The station is a Kenwood 570G running 100 Watts without an amplifier. Through a hole in the wall a coax cable connects it to a center-fed half-wave 20 meter dipole tied to beams in the attic. This $3 wire, which at my old house was tied to a tree, has let me confirm 269 entities on 20 phone, though at times DX can be very frustrating! Elevation does help, and I'm fortunate that my condo row house is on the hill two blocks north of Minnesota's State Capitol Building.

Along the way I've worked all US counties, a project that took 18 years, and (finally!) all 40 CQ zones. Just for fun I also picked up every available FCC commercial license, another long-term exercise.

Born in New York City in 1950, after going to the University of Wisconsin I liked the Midwest enough to eventually settle in St. Paul. My wife, Lindsay Nauen, is from South Dakota and has masters' degrees in library science and business administration. She owns an accounting business and got me interested in doing triathlons and half marathons with her. Our sons are Noah and Ben. I've a doctorate in geography from Rutgers and teach math & environmental science at several colleges in the Twin Cities.

With geography and radio interests it's no surprise that I like to travel. In 1973 I took most of the year to go overland from Luxembourg to Nepal, across Australia, and through all of Latin America. Lindsay and I have made several long trips, including a Transatlantic crossing by ship. Over the years we've been from Kauai to the Sinai. The latter, along with Tunisia, Rhodes, and Albania were among the most interesting places we've visited.

My other hobby is flying, first power, and now gliders (bronze badge with silver altitude and duration legs). I'm a member of the Red Wing Soaring Association. The club's web site is www.soarwisc.com.

Thanks for your interest and good luck with your own activities. I hope to meet you on the air!