Biography

was first licensed as a Novice in May of 1960 with the call sign KN0AZZ in Winona, MN.
Two of my friends, Dale, KN0BAC and Les, KN0BAD also received their licenses in May.
Pete, W0UWG (SK) and George, K0DHI (SK) taught the Winona Amateur Radio Club
morse code class. While I had several Elmers, Bob, K0RHN assisted the most by helping
me set up my Novice station (a Knight Kit R-100, Heath Kit DX-40 and a 40m dipole).
I upgraded to K0AZZ (Conditional class) that November and three years later took
the trip to the FCC office in St Paul and earned the General Class license.

After earning a Bachelors degree in Physics and Mathematics, I went on active duty with
the U.S. Navy (1966 to 1968). I was stationed on the Naval Communications Station,
Finegayan, Guam, M.I. Some of my off duty time was spent operated the club station,
KG6AAY. While on Guam, I passed the Advanced class exam.

I was part of the rotation of operators running phone patches and also enjoyed the new
experience of being DX. One of my more memorable QSO's was late in the evening
with a station in Great Britain. We were experiencing simultaneous "short" and "long
path" propagation. The long path signal was almost as strong as the short creating
an interesting "echo".

After release from active duty, I returned to Minnesota for a year to qualify for a teaching
certificate. I then moved to New Jersey and spent three years teaching H.S. mathematics
in Princeton and operated portable.

After returning to the upper midwest, I decided to pursue studies in geology, earning a
Masters degree from the University of North Dakota.

In 1979 I was hired by an oil company (ARCO) as an exploration geophysicist and worked
in Midland, TX developing Permian Basin prospects. In 1980 I was transfered to the company's
Alaska office in Anchorage working Lower Cook Inlet and Prudhoe Bay Uplands prospects.

By then the FCC decided that you did not have to change your call sign when you moved
to a different call area and expecting to be transfered to another company office in a few
years, I decided to forgo the change to an Alaska call and retained K0AZZ.

Well......... after living in Alaska for 37 years and now retired from my "day" job, I figured
that I'm here to stay. KL7AZZ was available, so July, 2017 I requested and was granted
KL7AZZ.

I joined Navy Marine Corps MARS in 1988. In 1992 I was appointed Alaska State Coordinator
(later re-titled " Alaska State Director") and served in that capacity until the program was
disestablished at the end of September, 2015.

I am a member of the ARRL, American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), Society of
Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), the Naval Enlisted Reserve Association (NERA), Fleet
Reserve Association (FRA), the Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association (NCVA) and the
Fleet Radio Unit, Pacific (FRUPAC) commemorative net.