didnt the term "ham " originate with operators using their fist on the key -ham fisted ? I also saw a movie where they said you could recognise the sender by the way he "typed "
I've heard several explanations of where "ham" came from, but that is a new one to me.
When sending morse code with a manual key, yes each operator has his own slight timing and style. Many think they are putting personality and their own "flair" into their code but most are actually making it very difficult to copy while doing so.
A high percentage of us are now using "paddles" with an electronic keyer to send code. They are basically two "paddles" spaced close together. One paddle is the dit (short) and the other is the dah (long). You squeeze the paddles and the electronics then produce the proper timing and length of each dit or dah. For example, if you need to send an "s", which is three dits, you can just hold the dit paddle and wait while the keyer produces three perfect dits for you. It's SOOOO much easier, fasther, and smoother than using the manual style key.
The electronic keyers do take the "personality" out of the sender's code, but it is much easier to copy because each character is spaced evenly, accurately, and correctly every time.
