VHF Course Notes

Click HERE for a PDF downloadable version of the VHF Course Notes

The Phonetic Alphabet

(Hint – There is always a question on the phonetic alphabet and you will be using these throughout the course)

A - Alpha (AL fah)
B - Bravo (BRAH VOH)
C - Charlie (CHAR lee)
D - Delta (DELL tah)
E - Echo (ECK oh)
F - Foxtrot (FOKS trot)
G - Golf (GOLF)
H - Hotel (hoh TELL)
I - India (IN dee ah)
J - Juliet (JEW lee ETT)
K - Kilo (KEY loh)
L - Lima (LEE mah)
M - Mike (MIKE)
N - November (no VEM ber)
O - Oscar (OSS cah)
P - Papa (pah PAH)
Q - Quebec (keh BECK)
R - Romeo (ROW me oh)
S - Sierra (see AIR rah)
T - Tango (TANG go)
U - Uniform (YOU nee form)
V - Victor (VIK tah)
W - Whiskey (WISS key)
X - X Ray (ECKS RAY)
Y - Yankee (YANG key)
Z - Zulu (ZOO loo)

Abbreviations

(Hint – There is always a question on abbreviations)

VHF             Very High Frequency
DSC             Digital Selective Calling
GMDSS       Global Maritime Distress & Safety System
MMSI          Maritime Mobile Service Identities
SART            Search & Rescue Transponder  
EPIRB           Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon NAVTEX 

Navigation TelexVHF

Channel Use

(Hint – There is always a question on channel use)

Ch 16
Distress, Urgency, & Calling
Ch 67
Small craft safety channel use by HMCG. (Solent call channel)
Ch 10 / 73
Maritime Safety Information (MSI) broadcasts by HMCG
Ch 06
Communications between aircraft & ship for co-ordinating SAR operations   
Ch 06 / 08 / 72 / 77
Intership working channels.
Ch 13
Ship to ship, bridge to bridge communication realating to safety of navigation
Ch 11 / 12 / 13 / 14
Port Operations Channels
Ch M / 37
Primarily used by clubs & race management
Ch 70
Data only channel for Distress, Urgency, Safety & routine calling when voice calling isn’t possible.  Only possible with DSC sets
Ch 80

MarinasButtons & Terms used with Marine Radios

(Hint – you will be using these types of buttons in the practical test)

On/Off                     Power
PTT                         Press to transmit
High / Low Power    1watt / 25 watt transmit
Volume                    Controls Volume of your speaker
Squelch                   Filters out background noise
Channel Selector     Knob to select channel
Distress Button        Button to send distress alert
Numeric Pad            Keypad for entering MMSI’s & manual pos. info
Ch16                        Button tunes set immediately to Channel 16
DW / Dual Watch     Listens out on Ch16 & one another channel
Scan                        Scans several channels with no priority   
Simplex (TX)            Channel allowing only transmitting OR receiving  
Duplex(RX)              Channel allowing both transmitting & receiving

Common Pro Words used in Marine Radio Calls

(Hint – you will be using some of these words in the practical test)

’This is’                  For identifying yourself at the start of a call
’Over’                     I have ended my transmission but awaiting reply
’Out’                       I have ended my transmission and do not expect a reply    
’Radio Check’        Please comment on my signal strength & transmission quality
’Station Calling’      Used when you do not hear the call sign of the station calling you
’Say again’             Please repeat what you have just said (‘I say again’ - I will repeat what I have just said
’I spell’                    I am going to spell the last word I said using the phonetic alphabet

Mayday Procedure

(Hint - Mayday procedures carry most marks on the assessment paper - For Mayday Procedure – Remember the Acronym  M I P  D A N I O  )

Making a ‘typical’ Mayday call

                                                ‘Mayday, Mayday, Mayday’
                                                ‘This is (say name of vessel three times)’

M  (MAYDAY)                          ‘Mayday’
I  (IDENTIFY yourself again)    ‘This is... (say name of vessel and mmsi no. if known)’
P  (POSITION)                         ‘We are in position... (say position)’

D  (nature of DISTRESS)        ‘We are... (say what danger you are in)’
A  (ASSISTANCE required)     ‘Request immediate assistance’
N  (NUMBER onboard)            ‘We have... (say number of people onboard)’
I  (other INFORMATION)         ‘We are... (describe vessel or any other useful info.)’
O  (OVER)                              ‘Over’