Longe Range Radio Certificate

[carstenb]

Hi all. In denmark there are several radio certs

Short range certificate
Restricted operators license
Long range certificate
General operators license

The long range certificate allows the holder to use a short wave radio for communication.

Is the LRC the same as a commercial operators license in the US? If not what is the equivalent?

[goboatingnow]

There is no direct comparison to the FCC GMDSS operators license or GMDSS restricted operator license


Dave

[lorenzo b]

If your talking about an SSB, just plug it in and use it. No one will come banging on your hull demanding your papers. If asked, my call sign is Whiskey Tango Foxtrot me too I ate one sour too.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by lorenzo b

If your talking about an SSB, just plug it in and use it. No one will come banging on your hull demanding your papers. If asked, my call sign is Whiskey Tango Foxtrot me too I ate one sour too.

We don't do things like that this side of the pond. We like radio operators to understand the protocols, DSC and how GMDSS works.

Dave

[lorenzo b]

An SSB or VHF is about as complex to use as a cell phone. If radios are your hobby and you enjoy fiddling with them, by all means get as many licenses and take as many exams as you like. But for a cruiser living and traveling on a boat, you just don't need all that technical knowledge.
There is also a good deal of personal information about your boat and yourself on the internet if you broadcast your call sign.

[Zanshin]

lorenzo_b - I have to disagree about your comments that SSB and VHF are as simple to use as a cell phone.

Both have strict protocols defined by the ITU regarding proper use - both so that messages are correctly addressed and understood and in order to ensure that frequencies aren't used incorrectly to prevent urgency, distress and other messages to be understood.

Particularly in the BVI, where a lot of Americans who have no formal radio knowledge are chartering, the use of VHF Channel 16 is miserable. Last week there was a vessel grounding being coordinated by the U.S. Coast Guard as MRCC where idiots with no idea were either trying to contact restaurants to order dinner or talking with other boats about their speed and evening plans while volunteers raced to the island where the 1 distress signal originated in order to look for debris and people in the water - the coast guard had to use "Silence Mayday" several times and, since the people had no idea what that meant, had to repeat it in clear language telling people to change frequencies and leave CH16 open for the distress traffic. That only lasted a couple of minutes before people were calling in to ask if they could order dinner again...
This type of traffic is unknown in europe, where SRC and LRC or local equivalents are mandatory and include actual training in procedures.

Apart from correct use of the voice portion of the GMDSS system, there is the whole world of DSC on both VHF and SSB. While this digital use of VHF is rarely used in the Caribbean or the USA, it is used in many parts of the world and is certainly not as simple as dialing a number on a phone.

Finally, I've got an SSB aboard and an LRC and still feel that I know next to nothing about the correction operation of my unit; and I cannot think of a single HAM operator who would equate the use of radio signals to be like pressing buttons on a phone.

Also, the callsign allows people to check only boat name, registration, ownership (name and country; emergency contact and address only available to proper authorities and not online). I am not happy about that much information on the web, but it doesn't quite rank as "a good deal of personal information" in my books. Note, too, that the callsign is given to the fixed installation and not to the operator.
For those interested, the web page for Callsign lookup is at Particulars of Ship stations

[hellosailor]

Take the dinner orders. Deliver the dinners. And hand out the $5000 summonses along with the dinner check.

They'd only have to do that for one day, to set the example and get the word out. Other agencies do similar things for that exact reason, it is (sadly) much more effective than asking nicely.

[Zanshin]

hello - the problem is that many of those reserving dinner or asking about which side to put the fenders on on VHF16 instead of on the channel suggested by the establishment are in the BVI, where the US Coast Guard has no jurisdiction...

I was worried that day, since the boat was sinking and radio contact was soon lost. Somebody's inadvertant dinner order could have stepped on/overridden the final mayday call and perhaps prevented saving a life; few people switch their CH16 to low power when they are close to the station they are calling (as is taught in courses) so it would be so easy to overpower a sinking boat's transmission...

BTW, a megayacht on Virgin Gorda dispatched their high-powered tender to the grounding location verbally transmitted and circled the rocky outcrop twice and found neither debris nor people in the water; the last transmission I heard was that there was another location off St. John with a similar name (the mayday didn't include coordinates, just the name of a cay) and then I'd arrived and switched off the VHF.

After posting my initial response, I looked at my ICOM SSB and realized that I'd forgotten the emergency frequencies - I wonder how many know those off by heart. The "Distress" button won't help much if one hasn't set up the DSC or attached a GPS - somewhat more complicated than a cell phone (I looked up the frequencies and will use my labeller to put them next to the SSB so even when I'm under stress the only thing stopping me will be writing the numbers too small to read without glasses..

[hellosailor]

Zanshin-
" in the BVI, where the US Coast Guard has no jurisdiction..." There's always a way for the long arm of the law to operate, if the offenders are Colonials too. And I'm sure someone in the BVI would be equally glad to serve dinner--and a cheque. Of course, maybe we're just suffering from Uptight White Man's Disease, you know, worrying about proper protocols instead of "don't worry, dinner be over soon" ?

I understand UWMD has been found in folks who aren't white or men, either.

On not being able to read the notes on the radio...What, you don't have "emergency reading glasses" scattered around the boat? A pair in a glass case next to the radio with a big "BREAK GLASS IN CASE OF EMERGENCY" label on it? <VBG>

[Zanshin]

Normally I just shake my head when people block CH16 with drivel and debate leaving the VHF on but turning the squelch up so that I'm still nominally legal; but in this case it was incredible for me - a boat on the rocks, leaking fuel and taking on water and an unknown number of people aboard... and others ignore the distress and are blocking the channel reserving a table for 6 for SunSail hull number ### despite the Willie T's or Pirates asking them to switch to a working channel...

BTW - I've got pretty big labelling tape, so I'm good to go without reading glasses now I had the callsign and MMSI labelled in big letters already, so I should be good to go now. I fervently hope that my only distress message will something along the lines of "Running low on liquor; emergency alcohol supplies broached but reaching critical levels. To any station - need ethanol urgently."

Of course the big question would be whether this is a "PAN PAN" or, using another thread, "POHN POHN" call...

[sck5]

Even if you dont have a license for the SSB, your boat needs one. Its called a ship station license and you get it from the FCC.