jaymatt1978
Member
Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, creator of APRS, has passed away. I don't have any more k details
73 and RIP Bob
73 and RIP Bob
Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, SK
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FYI:
deathobits.com
Bob Bruninga Death, Inventor of APRS Has Died
Bob Bruninga Death - Obituary News: Sadly, DeathObits learned on Wednesday, February 09, 2022, that inventor of APRS and PCSAT amateur satellites Bob Bruninga has sadly passed away. In 1982, Bob Bruninga, a senior research engineer at
deathobits.com
Sad news. I really didn't know him, but had talked with him on the local 2 meter and 70 CM repeaters on occasion.
I know he was also big on electric vehicles and designedhomebrew electric powered vehicles by reworking cars to use electric.
I know he was also big on electric vehicles and designedhomebrew electric powered vehicles by reworking cars to use electric.
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
He was also, I believe, an instructor at the Naval Academy. I had the pleasure of talking with him at several Baltimore area fests. He will be truly missed.
Mike
Mike
RadShackFan
Member
The father of APRS has passed at age 73.
APRS Developer Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, SK
The creator of the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS), Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, died on February 7. An ARRL Life Member, Bruninga was 73. According to his daughter, Bruninga succumbed to cancer and the effects of COVID-19. Bruninga had announced his cancer diagnosis in 2020. Over the years, he readily shared his broad knowledge of and experience with APRS, among other topics in the amateur radio and electronics fields.
While best known for APRS, Bruninga was also a retired US Naval Academy (USNA) senior research engineer who had an abiding interest in alternative power sources, such as solar power. In 2018, he authored Energy Choices for the Radio Amateur, published by ARRL, which explores developing changes in the area of power and energy, and examines the choices radio amateurs and others can make regarding home solar power, heat pumps, and hybrid and electric vehicles. Bruninga drove an all-electric car and had experimented with a variety of electric-powered vehicles over the years.
APRS originated in 1982, when Bruninga wrote his first data map program that plotted the positions of US Navy ships for the Apple II platform. A couple of years later, he developed what he called the Connectionless Emergency Traffic System (CETS) on the VIC-20 and C64 platforms for digital packet communications to support an endurance race. The program was ported to the IBM PC platform in 1988, and was renamed APRS in 1992. The recognized North American APRS frequency is 144.39 MHz, and APRS is globally linked via the internet. Bruninga founded the Appalachian Trail Golden Packet (ATPG) event, which fields APRS nodes from Stone Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine each July.
ARRL Contributing Editor Ward Silver, N0AX, remembered Bruninga this way: “Bob kept pushing APRS beyond its origins as a position reporting system. He developed and helped implement numerous other uses of APRS in support of what has become the ‘Ham Radio of Things,’ with great potential for future amateur radio applications. Bob’s far-reaching vision and imagination were as good as it gets.”
Bruninga mentored USNA midshipmen in building and launching amateur radio satellites and CubeSats, beginning with PCsat in 2001. PCsat was the first satellite to directly report its precise position to users via its onboard GPS module. Subsequent USNA spacecraft included PSK31 capability (HF to UHF) and other innovations.
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) ARRL liaison Rosalie White, K1STO, recalled that Bruninga attended many ARISS-International meetings and contributed “enormously” to ARISS APRS activities, leading a team in developing protocols and software for rapid message exchange via a packet “robot.”
White said APRS remains a key staple in the new ARISS InterOperable Radio System (IORS) that’s now on board the ISS. She added that Bruninga offered input for future NASA Lunar and Gateway opportunities in which ARISS hopes to take part.
Last year, ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, on behalf of ARRL, honored Bruninga with a brick in the ARRL Diamond Club Terrace at ARRL Headquarters. ARRL sent him a letter of appreciation along with a replica of the brick.
APRS Developer Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, SK
The creator of the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS), Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, died on February 7. An ARRL Life Member, Bruninga was 73. According to his daughter, Bruninga succumbed to cancer and the effects of COVID-19. Bruninga had announced his cancer diagnosis in 2020. Over the years, he readily shared his broad knowledge of and experience with APRS, among other topics in the amateur radio and electronics fields.
