[sarex] Ken Pulfer, VE3PU SK

[Frank H. Bauer]

ARISS Team:

 

It has come to my attention that a good friend and avid ARISS supporter, Ken
Pulfer, VE3PU, has passed away.  I have included an ARRL article (below)
that announces his passing.  

 

Those of you that have been involved with ARISS from the beginning know that
Ken was one of the ARISS pioneers.  Ken was a member of the first cadre of
ARISS delegates and was integral in leading the startup of ARISS.  

 

Ken’s intimate knowledge of the space agencies, resulting from his
background as a Senior Executive in the Canadian Space Agency, was crucial
in helping ARISS formulate the strategies needed to garner support across
our international space agency partners.  Also, his in-depth understanding
of amateur radio policy and connections into the ITU were important factors
in helping the ARISS team prepare themselves to develop and operate the
unique, multi-national amateur radio platform on ISS that is ARISS.  He was
a key contributor in guiding the ARISS team in frequency coordination,
licensing and callsign strategy.  He also was integral in developing ARISS’
terms of reference, our policy for assigning delegates, and he led the
effort to nominate and elect our first set of officers.  I, for one, will
certainly miss Ken’s leadership and guidance.  He helped the ARISS program
grow from infancy to the strong, international Educational Outreach program
that it is now. 

 

I note that even just a few weeks ago Rosalie White, K1STO and I solicited
Ken’s guidance on some ITU matters that our ARISS international team were
addressing.  In all matters, Ken was a “Gentleman’s Gentleman”---the “best
of the best. ” His presence and support will be sorely missed by me.  And by
all in the ARISS community.    

 

On behalf of the ARISS team, I want to extend our condolences to all Ken
Pulfer’s family and friends.  May Ken Rest in Peace.

 

Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO

ARISS International Chairman

 

 

ARRL Article on Ken Pulfer’s Passing

http://www.arrl.org/news/j-kenneth-pulfer-ve3pu-sk

 

J. Kenneth Pulfer, VE3PU, of Ottawa, Ontario,
<http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ottawacitizen/obituary.aspx?n=james-pulfer
&pid=163996474#fbLoggedOut> passed away Sunday, March 31 after a long
illness. He was 80. In 1994, Pulfer became the Secretary, then Secretary
Treasurer for the Radio Amateurs of Canada ( <http://www.rac.ca/> RAC), that
country’s IARU Member Society. He also served as the RAC’s Vice President
for Government Affairs and Vice President for International Affairs. When
former ARRL Chief Technology Officer Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, retired in 2009,
Pulfer took over as Chairman of the ITU Radiocommunication Sector’s Working
Party 5A Working Group 1, the “home” of the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite
Services in the ITU structure. He served as an IARU Technical Representative
for 15 years, culminating with the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference
(WRC-12).

“Ken Pulfer was a consummate gentleman and a tireless worker for the IARU,”
IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, told the ARRL. “His efforts as Chairman of
the ITU Working Group culminated with our success at WRC-12 in obtaining a
secondary allocation at 472-479 kHz. When Ken announced his retirement at
the annual dinner of the International Amateur Radio Club during WRC-12, he
received accolades from many of those present, including ITU Secretary
General Dr Hamadoun Touré, HB9EHT, and from the heads of a number of
delegations. He was a well-respected member of the ITU community. We will
all miss his keen intellect and support of the Amateur Radio Service.” 

ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, recalled two of the many
highlights of Pulfer’s volunteer career with the IARU: “The first was his
extraordinarily patient and dogged effort to secure protections for the
Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Service at WRC-03, where an allocation for
spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs) was created at 432-438 MHz. The
story is told in Ken’s own words in the
<http://p1k.arrl.org/pubs_archive/104721> September 2003 issue of QST. The
constraints placed on SARs include significant protection for amateur
satellites -- quite an achievement given that the allocation for amateur
satellites at 435-438 MHz is on a non-interference basis. The second was his
success in persuading the Canadian administration to give its active support
to an amateur MF allocation, which contributed greatly to our achieving the
new allocation of 472-479 kHz at WRC-12. Once again, it was Ken’s
persistence that carried the day.”

“Ken’s chairmanship capped a long professional and volunteer career in
engineering and spectrum management, and was marked by the successful effort
to obtain a secondary international MF allocation for the Amateur Radio
Service at 472-479 kHz,” said ARRL Chief Technology Officer Brennan Price,
N4QX. “Ken spent 15 years in his retirement representing the Radio Amateurs
of Canada and the IARU at various meetings in Geneva. His professionalism,
insight and positive attitude inspired and improved all who worked with
him.”

Licensed since he was a high school student in Manitoba, Pulfer received his
first call sign, VE4KP, in 1949. Six years later, after coming to Ottawa to
work for the Radio and Electrical Division of the National Research Council
of Canada, he became VE3PU. In 1984, Pulfer -- who was at the time the NRC’s
Senior Vice President -- received
<http://umanitoba.ca/admin/governance/senate/hdr/1108.html> an honorary
doctorate from the University of Manitoba, his alma mater, in recognition of
his contributions as “a very distinguished engineer and Canadian.” In 2012,
the Radio Society of Great Britain awarded Pulfer with its annual Calcutta
Key Award -- given for work associated with international friendship through
Amateur Radio -- for his work on behalf of the IARU with the ITU.

“Amateur Radio’s strong position in the international telecommunications
community has only come about because of the willingness of remarkable
people like Ken to contribute their talents and extremely generous portions
of their time on our behalf,” Sumner said. “Their effectiveness sometimes
requires that they stay out of the limelight, but they should never be
forgotten.”

In accordance with Pulfer’s wishes, no services are planned.