Q: Why are Amateur Radio Operators called HAMs?
Q: Where did the term HAM come from?
Q: What is a HAM Radio or HAM Radio Operator?
A: 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 20th century-for example, in 1909 Robert A. Morton 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.
History and Evolution of the term HAM:
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 in referring to a poor operator or "lid". ("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..."
Even among amateur radio operators, the term was used pejoratively at first by serious experimenters. For example, in December 1916 QST magazine, an amateur operator working on long distance message passing describes one way to avoid interference was to send messages "...on Thursday nights, when the children and spark coil 'hams' are tucked up in bed" (a spark coil was an unsophisticated radio transmitter, made from an automobile ignition coil, that produced noisy interference).
But only a few months later, in an indication of the changing use of the term among amateurs, a QST writer uses it in a clearly complimentary manner, saying that a particular 16 year old amateur operator "...is the equal of a ham gaining five years of experience by hard luck."
Use of "ham" as a slur by professionals continued, however. A letter from a Western Union Telegraph Company employee, printed in the December, 1919 edition 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'".
But many other amateurs increasingly adopted the word "ham" to describe their hobby and themselves during this period, embracing the word that was originally an insult, similar to the way Yankee Doodle evolved, as seen, for example, in Thomas F. Hunter's exuberant "I am the wandering Ham" from the January, 1920 issue of QST.
False origins of the term HAM to refer to Amateur Radio Operators:
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 false.
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.
"A little station called HAM"
This widely circulated but fanciful tale claims that, around 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 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 seems to have first surfaced in 1948, and practically none of the facts in the account check out, including the existence of "a little station called HAM" in the first place.
Perhaps you've heard the story about the term "ham" having originated at Harvard. This story has been published and told by word-of-mouth countless times over the past decades. Here's how it goes:
Have you ever wondered why we radio amateurs are called hams? Well, the word ham originated in 1908 and was the call letters of one of the first amateur wireless stations operated by some members of the Harvard Wireless Club. They were Albert Hyman, Bob Almy and Peggie Murray. At first they called their station Hyman-Almy-Murray. Tapping out such a long name in code soon called for a revision, and they changed it to Hy-A1-Mu, using the first two letters of each name. However, early in 1909 some confusion resulted between signals from HYALMU and a Mexican ship named Myalmo, so the operators decided to use only the first letter of each name and from that point on identified their station as HAM.
In the early pioneer and unregulated days of radio, amateur operators picked their own frequencies and call letters. Then, as now, some amateurs had better signals than some commercial stations. The resulting interference finally came to the attention of Congressional Committees in Washington and they gave much thought to proposed legislation designed to critically limit amateur activity.
In 1911, Albert Hyman chose the controversial Wireless Regulations Bill as the topic of his Senior Thesis at Harvard. His instructor insisted that a copy be sent to Senator David Walsh, a member of the committee hearing the Bill. The Senator was so impressed that he sent for Mr. Hyman to appear before the Committee. Hyman was put on the stand and described how the little amateur station, HAM, was built. Then, in an emotional statement, he told the crowded committee room that if the bill went through, the three operators would have to close down HAM because they could not afford the license fees and other requirements which were called for in the bill.
The debate started and the little station, HAM, became a symbol of all the little amateur stations in the country that were crying out to be saved from the menace and greed of the big commercial stations who didn't want them around. Finally the Wireless Regulations Bill got to the floor of Congress and every speaker talked about the poor little station, HAM. And because of Hyman's stirring testimony, Congress voted to save amateur radio and limit the power and influence of commercial radio. Thereafter, nationwide publicity identified the stationHAM with amateur wireless operators. From that time to this, and probably to the end of time, in radio, every amateur is a ham. And, that's how it all got started.
Great story isn't it? Thanks to Harvard's Albert Hyman for saving amateur radio and providing us with the "ham" label as well! Unfortunately, "it just ain't so." HWC members have thoroughly researched this story over the years. Albert Salisbury Hyman actually did graduate from Harvard College in 1915 and then went on to earn his M.D. degree from Harvard in 1918. He was a prominent cardiologist in New York City and is credited with introducing the first heart pacemaker in 1932. However, Hyman is not listed on the early membership rosters of the HWC. Furthermore, there is no mention in the Harvard Archives of Dr. Hyman ever being involved in amateur radio or ever testifying before Congress. Additionally, neither Almy nor Murray appears in any alumni records of the time. We have to admit, though, it's a very entertaining story. And where it came from, we haven't a clue . . . .
Home Amateur Mechanic magazine
In this version, supposedly HAM was an acronym 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.
Hammarlund legend
Likely an example of corporate wishful thinking, Hammarlund products were supposedly so preeminent 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.
In truth, Hammarlund was a minor and barely known company at the time "ham" started to be used.
http://www.retrocom.com/wtcollect/hammarlund.htm
http://www.retrocom.com/wtcollect/hammarlund.htm
THE HISTORY OF HAMMARLUND
The name Hammarlund is one of the most distinguished in the early history of radio in America. The Hammarlund Manufacturing Company ranks among the nation's very oldest producers of radio equipment. Organized in 1910, Hammarlund is one of the hand full of firms in the radio field which has continued in business without interruption down through the years. So pre-eminent were Hammarlund products in the pioneering era of radio that they attained for Hammarlund the ultimate distinction of becoming a part of the language of radio. The early radio enthusiasts, the amateur operators, affectionally referred to Hammarlund products as "Ham" products, and called themselves "Ham" operators, a nickname that is now a part of our living language. Among the long line of firsts introduced by Hammarlund were high-precision variable air capacitors, the first commercial short-wave superhetrodyne receiver, and the first selective calling equipment for two-way mobile radios.
