.

A Google User April 25, 2012

Very Sensitive This app has helped me in my quest to learn code. Thanks so much to the developer. If we just had some way to adjust sensitivity. Would be willing to pay a fair price for this app.

demo demo June 22, 2017

Seems to require quite fast Morse. Slower beginner Morse was not decoded. Could not find any settings to tune it. Meh.

Steven Liggett November 19, 2013

Not bad Worked well with a clear and fast signal. But starts throwing in random characters with background noise.

Pazi K. October 23, 2016

Works like a charm I tried several free android cw decoders and none of them could read the quite clean signal I had, but this app worked out of the box. No controls to adjust, no switches, just start and it does the job!

Andrew Thomas January 21, 2017

Works excellent on my Chromebook to decode from SDRTouch! Would love to have a small waterfall to select the audio frequency, but even without it's worth five stars!