why is the hobby of amateur radio called Ham radio?

Early radio operators were either Professional or Amateur, a distinction that was very much stronger then than it is now.

All communications in the earliest days of radio were by means of Morse Code which used a hand operated "key" to send the morse. Clear high speed "sending" required thousands of hours of practice which resulted in a very good "technique".

Amateur operators rarely spent any where near as much time sending and therefore rarely developed first class techniques.

Professionals were sure they could always tell an Amateur operator by the less than perfect technique they used. Amateurs were considered to be "ham handed" or more specifically "ham fisted" in their technique by the Professionals, whether they were or not. They were known as ham fisted operators.

This soon became shortened to ham operators, a badge which Amateurs took on and wore in earnest to spite the Professionals.

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RE:

why is the hobby of amateur radio called Ham radio?

know the connection with acting ie hamming it is through the greasepaint but cant get the radio oneThanks for any help

"Ham: a poor operator. A 'plug.'"

That's the definition of the word given in G. M. Dodge's "The Telegraph Instructor" even before there was 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, 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. Frustrated commercial operators would refer to the ham radio interference by calling them "hams." 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.

There are several theories. I read one in an old issue of "Radio Times" This magazine was actually printed in the 1920s... This meaning is also perpetuated through other sources. It is an acronym.. meaning Home Amateur Mechanic (HAM)

Try this site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_ham_radi...

This actually debunks my theory above... BUT.... I read my article in a different magazine.

Other internat sources add their own spins on things.

Honestly, no one knows. For sure

hi there.

Ham is an old word for amateur.

There is a split between scholars as to why - some believe it comes directly from "amateur" in America, some link it to the old word for a tiny village (ham or hamlet) and say it originally means "small-town", i.e. good enough for a village but not up to city standards.Take your pick.

Cheers, Steve.

It's based on ham meaning amateur

No idea