WB4APR - Robert Bruninga - Glen Burnie - USA

[4L5A]

Robert E Bruninga, WB4APR from Glen Burnie, Maryland, USA passed away, 8 February 2022.
He is born in 1948.
He was active Radio Amateur.
Information received from Pat, N8PK.

[4L5A]

The creator of the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS), Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, Glen Burnie, Maryland, passed away on February 7. Bruninga, a member of ARRL Life, was 73 years old. According to her daughter, Bruninga has given up to cancer and the effects of COVID-19. Bruninga had announced her cancer diagnosis in 2020. Over the years, he has quickly shared his extensive knowledge and experience with APRS, among other topics in the fields of radio amateurs and electronics.
While best known for APRS, Bruninga was also a retired U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) senior research engineer who had a constant interest in alternative energy sources, such as solar energy. In 2018, he is author of Energy Choices for the Radio Amateur, published by ARRL, who explores the development of changes in the energy and energy area and examines the choices radio amateurs and others can make regarding energy s Household odors, heat pumps and hybrids and electrics. vehicles. Bruninga drove a fully electric car and over the years he had experienced a variety of electric vehicles.
APRS was born in 1982, when Bruninga wrote its first data map program that traced the positions of the U.S. Navy ships for the Apple II platform. A couple of years later, he developed what called the Connectionless Emergency Traffic System (CETS) on VIC-20 and C64 platforms for packed digital communications to support a resistance race. The program was transferred 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 connected globally via the Internet. Bruninga founded the Appalachian Trail Golden Packet (ATPG) event, which launches the APRS knots from Stone Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine every July.
ARRL Ward Silver’s collaborating editor, N0AX, recalled Bruninga this way: “Bob continued to push APRS beyond his origins as a position reporting system. He has developed and contributed to the implementation of many other uses of APRS in support of what has become the "Radio Amateur of Things", with great potential for future radioamateur applications. Bob’s vision and imagination were the best one could get."
Bruninga mentored the USNA guards in the construction and launch of radioamateur satellites and CubeSat, starting with PCsat in 2001. PCsat was the first satellite to directly report its exact location to users via its on-board GPS module. The next USNA spacecraft included the PSK31 capacity (from HF to UHF) and other innovations.
Radio Amateur on the International Space Station (ARIS) La liaison ARRL Rosalie White, K1STO, recalled that Bruninga has attended many ARISS-International meetings and contributed "hugely" to ARISS APRS activities, leading a team in the development of protocols and software for the quick message exchange using a "robot" package.
White has claimed that APRS remains a standstill in the new ARISS (IORS) interoperable radio system that is now aboard the ISS. He added that Bruninga has offered input for future lunar opportunities and NASA gateway that ARISS hopes to take part in.
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 brick replica.
Bruninga has earned a degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology) and a Master's in Electrical Engineering at Naval Postgraduate School. Bruninga was a US Navy veteran for 20 years. Dayton Hamvention® honored him in 1998 with his Technical Excellence Award.
Bruninga is the author and co-author of many academic articles over the years and has often been requested as speaker and presenter at radio amateur meetings.
The survivors include his wife, Elise Albert; daughter, Bethanne Bruninga-Socolar, WE4APR, and son A.J. Bruninga, WA4APR. Agreements are pending, although her daughter has claimed a commemorative ceremony will be held this summer in Annapolis, Maryland.
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