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history.txt
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1994-11-27
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file: history.txt updated November 3, 1992
Subject: ARRL Answers to Questions About Amateur Radio History
Unless indicated otherwise, all of sidebars listed below were
written by Louise Ramsey Moreau, then W3WRE/WB6BBO, and then, as
now, hamdom's premiere authority on hand keys. In the following,
read text between asterisks (*text*) as underlined or italicized.
The following text is taken from *The Radio Amateur's Operating
Manual* (first ed, pub by ARRL in 1966 and edited/written by
George Thurston, W4MLE. Copyright 1964, American Radio Relay League,
Inc., all rights reserved.
"'HAM'" (page 9) describes the origin of the word *ham*. To this I
add that the word *ham* first appears in *QST* (as reported in a
Sep 1966 Stray [p 83] and confirmed by A Quick Look At The Real
Thing) the article "Rottenest Luck Ever" by El Amateur, November
1916. The paragraph reads, "Say fellow 'Hams,' doesn't this beat
'em all? If any of you have ever heard of any worse luck than this
I think we should all greatly enjoy reading it."
"SEVENTY THREE" (page 15) describes the origin of this expression
and its relatives.
"CQ" (page 19) describes the origin of this telegraph signal. To
it I add that the International Telecommunication Union
promulgates not only the use of *CQ*, but also the use of *CP*,
which, "...followed by two or more call signs or by a code word
(call to certain receiving stations without request for reply) is
used only for the transmission of information of any nature
intended to be read or used by the persons authorized." (Source:
ITU *Radio Regulations*, paragraphs 3701 [aeronautical mobile
service usage], and 4753 [maritime mobile service usage].)
"THE INTERNATIONAL CODE" (page 29) describes the origin and
development of Samuel F. B. Morse's code. To it I add that *The
ARRL Handbook for Radio Amateurs* (1991 ed) details Morse signals
for the characters of several languages (English, Japanese, Thai,
Korean, Arabic, Hebrew, Russian and Greek on pages 19-2 and 19-3;
that yes, there is currently no symbol for the exclamation point
(*bang* in printing circles); and that some of our current usages,
such as *ES* for *and*, are actually *American* Morse characters
(an International Code *ES* being how you send an ampersand in
American Morse).
"THE PROSIGNS" (page 31) sketches the general use and origin of
*pro*cedural *sig*nals, which is what *prosigns* are. (Yes, there
are also *prowords* for use in voice operation.)
"THE Q CODE" (page 33) describes the origin of the Q code (QRM,
QTR and so on), highlighting the late-1930s introduction of our
internationally unofficial *QN* signals for net operation. To it I
add that ham radio has adopted and discarded other unofficial Q
codes, such as *QMH*, which meant/s "I will tune for replies from
the middle of the band to the high end," and that some radio
services have official Q signals all their own. (An aeronautical
CW operation hearing *QAK* has to act fast, for instance, because
*QAK* means "collision imminent.")
"THE WOUFF HONG" (pages 42 and 43, *not* by Lou Moreau) describes
the origin of Amateur Radio's premier mythical instrument of
torture.
"The Amateur Message Form" [no, this title *isn't* all caps] (page
53) describes the origin of the amateur message form, and reveals
that the initial group *ASAP* -- I won't tell you what it means,
but I'm sure it'll come to you ASAP -- dates from the 1840s.
"THE DISTRESS CALL" (page 109) traces the origin of Amateur
Radio's internationally unofficial *QRRR* signal, *CQD* and SOS
(the last of which is to be sent as one character).
It's in the TD library -- ready for excerpting, photocopying, and so on.
We still own the copyright on that material, I believe, so I think that
sent-out photocopies should convey our copyright and not imply that the
material can be distributed willy-nilly.
The members and HQ staff would like to thank the following people
for their contributions to this information file:
WJ1Z (Dave Newkirk)
Send any additional information or changes to mtracy@arrl.org.
73 from ARRL HQ.