VHF Day Course

bono4president

bono4president

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Hello folks,

just a quick begginer's question. I am going on the VHF Daycourse next week and was wondering if I need to take anything with me or know anything before I go.

Experience so far is requesting lock in/out.

Thanks,

Andy
 
Note pad, pencil, passport photo, and read and learn the two RYA booklets before you go or you could read the question paper so you know all the answers before you go into the course/exam.

PM me with your email if you would like a copy of the questions (all of them) and the official answers.
The test questions are taken at random from the master list so crib the master list and pass the exam.
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“Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity”
Skype id:cliffillupo
 
You will need to know the phonetic alphabet, and some very basic navigation such as bearings and distance.
Take with you a genuine passport type photo (not one you cut from last year's rugby team photo, nor one of those from an instant camera), your cheque book to pay for the assessment fee, a notebook and something to write with. It's amazing how many people have turned up to my courses without a pen or pencil.

Good luck, and enjoy it - it's very easy and the simulator can be fun.
 
Just so you know, the question papers have just recently been updated. But don't get your self in a fix over it. The course is both practical assesment as well as the written exam at the end of the course. Review the phonetic alphabet is all you really need. You will either have a computer simualtor to working on sending theDSC alerts or if the school has them, actuall DSC sets with which you will also be required to do "calls" on.

The total number of marks on the exam paperis 22, pass is 14, but you must get at least 8 marks on the front section of the paper. The distress alert carries 6 marks on it's own. I have just run two courses today and yesterday and the lwest mark was 18 - and that was becuase the candiadte was careless and did not read the questions properly. Don't worry about it!
 
Hi Dave I did my course a couple of weeks ago and scored 21! (God knows what went wrong there!) I would imagine anyone scoring less than 14 rightly shouldn't be using a radio let alone a boat! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Yup - I did have one occasion where somebody got 15, but norm is around 18 +. Usually peopel not reading the questions really. Common mistake is not realising the difference between Distress alert and Urgency alert. This despite haveing been told throught the day what the difference is.
 
Don't cheapen it too much lads. I finally did my course after being illegal for years, never owning my own boat with a radio I did not need a licence really.

The theory is fairly simple and common sense. The practical where the other classmates work on the simulators with you I found very useful. They told me I spoke far to quickly and they could not keep up when writing out the detail.

It was feedback like this that I think made the day worthwhile. Also met some great people playing boats in many different ways.
 
[ QUOTE ]

The practical where the other classmates work on the simulators with you I found very useful. They told me I spoke far to quickly and they could not keep up when writing out the detail.



[/ QUOTE ]

A common problem - speed of delivery. You don't really have to want to repeat stuff in an emergency. More haste less speed is how I describe it.

Another point I stress is that there are others who can help you when problems arise - not just simply calling up the coastguard - particularly in the Solent, Ch 11 Queens Harbour Master, Ch 12 Southampton VTS, Ch 14 Poole Harbour (OK, so it's not the Solent), Channel 68 Hamble Radio to name but a few. All these guys can come to your assistance if needed in a non emergency (Mayday) situation.
 
As an ex Army Signals Instructor, always remember the following to help with clarity:-

<font color="red">CLAP</font>

Clear

Loud

As an Order (with)

Pauses.

originally to get tactical messages through but works as well with any message that needs to be recorded by a receiving station.
 
Tell me Jim 'Over and Out' should never be said on VHF because it is deemed to be bad manners (i.e 'Over but I don't want to speak to you again!' So I wondered if the military use the same etiquette ?
 
Dave, nothing to do with bad manners! Over is the "invitation to respond" Out means "the end of working" Therefore "Over and Out" is a contradiction in terms.
 
Also try to find a school that uses live radio simulators.
The PC stuff has its place but if you have no radio experience the live sims are far better.

It gives you the real feeling of using a proper radio.

RYA and MCA are trying to push all schools to have real radio simulators.

Latest from them is you can run a school on live radio sims only, you can run a school using live radio sims and PC sim but not a school using PC sims only.

Regards
 
Dave,
Over is used when you expect a response from whoever you are talking to.
Out is considered to be the end of conversation and informs other users waiting that it is possibly their turn to talk!

Interesting military one is:
Never never say REPEAT, as this invites the artillery to repeat the last firing pattern. Not good if you have just walked your troops into the last bombardment area. Thats why it is 'Say Again' and 'I Say Again'.......
 
They do - both the 601 and the new 421. They were on offer at LBS but don't know price at moment. I use Navman, not bad sets and do the trick. Screen is a bit small though. ICOM 601 probably has the best screen size.
 
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