Ham is an informal term for an amateur radio operator, and, by extension, "ham radio" refers to amateur radio in general. This use of the word first appeared in the United States during the opening decade of the twentieth century — for example, Robert A. Morton in "Wireless Interference", from the April, 1909 Electrician and Mechanic, reported overhearing an amateur radio transmission which included the comment: "Say, do you know the fellow who is putting up a new station out your way? I think he is a ham." However, the term did not gain widespread usage in the United States until around 1920, after which it slowly spread to other English-speaking countries. Amateur radio station with modern solid-state transceiver featuring LCD and DSP capabilities Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a hobby and a service that uses various types of radio communications equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training. ... An amateur radio operator is an individual who, typically, uses equipment at an amateur radio station to engage in two-way personal communications with other similar individuals on radio frequencies assigned to the Amateur Radio Service. ... Amateur radio station with modern solid-state transceiver featuring LCD and DSP capabilities Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a hobby and a service that uses various types of radio communications equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training. ...

Etymology

One reason for the slow adoption was related to the word's origin, as one of many insults employed by landline telegraph operators at the time, for it originally meant a "poor operator".[1],[2] ("Ham" was also already in more general use as a slang word meaning "incompetent", most commonly in the phrase "ham actor".) Early radio (initially known as wireless telegraphy) included many former wire telegraph operators, and within the new service "ham" was employed as a pejorative term by professional radiotelegraph operators to suggest that amateur enthusiasts were unskilled — in "Floods and Wireless" by Hanby Carver, from the August, 1915 Technical World Magazine, the author noted "Then someone thought of the 'hams'. This is the name that the commercial wireless service has given to amateur operators..." A letter from a Western Union Telegraph Company employee, printed in the December, 1919 edition of the amateur radio publication QST, showed familiarity with the word's negative connotations, expressing concern that "Many unknowing land wire telegraphers, hearing the word 'amateur' applied to men connected with wireless, regard him as a 'ham' or 'lid'".[3] However, during this period many other amateurs were in the process of proudly adopting "ham" as a description of their hobby, embracing the word that was originally an insult, similar to the way Yankee Doodle evolved. (See, for example, Thomas F. Hunter's exuberant "I am the wandering Ham" from the January, 1920 QST). Telegraphy (from the Greek words tele = far away and grapho = write) is the long distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters, originally over wire. ... For other uses, see Slang (disambiguation). ... Wireless telegraphy is the practice of remote writing (see telegraphy) without the wires normally involved in an electrical telegraph. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with pejoration. ... Yankee Doodle is a well-known American song, often sung patriotically today . ...

False etymologies

In spite of — or perhaps because of — its relatively straightforward origin, many interesting and colorful folk etymologies about the supposed origin of "ham" have been developed over the years. Below are some of the competing later explanations that are often charming, but also wrong. Folk etymology is a linguistic term for the modification of a word or phrase based on an ahistorical analogy or an erroneous etymology which is popularly believed to be true. ...

Ham-Fisted

One alternate explanation is that "ham" is a shortened version of "ham-fisted", meaning clumsy. This is a reasonable conjecture, given that all early amateur radio stations used hand-operated telegraph keys to transmit Morse code, and sending style is referred to as an operator's "fist", so someone who sends badly could be called ham-fisted. But the earliest references to "ham" use only the single word, and there is no evidence that it evolved as a truncation of a longer phrase. 1922 Chart of the Morse Code Letters and Numerals Morse code is a method for transmitting telegraphic information, using standardized sequences of short and long elements to represent the letters, numerals, punctuation and special characters of a message. ...

"A little station called HAM"

This widely circulated but fanciful tale claims that, circa 1911, an impassioned speech made by Harvard University student Albert Hyman to the United States Congress, in support of amateur radio operators, turned the tide and helped defeat a bill that would have ended amateur radio activity entirely, by assigning the entire radio spectrum over to the military. An amateur station that Hyman supposedly shared with two others (Bob Almy and Peggie Murray), which was said to be using the self-assigned call sign "HAM" (short for Hyman-Almy-Murray), thus came to represent all of amateur radio. However, this story apparently first surfaced in 1948, and virtually none of the "facts" in the account actually check out, including whether "a little station called HAM" ever really existed.[4], [5],[6] Harvard redirects here. ... Type Bicameral Houses Senate House of Representatives President of the Senate President pro tempore Dick Cheney, (R) since January 20, 2001 Robert C. Byrd, (D) since January 4, 2007 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Members 535 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political... Call sign can refer to different types of call signs: Airline call sign Aviator call sign Cosmonaut call sign Radio and television call signs Tactical call sign, also known as a tactical designator See also: International Callsign Allocations, Maritime Mobile Service Identity This is a disambiguation page — a navigational...

"Home Amateur Mechanic" magazine

In this version, supposedly HAM was derived from the initials of a "very popular" magazine which covered radio extensively. But there is no evidence that there ever was a magazine by this name.

Hertz-Armstrong-Marconi

It is sometimes claimed that HAM came from the first letter from the last names of three radio pioneers: Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, Edwin Armstrong, and Guglielmo Marconi. However, this cannot be the source of the term as Armstrong was an unknown college student when the term first appeared. Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (February 22, 1857 - January 1, 1894) was the German physicist and mechanician for whom the hertz, an SI unit, is named. ... Edwin Howard Armstrong (December 18, 1890 – January 31, 1954) was an American electrical engineer and inventor. ... For the inventor of radio,and macoroni see the competing claims in history of radio and the invention of radio. ...

Hammarlund legend

Likely an example of corporate wishful thinking, Hammarlund products were supposedly so pre-eminent in the pioneering era of radio that they became a part of the language of radio. As the story goes, early radio enthusiasts affectionately referred to Hammarlund products as "Ham" products, and called themselves "Ham" operators.[7] In truth, Hammarlund was a minor and barely known company at the time "ham" started to be used. The Hammarlund Manufacturing Company, founded by Oscar Hammarlund in New York City, New York, USA in 1910, initially designed and produced short wave radio equipment. ...

"Amateur" radio

The term Amateur in Amateur radio does not connote lack of skill, but is used in the same sense as an Amateur Athlete, as Radio Amateurs are prohibited by law from accepting monetary or material compensation of any kind for any activities they perform as radio operators. (see 47 U.S.C. §97.113(A)(2)).

External links

• The ARRL Ham Radio History page
• ARRL Backgrounder: What is Amateur Radio?, Why Do They Call Themselves "Hams?"
• About Ham Radio in India at CQ India
• Origin of the term "HAM"