Biography:

Craig Johnson, AAØZZ, got his first ham license in 1964 at the age of 14. He credits ham radio with sparking his interest in electronics and in pointing him toward a career in electrical engineering. He received a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering and later a Masters degree in Business Administration.

Craig was not involved in radio for some years after college, concentrating on computers only, but in 1995 he was drawn back to radio when his kids expressed interest. He assisted them in learning the theory and code and they got their licenses together. Eventually everyone in his family had licenses.

With the combination of his engineering and computer experience, Craig was re-energized when he saw the many opportunities for overlap between computers and amateur radio that were opened up with the advent of microprocessors. He developed many projects using microprocessors, especially for frequency synthesis (DDS and PLL) in VFOs. He greatly enjoys helping others to understand how to use microprocessors in their own projects.

Craig lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. He worked for Unisys for 35 years on the design/development of large, mainframe computers and operating system software but then switched to working with microprocessors professionally - doing hardware as well as software development for microprocessor controlled medical devices. For a period of time he also worked on "smart weapons" for the military.

Craig enjoys CW, operating QRP, DXing and contesting. However, he is happiest when he is tinkering, building, or experimenting with his new designs, circuits and software. His current interests are centered around projects that use microcontrollers, Direct Digital Synthesis, PLL frequency synthesizers, and the digital modes. He holds seven US patents for his work in computer hardware and software.

AAØZZ 2014