Re: Bug#361418: [Proposal] new Debian menu structure
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
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