VHF operator licence

[Nicholas123]

a television licence,

I don't wish to be pedantic but you don't actually need a TV licence if you don't listen to it live & that saves me 150 quid a year
So in the same vain I think I will put up with just making Mayday calls in the hopefully unlikely situation that I will ever need to.I think I can live without the endless chatter that so many people seem to find riveting.

 

[ghostlymoron]

As I understand it (from reading up on the RYA site), there has to be a licence holder onboard who should make the call. S/he can then hand over to an unqualified person to continue the call. In an emergency situation, anyone can use the vhf to make a Mayday call.
N

My understanding is that an unqualified person may make a call under the supervision of a licensed operator.
I did the course several years ago and found it very useful as well as making me legal to use my newly acquired DSC/VHF. Practice makes perfect and most of us are a little stilted in our use of radio compared with the professionals who use it all the time. A good tip is to listen to how the coastguards use the radio and try to do likewise. My experience is that they are very patient and courteous when you make breeches of protocol such as 'over and out'.

 

[chanelyacht]

The requirement for radio licensing is there to ensure some form of uniformity and protocol on what can be a very crowded network.

That way, lives are not put at risk by, for example, unqualified operators repeatedly calling their friend's boat on Ch16 during a mayday, or repeatedly calling when the intended recipient is quite obviously not there.

It's a single day course, and cheap to do. You should also learn a lot of interesting things along the way.

Sit in any CG station, with 10 or so aerials on Ch16 on a long stretch of coast, and you'll soon see why discipline is necessary!

 

[ghostlymoron]

I don't wish to be pedantic but you don't actually need a TV licence if you don't listen to it live & that saves me 150 quid a year
So in the same vain I think I will put up with just making Mayday calls in the hopefully unlikely situation that I will ever need to.I think I can live without the endless chatter that so many people seem to find riveting.

It's very handy when you are cruising with other boats and have lost visual.

 

[diapason]

Thanks to both ghostlymoron and prv for the clarification. I hope to learn a lot when I do the course.
N

 

[Gunfleet]

I don't wish to be pedantic but you don't actually need a TV licence if you don't listen to it live & that saves me 150 quid a year
So in the same vain I think I will put up with just making Mayday calls in the hopefully unlikely situation that I will ever need to.I think I can live without the endless chatter that so many people seem to find riveting.

I can see your problem on the solent. But wouldn't you feel a bit low if you made that mayday call and someone sailed by, oblivious because he wasn't moitoring ch 16?

 

[Nicholas123]

I can see your problem on the solent. But wouldn't you feel a bit low if you made that mayday call and someone sailed by, oblivious because he wasn't moitoring ch 16?

No I don't expect people to come & rescue me.I go out sailing for a sense of freedom & to engage with nature I don't expect others to spoil their pleasure by continually having a radio crackling away in the background.It would be selfish of me to expect them to do that when I don't want to do it myself.

I might be a bit miffed if I was jumping up & down waving my hands & they just ignored me if I knew that they could see me but that is not my experience.I find most people very friendly & helpful.

 

[ccscott49]

Not quite. My son watches my tv all the time and he doesn't have a licence, while I'd expect my wife to call Mayday if I was incapacitated and she doesn't have an operator's certificate.

She doesnt need one if you are there, she is operating the set under the supervision of a licence holder.

 

[VicMallows]

Sit in any CG station, with 10 or so aerials on Ch16 on a long stretch of coast, and you'll soon see why discipline is necessary!

Not sure if you are suggesting that actual discipline is good or bad? If you are suggesting it is bad, then either there are a lot of 'unqualified' operators with little common sense ..... or alternatively 'having the bit of paper' makes little difference to actual behaviour.

Somehow, I suspect the latter.

 

[VicMallows]

when you make breeches of protocol such as 'over and out'.

Nothing technically wrong with 'over and out' if used correctly. It means: 'I am expecting a response (to a question) from you but will not be transmitting again myself'

(I personally don't like it and would always simply use 'OUT' to end communications).

 

[elton]

'having the bit of paper' makes little difference to actual behaviour.

I often wonder how those who're so dimissive of qualifications, and of those who go to the trouble and expense of achieving them, think the world turns.

