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- Why are Radio Amateurs called "HAMS"?
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From Florida Skip Magazine
- 1959
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Have you ever wondered why radio amateurs are called "HAMS"?
Well, it goes like this: The word "HAM" as applied to 1908 was the station
CALL of the first amateur wireless stations operated by some amateurs of
the Harvard Radio Club. They were ALBERT S. HYMAN, BOB ALMY and POOGIE
MURRAY.
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At first they called their station "HYMAN-ALMY-MURRAY". Tapping
out such a long name in code soon became tiresome and called for a revision.
They changed it to "HY-AL-MU", using the first two letters of each of their
names. Early in 1901 some confusion resulted between signals from amateur
wireless station "HYALMU" and a Mexican ship named "HYALMO". They then
decided to use only the first letter of each name, and the station CALL
became "HAM".
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In the early pioneer days of unregulated radio amateur operators
picked their own frequency and call-letters. Then, as now, some amateurs
had better signals than commercial stations. The resulting interference
came to the attention of congressional committees in Washington and Congress
gave much time to proposed legislation designed to critically limit amateur
radio activity. In 1911, ALBERT HYMAN chose the controversial WIRELESS
REGULATION BILL as the topic 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 with the
thesis is that he asked HYMAN to appear before the committee. ALBERT HYMAN
took the stand and described how the little station was built and almost
cried when he told the crowded committee room that if the BILL went through
that they would have to close down the station because they could not afford
the license fees and all the other requirements which the BILL imposed
on amateur stations.
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Congressional debate began on the WIRELESS REGULATION BILL
and little station "HAM" became the symbol for all the little amateur stations
in the country crying to be saved from the menace and greed of the big
commercial stations who didn't want them around. The BILL finally got to
the floor of Congress and every speaker talked about the "...poor little
station HAM". That's how it all started. You will find the whole story
in the Congressional Record.
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Nation-wide publicity associated station "HAM" with amateur
radio operators. From that day to this, and probably until the end of time
in radio an amateur is a "HAM"
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