The company that I was at sea with in the 1950s and 60 traded (out of the UK) and around the coasts of India and Africa mostly. There being no VHF communication, on arrival outside of each port, we had to call up the pilot station with our Aldis lamp, and all details of berthage, cargo came to us through the medium of the flashing light. The Indian Navy used to man the pilot stations around the Indian Coast
and they were very fast with their sending of the Morse Code as they were using Marconi keys. Luckily I could read it as fast as they could send it, but had to have a writer standing next to me It certainly called for concentration and no blinking! Happy days!
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The trick, when prepping for the test, is to not pass a car on the highway until you’ve spelled their license plate in Morse Code. That’s a quick way to bust-off the rust! (6 wpm in no time!) Haven’t had to re-test in decade but it’s still a fun game. (Though, wife gets mad if I hit the brakes while struggling w/the dang numbers. Ha! Guess it could be considered a bit of a spectrum behavior… Still better than that 7-Buzz car game…)
…mhm… Here some cars had a text on their back, saying:
‘If you can read this, you are way too close !
