Fred Kemmerer – ARRL New England Division

Give the Gift of Mentoring

December 1, 2023November 29, 2023 by Fred Kemmerer

I have been thinking a lot lately about what is most important to care for the future of Amateur Radio. There are many different views on the answer to this question. Some would say it’s about increasing participation in emergency communications and public service activities such as ARES, RACES, or the National Traffic System. Others would say it’s about protecting our bands. Those who live in HOA or covenant-restricted situations would emphasize the need to enable Hams to install antennas at their homes. Contesters would say that making contesting more accessible to a broader group of people is the most important thing to focus on. And there are many more views as well I am sure.

I have been working with others at the ARRL on a project to update the ARRL’s strategic plan for some time now and our working group has put a great deal of effort into answering this question. At this point in time, the average age of a licensed Amateur Radio operator in the US is about 75 years old. Another important piece of information to consider is that only about one in five people who earn their first Amateur Radio license will be active and on the air after a year. When I think about these points, it seems pretty clear to me that the first thing that we all need to focus on to ensure a strong future for Amateur Radio is the development of the next generation of Amateur Radio operators.

This one thing underpins all of the items that are mentioned at the beginning of this article. EmComm and Public Service activities, the future of contesting, and our ability to exert the necessary influence to protect our bands and overcome HOA restrictions all depend on an Amateur Radio service that is vibrant and growing.

How Can We Help?

The simple answer is that we need to license younger people and help everyone who gets a license or upgrade to learn about and participate in Amateur Radio to the fullest extent possible. This is all pretty obvious but the question that you are probably asking is “How do we do this?”

In my experience, success here begins with a commitment to Mentoring. We have found through surveys that one of the top reasons that new Hams get licensed and do not participate in Amateur Radio is that they lack mentors who will help them learn and get started.

What sort of help does a new licensee typically need? It’s usually pretty basic things – help to make their first QSO, help to choose an affordable VHF/UHF rig and get it installed and programmed, and help to learn their radio. For a new General, it’s about getting a basic HF antenna up, choosing an HF rig and getting it on the air, understanding how to deal with lightning protection and grounding issues, and learning to operate on the HF bands.

So how do we find ways to engage new Hams and provide mentoring? I have found that VE sessions and club meetings to be excellent opportunities to work with new people. How many times have some of us been part of a VE session where folks are getting licensed and observed that the VEs do not engage the candidates more than to complete the paperwork associated with their exam? This is a huge opportunity lost. Anita and I have been involved in licensing folks for quite awhile now and we helped over 400 people to earn a license or an upgrade. We always take some time with each person that we work with to understand what they hope to do with their license or upgrade and we try to either provide mentoring to help them or to connect them with others that are local to them to do this.

Similar situations sometimes occur at club meetings. A new Ham attends a first club meeting looking for folks who will share their interests and help them to get started. The club members usually don’t know the new person very well and don’t always engage them to understand how they can help. As a result, the new Ham moves on and may or may not pursue steps to use their license. Successful clubs often go out of their way to make new Hams feel welcome and actively try to find ways to mentor. There is one club here in Eastern Massachusetts, for example, that provides loaned radios and equipment along with mentoring to help new folks get a station together and get on the air. By the way, the clubs that proactively reach out and mentor new folks are usually growing and enjoy some of the largest membership rosters in their area.

Perhaps you are not a VE or involved with a club so what then? Well, let your friends know that you are willing to talk to and work with new folks to assist them. When you are on the air and you encounter a newly licensed or upgraded Ham, spend some time talking with them about what they want to do with Amateur Radio and try to actively help them. You can also engage in Amateur Radio websites and social media groups and answer questions and help new folks there as well.

Where To From Here?

I hope that you’ll consider giving the gift of mentoring. In my opinion, there is no single thing that we can do to help ensure a strong future for Amateur Radio. I would respectfully ask and challenge each of you reading this to choose a way to mentor that you would enjoy and give the gift of mentoring to a newly licensed or upgraded Ham. I think that you will find that the gift that you give will be more than returned in the form of appreciation on the part of the new Ham. If we can all make an effort here, I am sure that we will collectively create a much brighter future for the Amateur Radio Service.

