u/Yergisgoingtodie

Hi Morse Coders and Radio Enthusiasts,

I'm a college student assigned to write a short story over the summer. I've taken an interest into the phenomenon of amalgam metal fillings catching signals from high-powered AM radio stations. That led me on a rabbit-hole to researching Morse Code, and I plan to incorporate it into my story. Unfortunately, there's not many research materials on Morse Code, and I'm a little too busy doing errands to watch a bunch of Youtube videos, so I have a list of questions. Any answers or directions to answers are greatly appreciated.

Note: I have sparingly tried A.I. for answers, but I'm against using generative A.I. and the answers weren't super helpful. All other searches were through Google.

Questions:

• I am under the assumption that very basic antennas can pick up AM radio signals easily. What do these antennas sound like?
  • Do the "very basic" or modified antennas (such as weeds on a transmitting antenna in this reddit thread) work without speakers?
  • Can you hear clear sound, or is it just vibrations (regarding an antenna without speakers)?
• Have you heard of this phenomenon before? Have people seen the Lucille Ball clip? My guess is that this subreddit skews much older, so I'm hoping that Morse code strikes interest in an older generation (professors).
• Has the U.S. always used American Morse Code, or does it use International Morse Code now?
  • Why does the U.S. Army use International Morse Code in their training videos?
    • Was International Morse Code only learned for wartime?
  • What were the use circumstances for American Morse Code?
    • Is it a dead language?
  • Has American Morse Code changed over the years in any meaningful way?
    • Is there a "slang" dictionary for American Morse code?
• What is common shorthand used when communicating in Morse Code?
• There's a clip from the U.S. Army I mentioned earlier (same link, 6:52 for this question). Does "Poor Hand Spacing" matter as much in any current Morse communication?
  • What is the normal spacing for Morse Code by enthusiasts today?
  • Does anywhere still use Morse Code to communicate?
• What's some insider knowledge about Morse Code and communicating with it most people wouldn't know?

I know this was a very long list of questions. I'm not insane, I just get overly curious about topics. It is a beautiful 95 degree summer day and I am currently unemployed, so I have nothing better to do.

Thanks all!