SLIMS
PIRATES
AND BOOTLEGGERS
Hi Rod,
Well, I believe the following definitions to be accurate but as you know,on the Internet, you'll always get an argument:
Slim
- Someone pretending to be a DX station, usually rare, that is supposed to be on the air. For example, someone in southern Argentina pretending to be Heard Island, VK0IR
Pirate
- Someone using an existing callsign and operating on the air, e.g. claiming to be WA6YOO/4 on an North Carolina island group. What would happen is that I would suddenly be surprised by receiving a number of QSL cards and wonder "What Happened?"
Bootlegger
- Someone, usually not a Ham but a wannabe, making up a callsign, one usually not in the callbook, and getting on the air. Sometimes it is someone who already bought a radio, took the test and flunked, and then gets on the air anyway.
These definitions are somewhat flexible because some of their aspects might be combined.
73 W6YOO
Origin Of Slim From Dave VE2ZP
The origin of the term SLIM is, I believe, as follows: On a date I cannot recall in the mid-1960s, an operator showed up on
20m CW, identifying himself as 8X8A, claiming he was located on "Cray Island," an
island that had just emerged from the ocean floor following a major undersea volcanic event. The
operator said his name was "Slim." Huge pileups endured for a few days, then "Slim" was exposed as a pirate and
he disappeared from the bands. Ever since, Pirates have been called "Slim." What made "Slim's" claim even partly credible
in the first place was the emergence of Surtsey, an island near Iceland in (I think) 1964. Surtsey
rose from the floor of the Atlantic as a result of undersea volcanic activity. It was a
major news event at the time. I never heard any of this at the time as I was four years old and not yet a
ham. I read the reports in QSTs and 73 Magazine of the time.
Dave VE2ZP
AC6V Humor
Avast and QRZ
From P1RTE on Charcoal Island - Handle here is Slim
Hey
Slim where is Charcoal Island Located????
Avast
Matey - tis in the Barbecues
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Last Update:July 31, 2002