 

[elton]

Nothing technically wrong with 'over and out' if used correctly. It means: 'I am expecting a response (to a question) from you but will not be transmitting again myself'.

You are wrong. "Over" and "Out" are contradictory when used in conjunction.

Over — I have finished talking and I am listening for your reply. Short for "Over to you."
Out — I have finished talking to you and do not expect a reply.

- from Wikipedia

 

[VicMallows]

I often wonder how those who're so dimissive of qualifications, and of those who go to the trouble and expense of achieving them, think the world turns.

Why do you select part of my post and quote it out of context? .... it framed a genuine question if read in entirety. I was not dismissive of qualifications in any way.

 

[chanelyacht]

Not sure if you are suggesting that actual discipline is good or bad? If you are suggesting it is bad, then either there are a lot of 'unqualified' operators with little common sense ..... or alternatively 'having the bit of paper' makes little difference to actual behaviour.

Somehow, I suspect the latter.

Sorry, I was saying that having every operator with a basic understanding, to a set level, of how the tools / system work, is essential. Most people are pretty good - but we can usually spot the unqualified ones a mile off - those we repeatedly have to tell to move to a working channel, or who interrupt seelonces, or who think the way to call us for a radio check is to hold down the big red button...

By mentioning aerial sites, I was merely underlining the sheer volume of traffic most CG stations have to listen to, out of which we may need to filter the one very weak call for help amongst everything else.

 

[VicMallows]

but we can usually spot the unqualified ones a mile off - .

...and certainly those trying to communicate without success on a duplex channel

 

[Gunfleet]

She doesnt need one if you are there, she is operating the set under the supervision of a licence holder.

No mate. I've had the boom on my nut. I'm demi semi conscious!

 

[lenseman]

May I ask why we need a licence at all in a time when most people can communicate with the emergency services by mobile phone quite satisfactorily?

You have obviously not done much sailing outside the "nursery slopes" of the Solent?

Try using your mobile on the River Yealm which is only a stones throw from Plymouth or if you are really brave, you could try the west coast of Scotland where mobiles don't have a signal at all.

 

[Boathook]

The requirement for radio licensing is there to ensure some form of uniformity and protocol on what can be a very crowded network.

That way, lives are not put at risk by, for example, unqualified operators repeatedly calling their friend's boat on Ch16 during a mayday, or repeatedly calling when the intended recipient is quite obviously not there.

It's a single day course, and cheap to do. You should also learn a lot of interesting things along the way.

Sit in any CG station, with 10 or so aerials on Ch16 on a long stretch of coast, and you'll soon see why discipline is necessary!

Just noticed your 'old' picture back.

Every one should do the VHF course. It does not normally cost much and gives good advice on the correct use of the VHF. Well worth the money IMHO.

 

[davidpbo]

I thoroughly enjoyed the DSC/VHF course I did. It was a pleasant day out with like minded people.

The thing is with VHF as opposed to a mobile phone is that they BROADCAST, one rogue operator can wipe out sensible comms or make things uncomfortable on a channel for considerable area maybe as much as 800 sq miles assuming a line of sight tx range of 16 miles. That seems awfully large to me is my maths correct?

I seem to remember we also covered other things such as when a Mayday call is appropriate or when a Pan Pan might be more appropriate etc.

The advantage of a VHF call is that it can be heard by many people, in the case of a request for help some may be close enough to render prompt assistance.

It also enables direct communication with search and rescue operatives and can sometimes be used to assist in giving an approximate locations of the transmitting station.

Mobile phone and VHF for me but I don't have cause to use the VHF much.

My first sail on the Clyde a boat got into trouble outside Ardrossan broadcast on VHF which was heard (With the note of fear) by us and the fishing boat behind us, which slipped its mooring and went to their assistance whilst we were considering it. We did not have the experience and their vessel was more suitable. Had they made a mobile phone call they might have been on the rocks by the time the Coastguard rebroadcast a message, if they did, before assistance got to them.

 

[ccscott49]

No mate. I've had the boom on my nut. I'm demi semi conscious!

as long as you aint dead, your supervising!! hehehehehe.