Fred, AB1OC

ab1oc@arrl.org
ARRL New England Division Director

Director’s Update for 1Q-2023

May 11, 2023 by Fred Kemmerer

The first quarter of 2023 has kept me busy on a variety of fronts. The following are a few things that I hope you’ll be interested in hearing and learning more about.

January 2023 Board Meeting

The January ARRL Board Meeting was one of the most productive in recent memory. In addition to approving the 2023 ARRL budget, the board passed over 15 motions many of which initiated programs and activities to benefit ARRL members. The following two slides summarize the actions taken by the board in January –

January 2023 ARRL Board Meeting Highlights

January 2023 ARRL Board Meeting Highlights Continued

You can view the notes from the meeting here. I am particularly happy and excited to see the new ham development initiative moving forward.

Year of the Volunteer

The ARRL is fortunate to be supported by over 7,000 volunteers! The ARRL has designated 2023 as The Year of the Volunteers. In addition to QST articles and other publications that highlight the many contributions that volunteers make to the ARRL, the league is sponsoring a year-long operating event to recognize ARRL volunteers (and to have some fun). Here’s some information about the event –

You can find more about the event and see the leaderboard here.

Hamfests, Club Meetings, and Field Day

Jerry Burns K1GUP Recognized by the ARRL at the Maine State Convention for over 50 years of service as Net Manager for the Maine Seagull Net — Jerry Burns K1GUP Recognized by the ARRL at the Maine State Convention for his 50 years+ of service as Net Manager for the Maine Seagull Net

I am continuing to attend Hamfests and Club Meetings around our Division. This is one of the areas of my work as an ARRL Director that I enjoy the most! Here are our plans for attending additional conventions and hamfests in 2023 –

We are headed off to Dayton and I am looking forward to seeing and talking with folks from New England there. We are working on our plans for visiting folks during Field Day 2023. If you like us to try to include you in our 2023 Field Day visits, please email Anita at ab1qb@arrl.net and we’ll try to get you onto our schedule.

ISS Contacts

I have continued to remain active in the ARISS program which helps schools to make contact with astronauts on the International Space Station via Amateur Radio.

Council Rock South High School ISS Contact

My work with ARISS includes acting as a Ground Station to provide radio links for school contacts as well as working with schools to help them to prepare for their contacts. Most recently, I had the pleasure to work with Council Rock South H.S. in Pennsylvania to help them with their contact. It was amazing! You can watch a video of the contact here.

License Training and Mentoring

Anita and I continue to support license training and the Ham Bootcamp program which helps Hams to learn to utilize their licenses and get active in Amateur Radio. We’ve taught Technician, General, and Extra licenses classes this spring where we helped over 20 people to get licensed or upgrade to General and Extra class licenses. We are hoping to transfer these programs and more to the ARRL so that they can benefit more Hams.

6m Antennas and Operations

I have been able to find a little time to upgrade our station in here New Hampshire. I’ve been working on our 6m weak signal antenna systems. We’ve installed 14 new 6m antennas including three stacks and two 7-element LFA antennas. You can read more about our 6m antenna project here. We are really looking forward to the 6m Es season this year. I only need 3 more countries for DXCC on the 6m band and I am hoping to work these during the Es season. I hope to work many folks in our division on the HF bands and 6m this summer!

I hope that folks have a chance to enjoy Amateur Radio this spring and summer. Stay safe and have fun!

Best and 73,

Fred, AB1OC

Director’s Update for 3Q-2022

November 2, 2022November 2, 2022 by Fred Kemmerer

Fall has gone by very quickly for me. I have been busy with ARRL Board work, New England Division projects, attending Ham Fests, Mentoring and Licensing work, and a 6m Antenna Project. I am pleased to report good progress on all fronts. Here’s more about what I’ve been up to.

BIG E Space Chat

New England school students made live radio contact with an astronaut on the International Space Station from The BIG E on September 27^th. You can view a video of the contact below. This and other videos made by folks who attend Space Chat were viewed more than 3,000 times by people worldwide.

The “BIG E Space Chat” is part of a project to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) educational activities and Amateur Radio learning activities for young people. We brokered the creation of this project through a partnership between The BIG E, New England Sci-Tech (a STEM education group in New England), Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), and Black Helicopter Creative LLC.

