FCC Restricted GMDSS (RG) case studies
FCC Restricted GMDSS (RG) · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The FCC Restricted GMDSS Radio Operator (RG) license is the entry-level Global Maritime Distress and Safety System credential for mariners who will operate GMDSS radio equipment on vessels sailing only within Sea Area A1 - roughly the coastal region within very high frequency (VHF) coverage of at least one shore station with continuous Digital Selective Calling (DSC) alerting. It is not a general-purpose radio ticket: it authorizes the operator to use the GMDSS installations fitted to A1 vessels, including VHF radiotelephony and DSC, NAVTEX and maritime safety information receivers, EPIRBs, SARTs, and survival craft portable VHF equipment. The FCC Restricted GMDSS (RG) case studies are 5 cases and about 3,560 words.
1The Owner's Cost-Cutting Plan for an A1 Passenger Run
Your company runs a 21 m fibreglass passenger vessel, certified for 12 passengers and 3 crew, on a scheduled 40-minute run between a mainland harbour and an island 11 nautical miles offshore. The whole route lies inside the coverage of a coast station that maintains continuous VHF DSC watch on channel 70, and the vessel never goes outside it.
733 words, about 4 min2Undesignated VHF DSC Distress Alert at 04:20
At 04:20 you are alone on the bridge of a 16 m workboat 7 nm off a rocky headland, making 8 knots in a 20-knot south-westerly, visibility 2 nm. Your 25 W VHF/DSC controller, with a correctly entered MMSI and a connected GPS, sounds the two-tone alarm and shows: distress, channel 70; MMSI 2320xxxxx; position 4.1 nm bearing 030°T from you; nature of distress undesignated; time 04:19.
692 words, about 3 min3NAVTEX Filtered to Two Categories
On the second day of a five-day coastal delivery you take over as skipper of a 24 m charter vessel. The NAVTEX receiver (518 kHz and 490 kHz, with a printer) has been set by the mate as follows: message categories 01 and 05 only, "to save paper"; 490 kHz disabled, because "we don't read the local language"; station selection limited to the two stations of your home area.
659 words, about 3 min4EPIRB and SART Two Days Before the Season
Two days before a ten-day coastal charter season, you inspect the GMDSS kit on a 24 m US-flag passenger vessel restricted to Sea Area A1, carrying 49 passengers. You find: (a) a Category 1 float-free 406 MHz EPIRB with GNSS and 121.5 MHz homing, battery expiry next month, and a hydrostatic release unit stamped "replace by" 14 months ago; (b) the EPIRB's self-test gives a green flash and "test OK"; (c) the beacon registration database still shows the vessel's previous name, the previous owner's telephone number and the old MMSI; (d) a 9 GHz SART in the liferaft grab bag that has never been tested, and a deckhand who wants to switch it on in the harbour "to see the light flash"; (e) no record of any 406 or SART test in the radio log.
734 words, about 4 min5The Only Two-Way VHF Is in the Grab Bag
While the liferaft of a 26 m passenger vessel is away for its annual service, you check the survival craft two-way VHF set that travels in the grab bag. It is a GMDSS-approved handheld with an integral antenna, a channel switch marked 16 and 6, and two battery packs: the primary pack fitted to the set is stamped with a date three months past, and the spare is a rechargeable nickel-cadmium pack that reads 7.9 V against the 8.4 V nominal on the label.
742 words, about 4 min