Not exactly new to Excel but since retiring 5 yrs ago everything I knew (which wasn't much) has gone out the back door. I have researched this site and seen this question pop up in many ways but none of the solutions given work for what I am trying to do. So I will explain what I am doing and maybe that will help.

Here is what I am trying to do.

I listen to shortwave radio. I copy cut number Morse code stations. Cut numbers are numbers that have been shortened so it doesn't take as much time to send them. To cut a long story short (pun intended) short letters are used to represent numbers. Example:

A=1 N=2 D=3 U=4 W=5 R=6 I=7 G=8 M=9 T=0 (Those letters are chosen because they are short and easy to send.)

So to send the five number group 87390
I would send GIDMT

So as I sit at my desk in front of my radio copying these numbers (always in groups of five) it looks like this.

AMITU RIMWD NIMTA UNDWR TIWDA (and so on)

By now you have guessed where I am going. I want to copy five letters per cell, hit tab and copy the next five letters.......then when finished or even as I type I want the letters to convert to the numbers they represent.

Thanks for helping if you can. By the way, do you think this could be done in MS Word instead of Excel?

GER9999

On Thu, 12 Jul 2012 21:19:12 +0000, GER9999 wrote:


Not exactly new to Excel but since retiring 5 yrs ago everything I knew
(which wasn't much) has gone out the back door. I have researched this
site and seen this question pop up in many ways but none of the
solutions given work for what I am trying to do. So I will explain what
I am doing and maybe that will help.

Here is what I am trying to do.

I listen to shortwave radio. I copy cut number Morse code stations. Cut
numbers are numbers that have been shortened so it doesn't take as much
time to send them. To cut a long story short (pun intended) short
letters are used to represent numbers. Example:

A=1 N=2 D=3 U=4 W=5 R=6 I=7 G=8 M=9 T=0 (Those letters are chosen
because they are short and easy to send.)

So to send the five number group 87390
I would send GIDMT

So as I sit at my desk in front of my radio copying these numbers
(always in groups of five) it looks like this.

AMITU RIMWD NIMTA UNDWR TIWDA (and so on)

By now you have guessed where I am going. I want to copy five letters
per cell, hit tab and copy the next five letters.......then when
finished or even as I type I want the letters to convert to the numbers
they represent.

Thanks for helping if you can. By the way, do you think this could be
done in MS Word instead of Excel?

GER9999

To convert that five character string of letters, into a number, can be done with a formula.
With your five character string in A1,

=SUMPRODUCT(MATCH(MID(A1,{1,2,3,4,5},1),$I$1:$I$10 ,0)-1,10^{4,3,2,1,0})

where I1:I10 contain the letters above in the order matching zero to nine. In other words, T comes first.

T
A
V
D
U
W
R
I
G
M

For your other requirements.
As far as I know, it is not possible to convert the letters as you type them.
If you want the letters to be replaced after you tab to the next cell, you will need an event triggered VBA macro. Is that necessary?
I'd guess it's possible in Word using a macro.

Thanks Ron I will give that a try. I don't need the change to take place as I type in the same cell. Another location is fine.

I am having trouble with this part of your suggestion:

where I1:I10 contain the letters above

Where is I1:I10 in the formula you gave? I'm lost as to where to put the letters T,A,N,D,U,W,R,I,G,M

OK, I have the formula working. A big thanks for that. Now one more request.

The way it works now when I type 5 letters in cell A1 the cell containing the formula changes the letters to numbers. These messages are usually 150 groups (read cells) long. Do I paste the formula 150 times into 150 cells each time changing A1 to B1, C1, D1 and so on? I hope I am clear on my meaning here. I want to be able to type 10 cells across then start a new line 10 cells across, etc. A1 through J1, then A2 through J2, then A3 through J3, etc.

Even if I have to copy/paste 150 times I have what I need and I thank you so much!
GE

On Sat, 14 Jul 2012 16:11:01 +0000, GER9999 wrote:

I am having trouble with this part of your suggestion:

where I1:I10 contain the letters above

Where is I1:I10 in the formula you gave?

=SUMPRODUCT(MATCH(MID(A1,{1,2,3,4,5},1),$I$1:$I$10 ,0)-1,10^{4,3,2,1,0})


$I$1:$I$10 refers to those cells using the Absolute Reference mode. See HELP for Absolute Reference for discussion as to different addressing modes. There is relative, mixed, and absolute.


I'm lost as to where to put
the letters T,A,N,D,U,W,R,I,G,M

Assuming you are using the A1 cell referencing mode, I1 refers to a particular cell on the sheet. It is the cell located in Column I / Row 1

So navigate to cell I1 and enter T.

I1: T
I2: A
I3: V
I4: D
I5: U
I6: W
I7: R
I8: I
I9: G
I10: M

You can put those letters in any ten contiguous cells that are in the same column.
You could also substitute the range reference in the formula with an array constant. I thought it was simpler to put the letters in a column than hard code them into the formula, but you could certainly do the latter:

=SUMPRODUCT(MATCH(MID(A1,{1,2,3,4,5},1),{"T";"A";" V";"D";"U";"W";"R";"I";"G";"M"},0)-1,10^{4,3,2,1,0})

Again, this assumes your 5 letter group is in A1. You will need to change the A1 reference depending on where your group is actually located.