We received quite a bit of television and newspaper coverage for our contact as well. Here’s an example of some of the TV coverage that aired on New England stations –

In addition to inspiring the young people who participated in Space Chat, we were able to help to make the public aware of the value that Amateur Radio brings to young people. I want to thank the many folks here in New England and the great people at the BIG E for making this project possible.

You can learn more about the BIG E Space Chat project here.

Club Grants

Mike Walters, W8ZY, and I worked with a team to select and award the first round of grants as part of the ARRL Foundation Club Grant program. We received a total of 128 grant applications totaling over $1.7M! We awarded a total of $270K to 24 Radio Clubs in the United States.

ARRL Club Grant Program at a glance:

Clubs do not need to be ARRL-affiliated clubs to submit proposals
Looking to fund projects that create significant impact beyond the applying club: transformative impact on Amateur Radio; create public awareness and support for Amateur Radio; educational and training impact.
Examples of projects include, but are not limited to: get-on-the-air projects; ham training and skills development through mentoring; STEM and STEAM learning through Amateur Radio; station resources for use by the ham community; emergency communications and public service projects that emphasize training; club revitalization projects.

The second round of grants will be awarded early in 2023.

Board Projects and Meetings

National Traffic System 2.0 Project

I’m also leading a subcommittee within the Emergency Communications and Field Service Committee that is working on a plan to create the next generation of the National Traffic System (NTS). We are in the process of holding a series of briefings for Traffic Handlers across all ARRL divisions on the NTS 2.0 project. The briefings will be completed in December. We have signed up a total of 35 volunteers to help us work through the details of implementing the NTS 2.0 program. We are planning a kickoff meeting for the volunteers and I expect that the Implementation Teams will begin their work by the end of this year.

The ARRL has initiated a routine Traffic Origination program as part of NTS 2.0. The first messages were sent in October to all Section Managers, STMs, Directors, Vice Directors, the ARRL CEO, President, and first and second Vice Presidents.

NTS 2.0 Project - ARRL Routine Traffic Origination — NTS 2.0 Project – ARRL Routine Traffic Origination

The purpose of this program is to provide information about our work on the NTS 2.0 program as it rolls out and to measure the performance of the National Traffic System.

ARRL Club Development Webinar Series

Mike Walters, W8ZY, Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, and I are working on a program to create a series of webinars for clubs to help them develop skills and solve problems. This webinar series will kick off in 2023 and will feature presentations by ARRL members on the following topics.

Please get in touch with Mike Walters at mwalters@arrl.org if you are interested in helping us to produce content for the new Club Webinar Series.

Additional Board Committee Work

My work as chair of an Administration and Finance Subcommittee that is looking at ways to grow ARRL membership and increase active participation in Amateur Radio is nearly complete. The subcommittee will be sharing our final recommendations with the Administration and Finance Committee later this year and with the ARRL Board in January.

Finally, I have been serving as one of the ARRL Board members on the newly formed Investment Management Committee. The Investment Management Committee provides oversight of ARRL’s external investment manager and advises ARRL’s Administration and Finance Committee and the Board of Directors on investment policies and portfolio management. We have been working on procedures and processes that govern our oversight work with our outside investment manager.

Assistant Director Teams

Our Division Assistant Directors have all held several meetings with their working groups this quarter. In addition, the Spectrum Protection team has received a generous grant from ARDC to equip RFI Teams in each New England Section with direction-finding radios and antennas to enable them to assist Hams across New England in resolving interference problems. Our Assistant Directors and their working group areas follow –

Cory Golob, KU1U – Assistant Director, Emergency Communications and Public Service Activities
Rob Leiden, K1UI – Assistant Director, Spectrum Protection and Use
Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB – Assistant Director, Mentoring and Ham Development
Dan Norman, N0HF – Assistant Director, Youth Outreach and STEM Learning

Each team has projects underway that will benefit hams across New England. This newsletter features articles about what our Assistant Directors are doing.

