[South Florida DX Association] ARLX006 John D. Kraus, W8JK, SK

[Bill Marx]

> SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX006
> ARLX006 John D. Kraus, W8JK, SK
> 
> ZCZC AX06
> QST de W1AW  
> Special Bulletin 6  ARLX006
> From ARRL Headquarters  
> Newington CT  July 21, 2004
> To all radio amateurs 
> 
> SB SPCL ARL ARLX006
> ARLX006 John D. Kraus, W8JK, SK
> 
> Radio astronomer, antenna designer, cosmic explorer and author John
> D. Kraus, W8JK, of Delaware, Ohio, died July 18. He was 94. While he
> enjoyed a worldwide reputation, Kraus is perhaps best known in
> Amateur Radio circles for his bi-directional wire beam
> antenna--often dubbed the '8JK array. Other important Kraus designs
> include the corner reflector and helix antennas. The Michigan native
> was a pioneer of radiotelescope design and the father of the "Big
> Ear" radiotelescope.
> 
> Following an early fascination with radio, Kraus first became
> licensed as 8AFJ. He later was granted the now-famous W8JK call
> sign. A graduate of Michigan State University, he joined the faculty
> of the Ohio State University 1946, serving as a professor of
> electrical engineering and astronomy and founding and directing the
> OSU Radio Observatory. In that capacity, Kraus designed and oversaw
> construction of the Big Ear on the campus of nearby Ohio Wesleyan
> University.
> 
> Kraus's classic textbook Antennas, now in its second edition, has
> been an engineering school staple for decades and can be found in
> virtually every antenna engineer's library. Among his other titles
> are Electromagnetics, Radio Astronomy, Big Ear, Big Ear Two and Our
> Cosmic Universe. Kraus also wrote several articles for QST from the
> 1930s until the 1980s, including a "recap and update" of his W8JK
> antenna in the June 1982 issue.
> 
> Kraus was a fellow of the IEEE and a member of the National Academy
> of Engineering. In 1996, Dayton Hamvention honored Kraus as the
> recipient of its Special Achievement Award. In 2001, CQ named Kraus
> to the inaugural class of its Amateur Radio Hall of Fame.
> 
> In 1978, after the "Big Ear" detected the still-unidentified "Wow!"
> signal that suggested the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere
> in the universe, Kraus launched Cosmic Search, a magazine devoted to
> the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The Big Ear fell
> victim to development pressures and was torn down in 1998.
> 
> Arrangements are incomplete.
> NNNN
> /EX
>