Hog-Morse For instance, the international code has only two symbols, dots and dashes, but the American code has several lengths of dash. There is a distinction between "L" () and "T" (). Also, in the international code the space between symbols within a character is always the same, but American Morse has two different spaces. The letters "S" (), "C" (), and "R" () all consist of three dots, but the timing is different in each case. A frequently quoted, but possibly apocryphal, story from the historical period concerns the similarity of "L" and "T" in the American code. A company
Morse code strings: Note that the marks and gaps alternate: dots and dashes are always separated by one of the gaps, and that the gaps are always separated by a dot or a dash. Morse messages are generally transmitted by a hand-operated device such as a telegraph key, so there are variations introduced by the skill of the sender and receiver — more experienced operators can send and receive at faster speeds. In addition, individual operators differ slightly, for example, using slightly longer or shorter dashes or gaps, perhaps only for particular characters. This is called their "fist", and experienced operators can