Communications, Club Meetings, and Hamfests

We continued with our work to improve communications this quarter. There are three parts to our activities in this area:

Quarterly Division Cabinet Meetings with Club Presidents, Section Managers, Field Staff Members, and other leaders
Triannual (every 4 months) Division Town Hall Meetings with all ARRL Members in New England
Frequent attendance at Club Meetings (at least 6 times a quarter for each New England Division leadership team member)

We held our third Town Hall Meeting on October 19th. We provided an update on ARRL and New England Division activities and answered questions from the folks who attended. You can see what was discussed, including a recording of the event, here. We are planning to hold our next Town Hall Meeting in February 2023.

We held an ARRL Forum at Fall NEAR-Fest in Deerfield, NH, where we updated folks on ARRL and New England Division projects and answered questions. We joined Peter Stohrer K1PJS at NEAR-Fest to talk with folks and answer questions.

Our next Cabinet Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, December 17th. We are inviting members of the HQ Staff to these meetings so that they can share information on what they are doing and receive feedback directly from division leaders.

Here’s a summary of the many events and communications activities that we’ve participated in and hosted this year –

New England Division Events & Communications 2022 YTD — New England Division 2022 Events & Communications

The New Division Team has been attending club meetings to stay in touch with what clubs are doing and to hear feedback and concerns from folks. We each try to attend at least six club meetings every quarter. If you’d like one of us to visit your club’s meeting, don’t hesitate to contact me at ab1oc@arrl.org.

AB1OC Amateur Radio Activities

I’ve been working on an upgrade to the 6m antenna system at our QTH. The project consists of adding a total of 12 new 6m antennas along with tower-mounted preamplifiers. We are putting up three fixed stacks of 3-element Loop Fed Array (LFA) yagis and a new 7-element LFA yagi on our main tower. The project is just being completed, and I have been making Meteor Scatter contacts on 6m with the new antennas. You can read more about the project here.

US West Stack of LFA Yagis & Large LFA Yagi on Mast

I hope to see you soon at a Hamfest, Club Meeting, Town Hall Meeting, Cabinet Meeting, or some other event in the near future. All the Best, and 73,

Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
ARRL New England Division Director
Email: ab1oc@arrl.org

Director’s Update for 2Q-2022

August 2, 2022July 24, 2022 by Fred Kemmerer

I’ve been quite busy the last few months with a combination of ARRL Board work, New England Division projects, Mentoring, and some time on the air. I am pleased to report good progress on many fronts. Here’s more about what I’ve been up to.

Club Grants

Mike Walters, W8ZY, and I, as part of an ARRL Foundation Committee, put together the application and decision process for the ARRL Foundation Club Grant program and rolled it out. Thanks to a generous donation by ARDC, the ARRL Foundation is making $500,000 available to Amateur Radio Clubs.

ARRL Club Grant Program at a glance:

Clubs do not need to be ARRL-affiliated clubs to submit proposals
Looking to fund projects that create significant impact beyond the applying club: transformative impact on Amateur Radio; create public awareness and support for Amateur Radio; educational and training impact.
Examples of projects include, but are not limited to: get-on-the-air projects; ham training and skills development through mentoring; STEM and STEAM learning through Amateur Radio; station resources for use by the ham community; emergency communications and public service projects that emphasize training; club revitalization projects.

The response to the first round of this program has been tremendous. We received 127 applications for Club Grants! The first round of grants will be awarded by the end of the summer, and the second tranche of applications and awards will commence in the late summer/early fall.

Board Projects and Meetings

I am working along with other ARRL Board Members and leaders as part of several ARRL Board Committees. First, I am a member of the Administration and Finance Committee, where I am chairing a subcommittee that is looking at ways to grow ARRL membership and increase active participation in Amateur Radio.

I’m also leading a subcommittee within the Emergency Communications and Field Service Committee that is working on a plan to create the next generation of the National Traffic System (NTS). I am working closely with Marcia Forde, KW1U, and other traffic handlers to create a plan for NTS 2.0. We are planning a series of briefings for Traffic Handlers here in New England as well as across other ARRL divisions on the NTS 2.0 project.

Finally, I have been appointed to be one of the ARRL Board members on the newly formed Investment Management Committee. The Investment Management Committee provides oversight of ARRL’s external investment manager and advises ARRL’s Administration and Finance Committee and the Board of Directors on investment policies and portfolio management.

