I'm not sure that everyone who commented on this topic actually read my
initially posted message and fully understood the subject line .
This was not intended to debate the merits pro and con of using the word
"ham" to designate amateur radio. I see the term in my amateur radio
magazine collection going as far back as the 1920's and possibly earlier,
and I have heard it in popular use for all the 49 years I have been
licensed. I use it regularly myself even though I believe the prestige
associated with the term has been downgraded in recent times.
The origin of the term has been debated for nearly a century with no
definite conclusions, so I doubt if anyone is going to discover it or come
any closer to the answer here.
My question was merely in regards to the way I have often seen it written
recently, with the word spelt in all capitals, as if it were an acronym. To
me, this seems dorky and "faintly embarrassing"*. (* see
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308749/posts)
And isn't AM a part of ham radio? Therefore any issue regarding amateur
radio IS an AM issue... perhaps even more so, since we probably maintain a
higher profile to the general public than hams who run SSB, CW or data, with
our voices carrying through intelligibly over shortwave radios, as well as
telephones and other electronic devices that inadvertently act as radio
receivers.
Don k4kyv
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