VHF Radio in a Weekend
16 h€ 100-250 Active
Two days to study Marcom material and plan the exam. Saturday for theory, Sunday for practice on a real set.
The VHF radio seems intimidating until you actually use it. Say "Pan Pan, Pan Pan, Pan Pan, this is Tender Mara, position to the west of Schiermonnikoog" into the microphone once and the mystique is gone. It's a set of fixed phrases, a few abbreviations, and the knowledge that another human being is on the other end.
The material is manageable: channels, emergency procedure, phonetic alphabet, international traffic, and a few Dutch harbour quirks. With a focused weekend you can get on top of it. The exam is oral, which puts people off, but it's a script. You practise the script and you do it. Afterwards you have a new qualification and can use a VHF radio at sea.
Checklist
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Marifoon-cursus aangeschaft
Examen ingepland
Direct na het weekend
Fonetisch alfabet uit het hoofd
Alpha tot Zulu
Noodbericht hardop geoefend
Pan Pan en Mayday
Kanaal-lijst uit het hoofd
16, 70, 77, Nederlandse haven-kanalen
Marifoon-set geleend of app gedownload
Handy & partners
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Friday evening: get hold of a Marcom course. Online or book both work. Budget around 80 to 120 euros.
90Book the exam for two weeks from now, not after the weekend. A bit of pressure is good for motivation.
80Saturday morning: theory. Channels (16 is distress, 70 is DSC), abbreviations (DSC, GMDSS, MMSI), emergency procedures. Two to three hours.
Between sessions: a half-hour walk. No phone. Let the material sink in.
Saturday afternoon: practice exams and oral drills. Speak out loud. First alone, then with someone who reads the course questions to you.
Suggestion: The exam is oral. Studying silently doesn't work.Sunday morning: emergency procedures. Mayday-Mayday-Mayday, Pan Pan, Securité. Write the three scenarios down on paper and practise them.
Suggestion: Know the difference between Mayday (life-threatening danger) and Pan Pan (urgent but not life-threatening) by heart.Sunday afternoon: borrow a VHF radio set or use a simulator app to practise radio conversations. You hear what it actually sounds like.
0A VHF radio is not a phone. Everyone is listening. You need to speak concisely, clearly, and in the right order. That's a skill, not a test.
The exam moment: you say the distress call into the microphone, the examiner nods, and that's it. Afterwards you'll feel two inches taller.
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For anyone copying this
Do as we did
Suggestions
- Keep two full days free where you genuinely don't have to work. This is not "on the side" material.
- Practise the distress call out loud. Not in your head. Your exam is oral, so practise orally.
- A Marcom app on your phone is handy for drilling channels and abbreviations.
- The exam costs around 80 euros, so book it straight away for the week after the weekend.
Variations
- - Spread-versie: vier avonden van twee uur in plaats van een weekend. Werkt als je geen weekend vrij hebt.
- - Combinatie met VB2: marifoon is logisch na vaarbewijs 2, doe ze in dezelfde periode.
- - Met een vriend: oefen samen radioconversaties, dat werkt beter dan alleen.
by PlayTryBe team