Field Day

Anita, AB1QB, and I had a great time during Field Day, visiting clubs all over New England. We covered about 1,000 miles during a three-day tour on Field Day weekend. I especially enjoyed meeting folks in person during Field Day and seeing what everyone was doing. It was great to see all of the different ways that clubs across New England approached Field Day. Anita took many great photos during our tour, and you can view those and read more about our Field Day travels here. We operated as AB1OC/M from the mobile HF station in our truck during the trip and had a ton of fun on the air as well.

Assistant Director Teams

Phil Temples, K9HI, and I continued working with our division Assistant Directors as they continued to set up their teams and began sharing information and projects across our division.

Cory Golob, KU1U – Assistant Director, Emergency Communications and Public Service Activities
Rob Leiden, K1UI – Assistant Director, Spectrum Protection and Use
Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB – Assistant Director, Mentoring and Ham Development
Dan Norman, N0HF – Assistant Director, Youth Outreach and STEM Learning

A great deal of good work is getting accomplished by our Assistant Directors, and each team has projects underway that will benefit hams across New England. Our second quarter 2022 newsletter features articles about what our ADs are doing.

BIG E Space Chat

International Space Station

New England school students will be making live radio contact with an astronaut on the International Space Station from The BIG E during the week of September 26^th – September 29^th. The “BIG E Space Chat” is part of a program to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) educational activities and Amateur Radio learning activities for young people.

We brokered the creation of this project through a partnership between The BIG E, New England Sci-Tech (a STEM education group in New England), Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), and Black Helicopter Creative LLC.

You can learn more about The BIG E Space Chat and how students can sign up to be part of the planned education program here.

Folks are also planning an Amateur Radio booth at The BIG E, and you can learn more about that project and how your club can be part of it here.

Communications, Club Meetings, and Hamfests

We continued with our work to improve communications this quarter. There are three parts to our activities in this area:

Quarterly Division Cabinet Meetings with Club Presidents, Section Managers and Field Staff Members, and other leaders
Triannual (every 4 months) Division Town Hall Meetings with all ARRL Members in New England
Frequent attendance at Club Meetings (at least 6 times a quarter for each DVA team member)

We held our second Cabinet Meeting on April 16th (see what was discussed here). Our next Cabinet Meeting is scheduled for August 13th. We are inviting members of the HQ Staff to these meetings so that they can share information on what they are doing and receive feedback directly from division leaders.

We held our second Town Hall Meeting on June 15th. Attendance was excellent again, with over 140 in attendance. We provided an update on ARRL and New England Division activities and answered questions from the folks who attended. You can see what was discussed, including a recording of the event, here. We are planning to hold our next Town Hall Meeting in November.

We held an ARRL Forum at Spring NEAR-Fest in Deerfield, NH, where we provided an update on ARRL and New England Division projects and answered questions. We joined Peter Stohrer K1PJS at NEAR-Fest to talk with folks and answer questions.

Western MA Section Manager Ray, AA1SE and Assistant Director Anita, AB1QB discuss Licensing and Mentoring with Gordon West, WB6NOA at Hamvention

We also attended the Dayton Hamvention, where we helped to staff the ARRL Clubs booth and answer questions about the ARRL Foundation Club Grant program.

I am also planning to host an ARRL Forum at HamXposition in Marlborough, MA. HamXposition will take place on August 26th – 28th. You can see the schedule for the ARRL forum and session hosted by our division ADs here.

Licensing, Mentoring, and Youth

Stu, W1SHS Intro to EmComm at Ham Bootcamp — Stu, W1SHS, hosts an “Introduction to EmComm” at Ham Bootcamp

I have continued work on Licensing and Mentoring programs. We taught weekend Technician, General, and Extra License classes this spring and helped 19 hams earn their license or an upgrade.

We also held a spring Ham Bootcamp program, which helps hams across the country to learn how to use their Amateur Radio License to operate, put stations together, and get on the air. We added additional Ham Bootcamp training on getting started in Emergency Communications activities thanks to help from Stu Solomon, W1SHS, and Cory Golob, KU1U’s Emergency Communications and Public Service Activities Team.

