VHF licence and operators certificate - anyone bother?

[HDAV]

Originally Posted by paintman

Yes.

Having a 'how to' card on board - mine's printed & laminated - is a good idea & IIRC has been well discussed in other threads

Anyone got one of these? Raising Awareness of Marine VHF Radio Calling Procedures - Icom News - Icom UK

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by HDAV

Anyone got one of these? Raising Awareness of Marine VHF Radio Calling Procedures - Icom News - Icom UK

The only problem I can see with that, is it only tells you to "press the red button" it doesn't say anything about holding it down for 5 seconds. Anyone in a panic or not familiar with the DSC system might miss that.

[ShinyShoe]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

The only problem I can see with that, is it only tells you to "press the red button" it doesn't say anything about holding it down for 5 seconds. Anyone in a panic or not familiar with the DSC system might miss that.

It says press C16 button as well which is unnecessary on DSC, but if someone has come from a DSC boat to a non-DSC boat they may hold C16 in for 5 seconds which on most boats will put you on M1!!

[HDAV]

Doesn't seem such a great idea then......

[jonp]

Here you need a licence for a boat that can do more than 10 knots, when I did my licence about 20 years ago I did my vhf licence to. I can honestly say I've never met anyone else who bothered to do their vhf licence ( Apart from the comercial boat owners who have to have it).

With over 250,000 regestered boat owners in my state alone and the fact that having a radio, epirb and flares etc onboard your boat is a legal requirement you would think more people would do the radio cource. Most boat owners radio a log on before heading offshore to let the area rescue groups know of their location movements and return home time. My small local ramp has about 200 boat owners log on in a day when the weather is good.

I've questioned maritime why it seems to be of no concern that people are not getting licence, which he seemed quite surprised by, why pay for something nobody will ever bother checking. He's right as I've never been checked for a radio licence though I get checked for my boat licence, epirb and flares are in date etc etc several times per year. Besides our boat operators licence does cover pan pan and mayday calls.

How many of you in the UK have had to prove you have a licence and do you ever quote the licence number if you make a call?

[collier]

Hi Guys

So in short was it a yes or no?? Do I/we all need to spend our £140 incl the £70 to rya to do the vhf course and ticket ?

[jonp]

Originally Posted by collier

Hi Guys

So in short was it a yes or no?? Do I/we all need to spend our £140 incl the £70 to rya to do the vhf course and ticket ?

If you have a vhf radio and make an emergancy call you will get a response the same as whether you have a licence or not.

If you use your vhf to talk with other boats I very much doubt you will ever be asked if you have a licence ( anywhere in the world )

So my answere would be no but learning radio protocol such as pan pan, radio relay and how to do a mayday call is quite important and can be found on many websites. I've got a licence but after using my radio on every trip to log on with marine rescue etc I've never been asked and as mentioned earlier never known anyone to be asked for licence proof.

I have spoken with UK coast guards from my vhf while I lived in the UK on many ocassions ( mostly for forecast updates ) and never had a licence back then. Infact I became confident speaking with the coast guards after regularly taking a member of the coast guards out fishing with me.

[HDAV]

Originally Posted by collier

Hi Guys

So in short was it a yes or no?? Do I/we all need to spend our £140 incl the £70 to rya to do the vhf course and ticket ?

It can be done cheaper online course from £50 + £60 RYA exam fee.

Doing the course will aid confidence which you need in an emergency but practise keeps it fresh. You could do the online course then opt to do the exam if you wish later.Or just buy and read the bookhttp://www.rya.org.uk/shop/pages/products.aspx?product=rya-vhf-handbook

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by collier

Hi Guys

So in short was it a yes or no?? Do I/we all need to spend our £140 incl the £70 to rya to do the vhf course and ticket ?

For the bit of paper, no. For the knowledge yes. If you can gain the knowledge without doing the course, then go for it. However, don't become a muppet using the wrong channel for the wrong traffic, discussing last night's bedroom encounter on ch16 thinking that the rest of the world can't hear you etc etc. Personally for the sake of £70 I'd do it, but that's me.