Contact
Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB
Hollis, NH
Email: ab1qb@nediv.arrl.org
Assistant Director for Mentoring and New Ham Development
Introduction
One of the goals of our director is to 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 on Amateur Radio.
We have formed a working group to help clubs across New England to provide the mentoring to meet these goals. The goals of this working group are to:
- Encourage the development and sharing of Licensing programs
- Encourage the development of programs to help licensed amateurs at all levels to build stations, put up antennas, and Get On The Air
- Encourage the development and sharing of Mentoring and skills development programs
- Encourage the development and sharing of online learning tools
- Provide for publicizing these programs across the division and the ARRL
- To join the discussion, join our Groups.io group, ne-ham-dev. You can join it via the Find a Group feature in Groups.io or contact me at ab1qb@arrl.net to be added.
This page includes a number of resources to help clubs to provide learning and mentoring programs to their members.
Our most recent meeting of the Mentoring and New Ham Development and Youth Outreach and STEM Learning groups was held on Wednesday, October 12th. You can watch the recording below:
We held another meeting of the Mentoring and New Ham Development and Youth Outreach and STEM Learning groups on Wednesday, July 13th.
We held the most recent meeting of the Mentoring and New Ham Development working group on Monday, May 23rd. We had presentations from Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, on the ARRL Club Grant Program, Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB, on the Ham Bootcamp mentoring program, and Larry Krainson, W1AST on plans for Ham Radio activities the Big-E. The recording of the meeting is below.
Our kickoff meeting was held on March 15th. We had presentations from Dan Norman, N0HF; Bob Beaudet, W1YRC; Bob Phinney, K5TEC; and Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB, on mentoring programs. The recording of the meeting is below.
Do you have inputs that you would like to provide for this page? You can provide your inputs by submitting a form at Provide Input to Mentoring and Ham Development Web Page Select the correct form (Mentoring Program, License Class, or Training Recording) by opening the Table of Contents and clicking on the heading for the information you will provide.
Resources for New Hams
Mentoring Programs
One of our goals is to connect prospective hams, newly licensed hams, and inactive hams to clubs that have mentoring programs to help these hams get on the air.
Here is information on mentoring programs provided by New England Amateur Radio Clubs. If you have a mentoring program you would like to have listed here, please complete the form at Provide Input to Mentoring and Ham Development Web Page .
- Greater Bridgeport (CT) Amateur Radio Club – CARES Program
- Nashua (NH) Area Radio Society – Ham Bootcamp
- The Consortium (RI) – Bob Beaudet, W1YRC
- Morserino-32 Kit – Suggested by David Bodman, KD4CLJ. Teaches a bit of basic soldering, then kitbuilder has a VERY capable morse code trainer/tester/loRA transmitter/keyer.
Training Program Recordings
Many clubs provide training programs over the internet that are recorded and available on their websites or YouTube channels. This section is a collection of links to those videos. If you have training recordings that you would like to share here, please provide your input via the form at Provide Input to Mentoring and Ham Development Web Page
LonTV Videos
Lon Seidman is a popular YouTuber who creates informative videos on many aspects of technology. He recently became licensed as KC1RGS, and has published videos on his channel about his amateur radio experience. In this case, a new ham is doing a great job of mentoring other new hams.
Nashua Area Radio Society Tech Night Recordings
The Nashua Area Radio Society holds a monthly tech night to help amateur radio operators to develop and expand their Ham Radio-related technical knowledge. Here are some video recordings that teach some important skills to operators:
Licensing Classes
Many clubs offer licensing classes. Some are online and others are in-person. License classes given by ARRL New England Division clubs are listed below. You can scroll left and right to see all of the columns in the table.
License Class Exams
License Class | Start/End Dates | Start/ End Times (ET) | Number/ Frequency of Sessions | Location | Pre-Study? | VE Exam Provided? | Cost | More Info | Sponsoring Organization |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Technician | Many dates | 8:30 - 11:30 PM OR 12 - 6 PM | Evening Classes - 4 sessions M-Th, Weekend classes - 2 SAT-SUN | Online | Study from ARRL Technician Class License Manual | Online exam can be scheduled | https://nescitech.org/shop/on-line-license-course-technician/ | New England SCI-TECH | |
General | Many dates | 8:30 - 11:30 PM OR 12 - 6 PM | Evening Classes - 4 sessions M-Th, Weekend classes - 2 SAT-SUN | Online | Study from ARRL General Class License Manual | Online exam can be scheduled | https://nescitech.org/shop/online-license-course-general/ | New England SCI-TECH | |
Extra | Many dates | 7 -10 PM | 8 Sessions | Online | Study from ARRL Extra Class License Manual | Online exam can be scheduled | https://nescitech.org/shop/online-license-course-extra/ | New England SCI-TECH | |
Technician | 9/17 - 9/18 | 8 AM - 6 PM | Daily sessions Sat - Sun | Online | Read Gordon West Technician Class Book and complete fill in the blanks assignment | Remote Online Exam | $40 plus exam fee | Visit https://www.n1fd.org/amateur-radio-license-class/ or email classes@n1fd.org | Nashua Area Radio Society |
General | 10/22 - 10/23 | 8 AM - 6 PM | Daily Sessions Sat - Sun | Read Gordon West General Class book and complete fill-in-the-blanks assignment. | Remote Online Exam | $40 plus Exam Fee | Visit https://www.n1fd.org/amateur-radio-license-class/ | Nashua Area Radio Society | |
Extra | 11/11 - 11/13 | 8 AM - 6 PM | Daily Sessions Fri - Sun | Online | Read Gordon West Extra Class book and complete fill-in-the-blanks assignment | Remote Online Exam | $48 plus Exam Fee | Visit https://www.n1fd.org/amateur-radio-license-class/ | Nashua Area Radio Society |
You can also search for a license class on the ARRL Website: http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-class
If you have a license class that you would like to share here, please provide your input via the form at Provide Input to Mentoring and Ham Development Web Page
Club Membership Programs for New Hams
Many clubs offer reduced dues or free club memberships to New Hams. Please contact me at ab1qb@nediv.arrl.org if your club has a membership program for new hams so that I can add your club to this list.
Resources for Clubs
Help Your Club by Increasing ARRL Membership
Learn all about how your club can benefit from the ARRL Club Commission Program by holding quarterly ARRL Membership Drives
Club Meeting Speaker Lists
Looking for a speaker for an upcoming club meeting? Here are links to speaker lists provided by ARRL sections in New England.