At a time when the World 11m DX Community is struggling for dedicated and equipped Club administrators, up steps a young man in Australia bursting with ideas and creative nous that will one day stand him at the top of the DX tree. Not only does this talented teenage DX prodigy demonstrate the potential to become one of Australia’s leading club administrators in the years to come but also the skill, ambition and desire to match some of the DX adventure feats achieved by those at the elite level of DXpedition experience. Meet 43SD280 Jordan — the next generation of elite 11m DXer!

Q: What’s the name on your QSL card say?
A: Jordan

Q: I see that it’s a personal card. Why the need for your very own card when 43 Division groups have some great club cards?
A: I believe a personal card is better to send as confirmation as it puts a face to the voice.

Q: Speaking of getting personal, what does the XYL call you?
A: “Jordy” is what the girls call me sometimes.

Q: In what part of Australia do you live, Jordan?
A: A town called Maitland which is about 160 km north of Sydney and 30 km north-west of Newcastle in New South Wales……right on the Hunter River.

Q: Fisherman?
A: Nope, me fishing? I would rather play with computers than sit for hours waiting for nothing, hahaha.

Q: Boatie?
A: Nope, don’t own a boat; don’t live close enough to warrant it.

Q: Sport?
A: Well, I played soccer for approximately seven years, basketball for 2 and my latest sport was ballroom dancing for about two years in competition, but at the moment nothing. I better do something soon as I’m putting on some weight so the gym is looking good.

Q: I always have this image of you as a twelve year old calling and calling and calling me when I was up in the Torres Strait Islands…… How old are you now, Jordan?
A: 16 turning 17 on the 5th of May, woohoo finally.

Q: When I first met you on the radio you were using a Delta Tango callsign and then I heard you had a stink with 43DT001 Bryan, the club’s President. What happened there?
A: I got sick of the callsign and the Delta Tango Group, so it was time for a change and I entered a new group.

Q: What callsign/s are you using now?
A: 43SD280 & 43OD280

Q: Why the two clubs?
A: Sugar Delta because I believe it is one of the best DX groups in the world and the “Sugar Delta” part of the callsign is easy to say lol. Oscar Delta because I was introduced to it by one of the nicest dx operators I have met 13OD002 Dario. He said I could join for free because the group was in need of Australian operators. Also the QSL cards are so beautiful.

Q: 43TR299 Geoff has Max, Brett has Nipper……who patrols your shack?
A: A black Labrador named Lucky except unlike those guys he lives outside and does not have control of my radio at any time.

Q: You’d think that with a name like Lucky, he’d be allowed in the shack?
A: Haha maybe we need to organise a XYL for lucky, anyone got a bitch haha.

Q: Any brothers or sisters?
A: 2 sisters, and yes I’m the middle. 1 older and one younger.

Q: Let’s go back a few years now…… What triggered the radio obsession?
A: I got a set of walkie talkies for Christmas when I was 7 years old.

Q: Going by a few comments on the site that appears to be a pretty common initiation for the communications enthusiast…… Other than the walkie talkies, what was your first ever transceiver and who bought it for you?
A: A little 27MHz Uniden set from Santa….shhhhh

Q: Why do you think Santa chose a CB radio of all things? Why not a microscope, a surf board or a cricket bat?
A: I think Santa chose a CB radio because he had been watching me play with those walkie talkies and how I was unable to actually to speak to anyone but the person who was operating the other walkie talkie.

Q: That’s because they only do about half a watt, Jordan. I had the same experience, lol! But I still remember my philosophy: “Keep screaming and they’ll hear me”.
A: Yeah, I thought those things were supposed to keep kids amused?!?! Come on, maybe I should contact the manufacturer and ask them to give the poor buggers some more power?

Q: How would it go rigging up a 300 watt amplifier to one of those walkie talkies? Now wouldn’t that be fun? King of the kids!
A: Haha, I think the poor things plastic shell would have melted by about 10watts ahaha.

Q: First ever 11m DX role model? (I.e. someone whom you’ve modelled your self on or thought, “Hey, I like what he’s doing, I’ll do that as well!”)
A: Jaye, 43SD133. I like the sound of his station and his style of doing radio stuff.

Q: Which part of the hobby gives you the most adrenalin?
A: Lots of DX on the band at one time. It makes me get a sore throat but it’s worth it in the end because I get a log book full of contacts.

Q: After a big session on the mic, what’s your favourite snack in the shack?
A: Saladas with Vegemite and cheese! But I don’t sit near the radio or operate the rig with food in my hand because they’re just too messy.

Q: What’s the first word that comes into your head when I say the words “Sexy Chef”?
A: Former Miss World Jennifer Hawkins (a local here) in her sexy lingerie cooking some cookies and cream hahahah.

Q: How does Miss Deb stack up?
A: Yeah, pretty damn sexy I’d say!

Q: She’d like that description…… Besides radio gear and Saladas and Vegemite, what three things couldn’t you do without on a DXpedition?
A: A car, a girl and food.

Q: Forget the YL, Jordan. You need to focus on T.I.T.S. (Time in the Shack). Plus you’d need petrol to run the car so the tropical island fantasy is off…… I could lend you one of mine anyway, lol!
A: Hahaha, I’m sure I will find my own thanks. Remember I live close to some of the best beaches in the world and the bikini babes are amazing.

