TZUTC: -0500   
   MSGID: 460.fidonet-ls_arrl@1:2320/33 28cc3b3e   
   PID: Synchronet 3.20a-Win32 master/4985797d2 May  9 2023 MSC 1929   
   TID: SBBSecho 3.20-Win32 master/4985797d2 May  9 2023 MSC 1929   
   BBSID: TBOLT   
   CHRS: ASCII 1   
   The term "Ham", Q signals, CQ, 73, SOS, Prosigns, The Wouff Hong, and more   
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     Ham   
      
   "Ham: a poor operator. A 'plug.'"    
      
   That's the definition of the word given in G. M. Dodge's "The Telegraph   
   Instructor" even before radio. The definition has never changed in wire   
   telegraphy. The first wireless operators were landline telegraphers who   
   left their offices to go to sea, or to man the coastal stations. They   
   brought with them their language, and much of the tradition of their   
   older profession.   
      
   In those early days, spark was king, and every station occupied the same   
   wavelength-or, more accurately perhaps, every station occupied the whole   
   spectrum with its broad spark signal. Government stations, ships,   
   coastal stations, and the increasingly numerous amateur operators all   
   competed for time and signal supremacy in each other's receivers. Many   
   of the amateur stations were very powerful. Two amateurs, working each   
   other across town, could effectively jam all the other operations in the   
   area. When this happened, frustrated commercial operators would call the   
   ship whose weaker signals had been blotted out by amateurs and say "SRI   
   OM THOSE #&$!@ HAMS ARE JAMMING YOU."   
      
   Amateurs, possibly unfamiliar with the real meaning of the term, picked   
   it up and applied it to themselves in true "Yankee Doodle" fashion, and   
   wore it with pride. As the years advanced, the original meaning has   
   completely disappeared.   
      
   -Louise Ramsey Moreau W3WRE/WB6BBO    
      
   Another possible source of of the term "ham" is from an article that was   
   originally written by Gerry Crenshaw, WD4BIS, Garland, Texas.   
       
   Have you ever wondered why we radio amateurs are called "HAMS"?? Well,   
   according to the Northern Ohio Radio Society, it goes like this...   
       
   The word "Ham" was applied in 1908, and was the call letters of one of   
   the first Amateur Wireless Stations operated by some members of the   
   Harvard Radio Club. There were Albert S. Hyman, Bob Almy, and Peggie   
   Murray. At first, they called their station Hyman-Almy-Murray. Tapping   
   out such a long name in Morse Code soon called for revision...and they   
   changed it to HY-AL-MU, using the first two letters of each name.   
       
   Early in 1909, some confusion resulted between signals from amateur   
   wireless HYALMU, and a Mexican ship named HYALMO...so, they decided to   
   use only the first letter of each name, and the call became HAM.   
       
   In the early pioneer unregulated days of radio, Amateur operators   
   picked their own frequency and call letters. Then, as now...some Amateurs   
   had better signals than some commercial stations. The resulting   
   interference finally came to the attention on Congressional committees   
   in Washington...and they gave much time to proposed legislation designed   
   to critically limit Amateur Activity.   
       
   In 1911, Albert Hyman chose the controversial Wireless Regulation Bill   
   as the top for his thesis at Harvard. His instructor insisted that a copy   
   be sent to Senator David I. Walsh...a member of one of the committees   
   hearing the bill. The Senator was so impressed, he sent for Hyman to   
   appear before the committee. He was put on the stand, and described how   
   the little Amateur Station was built. He almost cried when he told the   
   crowded committee room that if the bill went through, they would have to   
   close up the station, because they could not afford the license fees, and   
   all the other requirements that were set up in the bill.   
       
   The debate started, and the little station HAM became a symbol of all the   
   little Amateur stations in the country crying out to be saved from menace   
   and greed of the big commerical stations who did not want them around.   
   Finally, the bill got to the floor of Congress, and every speaker talked   
   about the poor little station "HAM".   
       
   That's how it all got started. You will find the whole story in the   
   Congressional Record. Nationwide end of time, in radio, an Amateur   
   is a HAM.   
       
   GL and 73's de Gerry, WD4BIS   
   --- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32   
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)   
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