While best known for APRS, Bruninga was also a retired US Naval Academy (USNA) senior research engineer who had an abiding interest in alternative power sources, such as solar power. In 2018, he authored Energy Choices for the Radio Amateur, published by ARRL, which explores developing changes in the area of power and energy, and examines the choices radio amateurs and others can make regarding home solar power, heat pumps, and hybrid and electric vehicles. Bruninga drove an all-electric car and had experimented with a variety of electric-powered vehicles over the years.
APRS originated in 1982, when Bruninga wrote his first data map program that plotted the positions of US Navy ships for the Apple II platform. A couple of years later, he developed what he called the Connectionless Emergency Traffic System (CETS) on the VIC-20 and C64 platforms for digital packet communications to support an endurance race. The program was ported to the IBM PC platform in 1988, and was renamed APRS in 1992. The recognized North American APRS frequency is 144.39 MHz, and APRS is globally linked via the internet. Bruninga founded the Appalachian Trail Golden Packet (ATPG) event, which fields APRS nodes from Stone Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine each July.
ARRL Contributing Editor Ward Silver, N0AX, remembered Bruninga this way: “Bob kept pushing APRS beyond its origins as a position reporting system. He developed and helped implement numerous other uses of APRS in support of what has become the ‘Ham Radio of Things,’ with great potential for future amateur radio applications. Bob’s far-reaching vision and imagination were as good as it gets.”
Bruninga mentored USNA midshipmen in building and launching amateur radio satellites and CubeSats, beginning with PCsat in 2001. PCsat was the first satellite to directly report its precise position to users via its onboard GPS module. Subsequent USNA spacecraft included PSK31 capability (HF to UHF) and other innovations.
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) ARRL liaison Rosalie White, K1STO, recalled that Bruninga attended many ARISS-International meetings and contributed “enormously” to ARISS APRS activities, leading a team in developing protocols and software for rapid message exchange via a packet “robot.”
White said APRS remains a key staple in the new ARISS InterOperable Radio System (IORS) that’s now on board the ISS. She added that Bruninga offered input for future NASA Lunar and Gateway opportunities in which ARISS hopes to take part.
Last year, ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, on behalf of ARRL, honored Bruninga with a brick in the ARRL Diamond Club Terrace at ARRL Headquarters. ARRL sent him a letter of appreciation along with a replica of the brick.
A great man who taught at US Naval Academy and engineered great things. I wish I had 1% of his electronics knowledge.
Sad. I didn't know him, but I use APRS heavily and I'll always be grateful for his creativity.
Spoke with Bob once on a repeater. I was on one of my occasional trips to/thru the area. Seemed like a decent type on the air.
IMHO, his developments initiated a sea change in ham radio. APRS has evolved into such a diverse and adaptable Ham Radio tool for whatever Joe Ham wants to do.
Truly one of the great names in Ham Radio.
IMHO, his developments initiated a sea change in ham radio. APRS has evolved into such a diverse and adaptable Ham Radio tool for whatever Joe Ham wants to do.
Truly one of the great names in Ham Radio.
Bob was one of the pioneers in digipeaters on the east coast. I had the pleasure to service the ELK digi (atop an old Western Union relay tower with the Micor digi in an old Oven cabinet).. Bob will be missed.. RIP Bob
K4APR
Member
I'm a little late to this thread, but I knew Bob pretty well. I have been using APRS since I was about 12 years old (1993) and it has always been a major part of the hobby for me. I can say without a doubt that if it wasn't for APRS I wouldn't have started my company in 1999. I got to meet Bob at the 2003 Dayton Hamvention and kept in touch with him over the years until his passing. Had a few meals with him, spent a lot of time talking with him at Daytons, DCC's and other events where we crossed paths. I'll miss him, as many others will, too. I don't know if he understood that he was a hero to many of us.
I did talk to his daughter the week he passed and she told me that I was on her "special contact list" to inform when they have a memorial for him this summer in Maryland. I'm just down the road in Chesapeake, VA, so I'll definitely be there when they do it.
I went through some old pictures from past Daytons and I found two from the first time I met him that were special to me:
RIP Bob. We'll miss you.
I did talk to his daughter the week he passed and she told me that I was on her "special contact list" to inform when they have a memorial for him this summer in Maryland. I'm just down the road in Chesapeake, VA, so I'll definitely be there when they do it.
I went through some old pictures from past Daytons and I found two from the first time I met him that were special to me:
RIP Bob. We'll miss you.
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