Python Pocket Morse

This activity is new for 2025 and has been designed by the RSGB Maker Champion Tom Wardill, 2E0JJI. If you’ve done some of our other Micro:bit activities for National Coding Week in previous years, this will give you a different challenge. If this is the first time you’re getting involved in coding, then why not start with this!

Why should I try this?

• Have you tried the previous RSGB Morse on a Micro:bit instructions and are now wondering how you take the concept further?

• Are you learning Morse and want to practise away from your rig with something that fits in your pocket?

• Or maybe you’d like to do an activity as a club?

Even if Morse isn’t your thing, this is a great way to learn some Python if you don’t really know where to start. It’s a useful and common programming language within the amateur radio community and this activity is a great first step.

What will I do?

This exercise will cover using a Micro:bit V2 and the ‘more advanced’ Python programming instead of the previous block programming mode. It is intended as a gentle introduction to both Python and small computer programming and can be done without any previous knowledge of the Micro:bit.

It will cover setting up your environment, and then basic loops, branches, conditions, methods, and interacting with the Micro:bit hardware.

What will I need?

You will need a computer that can run a Chrome-based browser (Chrome, Chromium, Edge, and related family), a Micro USB cable, and a Micro:bit V2 (you can buy this online for around £16 for a single board, or £18 for a pack with the required cables and optional battery pack).

It will take you a couple of hours to follow the guide all the way through. At the end you should be able to continue on, perhaps using the built-in radio to build an actual CW transceiver, or wiring up your own Morse Key or Paddle to get that correct feeling.

Check back here soon for the full instructions.