Rya - Vhf/src/dsc Radio Course

[Jono Garton]

Hi

When asking our customers feedback several people I have spoke to seem to think the RYA vhf radio course is to complicated and to long. When you think a Level2 course on average depending on the RTC is 12-14 hours and radio course is 8 hours

Whats your thoughts?

What was your course like?

Should the course be allowed to be merged with other waterbased courses to make it more practical?

[Louise]

I don't really understand how anyone can say it is 'too complicated' as there is obviously certain info which needs to be communicated and understood and cannot be simplified further. My course lasted around 5 hours (excluding exam) and, IIRC, all of us passed first time. I guess it could be combined with L2 but that would add 0.5 - 1 day to the course length, surely? And you still wouldn't be able to do a 'real' Mayday or PanPan (hopefully!!!). HTH.

Edit: I know it's unusual, but where I took my course had real radios on a closed loop circuit so, apart from the fact that we weren't bumping up and down with the occasional spray of water in our faces, it was pretty realistic and therefore practical. I realise using the computer simulators would be less realistic/practical.

[qcamel]

I have just completed my course last weekend and although I was not overly impressed by the Tutor I thought the course and its contents were of sufficient detail and length as to make it worth while. On the other hand I found the L2 to be too simple and gained very little from it.

[David Hickman]

I find that 1 day is fine, but if you have someone who wants a 1:1 course on DSC and already knows a bit about it then 8 hrs is way too long.

Jono, have you had any of the random questionaire retruns from the RYA reference VHF courses that you have run???

[Jono Garton]

david, yes we have had a few.

[Jon Brooks]

Originally Posted by Louise

I don't really understand how anyone can say it is 'too complicated'

I found it a very hard course only just scrapped through!


Regards

[tcwozere]

As it's possible that some people only want to carry a vhf for emergency use, the course doesn't seem to make sense. It may be a simplistic view, but surely all you have to do is call out a mayday, then give the lat and long reading taken from the gps. I accept that people who are venturing further away will need more, but for coastal sailors, (who hopefully would never need to call the coastguard out), a day long course combined with the fee doesn't seem reasonable..

[Paul Glatzel]

If you think one day is too much then think yourself lucky you are not in Ireland. For years the Irish authorities have accepted that the RYA 1 day VHF was fine, a couple of months ago they decided that the RYA course wasn't detailed enough and require a 2 day course and don't accept the RYA qualification. Not sure what has happened on this in the last two months though as there was some fierce debate going on. Personally i think the 1 day VHF course is fine as it stands as it trains people to do what they need to be able to do - which is reasonably basic.

Qcamel, given your comment re your level 2 course how did you feel it fell short?

Regards

Paul

[MikeCC]

Part of the issue is making sure that all operators are capable to a good standard. I'm sure that most people, in a scrape, could switch to channel 16 and say 'I'm sinking somewhere off the Needles, come quick'. However the operators certificate has to cover for all eventualities and ensure that everyone is competent to the same level. You can't really have a 'casual' and 'professional' version - you either use VHF or you don't.

For anyone that's old enough. you might remember the countless idiots using CB radio a few (OK, 20-25) years ago. Without proper certification, VHF could easily go the same way.

The other problem is making sure that the course is actually long enough to drum the essentials in to the densest of users! For the better candidates this might be a bit boring, but at least you can be reasonably sure that everyone has got it.

Personally, I think a day out for a potentially lifesaving facility is a small price to pay.

Anyway, this is my first post to RIBnet although I've been 'lurking' for a while. Great forums - good to see a web group that's not completely full of bullshit and waffle (I didn't say devoid). But I hope I don't get a reputation for rants!

Mike

[brucehawsker]

For me the biggest value of the 1 day course was thinking through the situations and deciding what to do - pan pan, mayday, all ships, coastguard, whatever - and phrasing the messages in a concise form. Breaking the marine radio 'duck', by speaking out in the proper fashion having composed your message - even it was in the instructor's kitchen. I enjoyed my day, and the marine anecdotes based on the instructor's years of experience.