XE0YL 1972 (front scan), 1967 (reverse scan) Mexico

Photo early 1960's

Reverse side of 1960's photo!

Is this call real or a phoney (Mystery Girl):

K8CX: Tony, tnx photo. I think it was a spoof! XE0 was given to foreign hams operating in Mexico & an entry level license to residents. All the XE0 calls that I know of have 3 letter suffex and they couldn't pick them. I will put it up and see if I get any comment...

KB4SAD: Tom: Check out this link: http://www.qsl.net/w3df/qsl/xe0yl.html

W5KNE: I believe anything can happen in Mexico--money, power and influence works wonders. XE0YL was in 1972, 15 years before my operation. If my memory is correct, the XE0 prefix was being issued to foreign operators a long time before I was there.

G4UZN: I e-mailed the OT who gave me the photo. He said it was a QSO, and the photo came as the QSL. I've asked him if he remembers any more, but he has not come back to me yet. He's probably forgotten all about it after 40 years or so, he may be searching his memory.

G4UZN: I put a question up on the FOC reflector, and two of the guys remembered working her (one had the QSL on his wall), but nobody knew anything about her. So it's not a spoof. And I seem to be the only one with a photo.

XE1L: I believe that this Fifi (in Mexico is like a dog's name) is a joke or a prank. I asked XE1LA, Andres who was the Mexican Radio Relay League's President from 1964-1965 if he knew about Fifi, XE0YL Lopez; and he does not recall anything like that. I would asume that many radio amateurs would had known about this lady. One of the radios in her QSL card seems to be like a catalog print advertising picture.. Those XE0 permits were the introduction to ham radio as what you might call Novice Licenses. They did not required any CW knowledge. You had to operate in the VHF bands and above, no HF operation was permitted. I believe if this Fifi was over a year making contacts on the HF bands, then she was a non licensed YL.

G4UZN: On the one hand, we know the XE0YL call looks phoney; also nothing on google. On the other, she existed, people worked her, and she sent out QSL's and photographs. The OT who gave me the photo used to send cards out with IRC's for reply. She must have had a valid address! Maybe a short-term pirate with ham radio connections? Or a YL using somebody else's rig? A CB-er on the ham bands for fun? Still a mystery!

G4UZN: 2nd card dated 1967 rcvd, Two kilowatts to a beam and nobody has heard of her!

XE1KK: About Fifi, I fully agree with XE1L (SK) views: it was an OM joking on the bands.
1) At that time there were very few YLs on the air;
2) It was a small world back then and most DXers knew each other, no one seems to knew her personally.
3) The QSO was on CW, that is hard to believe for a XE YL those years.
If you allow me to speculate; I think she was a friend of an XE who took some pictures of her in his shack, decided to get on the air with a nice call (maybe using that call illegally) and had some fun. Kind of the F0OL that we heard April’s fool from time to time.

G4UZN: I just had a look at her photo. On the reverse is stamped - Cortesia de Alberto H. Calleja XE1NE. There is a rather unusual XE1NE card on Ham Gallery. Perhaps XE1NE  was Fifi?

K8CX: It looks like this mystery has been solved!

I am attaching the cover of Turkish Radio Amateur Association’s magazine, (November 1969 issue). A nice photo of “Fifi” Lopez, XE0YL. There is no mention of her in the magazine. TA2UH

K8CX: Does anyone have any current info on Fifi? More comments welcome!

QSL & 1st photo G4UZN Collection
Magazine cover courtesy of TA2UH
2nd photo courtesy of NL7XM