Hi in Morse Code

Hi in Morse code is .... ... It’s six dots and no dashes. H is four dots, I is two, and the gap after the fourth dot is what splits them into two letters.

The gap does all the work

With no dashes in the word, the letter gap is the only thing that tells a reader which letters they’re looking at. Move it and the same six dots spell something else:

Where the gap falls	What it reads as
After dot four	.... .. (HI)
After dot three	... ... (SS)
After dot five	..... . (5E)
After dot one	. .... (EH)

Six dots with no gap at all isn’t a valid character, so a decoder can’t read it. When you send HI, count the H in your head as one group of four, stop for a beat, then send two.

How to tap or flash hi

A dot lasts one unit of time. The pause between dots inside a letter is also one unit, and the pause between letters is three. HI comes to 13 units, which makes it about as quick as a two-letter word gets.

With a flashlight: four quick flashes, a pause about three flashes long, then two quick flashes. Tapping is the same: four quick taps, pause, two quick taps. Because there are no long signals, you don’t need to judge dash length at all. That makes HI easy to send with anything that clicks or blinks. At a slow 5 words per minute (WPM), it takes about three seconds.

HI as a greeting

Ham radio operators often send HI as a short hello instead of spelling out HELLO, which needs five letters. The full word and its pattern are on the hello in Morse code page.

HI HI means laughter

On the amateur radio bands, HI has a second job. Operators send it, usually doubled as .... .. / .... .., to show they’re laughing. The habit started in the days when nearly all radio contact was Morse code (CW, for continuous wave), which has no way to send a laugh. A run of quick dots sounds a bit like a chuckle, and the convention stuck. You’ll still hear HI HI on the air and see it typed in ham radio forums and emails.

So context decides it. HI at the start of a contact is a greeting. HI HI after a joke is a laugh.

Bracelets, games, and short messages

HI fits on small pieces of jewelry and makes an easy first Morse word for kids, since it has only six elements and they’re all the same shape. On a bead bracelet, use a larger gap or a spacer bead between the fourth and fifth dot. Without it, nobody can read the word. To check a design, type it into the translator and compare it dot by dot. Other short words are in the phrases hub.

FAQ

What is hi in Morse code?

Hi in Morse code is .... ..: four dots for H, a short pause, then two dots for I. There are no dashes. The pause after the fourth dot is what separates the two letters.

Why do ham radio operators say HI HI?

HI HI (.... .. / .... ..) is how operators show laughter in Morse code. CW has no sound for a laugh, and the quick run of dots in HI sounds a bit like a chuckle. A single HI is also used as a short greeting.

How do you flash hi with a light?

Flash four quick short flashes, pause for about the length of three flashes, then flash two more. Since every signal in HI is short, the pause between the fourth and fifth flash is the only thing that tells the reader where H ends and I begins.