Code table
All 32 combinations of the International Telegraph Alphabet No. 2, in the order and numbering used by the ITU.
Elements are listed from 1 to 5; element 1 goes first on the line. A filled circle is a hole in the tape (condition Z, stop polarity, binary 1); a dot is no hole (condition A, start polarity, binary 0).
| No. | Letters | Figures | Holes 1–5 | Bits 1–5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | − | ●●··· | 11000 |
| 2 | B | ? | ●··●● | 10011 |
| 3 | C | : | ·●●●· | 01110 |
| 4 | D | WRU | ●··●· | 10010 |
| 5 | E | 3 | ●···· | 10000 |
| 6 | F | — | ●·●●· | 10110 |
| 7 | G | — | ·●·●● | 01011 |
| 8 | H | — | ··●·● | 00101 |
| 9 | I | 8 | ·●●·· | 01100 |
| 10 | J | BEL | ●●·●· | 11010 |
| 11 | K | ( | ●●●●· | 11110 |
| 12 | L | ) | ·●··● | 01001 |
| 13 | M | . | ··●●● | 00111 |
| 14 | N | , | ··●●· | 00110 |
| 15 | O | 9 | ···●● | 00011 |
| 16 | P | 0 | ·●●·● | 01101 |
| 17 | Q | 1 | ●●●·● | 11101 |
| 18 | R | 4 | ·●·●· | 01010 |
| 19 | S | ’ | ●·●·· | 10100 |
| 20 | T | 5 | ····● | 00001 |
| 21 | U | 7 | ●●●·· | 11100 |
| 22 | V | = | ·●●●● | 01111 |
| 23 | W | 2 | ●●··● | 11001 |
| 24 | X | / | ●·●●● | 10111 |
| 25 | Y | 6 | ●·●·● | 10101 |
| 26 | Z | + | ●···● | 10001 |
| 27 | CR | CR | ···●· | 00010 |
| 28 | LF | LF | ·●··· | 01000 |
| 29 | LTRS | LTRS | ●●●●● | 11111 |
| 30 | FIGS | FIGS | ●●·●● | 11011 |
| 31 | SP | SP | ··●·· | 00100 |
| 32 | NUL | NUL | ····· | 00000 |
Notes
- Combinations 6, 7 and 8 (F, G, H) have no international meaning in figure case. Administrations could use them for national signs such as currency symbols, which is why printed tables from different countries disagree here.
- Combination 4 in figure case (WRU, “who are you?”) triggers the answerback unit of the distant machine, which replies with its identity. Combination 10 in figure case rings the bell.
- Carriage return, line feed, space and the two shifts mean the same thing in either case.
- Combination 32, no holes at all, is used in switching sequences and is not sent during a telex conversation.
- Many tables, especially in software, number the bits the other way round or write them as hexadecimal values. Always check which element a table calls “first”.