It's ham radio!

[Hurricane145]

Don't know how it ever got started but you see it as "HAM" ( I am new to HAM...) all the time in more recent years in various forums.
It is not really capitalized in the middle of a sentence. It is not an acronym nor a capitalization. It is just plain old ham radio which is something of a nickname for amateur radio. No one is certain why or just when it was started to be called ham radio and that we are hams. There are just some plausible explanations.
The most likely explanation is also the simplest. That early on the professional telegraphers and people in what ever professional broadcasting there was at the time thought of early amateur radio operators as a bunch of hams. Same as those actors who "ham it up" on stage. From some of the personalities I have heard on the ham bands over some 45 years, that explanation would sure seem to fit well!!

Thank you. And now back to our regularly scheduled forum.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Agreed. Nobody knows for sure where the name ham first came from but at least most know it is "ham radio" and not capitalized. Another plausible origin of the name ham operator came from the old professional telegraph operators referring to those early experimenters as amateur radio operators or simply "am's" for short. With a rough Cockney accent that tended to sound like an "H" was added to it and those amateur radio operators became known as hams.

 

[vkrules]

Have a look at this explanation http://www.rfcafe.com/references/electrical/origin-of-ham.htm

 

[Mudfoot]

I don't much care for that version of events.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I don't much care for that version of events.

Agreed. If for no other reason that it has never been capitalized yet that story has it as a capitalized station callsign. i would think that if it was a callsign there would have been better documentation of it. Note I said "documentation" and not "records" as I doubt there were official records of callsign back then except for commercial stations.

 

[TonyV225]

I don't know why anyone would even worry about it LMAO!!s one of those unimportant things although everyone has that little thing that bothers them. Mine is anything string leash rope with a random knot in it I just have to get the knot out although whover owns the item simply dint care. I didnt say anything I just got the knot out but if they asked why Ide laugh and say because I could get it out. Either way life would have gone on with that knot in there so we all have our quirks. I for one capitalize "Ham Radio' but theres a reason I do it because there is so many 11 meter guys that hate amateur operators as there were a lot of old timers that hated 11 meter guys why this was or is I have no idea other than most 11 meter guys refuse to eccept the truth or the laws of physics so that makes us Hams RETATRDED IDIOTS according to their knowledge and witt they obtained listening to Joe Radio Rocket Scientist who is the best radio operator / tech around just ask him or her they will tell ya LOL!!

 

[Mudfoot]

I remember people calling it: Highway Assistance Modulators.

Lol, I heard that many years ago.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I don't know why anyone would even worry about it LMAO!!s one of those unimportant things although everyone has that little thing that bothers them. Mine is anything string leash rope with a random knot in it I just have to get the knot out although whover owns the item simply dint care. I didnt say anything I just got the knot out but if they asked why Ide laugh and say because I could get it out. Either way life would have gone on with that knot in there so we all have our quirks.

I have a condition that demands that I take knots out of extension or power cords. I can't stand to see somebody use a power cord with a knot in it. i tried therapy but it didn't work. I live with the disorder.

 

[Robb]

Maybe it is because they sit on thier hams to do it . . .

 

[TonyV225]

C.K Exactly!! Then you get it!! Poer cords or cables are also my biggest!!! LMAO!!! I will not let anyone wrap up my cords and cables for My D.J. Equipment I sy if you want to help load or unload just carry things Ill setup and packup. I cant believe what some people do to wind or wrap up a cable or cord!!

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

C.K Exactly!! Then you get it!! Poer cords or cables are also my biggest!!! LMAO!!! I will not let anyone wrap up my cords and cables for My D.J. Equipment I sy if you want to help load or unload just carry things Ill setup and packup. I cant believe what some people do to wind or wrap up a cable or cord!!

I worked in broadcasting and one of the first things the chief engineer taught me was how to wind up microphone cords. You NEVER wind then around your elbow. You lay them out straight and as you pull it towards your other hand to hold it you twist the cable so it falls naturally into place. I can't recall how many announcers I grossed out for simply winding one around their elbow. The reason is the the braided shield gets twisted repeatedly and will literally be torn to shreds. I have tried to repair mike cables in the past and had to keep cutting it back further and further trying to find a point where the shield was not torn to shreds. Extension cords I do wind up on my elbow but only the shorter ones less than 50 feet or so. As for the knots....yeah something just does not seem right using a power cord with a knot in it. I guess it comes from my electronic/electrical background.You have to remove all that series inductance for the high starter current some tools require. LOL

 

[TonyV225]

You got it buddy!!!!

 

[iiiquaziii]

LOL I also share the obsession with knotted cable. I did a few years pulling cat5 at businesses all over during the beginning of my IT career. I used to tell people I was I was a professional untangler. I think that's where it came from with me.... You can give me 1000 ft of the most knotted up tangled wire ever, and I'll have it straightened out in 5 minutes.

 

[Rick330man]

HAM was the name of one of the chimps NASA trained and put into space before we sent Alan Shepard up.

But NASA didn't spend a fortune putting HAM in space to monkey around. No, sir. In low earth orbit, HAM had a line of sight range of about 1300 miles. He took full advantage of the unique propagation characteristics his of elevation and spent his time chatting with fellow operators on 2 meters - not unlike what operators on the I.S.S. do today. The nickname HAM has stuck ever since.