Q: What was the last shack item to malfunction and when was it?
A: A power supply about 1year ago. It started making a really bad buzzing noise and I thought it was going to explode.

Q: If you died tomorrow, what would your tomb stone say about your life as a DXer?
A: He was passionate about radio and made many friends worldwide through a great hobby.

Q: Speaking of death, what’s the worst ‘shack disaster’ you’ve ever experienced?
A: Well I was drinking chocolate milk and I was on the computer listening to the call frequency at the same time, when I heard 246AT/DX calling. I got such a shock that I knocked over the milk and it went all over the desk and I thought it got the radio. That was the last time I had food near the radio or computer.

Q: Dangerous stuff that chocolate milk.
A: Well it would go sour and make my radio smell, so yes it’s dangerous stuff lol.

Q: Besides great puddles of chocolate milk, if I took a photo of your shack, what would I see?
A: An Icom 746 with a SM-20 microphone, a Powertech 40AMP power supply, 19” LG LCD, my Oscar Delta World Contest trophy, web design textbooks, photo albums with my QSL cards in, stereo speakers, sub woofers, cd’s, world map on the wall, radio awards, some posters from the Central Coast field day, TV, Lava Lamp, my bed and a nice XYL calendar.

Q: Apart from working DXCC, what's your favourite aspect of 11m DX?
A: Working old friends from way back when I started. It’s always good catching up.

Q: Still at home?
A: Yes I’m still at home, I have been threatened a few times to move out, in fact that was last weekend lol.

Q: Do they help you out with purchasing new radio gear and if not what do you do for cash?
A: No. I work full time as a web designer / graphic designer / computer repairs and customer service.

Q: So you surf the web all day and play computer games and get paid for it?
A: Not exactly, I do a lot of template design in Photoshop/ illustrator then I take the design from there in little pieces and put them back into place as a web editable format in Dreamweaver. The next step is to then put in photos, information, links , forms etc, etc. No I don’t play games, I like to read and catch up on news and read tutorials on being a better designer in my spare time, or do some random design stuff hehe. Never really been a fan of games actually. The only game I have ever really got into was The Sims.

Q: What’s your favourite DX’ing attire?
A: A black suit, with white shirt and pink tie.

Q: Holy Jesus! I reckon most DXers wouldn’t be able to even afford a suit let alone wear one in the shack.
A: Ha-ha well I have a few, and I have every colour tie you could ever dream of, I will take a photo sometime soon for you guys just to show how much of a professional DX’er I am.

Q: Besides being well dressed behind the mic, what’s the best piece of radio advice you’ve ever been given?
A: Get the antenna up higher as it makes the world of difference.

Q: Funny, my YL says the same thing…… Other than being a communications crazed teenager, what are your other interests/ skills etc.?
A: Web Design, being organised, clean, girls and life in general…… just make the most of it.

Q: There’s that “g” word again. Are you obsessed with sex or something?
A: No Way! But girls will always be part of my life because they are beautiful. I don’t know what I would do without them ahhhhhhhh.

Q: Complete this scenario… “The perfect DX scenario is…”
A: Sitting on a point of Great Keppel Island calling cq dx whilst cooking a bbq with some nice ladies listening in with me eager to have a chat with the boys.

Q: What do you regard as the best DX contact you have made?
A: Well, could have been a fake, but I worked Antarctica with a 60db signal. How good is that?!?!?!

Q: If you had the opportunity to conduct an activation anywhere in the world, on an unlimited budget too, what and where would it be?
A: A DXpedition to Greenland

Q: Whom would you MOST like to fly with on a hot air balloon for some aeronautical DX work?
A: My dad!

Q: Why your old man?
A: He needs some radio experience hehe, and he would love to go up in a hot air balloon, especially over the vineyards.

Q: Vineyards?
A: Yes, well being in the Hunter Valley we have lots of Vineyards.

Q: Besides your radio gear, what item can’t you do without in your radio shack?
A: My PC — I wouldn’t know what to do without it. I’m obsessed with computers and the internet.

Q: I understand, Jordan. I was hooked on porn sites at your age too, lol. If you could star in porn movie, who would be your leading lady?
A: Me in a porn movie hahaha your gotta be kidding dude……

Q: Other than the absence of YL operators, what annoys you most about 11m radio?
A: I have something in mind but I don’t want to say because I could get into trouble. Who knows who’s reading? But another thing that annoys me in the fact we go down in the cycle ha-ha.

Q: In one word, describe yourself as a DX’er:
A: Professional/Passionate

Q: Isn’t that two words, lol?
A: Well, I couldn’t decide which one was the most appropriate, please don’t make this hard lol.

Q: What are your 11m goals for the future?
A: To get that antenna up higher and get those QSL’s out quick.

Q: So you’ve got problems with your erection?
A: Well it’s up high, but I would like to make it higher so it’s harder to see hahahah.

Q: When did you send your last QSL card and to whom was it sent?
A: 30RC368 I think.

Q: What’s the latest piece of radio gear you bought and where did you buy it from?
A: I bought an Icom 746 at the Central Coast Field Day.

Q: To finish up, complete this analogy, “DXing is like a marshmallow because…… because you can never get enough of it".

* Interview conducted by 43SD054 Darren for ‘11m DX Activities Oz’.