oohrah wrote:I notice a lot of folks here are capitalizing "HAM", like it is some kind of acronym or abbreviation. It is not. It is a noun or adjective, depending on use. The origin is obscure, and much debated. It is just - Ham - as in Ham Radio Operator, or He/She is a Ham.
According to Google;
Well, it goes like this: The word "HAM" as applied to 1908 was the station CALL of the first amateur wireless station operated by some amateurs of the Harvard Radio Club. They were ALBERT S. HYMAN, BOB ALMY and POOGIE MURRAY. At first they called their station "HYMAN- ALMY-MURRAY".
Being a lazy geek, I would have simply guessed it was an acronym for "High Amplitude Modulation", and I would have been wrong......
member of the church of San Gabriel de Possenti
lay brother in the order of St. John Moses Browning
USPSA limited/single stack/revolver
I don't believe everything I read on Google, and in this case I will defer the ultimate authority on the matter, the ARRL (who also does not spell it all caps):
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 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. As the years advanced, the original meaning has completely disappeared.
As I mentioned, the origin is obscure.
USMC, Retired
Treating one variety of person as better or worse than others by accident of birth is morally indefensible.
I picked up a Baofeng UV-5X3 as my first radio, should be here tomorrow. Don't know what to do with it yet, but hoping to take my exam in about a week and a half. Maybe if I pass it, I'll press the transmit button in about 2-3 weeks.
TSRA Member since 5/30/15; NRA Member since 10/31/14
Flightmare wrote:Just got back from taking my tech test. 33 out of 35 right. Now to play the waiting game.
Congrats!
The left lies about everything. Truth is a liberal value, and truth is a conservative value, but it has never been a left-wing value. People on the left say whatever advances their immediate agenda. Power is their moral lodestar; therefore, truth is always subservient to it. - Dennis Prager
Flightmare wrote:Just got back from taking my tech test. 33 out of 35 right. Now to play the waiting game.
Watch the FCC website for your license to be published.
" Your operating authority begins when your license grant information appears on the amateur service licensee database of the Universal Licensing System."
Which Lic?
Plano Ham Radio club.
Dallas Ham Radio Club (DARC) 146.88 on you dial Google the repeater list on DFW Freq.
At this hour I am KA5YQG
Life member of ARRL. Get a copy of QST even if you have to go To HRO in Plano But otherwise leave mony at home.
ET-Ret wrote:Which Lic?
Plano Ham Radio club.
Dallas Ham Radio Club (DARC) 146.88 on you dial Google the repeater list on DFW Freq.
At this hour I am KA5YQG
Life member of ARRL. Get a copy of QST even if you have to go To HRO in Plano But otherwise leave mony at home.
KG5TVF
Hoping to take the general exam on saturday in McKinney.
Flightmare wrote:Today was a good day for me. Received an email giving me my license info, 7 minutes after my Baofeng BF-F8HP arrived from Amazon.
Congrats! I got the same radio and hope to take tech test soon
The left lies about everything. Truth is a liberal value, and truth is a conservative value, but it has never been a left-wing value. People on the left say whatever advances their immediate agenda. Power is their moral lodestar; therefore, truth is always subservient to it. - Dennis Prager
Got the same radio myself. Already looking into a little better mobile setup. Repeaters around the house have been quiet but was able to get my first conversation going this morning on a busier repeater.
Should have my vanity callsign approved any day now.
May we never haver to draw but always be prepared.
NRA Benefactor Member / TSRA Family Membership
mdubtx wrote:Got the same radio myself. Already looking into a little better mobile setup. Repeaters around the house have been quiet but was able to get my first conversation going this morning on a busier repeater.
Should have my vanity callsign approved any day now.
I have a Kenwood TM-V71A dual band in my car and one in my home office. They are great radios if they are in the price range you want to pay. The one in my car is coupled with a Comet SBB5-NMO antenna. That is a half wave on 2 meters and stacked 5/8 waves on 70cm. I had to go that route because I drive a Corvette and there's no metal to serve as a ground plane. At home, I'm using a Comet GP-3 dual band antenna. It's a single piece antenna and this is important in terms of it surviving in high winds.