AB1OC Amateur Radio Activities

I’ve enjoyed some operating time in the ARRL June VHF Contest and the new ARRL International Digital DX Contest. We also operated as K2K New Hampshire during the 2022 13 Colonies Special Event. We have received hundreds of QSL requests from our K2K operations, and we are working through those now. Finally, the 6m Band has been pretty good this year, and I am enjoying some operating time on 6m on most days as well.

I hope to see you soon at a Hamfest, Club Meeting, Town Hall Meeting, Cabinet Meeting, or some other event in the near future. All the Best and 73,

Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
ARRL New England Division Director
eMail: ab1oc@arrl.org

BIG E Space Chat Leadership Team

July 18, 2022July 18, 2022 by Fred Kemmerer

New England school students will be making live radio contact with an astronaut on the International Space Station from The BIG E during the week of September 26^th – October 1^st. The “BIG E Space Chat” is part of a program to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) educational activities and Amateur Radio learning activities for young people.

New England Sci-Tech is sponsoring a 12-month STEM education program free of charge to all students grades 4 through 12 and Scouts in New England as part of the contact program. The program will provide hands-on learning about Space Science, Radio Communications, Electronics, Satellites, Rocketry, Astronomy, Amateur Radio, and more. Ten students participating in the Sci-Tech educational program will be chosen to make contact and chat live with an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) from the BIG E.

The contact and the associated educational program are a result of a partnership between The BIG E, New England Sci-Tech (a STEM education group in New England), Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), Black Helicopter Creative LLC, the New England Division of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and local Amateur Radio organizations.

Execution planning has been underway for some time, and we are pleased to announce the addition of Ray Lajoie AA1SE, ARRL Western Massachusetts Section Manager, to the contact leadership team. Ray will be responsible for working with the BIG E team and our content production partner Black Helicopter to set up, test, and facilitate the development and delivery of a pre-contact program.

Ray joins and rounds out the existing BIG E space chat planning team consisting of:

Bob Phinney K5TEC – Education Planning and Execution
Phil Temples K9HI – Publicity and Promotion
Ray Lajoie AA1SE – Venue and Program Planning and Execution
Fred Kemmerer AB1OC – ARISS Mentor

The BIG E planning team is being assisted by Dylann Keaney, President of Black Helicopter Creative LLC, Barbara Irby, KC1KGS, Dan Norman, N0HF, and Larry Krainson, W1AST, in planning what expect will be a major Amateur Radio event in New England. You can learn more about the BIG E space chat here.

Fred Kemmerer AB1OC
ARRL New England Division Director

Director’s Update for 1Q-2022

March 25, 2022 by Fred Kemmerer

Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC Speaking at the Dayton Hamvention

It has been about 3 months since I became the ARRL New England Division Director. My focus has been on the following areas since January:

Building a relationship with and begin working with the ARRL Board Members, CEO, and Staff at ARRL Headquarters
Setting up communications processes with our division
Appointing four Assistant Directors to work on important issues and helping them to get their teams up and running
Working with the ARRL Foundation to get the new ARRL Club Grant Program ready to roll out
Enhancing focus within our division on legislation and regulations that impact Amateur Radio

All of this work would not be possible without the team of people who are working with me on these and other initiatives. We call ourselves the New England Director, Vice Director, Assistant Director (DVA) Team. I’d like to introduce you to the DVA Team:

Phil Temples, K9HI – New England Division Vice Director
Cory Golob, KU1U – Assistant Director, Emergency Communications and Public Service Activities
Rob Leiden, K1UI – Assistant Director, Spectrum Protection and Use
Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB – Assistant Director, Mentoring and Ham Development
Dan Norman, N0HF – Assistant Director, Youth Outreach and STEM Learning

I feel very fortunate to have this group of dedicated people working with me to serve New England Hams.

ARRL Update

David Minster, ARRL CEO has been hard at work filling key positions at ARRL HQ. David’s recent hires include:

Steve Goodgame, K5ATA – Manager Education and Learning
Josh Johnston, KE5MHV – Director of Emergency Management

I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with Steve and Josh and they are both top-notch picks. They bring innovative thinking to their respective roles and they both are extremely enthusiastic and hard workers.

