What constitutes a LID?

By Ford Peterson - NØFP

As time and energy permits, I like to chase DX (among other on-the-air activity). The process is simple. You work the DX, get a report, give a report, and usually say 73. The best DX is often very short and very sweet. The goal on both ends is simply to "make the Q." QSL cards are often exchanged by mail or bureau to get confirmation of the QSO for awards like DXCC, WAZ, etc. Many DX are chasing states and even counties.

Tonight I heard a Denmark station on 80-meter SSB. Not a new country for me, but a new one for SSB. So I wanted him in my log. He was right at my noise floor in Minnesota. I could just barely get copy and the QSB would often take out his signal completely.

Working the east coast from EU is like working across town on 2 Meters. Based on the reports exchanged, signals appear to roar into the right coast of the US. "You're 20 over peaking 30 over in Maine using a dipole." And again, "You are a solid 30 over 9 into NY, beautiful signal." Reports delivered from ME, NJ, MD, CT, etc. were typically well over S-9. And these east coast stations were able to bust pile-ups using equipment like "G5RV," the "double bazooka," and "100 watts into a dipole at 30 feet." Most of the "first tier" state-side stations were exchanging reports well over S-9.

Tonight was different. The DX was calling "QRZ any west coast or Midwest station." He was obviously trying to work deeper into the heartland. Just hearing EU in the Midwest on the low bands is a treat. Hearing EU stations calling west coast and Midwest is quite common when EU can be heard. I must therefore conclude that hearing stations from the Midwest and west coast must be a treat for the DX as well. The disappointment comes from all the people who are clearly NOT in the area the DX is calling. And the QRM from the east coast and Southeast US was unbelievable. These stations were calling even though I could hear 7s calling the DX. In my book, this is borderline malicious interference.

Hams are supposed to be self-policing. Yet there appears to be no forum for slapping the hands of those who are rude and demonstrate inappropriate behavior. The DX could have controlled the situation by not calling on stations clearly "out-of-territory," although this is tough since the numeric districts have little meaning any more.

Discussing this with some friends, I referred to the QRMing stations as LIDS. The newbies in the group asked: "So what's a LID?" For the first time in my life, I was without words. To my knowledge, the letters L.I.D. don't stand for anything in particular. But my understanding of a LID is a person who does not pay attention, transmits when he's supposed to be receiving, causes needless QRM, or operates the radio inappropriately. People who operate their radios in a criminal fashion are always LIDs, but not all LIDs are criminals. There is a fine line between LIDs and non-LIDs.

This description left the newbies with more questions than answers. So I submit the question to the hams lurking on eHam to possibly discover the true meaning of a LID. What behavior constitutes being a LID? Where did term originate?