VHF Radio - fist mike wanted; ship's licence - where are we?

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Shearwater

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VHF Radio - fist mike wanted; ship\'s licence - where are we?

I have a pre-DSC set and need a new fist mike as the original has fallen apart. Maplin normally wants £15+ postage to Spain, too much. Any alternatives please? Also has the Govnmnt now sorted out free ship's licences? Should I apply? If I ought a DSC should/ought/must I take a new radio course and can I do that without visiting UK. ALL answers most gratefully received; let me know if I can help anyone visiting the Tortosa region of Spain as a co-op. Rgds
 
Re: VHF Radio - fist mike wanted; ship\'s licence - where are we?

hi guinevere as far as your fist mike is concerned can you not find one in spain and then change the end to suit yours,i cannot see any real altrnative though that would be easy.
the "free" ships radio licence will cost you 20 pounds but that is meant to last for life,in theory you can apply for it on the net by contacting ofcom in practice not so easy,better to get someone to sort it for you in the uk and post it to you.
dsc is becoming the new regulation mainly due to ch16 not being monitored i think,i'm not sure that its a legal requirement yet tho.
if you have a dsc radio then i think an upgrade course is avaible providing you have a current vhf licence .this is through the rya so it may be best to check their site and it will say whether,where you can take the exam outside the uk.
i
 
Re: VHF Radio - fist mike wanted; ship\'s licence - where are we?

Can you get someone to buy the fist mike from Maplins and post it to you for less than £15.

On DSC - you dont have to have it, but if you were replacing your VHF, it would be sensible to buy DSC, (not sure they supply non DSC anymore?). personally, apart from the automatic distress signal with position, which is obviously excellent, I havent found any use for the other DSC facilities.

I would imagine that you could do the DSC upgrade, (half a day I think), withan RYA school in Spain.

On the license, I think you need a UK address to process it - what's the Spanish licence situation... perhaps the answer to that is "Dont even go there!".
 
Re: VHF Radio - fist mike wanted; ship\'s licence - where are we?

In addition to what else has been said so far check out the ofcom website at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/licensing/olc/ for info on the ships radio licence scheme. The online system is a bit of a hassle but by no means impossible to master. HOWEVER you may find that the registration to use it requires a UK address, maybe not though. On second thoughts I think another forumite has put me right on that already.
 
Re: VHF Radio - fist mike wanted; ship\'s licence - where are we?

You dont have to have DSC but retailers are not allowed to sell non-DSC compatible sets any longer. But for the mo you can continue using your non DSC set - DSC is only compulsory for vessels above 300 tonnnes and more than 12 passengers.

Ships may no longer be monitoring ch 16 (did they ever?) but the UK coastguard are definitely doing so, and likely to continue for a very long time.

Since the MCA dont (yet?) have a Spanish branch you wont be asked for your licence by them. Do the Spanish authorities bother? If not, then why bother with a ships license? As for the operators licence, you dont need to re-take the VHF exam until you change to DSC, assuming of course that you took one in the first place.

Cheap mike? Boat jumble. E bay.

P.S. There is a lot to be said for DSC in terms of your ability to ring an alarm on the bridge of any solas vessel, and wake up the watchkeeper. Personally I would fit one even though you dont have to do so.
 
Re: VHF Radio - fist mike wanted; ship\'s licence - where are we?

You will need a vhf license to get an mmsi number which needs to be entered into the DSC to make it more "useful".
 
Re: VHF Radio - fist mike wanted; ship\'s licence - where are we?

Many thanks indeed to you all for responding. The UK address isn't a problem as we use our son for such things. I'll look for a RYA training 'ship' here for the license upgrade and then get a DSC radio and join the 21st century. Having said all that, in the four years we've had Guinevere here we hv never used the radio !! BTW & for interest: we've had notices in the Club Nautic advising that CH 16 is not to be used for anything other than distress; all hailing seems to be done on Ch 9 - including the marinas and yacht clubs.
 
Re: VHF Radio - fist mike wanted; ship\'s licence - where are we?

you don't say what make the radio is. most have a standard 4-pin mike-socket which will also take a mike from some amateur radio equipment, however, if your radio can take a handset, it will have more pins and probably be more scarce. I take it super glue is out of the question......if so try Ebay or keep your eyes open for throwouts in the marina. mikes don't usually fail and rich people throw them out when they buy DSC .
 
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