[BARC-List] BARC Question of the Week

[k1nun at netscape.net]

When you write Ham Radio, do you capitalize the H and the R, or do you write "ham radio" with small (lowercase) letters? Ditto Amateur Radio vs. amateur radio. Why?

To me, this is an issue. A lot of years ago, one of the major Ham magazines began a program to use uppercase (capital) letters, reasoning that lowercase was demeaning and minimized the significance and importance of the service (not hobby). The campaign went on for a few months and reverted to lowercase. I believe in uppercase since Amateur Radio is a formal service designation by the FCC and other governments' entities (unlike, say, model railroading or coin collecting) and the colloquial Ham Radio is the proper pronoun, popular nomenclature.

What do you thing, and why? 
Be sure to copy the BARC list in your response. (barc-list at mailman.qth.net) I'm not sure, but just a reply may only be returned to me. But don't explain this technicality to me! Remember the purpose of this note. Explain why you use upper- or lowercase letters.

73,
ERIC
K1NUN

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