On Fri, 2006-04-14 at 09:57 -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote: > Amateur radio is the dumb name, for people who are confused by > what the practioners call it -- HAM radio.
Perhaps, as others have suggested, this is a locale specific issue. In the US, you won't find "ham" in the FCC rules [1]. It's the "Amateur Radio Service". FEMA publications rarely use the term "ham" with the exception of an occasional press release that uses both terms. I often find it necessary to to describe our activities as "amateur" *and* "ham" radio, however "Amateur Radio" is the more formal and widely recognized. We receive an "Amateur Radio" license from the FCC as reflected on the actual paper and the Universal Licensing System [2]. 1. http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/news/part97/Part97.txt 2. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchLicense.jsp > > First of all, "Ham" is not a word, neither it is an acronym. It > > roughly stands for "[H]andheld [a][m]ateur". So what does that make? > > "Amateur (handheld amateur) radio". Makes no sense, does it? > > Rubbish. This is revisionism -- HAM radio existed long before > the equipment could be called hand held. HAM radio operators > existed before WW II -- and the equipment was huge. Yes, this is revisionism. According to the ARRL [3] public relations folks, the word ham predates radio itself meaning a poor (unskilled) telegraph operator. In the days of spark gap transmitters, commercial radio operators would call an amateur causing interference a "ham" meaning "a poor operator" [4]. Amateurs seized the opportunity at a new label and the original definition is now somewhat archaic. Amateur Radio, however, is the more formal and widely accepted term. 3. http://www.arrl.org/ 4. http://www.arrl.org/pio/bwhatis.html -- See Section 5 -Jeff KE7FRJ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