A number of important things got accomplished at the ARRL Board of Directors Meeting in January. You can find more about the details in the Board Meeting Notes here. The highlights include:

Creation of a new ARRL Worldwide Digital Contest
Modification of the 70+ Lifetime Membership Program to make it more accessible
Adoption of the Clean Signal Initiative, a program to improve the quality of transmitted signals
Selection of an external investment management firm and creation of a new Investment Oversight Committee
Election of ARRL Officers including a new Treasurer, John Sager WJ7S

Club Recognitions

The ARRL Board of Directors recognizes clubs for long-standing ARRL affiliation and service to the Amateur Radio community. Along with the ARRL Board of Directors, I am pleased to recognize the following New England Clubs for their many years of ARRL affiliation and service:

Androscoggin Amateur Radio Club – 70 Years
Ellsworth Amateur Wireless Association – 60 Years
Meriden Amateur Radio Club – 75 Years
Providence Radio Association – 101 Years
Southeastern MA Amateur Radio Association – 75 Years

You can read about some of the many accomplishments of these clubs via the links above. We will be presenting each of these clubs with a plaque recognizing their long service and contributions at upcoming Hamfests and Club meetings.

Communications

The DVA Team believes that effective, 2-way communications are an essential part of serving members and Hams in New England. Our communications approach consists of three parts:

Quarterly Division Cabinet Meetings with Club Presidents, Section Managers and Field Staff Members, and other leaders
Triannual (every 4 months) Division Town Hall Meetings with all ARRL Members in New England
Frequent attendance at Club Meetings (at least 6 times a quarter for each DVA team member)

We held our first Cabinet Meeting on January 8th (see what was discussed here). Our next Cabinet Meeting is scheduled for April 16th. We are inviting members of the HQ Staff to these meetings so that they can share information on what they are doing and receive feedback directly from division leaders.

We held our first Town Hall Meeting on February 16th. Attendance was very good with over 200 in attendance. We provided an update on ARRL and New England Division activities and answered some 75 questions from the folks who attended. You can see what was discussed including a recording of the event here. We are planning to hold our next Town Hall Meeting in June.

AB1OC Presentation at K1USN, March 5, 2022

I’ve had a lot of fun attending some 11 club meetings so far this quarter. Our DVA team has also been attending many club meetings. We all find these meetings very helpful for keeping in touch with what Hams are doing in New England. We also want to be available to hear concerns and ideas that we can help with.

A special thanks to our Vice Director Phil, K9HI, who has built and continuously provides content for our division website. You can sign up to receive updates when we publish articles and information here by sharing your email address in the sidebar.

Assistant Director Teams

I heard concerns about many issues from ARRL Members and Hams in New England during the past 6 months. I have appointed four Assistant Directors (ADs) with the charter to bring people together to address some of the top concerns. Our initial Assistant Directors are:

Cory Golob, KU1U – Assistant Director, Emergency Communications and Public Service Activities
Rob Leiden, K1UI – Assistant Director, Spectrum Protection and Use
Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB – Assistant Director, Mentoring and Ham Development
Dan Norman, N0HF – Assistant Director, Youth Outreach and STEM Learning

You can learn more about our Assistant Directors here and here.

Our ADs have formed groups of folks interested in working together to solve problems and promote programs in their focus areas. Some of the work that is going on with the AD teams includes:

Sharing successful activities, programs, and tools (check out the AD pages on nediv.arrl.org)
Promoting activities and programs across the division
Encourage collaboration to create new and strengthen existing division-wide programs

Are you interested in being part of one or more of these teams? Check out the associated groups.io or contact our ADs at:

Focus Area	Assistant Director	eMail	groups.io
Emergency Communications and Public Service Activities	Cory Golob, KU1U	ku1u@nediv.arrl.org	ne-ecaps
Spectrum Protection and Use Including RFI Resolution	Rob Leiden, K1UI	k1ui@nediv.arrl.org	spectrum-protection-and-use nemesh
Mentoring and Ham Development	Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB	ab1qb@nediv.arrl.org	ne-ham-dev
Youth Outreach and STEM Learning	Dan Norman, N0HF	n0hf@nediv.arrl.org	nediv-yso

Hamfests

Horace Clark, N1HC with Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC — L-R: Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, with Horace Clark, N1HC, at HAM-CON

I have been enjoying attending Hamfests and Conventions during the past few months. I’ve attended Hamcation in Florida in February, HAM-CON (the VT State Convention) in March, and I’m planning to attend the Maine State Convention in April. In addition to doing ARRL Forums and providing updates at these events, I’ve very much enjoyed talking with Hams to understand what is on their minds and to hear about projects and ideas to improve Amateur Radio and the ARRL.

