D in Morse code

D is one long tone and two short ones: dah-di-dit. The weight falls at the start, and the two dots trail off quickly behind it.

• DAD did it:

  the stressed DAD is the dash, and "did it" gives the two dots.

• DRAC-u-la:

  one heavy syllable, then two light ones.

• dam:

  in Douglas Harder's one-word system the tall d is the dash and the short a and m are the dots. Dan or dim work the same way.

Say the phrase along with the sound a few times, then try to name D from the rhythm alone.

More memory phrases

D is short, so a single changed element turns it into something else. Listen for where the dash falls and how many dots follow:

• U:

  ..- is D backward, two dots and then the dash. Dash first means D.

• B:

  -... adds a third dot. Count them: two dots after the dash is D.

• N:

  -. drops a dot, leaving one dash and one dot.

• S:

  ... is three dots and no dash at all. If nothing long sounded, it was not D.

The Sound-alike drill plays these pairs until you can tell them apart without counting, and the complete alphabet chart shows D among all 26 letters.

• Write it:

  a hyphen and two periods, -.. with a space before the next letter.

• Tap it:

  one press held about three times as long as a tap, then two quick taps.

• Flash it:

  one long blink and two short ones. The light on this page plays at 7 WPM, under three flashes a second.

In a word, D keeps its three elements with a letter gap on each side. Dad is -.. .- -.., a D at each end with an A between them, and lasts 1.67 seconds at 18 WPM.

The ITU standard sets out how a call is made: the call sign of the station wanted, the word DE, the caller's own call sign, then K, the invitation to transmit. DE, -.. ., means from or this is, so a call reads as "station wanted, from me, over".

D also stands in for the digit 8 when both stations expect a number. That cut saves eight units over ---.., the full 8, because D keeps the two dots and drops two of the three dashes.