In article ,
wrote:
Hello,

By the way, has anyone ever figured out why they call it "HAM"? Is it
because the old tube radios were hot enough to cook a ham on top of
them?

The term traces its history to the theatrical stage.

Where for clarity and projection one is taught to add (a bit of) an "H" sound
to words starting with a 'short a'.

Those who did it _badly_, and/or made other "beginners" mistakes were,
oddly enough, known as "(H)amateurs".

This is also where the phrase "Hamming it up" comes from, describing badly-
done over-acting. Beginners who are 'trying too hard'. And, incidentally,
where the 'ham' in "ham-fisted", describing an apparent beginner pounding at
a telegraph key, comes from.

As on stage, in radio communications (particularly when *low* fidelity voice
channels are involved), prefixing an initial 'short a' sound with a bit of an
'h' _does_ help the receiving party 'hear' correctly.

Thus '(h)amateur' radio operators are known as "hams". *WITHOUT* the derogatory
connotations from the theatrical stage.