What counts as Amateur radio? Is meshtastic on ISM to be considered ham radio?
It’s clear to me that amateur radio started before licensing ever existing, and therefore must include all non-professional experimentation.
Experimentation outside the licensed services is alive and well.
It’s just as clear that the Amateur Radio Service the FCC regulates under 47 CFR Part 97 (and equivalents for other countries) has well-defined boundaries.
So I think ham radio used colloquially probably means licensed operation, but a convenient distinction can be made between amateur and Amateur.
Uppercase ‘A’ Amateur is specifically licensed.
Lowercase ‘a’ amateur is unlicensed - or rather, not necessarily licensed. It’s a superset of all non-professional radio activities.
Maybe you’ll find this useful too.