The term "HAM" is used within the amateur radio community as a common name or identifier for oneself and others. Within China, among hobbyists, it's often referred to using phonetic transcriptions like "Hai," "Ham," or "Ha Ma," along with terms like "frog." The translated word "火腿" (huǒtuǐ), meaning "ham," is also widely used.
Explanation 1: Why is "HAM" used to represent amateur radio enthusiasts?
One widely circulated explanation in China is that "HAM" is the call sign of three early amateur radio enthusiasts. This origin story comes from a description by Japanese enthusiasts, which can be found in many books and online articles in China.
According to an article written by Takikawa Tetsuo （JR8EZM） in the May 1991 issue of the Japanese magazine "CQ", there is a story about an early amateur radio station: In 1908, at the very beginning of amateur radio, there was a radio club at Harvard University, with members Elbert.S. Hyman, Bob Almay, and Paggy Murray. Initially, they used their surnames as call signs: Hyman Almay Murry; however, they found that the names were too long, so they started sending out the call sign by hand, which was tiring. So they changed it to HYALMU.
In early 1909, the call sign of this amateur radio station was mixed up with a Mexican ship called "MYALMO" during communication, so they had to change it back to the first letter of their surnames as the station's identifier, resulting in "HAM". At that time, since amateur radio was just emerging, there were no regulations on the use of radio frequencies, and amateur radio enthusiasts could freely use any frequency and choose their own call signs. In fact, some amateur radio stations had equipment with better performance than professional commercial radio stations. This phenomenon attracted the attention of the US Congress, which began to plan to establish strict regulations to suppress amateur radio stations.
One of the members of the "HAM" amateur radio station, Hyman, used a controversial draft of radio regulation as his graduation thesis topic in 1911. Hyman's advisor was also a member of the committee drafting the bill, so he submitted a copy of the thesis to a member of Congress, David I. Walsh, and lobbied him. The US Congressman, with extreme importance, invited Hyman to speak at the committee. Hyman's statement gained attention for this bill.
Shortly thereafter, the bill was sent to Congress, and the "HAM" amateur radio station, which Hyman belonged to, became a focus. Subsequently, "HAM" became a symbol of how amateur radio enthusiasts in that era, which was shrouded in mystery and controversy, could overcome the threat posed by large commercial or professional radio stations. As a result, Americans associated "HAM" with amateur radio. The author did not verify who was the first author to cite the Japanese article; however, we know that this first author introduced the origin story of "HAM" into China, providing answers for many enthusiasts who were curious about the origin of the word "HAM". I only verified and joined the circle of enthusiasts in 2010, and since then, I have been curious about the origin of "HAM". After seeing the above description, I also believe that this explanation is credible.
Interpretation Two: A derogatory term – HAM
Through a chance encounter, I came across an article in the ARRL's QST magazine, October 2013 edition, titled "pioneers of wireless," written by Mike Marino, callsign WN1M.
Mike is a volunteer for the ARRL, responsible for organizing and collecting information about the history of amateur radio. In the final paragraph of his article, he wrote:
"Shortly thereafter, signals from amateur operators began to appear alongside those of commercial and military stations. Due to their lack of experience, amateur operators were criticized by the operators of commercial and military stations, and they referred to the amateurs as "HAM."
At that time, this term was used in a derogatory way, but the amateur operators readily accepted it and continue to use it today.
This explanation of the origin of the term "HAM" is completely different from the one circulating domestically. How does this reconcile? Which one is correct? Let's look at both explanations again. First, let's examine the domestic explanation, which comes from an article written by a Japanese amateur and published in the 1991 edition of CQ magazine. The author states that the historical information is preserved in the US Congressional archives. This makes the explanation seem credible.
However, the explanation given by American amateurs has no supporting evidence. Can this explanation be believed?
Interpretation 3: The "Non-Professional" HAM
Due to my doubts, I sent an email to Mike asking if his explanation was credible and also informed him of the origin story within our country. I hoped to receive a clear answer. Subsequently, Mike replied to my questions. Mike stated that he leaned towards accepting the idea that the term "HAM" originated during the era of landline telegraphy, and there was evidence to support this origin time. Regarding the accurate meaning of the term "HAM," there are currently two different viewpoints.
Some people believe that at the time, "HAM" referred to enthusiasts who were not skilled in Morse code. Others believe that "HAM" referred to operators who engaged in a lot of non-business related communication ("non-professional" operations). The term "ham actor" can prove this origin theory.
In his article published in QST, Mike stated that the meaning of "HAM" at the time was for those who were not skilled in Morse code. However, in his reply, he said that he preferred to accept the idea of "non-professional." Mike provided a link to Wikipedia to support this origin. The Wikipedia page on the origin of HAM radio lists several typical and incorrect origin stories that are circulating among people, including the first one related to the radio call sign.
The article states that the HAM radio call sign can be found, but it has nothing to do with those three people. The owner of the "HAM" call sign is Earl C. Hawkins. Another statement is that "HAM" represents Hertz-Armstrong-Marconi, which is also considered a false origin theory. The result of the investigation shows that when the term "HAM" appeared, Armstrong was still an unknown college student. Therefore, according to the explanation in Wikipedia, interpretation 3 is correct regarding the origin of the term "HAM."
Amateur radio is not just a hobby. Amateur radio, while seemingly casual, involves knowledge that is far from trivial. Much of the knowledge related to amateur radio has been transmitted from abroad to China, and some of it has even spread through enthusiasts for many years, sometimes with inaccuracies. For example, there are various claims about the polarization of radio waves, whether the ionosphere truly has distinct layers, and whether higher antenna heights are always better.
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