Jericho - 11/15 Morse code

Tonight's was:

AOVSURPRISE

Patty Winter (patty1...

So did any of you "Jericho" fans ever figure out what this meant?

Donna B...

I did not.

Geoff Warren...

According to wikipedia, it was "1ST SURPRISE"

KenStahl...

That does work out with the actual dots and dashes.
AO is .- --- while 1 is .---- , then V is ...- and becomes
ST as ... -

Much of the art of copying morse code is understanding the
rhythm (or as we used to say "the fist") of the operator.
Whoever is doing it for Jericho isn't a particularly
accomplished operator and tends to get the cadence wrong at
times.

Patty Winter (patty1...

Boy, I'll say! I listened to it multiple times, and there's
no way that was "1 S T". But I'm sure that's what they *meant*
to say, as it makes more sense than "AOV."

Why would they even have a poor operator send it manually
anyway? Computer programs to generate Morse code have
been around for decades. (Well, in the consumer market;
a lot longer in military and commercial applications.)

KenStahl...

I think they are trying to play on one of the early episodes
when the ham radio was still working and Harkins copied the
names of the cities that had been hit.

Automatically generated code is way to mechanical. I've
copied both automatic and manual morse in my time and I
always prefer the manual because once I got used to the
rhythm of the operator it was less boring to copy. It may

Patty Winter (patty1...

Geoff Warren...

Maybe they could use

I agree, but if they aren't going to find someone who can
send it correctly manually, then they should switch to a
machine. It would be the lesser of two evils in this case.

KenStahl...

I finally was able to sit down and watch the episode. The
morse code was botched. There was a definite pause between
the .- and the --- that should have been .----. I think they
need a new operator on the hand key.

KenStahl...

Maybe they should hire me. It has been about sixteen years
since I last had my hand on a key, but it isn't the type of
thing one forgets easily. I learned morse code when I was
just twelve - not much speed back then, but I did have the
characters down.

seem trivial, but a machine sends a "b" or "z" with the same
cadence as an "e" or an "i" whereas a human operator will
unconsciously send short and long characters with a
different cadence. Hard to explain if someone has never
spent hour after hour copying the stuff.

Clearly we have the word 'surprise' in there. As for the 'AOV,'
I hope that means something to those of you who watch the show...