
Hello. I am Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and I have been serving as your ARRL New England Division Director. I have a long history of helping people to become licensed, learn new skills, and become active in the Amateur Radio Service. I have also served in several roles in support of the Nashua Area Radio Society, a club that has provided many hams licensing and development programs over the past six years.
Like most Hams, I love Ham Radio and all that it enables. As your director, I have worked hard to protect and grow our hobby. I will continue to work hard to create and promote activities and programs that will maximize our ability to participate in and enjoy Amateur Radio.
Amateur Radio changes people’s lives for the better. It certainly has had a huge positive impact on my life, and I want to continue as your director so that I may work with clubs and individual Hams across New England to help them bring positive life experiences through Amateur Radio to more people in our division and across the ARRL.
What I Want To Continue To Accomplish as New England Director
There is much that needs to continue to be done to create a strong future for Amateur Radio and the ARRL. The following are some of the major goals that I plan to focus on as Director:
- Bring new people into Amateur Radio by working collaboratively with clubs across New England and the ARRL. We have created a strong focus within the ARRL on new Ham Development and I will continue to work diligently to help the ARRL realize this mission.
- Creating a strong ARRL focus on STEM learning in schools and colleges through Amateur Radio
- Creating positive public and agency awareness and support for Amateur Radio to protect our spectrum and our rights. The ARRL has important work to do to expand member support of initiatives to protect our spectrum.
- Ensuring effective, open, 2-way communications between the ARRL and its members
- Continuing to establish 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 bring the right Amateur Radio 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.
Action-Oriented Leadership
It is not enough to talk with members to understand concerns and problems. While doing this is an essential part of serving as director, we also need a director who with work hard to ensure that effective action is taken to address the issues and solve problems. This requires a leader who can collaborate with people both inside and outside the ARRL to align around creative solutions to problems and create the will to act to realize solutions.
Through my work on numerous committees and workgroups within the ARRL, we have enabled the ARRL board and HQ team to:
- Bring forward new Ham development initiatives
- Provide clubs with resources to do important work to strengthen their future and the future of Amateur Radio and the ARRL
- Develop publications and articles to encourage increased utilization of our Amateur Radio bands and privileges
- Revitalize the National Traffic System
- Create an updated strategy that includes an increased focus on STEM learning in schools.
We’ve also built teams here in New England to solve RFI problems and encourage using our bands above 1 GHz via AREDN. This work needs to continue as well.
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.

I serve as an ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) Mentor and Ground Station, helping schools around the world participate in STEM learning based on 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.

I continue to spend time in local schools teaching classes and providing activities that bring STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) learning opportunities to students 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.
I am devoting considerable time and energy to licensing new hams and helping all hams to upgrade their licenses and get on the air. I’ve had the pleasure of leading a team of hams who have taught license classes, enabling over 400 people to earn a license or upgrade over the past seven 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. Ham Bootcamp is designed to help both new and experienced hams get on the air, build their stations, and participate in new operating activities. In total, Ham Bootcamp has helped over 1,000 participants across the United States to begin or expand their participation in Amateur Radio.
As New England Division director, I have continued 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.
I Need Your Support
I am asking you for your help and your vote to enable me to continue working on your behalf to benefit Amateur Radio folks across New England and the ARRL.
If you are not already an ARRL Member, please consider joining the ARRL and participating in the upcoming New England Director election. You can become an ARRL member here.
Your vote means a great deal to the future of Amateur Radio.
Additional Information
I have been widely endorsed by members of the Amateur Radio community for my work. You can see what others are saying about their support for me as ARRL New England Division Director at re-elect.ab1oc.org/endorsements.
I welcome everyone’s comments and questions. You can reach me at [email protected].
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.
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, Chief Technology Officer, and Project Leader at Bell Laboratories in the development of wireless and wired data communications technologies.
I have also served on the FCC’s Technological 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