The ARRL provides a Hamfest and Convention sanctioning program. The benefits of ARRL Sanctioning include:

Your event will be listed online and in QST
Sanctioned ARRL Conventions will be listed in the ARRL Letter
You will receive ARRL prize certificates for use at your event

It’s a good idea to apply for sanctioning early as this process can help you to avoid scheduling conflicts by letting other groups know that you are holding your event on a specific date(s).

Club Grant Program

As many of you probably know, I have a passion for all that Amateur Radio Clubs provide. Clubs are the cornerstone of mentoring, many Amateur Radio activities, youth outreach projects, and many other important parts of Amateur Radio.

I made it a point to take on a role in the planning work for the forthcoming ARRL Club Grant Program. I have been working as part of a team of ARRL and ARRL Foundation directors and leaders to define how the Club Grant Program will work. The work is proceeding well and we are planning to begin rolling out the details of the program in April. Does your club have a project that would benefit the Amateur Radio community and the public as well as your club? You might want to consider applying for an ARRL Club grant.

We are also looking for volunteers to serve as Club Mentors and Club Coaches. You can learn more about these volunteer roles here.

Focus on Legislation

With help from vigilant members in our division and Section Managers and State Government Liaisons in New England Sections, we have been working with Hams in New England to address pending legislation that would negatively impact Amateur Radio.

We are seeing bills emerge in several states in New England which are intended to protect people from health effects due to RF exposure from 5G commercial wireless networks. The most recent situation occurred with New Hampshire HB1644. This bill was written so broadly that it would have prohibited nearly all transmit antennas in residential areas. The bill would also establish a public registry where anyone who felt they were experiencing negative health effects due to RF exposure from nearby transmit antennas of any type could publicly identify the location of such antennas. With help from NH Section Manager Peter Stohrer, K1PJS, and NH State Government Liaison Bill Nelson, KA1PTW, we were able to mobilize NH Hams to file comments and testify at a hearing on this bill. At present, HB1644 has been sent back to Committee for further study and revision.

We have held meetings with the Section Managers and State Government Liaisons in New England to make them aware of the potential for similar bills to emerge in other states and to set up a process to share information and coordinate efforts to address such legislation going forward.

AB1OC’s Ham Radio Activities

It’s been a challenge during the past few months to find time to participate in the Amateur Radio activities that I enjoy. I’ve continued to support the Nashua Area Radio Society as Program Chairperson where I’m responsible for finding speakers for the club’s monthly Membership Meetings and Tech Night training sessions. I’ve also been part of a team that taught both Technical and General License Training classes where we helped a total of 16 people earn their Amateur Radio License or upgrade.

Sussex County Charter School ISS Contact

I’ve continued to be a mentor and ground station for the ARISS program. The school that I’ve been working with recently as their ARISS Mentor is located in Sussex County, NJ. They made contact with the ISS in February. I had the opportunity to join the group on contact day – it was an amazing experience!

I also had the opportunity to serve as the ARISS ground station for a group of scouts at a Jamboree in Victoria, Australia who made contact with astronaut Mark VandeHei, KG5GNP, on the ISS. You can read more about this contact here. I really enjoy working with young people around the world in this way to bring an amazing experience to them via Amateur Radio.

In between all of this, I’ve hosted some new Hams at our station to help them to get on the air and try various modes and bands. I’ve also been making contacts via Amateur Satellites and have been doing some meteor scatter and digital contacts on the 6m band. The 10 and 12-meter bands have been showing some decent DX activity on SSB and CW recently and I’ve had some fun there as well.

I hope to see you soon at a Hamfest, Club Meeting, Town Hall Meeting, or some other event in the near future. All the Best and 73,

Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
ARRL New England Division Director
eMail: ab1oc@arrl.org