RYA VHF Short Range Certificate Online Course and Examination
The short range certificate is the minimum qualification you need to operate a VHF radio on a UK flagged vessel.
Here at the Little Ship Club you can get the RYA Marine Radio Short Range Certificate in one day at our Thameside London clubhouse. This includes a period of study and then an examination.
The Little Ship Club also offers the course online, but you will still need to complete the examination at the clubhouse.
If you have completed the Short Range Certificate study component with another provider, you can still take the examination with us.
Upcoming Short Range Certificate courses
Short Range Certificate syllabus
Below you'll find brief notes on the topics covered on the course.
General knowledge of radiocommunications
Basic features
This parts covers the range of VHF communications - in distress, search and rescue, port operations, between boats on on your own boat.
You'll also discover more about the sorts of radio stations - those based on ships, coasts, ports and so on.
Channels
Some VHF frequencies are designated as channels. You''l get to know these channels, how to use them and why some of them are reserved for special use.
Training costs less if you are a member.
How radio works
VHF is short range radio because VHF radio waves propogate is straight lines - effectively line of sight. To overcome these limitations you'll learn about antenna height on coastal stations, your own boat and even the handset you are using.
The Little Ship Club runs it's own training as well as RYA courses- check out our custom-built courses below.
GMDSS
The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System is a set of safety procedures, types of equipment, and communication protocols used for safety and rescue operations of the distressed ships, boats, and aircraft. You'll learn about this system, in particular the sorts of equipment your boat may carry.
Practical knowledge of radio equipment
Operating a marine VHF radio
If you take our classroom course at our Thameside London clubhouse, you'll be able to use modified marine radios to help with this part of the syllabus. Radios come in all sorts of models, but all share standard controls. You'll learn about these and discover what they do.
Digital Selective Calling
VHF radios have Digital Selective Calling (DSC) built in. Instead of going through the protocols of a voice call on channel 16, you can contact and pass various types of message to other ships or coastal stations at the press of a button. You'll learn about how this system works, what sorts of messages you can send, and how to send them.
Procedures and practical operation
Distress procedures
You will learn to identify a distress situation and the correct voice procedures for sending and receiving distress calls. You also need to know how to protect distress frequencies to avoid false calls and other issues.
Urgency and safety calls
You will learn to identify an urgent situation and the correct voice procedures for sending and receiving these sorts of calls. There are also safety calls that are to do with weather and navigation warnings to know about.
The rest
There's a few more bits to learn on the course - you can find the syllabus in fine detail here.