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That's the definition of the
word given in G. M. Dodge's The Telegraph Instructor even before
radio. The definition has never changed in wire telegraphy. The
first wireless operators were landline telegraphers who left their
offices to go to sea or to man the coastal stations. They brought
with them their language and much of the tradition of their older
profession.
In those early days, spark was king and every station occupied the
same wavelength--or, more accurately perhaps, every station occupied
the whole spectrum with its broad spark signal. Government stations,
ships, coastal stations and the increasingly numerous amateur
operators all competed for time and signal supremacy in each other's
receivers. Many of the amateur stations were very powerful. Two
amateurs, working across town, could effectively jam all the other
operators in the area. When this happened, frustrated commercial
operators would call the ship whose weaker signals had been blotted
out by the amateurs and say "SRI OM THOSE #&$!@ HAMS ARE JAMMING
YOU."
Amateurs, possibly unfamiliar with the real meaning of the term,
picked it up and applied it to themselves in true "Yankee Doodle"
fashion and wore it with pride. As the years advanced, the original
meaning has completely disappeared.
From the
Pages of the ARRL website
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