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.

Microbit image for Morse Python coding activity

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.

Click or tap on this link for the full instructions.