Why are we called „HAM“? From the legends of Harvard to the first Bulgarian HAM

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?

In this adventure, we will find out how an insult became an honorary title and how Bulgarians “broke” the airwaves long before the internet was even an idea.

Legends: Three Students and a Congress

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

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 “HAMs.” A nice story, isn’t it? Almost like Hollywood!

The Truth: Ham Hands and “Filthy” Airwaves

If you ask serious historians, however, the version is a little more prosaic and… biting. At the beginning of the 20th century, professional telegraph operators were real “aristocrats” of the airwaves. They called any novice operator who transmitted Morse code clumsily and with errors, „ham-fisted“ (with hands like hams – fat and clumsy).

When radio amateurs started building transmitters in their basements and “interfering” with serious military stations, the professionals angrily shouted: “Those hams are jamming our signals again!”. Instead of getting angry, the radio amateurs said to themselves: “Hey, that sounds cool!” and proudly adopted the name.

The Bulgarian Trail: The True Pioneers of LZ

While the rest of the world was called “hams,” in our country history is written with great enthusiasm and little available materials. Here’s how it all happened:

• The Beginning (1926): It all started in the Sofia City Casino, where 38 daredevils founded the first “Bulgarian Radio Club.” Their goal? To unite all those interested in the „invisible waves“.
• The First Call (1938): The legendary Ivan Djakov constructed a transmitter in Sofia and on April 24, 1938, sent the first amateur radio call from Bulgaria: „CQ de LZ1ID“. Djakov became so popular abroad that he was a „desired prey“ for every amateur radio operator in the world! In 1945, Ivan Dzhakov resumed his amateur radio activity from Sofia with the initials LZ1XX, and later LZ1RF.
• The first club station (1949): At the very peak of Christmas (December 25) in 1949, LZ1AA began operating with operator Ognyan Kukurov.
• LZ1KAB and the era of DOSO (1952): The Central Radio Club was opened on Slaveykov Square. The first official connection was on 7 MHz, again by Ognyan Kukurov. From then on, Bulgarian radio amateurs became some of the best in the world in “fox hunting” and high-speed telegraphy.

Why are we HAMs today?

Whether the name comes from “clumsy hands” or from three students, today being a HAM means being part of a global network. We are the people who stay connected when everything else stops. We are the ones who organized the first radio connections between computers, when the Internet had not yet entered our daily lives, including to the military contingent in Cambodia (Anton Ivanov – LZ3AI here and Vasil Vassilev – LZ3WW there). We are the experimenters who reflect signals from the Moon and talk to Antarctica (with initials LZ0A, thanks to Miko Mikov – LZ1RR and Yordan Yankov – LZ1UU).

So, if you hear „HAM“, don’t think of a sandwich. Think of 100 years of innovation and friendship on the air!

73 and a follow-up on the air!

Tony, LZ3AI

Bibliography and sources

1. Danev, P. (LZ1US), Radio amateurism in Bulgaria. History, facts, memories, Sofia, 1998.
2. Boyadzhiev, S., Macedonia in my life. Memories, Sofia, 2013.
3. Wikipedia, History of Amateur Radio in Bulgaria (free encyclopedia).
4. Radio Magazine (archives), organ of the Bulgarian Radio and Television Association/National Radio and Television Association.
5. ARRL (American Radio Relay League), Etymology of the term ‘HAM’.

Материалът Why do they call us „HAM“? From the legends of Harvard to the first Bulgarian HAM е публикуван за пръв път на Галя и Тони - Галанто.