09/03/2009 The first president of Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR) Den Connors, KD2S, of Pepperell, Massachusetts, passed away September 3 from lymphoma. He was 58. Connors, an ARRL Life Member, conducted the first amateur packet radio contact with all-American hardware and software, using the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Terminal Node Controller (TNC) with Lyle Johnson, WA7GXD (now KK7P), at 9:12 PM (PST) on June 25, 1982. The tests were conducted at 146.55MHz, with both stations sending plain-text ASCII messages. "Den was instrumental in the early PACSAT work, and as TAPR's first president, led that organization from a local club he co-founded into an international organization," Johnson said in an e-mail. "His was a very cheerful, positive, can-do influence."