The Hammarlund story began in 1882 when Oscar Hammarlund, the Company's founder, came to America from his native home in Stockholm. In Sweden he had been a special tool designer and inspector of electrical instruments for the L. M. Erickson Company, leading instrument manufacturers and originators of the French-type telephone. He came to this country to accept a similar position with the Elgin Watch Company, and at the time was regarded a something of a prodigy in Electrical experimentation although only 22. After four years with Elgin, he joined the Western Electric Company as superintendent of the Chicago plant. Six years later he became designing engineer of the Gray National Company, later known as the TelAutograph Corporation, working closely with the founder, Elisha Gray, who is known as co-inventor of the telephone. During his 18-year association with Elisha Gray he was able to involve himself closely in the early development of radio. Finally, so keen were his interests in the "wireless" that he decided to organize a company for the purpose of developing his own ideas.
The Hammarlund Manufacturing Company came into being in 1910, 28 years after Oscar Hammarlund came to America. Hammarlund himself had just turned 50. The first Hammarlund plant was a loft operation on Fulton Street in lower Manhattan, New York City. Here Mr. Hammarlund worked on the development of ideas which had been taking shape in his mind for several years. Among the products he designed here was an armagraph, a code practice machine that employed a rotating disc similar to a phonograph record. Whenever a platinum contact, riding on the record, passed a slot, a dot or dash would be sounded. Many mass-produced items were also turned out by the small Hammarlund plant. These included double-thrown knife switches, cordless table jacks for telephone systems, and Western Union call boxes. The latter were a familiar sight in offices all over the country for many years. To summon a messenger, one simply turned the handle of the call box. The variable capacitor, one of the most famous of all Hammarlund developments, was designed in 1916. The first variable capacitor was designed to meet a problem posed by a Hammarlund customer. Nine years later, Oscar Hammarlund and his son, Lloyd, developed the Midline variable capacitor which subsequently became the standard for the industry. The company's pioneering work in the capacitor field quickly made it the leading producer of these vital components, and today Hammarlund capacitors are functioning in radio equipment throughout the free world, and are in use in America's space program. With its experience in design and production of capacitors and coils, Hammarlund was among the first manufacturers to supply do-it-yourself kits to the growing numbers Of hobbyists fascinated with radio and wanting to build their own sets. The first Hammarlund-Roberts radio receiver kits Were place on the market in 1925 and found almost immediate acceptance. Not only were the kits purchased by hobbyists, but they were also sold to custom radio builders who resold them as ready-to-use radio sets. The first kit produced by Hammarlund was the HI-Q-6, a model which many old-timers in radio remember well. Later models included the HI-Q-29, Hi-Q-30 and HI-Q-31. By 1931 when the depression was developing and the Market for kits began to diminish, Hammarlund moved aggressively into the ready-made radio field. Wisely declining to cater to a price-conscious market, Hammarlund instead concentrated on highest quality, custom units.
This emphasis on top quality helped develop a reputation for reliability which down through the years has been the hallmark of the Hammarlund name. The Company slogan "Quality without compromise" has been backed up with deed. Hammarlund's first house-manufactured radio was called the Comet-Pro. This was also the first commercial short-wave superhetodyne receiver. Within five years, thousands of these receivers were in use at commercial radiotelegraph and radiotelephone stations, aboard ships and at broadcasting stations as well as by amateur radio operators the world over. Following introduction of the Comet-Pro came an even more outstanding receiver, called the "Super-Pro." The latter was put in production in 1936. Expansion came quickly at Hammarlund when World War II broke out. More than 2000 were employed a 14 different Hammarlund plants. It has been estimated that almost 90% of American wartime military electronic equipment employed Hammarlund capacitors. In addition to Super-Pro receivers and capacitors, Hammarlund produced radar and electronic counter-measures equipment for the armed forces. The war years saw Hammarlund devoting all of its productive capacity to the military effort. In addition to turning out some 40,000 receivers for the armed forces, Hammarlund also built special equipment such as the SX or Navy Search Radar installed on big carriers, battleships and cruisers, and "jamming" equipment for blotting out enemy radio transmissions. Shortly after the war, the market was flooded with surplus Super-Pro receivers at bargain prices. Notwithstanding competition from its own brand of receivers, Hammarlund quickly introduced the HQ-129 receiver for the radio amateur market. This was followed in 1947 by the SP-600 receiver which, remarkably even surpassed the Super-Pro in flexibility and performance. They were quickly selling at a rate of about 5000 sets per year, in spite of their high price. When two-way mobile radio was being introduced to taxicabs, railroads, power companies, pipe lines and industry in 1948, Hammarlund became the first to bring out selective calling equipment. By means of push buttons, individual cars could be alerted without disturbing others in the same fleet. Each car was alerted by a specific combination of tones transmitted before a voice message. This experience with tone signaling led to Hammarlund's entry into the control and telemetry field. Tone signaling equipment also was produced for use in microwave systems sold to the armed forces and industry. A complete line of tone signaling equipment was developed which found a ready market among power companies, water works, gas companies, railroads and others who had need for transmission of control and telemetering signals over wire lines or radio links. The tone signaling business required different marketing channels than other Hammarlund products. It was also necessary to design and build complete systems instead of hardware only. Hammarlund's main emphasis today covers six major areas - amateur radio equipment - citizens band radio equipment - variable capacitors - two-way FM mobile radio equipment - commercial single sideband radio equipment - and military radio equipment. Hammarlund products today are designed and manufactured at the Company's sprawling plant at Mars Hill, North Carolina. From this location is shipped the radio equipment which proudly bears a label familiar to three generations of Americans and countless thousands of Hammarlund friends overseas.
