SOS is a Morse code distress signal, used internationally, originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS is written with an overscore line, to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" are transmitted as an unbroken sequence of three dots / three dashes / three dots, with no spaces between the letters. In International Morse Code three dots form the letter "S" and three dashes make the letter "O", so "S O S" became a common way to remember the order of the dots and dashes. IWB, VZE, 3B, and V7 form equivalent sequences, but traditionally SOS is the easiest to remember.
SOS was introduced for emergency maritime radio communication using Morse code.
Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called dots and dashes, or dits and dahs. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of the early developers of the system adopted for electrical telegraphy.
This Morse key was originally used by Gotthard railway, later by a shortwave radio amateur
Single needle telegraph instrument
Telegraph key and sounder. The signal is "on" when the knob is pressed, and "off" when it is released. Length and timing of the dits and dahs are entirely controlled by the telegraphist.
Morse code receiver that records on paper tape
