VHF update

Depends what you want to learn. If you just want to understand how it works then all the radio manuals I have seen do quite a good job of that.

If you want the operators license, then you have to go on a course
 
am I alone in thinking that it is daft to require current vhf license holders to have to undergo a further exam if they change their current set for a dsc set (or perhaps more importantly am I right in understanding that is the requirement)- this effectively puts me off upgrading to a dsc set whereas if there was no need for me to do a further test I might well have upgraded ?
 
If you have a VHF set be it a DSC set or not, you need to licence it to your vessel, you do not need to do the operaters course to own or licence a set. However if you do not hold a certificate to operate the set then you may only use it in a emergency situation. The DSC course takes one day and is around £100, its not difficult and is really worth doing.
 
In my opinion it is valuable to get the DSC endorsement for your VHF licence as there are very fundamental differences in the emergency procedure with DSC. However I bought a DSC set for my previous boat but found the thing to be a constant annoyance when the Wavy Navy boys keep sending DSC alerts every hour announcing some exercise or something. This freqently seemed to happen in the Plymouth area. The result is that every time an alert goes off someone has to go below and cancel the call. With a VHF alert on chanel 16 this is not required. There may be sets now that can be cancelled form the cockpit, I'm not up to date with the cuurent state of the technology, but until this happens I shan't be getting another DSC set.
 
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am I alone in thinking that it is daft to require current vhf license holders to have to undergo a further exam if

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Your definitely not alone Paul.Having done the course i think I could learn more in half an hour with the instruction manual.

you just have to bite the bullet ,spend the money and time if you want to be full;y legal and have the certificate.
 
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The RYA do a cheap booklet which which will tell you everything you need to know

[/ QUOTE ] There are now three. G26 (£3.70) contains the syllabus and practice qustions for the written test. G22 (£5.50) covers all the procedures including GMDSS. New this year is the RYA VHF Handbook, G31 (£11.91)
In the pre-GMDSS days G22 and G26 would get you through the exam and I imagine still would. G31 presumably deals with the same subjects as G22 but in more detail
 
A lot of helpful replies guys, but it doesn't answer Doug's original question.

Is there a website where one can brush up on the dsc procedures?

I did my exam a few years ago now, but I still have the good old non-dsc vhf which works perfectly well for my current needs. If it goes belly up, then I'll probably get a dsc radio, by which time I'll Definately have forgot all the relevent stuff.

So to get back to the beginning - Any websites where I, and I'm sure others in the same boat, (excuse the pun), can brush up on dsc skills?
 
Sorry Brian, £100 was a rough quote for a full DSC test, you can upgrade your licence by doing a half day course. not sure how much that would cost
 
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