Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
Hello. I am Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and I am hoping to become your ARRL New England Division Director. I have a long history of helping individuals to become licensed, learn new skills, and become active in the Amateur Radio Service. I have also served as the President of the Nashua Area Radio Society, a club that has provided many hams licensing and development programs over the past six years.
What I Want to Accomplish as New England Director
There is much that needs to be done to create a strong future for Amateur Radio and the ARRL. The following are major areas that I plan to focus on as Director:
• Bringing new people into Amateur Radio by working collaboratively with clubs across New England and the ARRL
• Creating opportunities for STEM learning in schools and colleges through Amateur Radio
• Creating positive public and agency awareness for Amateur Radio
• Effective, open, 2-way communications between the ARRL and its members
• Establishing the New England Division as a leader in providing world-class Amateur Radio programs
We need a Director who is Collaborative, Innovative, and Action-Oriented to accomplish these and other important goals. I believe that I can bring the right Amateur Radio and professional experience and collaborative leadership skills to accomplish these goals and more. I hope that you will support me as your choice to fulfill this important mission.
Walking the Talk
I believe that Amateur Radio clubs play an essential role in bringing new hams into the Amateur Radio Service and in helping hams to develop new skills. As New England Division Director, I will work with clubs and individuals in New England to help them expand their role as mentors and create a world-class environment for learning based upon Amateur Radio.
Helping a School Contact an Astronaut on the ISS
I serve as an ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) Mentor and Ground Station, helping schools around the world to participate in STEM learning based upon Amateur Radio. I will help groups and individuals in New England to create projects and programs to bring Amateur Radio to young people across the division. Amateur Radio provides a tremendous opportunity for young people to learn about technical topics and to develop valuable skills that they can use throughout their lives.
Working with students at Bishop-Guertin H.S. as they prepare to Launch a High-Altitude Balloon Carrying Amateur Radio
I continue to spend time in local schools teaching classes and providing activities that bring STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) learning opportunities through Amateur Radio. In addition to inspiring young people to pursue STEM careers by becoming Hams, this work also serves to improve the public’s understanding of the importance and value that Amateur Radio provides.
Work to improve public and government agency perception of the value of the Amateur Radio service is vital if we are to be successful in addressing the many challenges to our continued use of radio spectrum, our right to put up antennas, and public agency support for Amateur Radio’s important role in providing emergency communications.
I continue to devote considerable time and energy to license new hams and help all hams to upgrade their licenses and get on the air. I’ve had the pleasure to lead a team of hams who have taught license classes, enabling over 350 people to earn a license or upgrade over the past five years. I have worked with a team of folks to create some innovative approaches to new ham development and getting hams on the air. We created a very popular program called Ham Bootcamp, designed to help both new and experienced hams get on the air, build their stations, and participate in new operating activities. The last Ham Bootcamp drew over 450 participants from across the United States. I hope to help clubs and individuals around New England and across the ARRL to develop successful programs to license and assist hams to get on the air and have fun in new activities.
Action-Oriented Leadership
It is important that we take immediate action on issues that are important to ARRL members. To this end, I have published a plan for my first 100 days as ARRL New England Division Director that includes specific actions to improve 2-way communications between the ARRL and New England members. My plans include outreach to members of the ARRL Board and Senior Leadership to find common ground to take action on issues that matter to ARRL members. I also plan to appoint several Assistant Directors to focus on promoting and communications for important areas such as:
• New Ham Development
• Youth Outreach
• Emergency Communications, and Public Service
• Spectrum Use and Protection
You can see the details of my plans at https://elect.ab1oc.org/first-100-days/. Additional Information
I have been widely endorsed by members of the Amateur Radio community for my work. You can see what Hams such as Dr. Bob Heil, K9EID, Gordon West, WB6NOA, and others are saying about their support for me as ARRL New England Division Director at https://elect.ab1oc.org/endorsements.
You can learn more about what I am hoping to accomplish as ARRL New England Division director at https://elect.ab1oc.org.
About Me
I am an active amateur with a broad range of Amateur Radio interests. I enjoy many aspects of the hobby, including DXing, contesting, EmCom activities and Field Day, satellites, station building, and weak signal operating on the VHF and higher bands. One of Amateur Radio’s most important strengths is its tremendous diversity and range of interests and activities. We need to work collaboratively across New England and the ARRL to grow the Amateur Radio Service and protect our spectrum by encouraging its broad use.
I am an electrical engineer by training and I hold bachelor’s and master’s degrees in EE. I have served in many business leadership roles, including VP and General Manager of a large data networking and communication business, VP of Strategy and Business Development for a large telecommunication equipment company, as a Chief Technology Officer, and as Project Leader at Bell Laboratories in the development of wireless and wired data communications technologies. I have also served on the FCC’s Technical Advisory Council where I assisted the FCC in developing public policy related to wireless and broadband communications. I hold an Amateur Extra license and have been quite active on the air logging over 100,000 contacts on the HF and higher bands. You can read more about my professional background on LinkedIn here.
Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC