radio licence

[sailorman]

I SAY OALD CHEP.
i pay my £20 poinds per anum radio TAX.
i also quite often trun the crap off as i get p***d off listening to "Radio Check Pls".
do they think the frigging thing has packed- up since last w/e radio check ?????.
why should we pay tax for a safety service ie v.h.f
why pay road fund licence instead of added tax on fuel @ the pumps, then we all pay proportionatly to the amount of driving done . too easy eh!.

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[sailorman]

Re: Cheat

i suppose u stick to the speed limits as well ?.

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[petery]

Re: No reason

'it's fun to do'

As far as I am concerned, the 4 hours on the 'course' were among the most pointless and boring I have ever spent.

Based on my experienec and those of a couple of friends, there appears to be no quality control of lecturers by the RYA. No written exam when I took it.

More like a ritual than a learning experience. You get more guidance from the sticky bits of paper given away free with PBO

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[sailorman]

Re: No reason

"skool techers" rule ko

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[tyce]

Re: No reason

hi
well i started something there, i said it was going to be controversial, some good points raised though which was my original intention and not, 'that i am proud' to be a non licence payer as someone stated, interesting to see that a lot of people thought the money went back into maintaining the system which i think we all would agree would be an excellent idea, if only it did, and then i would be more than happy to obtain a licence.
just so you know i was an officer in the british merchant navy so i am fully qualified including with gmdss, i just refuse to see yet more of my hard earned given away to with no or little benefit in return, so i would rather, and do give the money to the r.n.l.i. instead where i know it will benefit me and fellow marine users.
keep up the comments tho, and i will be listening out for you on channel 16 just dont tell the authoritys

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[bigmart]

Re: Then you

are extremely unlucky, in where you chose to take your course, or one of those people who know so much that you have nothing to learn.

Now I will happily admit that the Short Range VHF radio course & the DSC Upgrade are not the most scintillating experience but I certainly enjoyed the time I spent there. Then again I find that I do enjoy the company of people with a similar interest to myself. There are, of course, some who think they are above everyone they meet.

In my experience& I have completed just about every course that the RYA etc. offer, the most fun course of all is the one on Sea Survival. I can reccommend that to anyone.

After the umpteenth refresher First Aid course, every three years for those who don't know, I think that I now find this the most tedious experience. However I would not dare to suggest that the refreshers are not necessary.

Martin

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[Benbow]

Re: We seem to be at X-purposes

Well maybe you know your VHF procedures, but does that mean you think that everyone should be left to 'self-certify' ? A recipe for chaos.

(How well the RYA teaches and administers the exam is a different question. I agree that the implementation leaves a lot to be desired, but then the range of ability/interest/prior-knowledge among the pupils makes it quite a challenge. (I took my exam without a course))

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[tome]

Re: No reason

Y'a wee divil...!

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[petery]

Oh dear !

Oh dear... perhaps I expect courses to be demanding rather than 'fun' - I can get 'fun' at the club bar with sailors much more experienced than I.

The point I was trying to make is that the RYA appear not to have any quality control on the course content or the lecturers. We learned the phonetic alphabet before the course; we watched two videos; had 5 or 10 minutes on a simulator; no written exam and that was it !!! We were breathing at the end of the course - so we passed. I accept I probably had a rogue lecturer - but I relied on the RYA accreditation.

I was phoned by the RYA after the course on a routine follow up and complained; they sent me a questionnaire which I completed - but the course is still being given in exactly the same format.

I contrast it with the Long Range Certificate (HF and GMDSS) course - managed by the MCA and not the RYA - where we worked our b******s for three days and had an external examiner test us individually and as a group for a full morning. . and there was a real risk of failure.

<hr width=100% size=1><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by petery on 04/03/2004 23:17 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[bigmart]

Re: Now I think

we should encourage people to go for training wherever possible. Perhaps I have been lucky but I have enjoyed, to varying degrees, all the courses I have attended.

The instructor on my Short Range course had a stammer, he was supposed to train us in diction. I still enjoyed the sessions we had even though there were many other laughable interludes, that I could have used to rubbish the experience. The upgrade to DSC was conducted by Highbury College, Portsmouth, who offered a very comprehensive experience. Even though this is not the most exciting subject. They also conducted follow up interviews to guage the suitability of the training.

I have not attended a long range course but of the many that I know who have very few have passed first time. Often this is much to their annoyance.

Often there are times in the winter when I wish I could justify some more training, I have always enjoyed the stimulus & the company of people with a similar interest to mine.

Martin

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[sailorman]

Re: Now I think

People USED to get TRAINING by sailing / boating with friends PRIOR to buying thier own boat, not just COLLECT bits of paper.
skool masters rule ko.

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[bigmart]

Re: Time was

when people tried to encourage others to learn. Lurking around, moaning, like some Monty Pythonesque character about how "Of Course we had it tough" & "The kids today they don't know theyre born"does nothing to promote the cameradrie that our passtime will need to survive the onslaught of over regulation that is lining up to assault us.

Martin

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[Twister_Ken]

That\'s not the only rule...

...that merchant marine officers seem exempted from.

As far as I'm concerned, your attitude stinks.

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[Chris_Robb]

Of....

course I do - when I remember. It just that as you get older one begins to forget...eerrr

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[petery]

Do we need an RYA course recommendation/comments forum

As it appears to me that the RYA are very lax in monitoring those individuals and training establishments they accredit and standards appear to vary greatly, do we need a dedicated forum here that lets us leave comments on specific courses and companies in the same way we leave comments on Pubs and Restuarants we love and hate?

I suppose there's no more risk of actions for libel than we we say the food is c**p and the service is awful at a pub - and training schools don't appear to spend all that much advertising in IPC mags

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[charles_reed]

The Auld Alliance

encore,

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[bigmart]

Re: Do I doubt that

IPC would commit the commercial suicide that doing that would be. Even if comparatively few Radio Schools advertise surely the rest of the Advertisers would see that as confrontational.

Martin

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[T_C]

Re:How do I know it works?

The short answer, Tome, is that I don't. Then again, how do you know your flares will work when you need them, or your liferaft inflate when you chuck it into the sea? Regular servicing, or keeping your flares in date helps, but it doesn't guarantee things will work when you need them.

My approach is that the VHF is just one of a number of potential options I have to alert passers by to any distress, I certainly wouldn't rely on it as my sole tool for getting out of trouble.

If I had my operators certificate, surely you are not suggesting that I call up the local coastguard station every time I go out to check the radio is still working are you??;-)

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[Twister_Ken]

Re:How do I know it works?

If I had my operators certificate, surely you are not suggesting that I call up the local coastguard station every time I go out to check the radio is still working are you?

If you had your operator's certificate, you'd know that radio-checking with HMCG is strongly discouraged by the instructors. A radio check is only encouraged after initial installation of a system, or after maintenance work on it. And then it is suggested you radio check with a marina or other non-critical non-ch16 station.

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[tome]

Re:How do I know it works?

No, I'm certainly not suggesting that!

I do a radio check at most once per season or after a change of installation. Used it briefly last weekend when we saw a load of flares go off as we went out of the harbour. Quick call to CG ch67 confirmed that there was a demo going on at HISC, and of course that our radio works. Shan't need to bother them again.

Antenna/cable/connector failures are very common and can only be detected if you transmit.

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