Telegraph Desk for Morse scenarios
Short Morse scenarios with a goal: mayday drill, night check-in, or a six-turn QSO. You send real Morse (including Chinese telegraph code); replies arrive in code first, then plaintext. A local state machine runs the plot — nothing uploads.
Telegraph Desk
Short Morse scenarios with roles and a clear objective. A local state machine runs the plot; your traffic uses the real encoder (including Chinese telegraph code).
Pick a scene
Pick a role
Time limit
How it works
- Send traffic by typing or the desk key — real Morse (and Chinese CTC).
- They reply in Morse first, then plaintext reveals.
- Fill the objective slots; win, fail, or end the shift.
When to use
Wanting telegraph atmosphere with a win/lose objective; practicing short procedural traffic; showing friends a Morse game that isn’t another translator clone; warming up callsign / bearing habits before a listen session.
Better elsewhere
Fiction practice only — not emergency or on-air ops. Pure decode puzzles → Challenge. Koch drills → Trainer.
Assumptions
v1 is a local scene engine with role line banks. Optional LLM polish is out of v1. Distress default clock is 180s (120/240 selectable). Sessions persist in localStorage on this device only.
Examples
Input
Distress · send B1ABC
Result
Rescue asks for bearing next
Then position, then people count — three slots to win.
Input
Check-in · callsign → QTR → all well
Result
Shift handoff complete
Input
QSO drill · hi → 599 → 73
Result
Win inside six turns
How it works
- Choose scene + role in the lobby (distress defaults to Rescue · 180s).
- Send traffic by type or desk key — encoder includes Chinese CTC.
- Fill required slots; win, time out, or end the shift. Debrief stays local.
Send → extract slots (rules) → advance phase → THEM line → Morse first, then reveal
Gotchas
- Random keyword chat from the old domestic telegraph page is intentionally gone — missing slots get chased, not random weather lines.
- Weak callsigns (informal names) are accepted in drills but flagged in the debrief.
- Clearing site data wipes the saved shift.
- Key mode buffers Morse then commits a decode — typos in timing become wrong letters.
Compare
How the desk advances
A phase machine drives each scene: missing callsign or bearing gets chased; win and fail are real outcomes. Roles change rules (timer, strictness, coaching), not just the costume.
Scenes in v1
- Distress / Mayday scene — callsign, bearing, people · default 180s.
- Night check-in — ID → time sync → all well.
- Short QSO — greeting → RST → 73 inside six turns.
Channels & honesty
Type or key; replies show Morse before plaintext. Chinese uses CTC via the shared encoder. Logs stay in localStorage. Related: challenge, keyer, SOS, Terms.
Common questions
Short answers from real friction points.
Related tools
Practice tool only. See Methodology and Terms.