Join Me For My VHF Marine Radio Course & Exam (did I pass)?

After weeks of study, finally the day has come for me to attend RYA VHF Radio Course & Exam at the beautiful York Marina.
It proved to be be an extremely long day and by the end I felt completely Brain-Dead.
How did the day go? did I pass the exam? only one way to find out........

[@anotherangleUK]

Well done, good to have that done and dusted. Just need to get that service light sorted on the van 🤭

[@thecockneykayaker2239]

I’ve had it looked at but keeps coming back on. Been like it from brand new. Apparently a good auto electrician could sort it so I’ve been told

[@weaselinjeans1]

Congratulations mate. Classrooms are never fun but it’s behind you now. Well done 👏🏼 😊

[@thecockneykayaker2239]

Cheers pal

[@YorkshireBeaver]

After a friend suggested it i bought a baofeng uv-9r which works great, charges from usb and cost less than £40. Ive used it a few times to contact lock keepers whilst out on tidal rivers and its been brilliant! You have to program channels to frequencies but its easy enough and didnt take long. It even picked up goole lock from 15 miles away.

[@thecockneykayaker2239]

My friend has the same radio which has great reviews. Worth considering for sure

[@YorkshireBeaver]

@@thecockneykayaker2239 theirs a video from clueless sailer which explains using as a marine radio. If you off far out to sea then prob need a fixed set with large aerial but for coastal waters & rivers its perfect.

[@THE-RIVER-RAT]

PAN PAN. PAN PAN......This is George Cooper calling to say CONGRATULATIONS

[@thecockneykayaker2239]

Cheers buddy

[@2e0wmghamradioandkayaking85]

Well done, I never paddle without taking my VHF radio. A few things to note perhaps.
I would urge against buying a Baofeng radio for use on the marine band as mentioned elsewhere in the comments Firstly it is not type approved so technically not legal to use on marine bands. Likely not to matter as enforcement is non existent. A Baofeng radio is designed to operate on a wide range of frequencies not just marine VHF. Compared to a type approved radio it will be less selective and sensitive. For example a Beofeng may well not work too well in a situation where there is a lot of radio traffic with very strong signals nearby. So signals you want to listen to could be desensitised. I’ve experienced this myself with a Baofeng while at the same time a dedicated marine band transceiver was fine. Same with the antenna, a dedicated VHF marine band antenna will be designed to work best (resonant) on the marine frequencies so will be likely more efficient than one of unknown or different resonance not on the intended frequencies.
If your life may depend upon it you need a proper radio designed for the intended use. Features such as DSC will not exist on cheap general purpose radios. A decent purpose made radio is the way to go. Perhaps consider one of the floating handhelds by Standard Horizon or Icom. Rugged and reliable and reasonably priced plus some also have DSC.
DSC comes into it’s own in places where channel 16 is heavily used such as in the Solent where every 10 seconds you will hear vessels ask for radio checks. For day to day casual use DSC is not widely used by leisure users. Used with a GPS enabled radio in an emergency however it can be a lifesaver as it can automatically send your exact location.
Cheers
Kevan

[@thecockneykayaker2239]

I agree will all that my friend

[@lorraineharris8697]

Well done!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@thecockneykayaker2239]

Thanks. Long old day