{"id":2155,"date":"2026-03-31T15:05:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T12:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.galanto.com\/?p=2155"},"modified":"2026-09-22T07:51:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T04:51:45","slug":"zashto-ni-vikat-ham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.galanto.com\/en\/zashto-ni-vikat-ham\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are we called \"HAM\"? From Harvard legends to the first Bulgarian HAM."},"content":{"rendered":"


\n
\n

\"Why
Why are we called „HAM“? From the legends of Harvard to the first Bulgarian HAM<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Why are we called „HAM“? From the legends of Harvard to the first Bulgarian <\/strong>HAM<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Have you ever wondered why radio amateurs are called „HAM“ (which means „ham“ in English)? It sounds a bit funny, doesn’t it? After all, what does a smoked ham have to do with antennas and transceivers?<\/p>\n

In this adventure, we will find out how an insult became an honorary title and how Bulgarians \u201cbroke\u201d the airwaves long before the internet was even an idea.<\/p>\n

Legends: Three Students and a Congress<\/strong><\/h5>\n

One of the most entertaining (albeit slightly embellished) stories takes us back to 1908 at Harvard University. It is said that three students \u2013 Hyman, Almy and Murray<\/strong> \u2013 founded one of the first amateur radio stations. They simply called it HAM<\/strong> (from their initials).<\/p>\n

The story goes that when the US government decided to get its hands on the airwaves in 1911, young Hyman gave such a passionate speech to Congress that politicians were moved and left frequencies for amateurs. Since then, the whole world has started calling operators \u201cHAMs.\u201d A nice story, isn\u2019t it? Almost like Hollywood!<\/p>\n

The Truth: Ham Hands and \u201cFilthy\u201d Airwaves<\/strong><\/h5>\n

If you ask serious historians, however, the version is a little more prosaic and\u2026 biting. At the beginning of the 20th century, professional telegraph operators were real \u201caristocrats\u201d of the airwaves. They called any novice operator who transmitted Morse code clumsily and with errors, „ham-fisted“<\/strong> (with hands like hams \u2013 fat and clumsy).<\/p>\n

When radio amateurs started building transmitters in their basements and \u201cinterfering\u201d with serious military stations, the professionals angrily shouted: \u201cThose hams are jamming our signals again!\u201d<\/em>. Instead of getting angry, the radio amateurs said to themselves: \u201cHey, that sounds cool!\u201d<\/em> and proudly adopted the name.<\/p>\n

The Bulgarian Trail: The True Pioneers of LZ<\/strong><\/h5>\n

While the rest of the world was called \u201chams,\u201d in our country history is written with great enthusiasm and little available materials. Here\u2019s how it all happened:<\/p>\n