Morse Pad FAQ

Morse Pad

Morse Pad lets you decode morse code transmissions on your iPad. Just connect it to a radio (or even set it next to the radio's speaker), tune in a morse code transmission, and watch the decodes.

Enter in the morse code speed in WPM. Or you can turn on Auto WPM mode, and Morse Pad will try to determine the sending speed. Note that it may take take a moment for the app to determine the speed, or to adjust to changes in speed. You also need to enter the center frequency of the morse code audio, in Hz.

The spectrum display in the upper left corner shows the audio spectrum, with a red line drawn over the center frequency. This can be used as a tuning aid.

To use this app, you need to feed the audio output from a your radio into the device. You can do this via one of several ways:

Set the device near the radio's speaker to pick up the audio. While easy to do, this is not ideal, as background noise can interfere with the audio, causing garbled decodes.
Plug headphones into the radio, and set one earphone near the mic. I find that with good quality headphones, this can work extremely well.
Use the microphone input jack of your device, by obtaining an appopriate cable and connecting the radio's line level output to the microphone input.
With the Camera Connection Kit, you can plug a USB sound input device into the iPad, and use a patch cable between it and the radio's audio output. This is by far the best solution.

You can use the volume indicator in the upper right corner to verify that audio is getting into your device, and that the volume level is appropriate.

If you are running iOS 7 or later, be sure to give the app permission to use the microphone. If you denied permission, you can always give it again by following these steps:

Open Settings app and go to "Privacy"
Select "Microphone" to get a list of all apps that have requested access to the microphone, and to control which apps have access to the microphone

If you're looking for a radio to use with the app, there are many different types to choose from. Take a look at our listing of radios to use with your app, to see several, along with some suggestions on how to choose a radio.

Want to clear the text? Give your iPad a shake!

That's it!

Here are some details on directly connecting an audio line source to your iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch

Email your comments and questions to support@blackcatsystems.com

Last modified August 1, 2010