Ham symbolic logo
The weather was rainy, I filled my free time reading the website associated with the ham. Thought for a moment why amateur radio operators on earth is synonymous with the nickname of "ham". mmmm why?
THEORY 1
The three letters (H.A.M.) are initials, which pay homage to the last names of three of the great radio experimenters of bygone years.
^Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (February 22, 1857 – January 1, 1894) was a German physicist who clarified and expanded the electromagnetic theory of light that had been put forth by Maxwell. He was the first to satisfactorily demonstrate the existence of electromagnetic waves by building an apparatus to produce and detect VHF or UHF radio waves.
^Edwin Howard Armstrong (December 18, 1890 – January 31, 1954) was an American electrical engineer and inventor. Armstrong was the inventor of modern frequency modulation (FM) radio. Edwin Howard Armstrong was born in New York City, New York, in 1890. He studied at Columbia University and later became a professor there. He invented the regenerative circuit while he was an undergraduate and patented it in 1914, the super-regenerative circuit (patented 1922), and the superheterodyne receiver (patented 1918).
^Guglielmo Marconi (25 April 1874– 20 July 1937) was an Italian inventor, known for his development of Marconi's law and a radio telegraph system, which served as the foundation for the establishment of numerous affiliated companies worldwide. He shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun "in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy and was ennobled in 1924 as Marchese Marconi.
THEORY 2
This theory suggests that "HAM" is the combination of initials of the last names of three college students at Harvard, who supposedly had their own amateur radio station in the early nineteen hundred teen something. This was at a time when experimenters had free reign of the radio spectrum, and any legal administration, red tape or federally assigned callsigns were in their infancy or altogether non-existent. Their last names were (supposedly) HYMAN, ALMAY, and MURRAY, and they operated their little amateur radio station with a (self-assigned) call sign of "H.A.M." The three young men were merely identifying their station as "theirs" by using their names. ("H.A.M.")
THEORY 3
Drawing from the congressional "control" theory above, and in an attempt to explain "technical, radio, and electronic matters" to a non-technical congress and general public, here is yet another theory of why Amateur Radio operators are called HAMS: During the earlier days of radio communication, the commercial and Amateur Radio broadcasters had won their fight against the NAVY. The government (not the military) stepped in to organize and control frequency allocation of these new "short-wave" frequencies. When all was said and done, the government allowed radio amateurs to operate only on certain frequencies which were scattered in an amongst the other licensed (authorized) frequencies. This holds true to this day. The Amateur Radio frequencies were said to be sandwiched "like the HAM in a sandwich" between the other frequencies, and so Amateur Radio frequencies came to be known as the "HAM" segments of a particular band.
Drawing from the congressional "control" theory above, and in an attempt to explain "technical, radio, and electronic matters" to a non-technical congress and general public, here is yet another theory of why Amateur Radio operators are called HAMS: During the earlier days of radio communication, the commercial and Amateur Radio broadcasters had won their fight against the NAVY. The government (not the military) stepped in to organize and control frequency allocation of these new "short-wave" frequencies. When all was said and done, the government allowed radio amateurs to operate only on certain frequencies which were scattered in an amongst the other licensed (authorized) frequencies. This holds true to this day. The Amateur Radio frequencies were said to be sandwiched "like the HAM in a sandwich" between the other frequencies, and so Amateur Radio frequencies came to be known as the "HAM" segments of a particular band.
THEORY 4
Another theory attributes the term "HAM" to: Hugo Gernsback, publisher of a magazine called "Home Amateur Mechanic" which was very, very popular back in the early days of radio. It was so well know, it was a household word, just as the magazines "People", or "Reader’s Digest" are today. Although it was primarily more mechanical in content, it did contain fairly regularly, Amateur Radio construction projects. Thus, when asked what sort of radio a person had, the reply, more often than not, was he: "had one of those "H.A.M." (using just the initials of the well known magazine name.) This theory becomes a bit more believable when you consider the Amateur Radio practice of using just initials or letters for many commonly understood words in order to shorten transmissions and ease sending of messages, especially when using Morse Code. "Home Amateur Mechanic" was simply shortened to H.A.M.
Theory 5
Some speculate the term "HAM" stands for "Help All Mankind" as reflected in the radio amateur’s long history of service towards people in distress during natural calamities, disasters and civil emergencies. In fine S.O.S. tradition, this gives us H.A.M.
Theory 6
Others believe the term "HAM" derives it’s origin from the British. From late in the nineteenth century forward, British sports writers used the "AM" to describe rank AMateurs in sports. It first came into the "electronics arena" from the "wire telegraphers" used by these sports writers. The telegraph operators originally applied it to the younger and inexperienced "cub" reporters. These young sports writers often provided illegibly written or poorly worded copy for the telegrapher to transmit. The professional news telegraphers had beginners in their own line of work, and they picked up the 'AM terminology from the sportswriters, and applied it to their own field. Often the inexperienced new telegraph operators were called "AMs", for the amateurish way they sent messages.
Theory 7
This theory holds that the term "HAM" actually derives from what the seasoned commercial (professional) telegraph operators called the (hobby) amateur radio operators. When the inexperienced hobby radio enthusiasts began to venture on air with crude spark-gap transmitters, based on vehicle ignition coils, their code transmissions must have been pretty poor compared to the commercial telegraphs of the day. The commercial operators referred to the amateurs by using a modification of the old telegrapher's insult (from above) by saying the operator was "ham fisted", meaning that they weren't of professional skill. "Ham Fisted" referred to their style and proficiency of sending telegraph code which could have been done just as well by using a ham (the cut of pork) on the telegraph key to pound out their rudimentary code.
Theory 8
Along those same lines of thought, came this theory linked to the stage and theater, where the term "HAM" is used to denote an actor of indifferent ability, or one who shows off his skill (or lack thereof), by performing in spite of and mostly oblivious to his own ineptitude.
Theory 9
This following theory seems to combine the "ham fisted" and the "un-professional operator" theories from above, but also adds a bit more insight as to why amateur radio operators might be called "HAMS": Definition of HAM: "A poor performer. [in this case:] "An operator of poor performance and courtesy". Even before wireless radio, that's the gist of a definition of the word "Ham" given in the G. M. Dodge book: "The Telegraph Instructor." The definition never changed throughout wire telegraphy history. The first WIRELESS operators were, of course, originally land based (wire) telegraphers, who left their offices to go to sea or to man the coastal stations. They brought with them to their now jobs their old habits, both good and bad. Along with them came also slang terms, operating practices, and much of the tradition of their older profession.
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I get information on the Internet, I read and continued to read until I infusion to share what I get. But it also depends on their understanding. In my vision, whatever it is and how it is interpreted, it turned on us to assess where we should be, refer to the act and the authority responsible for and related to amateur radio but practice makes reference to the friends who had been involved in this is also a very good and so close relationships.
:)
73 88
:)
73 88