Jack Gerbs, WB8SCT, has been appointed General
Chairman of the 2019 Dayton Hamvention. Gerbs succeeds Ron Cramer, KD8ENJ, with
whom he worked as assistant chairman for the past two years. Gerbs selected
Rick Allnutt, WS8G, to serve with him as Assistant General Chairman. Allnut has
previously served on the Hamvention Awards Committee and was this year's international
relations chair. Cramer, meanwhile, will continue playing a leadership role as
the new president of the Dayton Amateur Radio Association, which sponsors the
Hamvention.
The AMSAT News Service reports that former
AMSAT-NA President Bill Tynan, W3XO, has resigned as AMSAT's OSCAR Number
Administrator due to poor health. Bill has been in charge of determining
eligibility and assigning OSCAR (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio)
numbers to newly-launched ham radio satellites for more than 20 years. In that
time, he has issued nearly 60 OSCAR numbers. Current AMSAT-NA President Joe
Spier, K6WAO, named Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, to succeed Tynan. Glasbrenner is
also AMSAT's current Vice President of Operations. [Update 8/10: W3XO became a Silent Key on August 7. See story above.]
Speaking of the AMSAT News Service, ANS Senior
Editor Lee McLamb, KT4TZ, has also stepped down. Spier had not named a
replacement as of press time, but was seeking volunteers to join the existing
group of AMSAT News Service rotating editors.