RYA VHF Radio text – Reviewed!

/ Ben Starling

I assigned this book to the Can Opener to read while we were on the Spain to Greece delivery. He ploughed through it quite quickly – clearly a riveting read.   
Also required reading not just by me, but by the UK Coastguard too. Anyone who operates a VHF* on their yacht must also have a VHF license. 
VHF radio equipment is regularly used for sending and receiving boat to boat, boat to marina and boat to Coast Guard messages. It is an important piece of safety equipment on most yachts.
I’ll be dragging the Can Opener with me on a course to get our licenses soon. And this is the textbook that goes with the RYA licensing course…
How do you use a VHF? What can it be used for anyways? How do you send a distress message properly? 
These answers could save our lives one day, so I made sure the Can Opener paid careful attention to this valuable little book.


Best Thing About This Book

  • clear
  • concise
  • has all the info in it we need to know to get our VHF Operator Licenses



Wild Wishes

  • There was no brand to brand comparison of VHF equipment – just general explanations of what an average VHF looks like and how it works.
  • But hey – that was not the goal of this book. This little book did the job it promised to do.



Conclusion 

We like books that do their job. And if you are going to get your VHF license with RYA… you kind of have to buy it. So we did.

Fortunately this is a well written and useful little text.




–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

* Very high frequency (VHF) is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz…Currently VHF is at the low-end of practical frequency usage, new systems tending to use frequencies in SHF and EHF above the UHF range…. 

Common uses for VHF are FM radio broadcast, television broadcast, land mobile stations (emergency, business, private use and military), long range data communication with radio modems, amateur radio, marine communications, air traffic control communications and air navigation systems (e.g. VOR, DME & ILS). –wikipedia

In the US

 
In the UK

Book Reviews
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Previously: Celestial Navigation, by Mary Blewitt

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