I have a set of Murphy Books but what other study aids should I consider in my quest to move from 150 ton master to 500?
Lapware.com is excellent, if you have an internet connection. You can filter the questions for the specific test you are going for, and the study guide well thought out with diagrams and solutions.
If you don’t have internet access, hawsepipe.net has a CD that is specifically for 500/1600 T Master.
I have the Murphy books, too, but haven’t figured out how to filter the questions for the 500 T Masters. Left a message with the publisher, but they never returned my call. Mr. Cavo posted here one time that the rules of the road test is the same at all levels, so at least that book doesn’t need to be filtered.
Good luck!
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[B]Tuesday, October 12. 2010[/B]
[B]USCG Withdraws Mariner License Test Questions[/B]
By Bill Baxter
Maritime Press International
As of July 12, 2010, USCG Withdraws Mariner License test Questions from public view. I another attempt to hoard our tax dollars we’ve already spent, recently the USCG removed what once was paid for with our money paid to govt. taxes. Is this just another case of Obama-nomics?
It seems that the USCG is forcing tax payers to pay yet again, this time to private companies who have been collecting the old USCG questions over the years. Now if a candidate for license as Master, Mate or Engineer wants to study to get themselves aligned with material there are going to be tested on. They first MUST BUY these old test questions from one of a few publishers offering them at a high rate of return. Hope they are up to date enough to pass the test administered by the USCG.
Seems our tax dollars are being spent so fast, that little things we’ve come to know once are our right, now have to come from private industry at another cost. Where will it all end?
You can buy questions from companies such as Freelance Software at Hawsepipe.net for $80 a pop and Capt. Joseph S. Murphy and LapWare.org for only $125 for the first month and $75.00 a month thereafter. These companies are getting off selling these once free questions. Contact D.C. STALFORT at National Maritime Center if you disagree with how your money gets spent.
Sincerely,
D.C. STALFORT
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard
Just looking at similar articles
[QUOTE=Tcaptain;42126]I have a set of Murphy Books but what other study aids should I consider in my quest to move from 150 ton master to 500?[/QUOTE]
When you apply to the Coast Guard to test they will eventually issue you an approval to test letter. On this letter it breaks down the test modules (XXX-501). These are the tests you will have to take to satisfy the Coast Guard to issue the license. The beauty of Lapware is you can study just the modules that you will be tested on. This will save you a lot of time by not studying things that you will not be tested on. It is worth the extra money. I can tell you first hand that it works. I have tested from AB, 100 ton all the way to Unlimited Master. I have used every testing software, home study, classroom study, etc. I have been in the REC and seen the guys failing. I ask the guys what they used to study. They tell me some disc from such and such school. I tell them about Lapware and they have never heard of it. If you want to pass the test Lapware is a sure thing. Good Luck!!
Another satisfied Lapware user here. It made my upgrade from 200 to 500GRT a much easier process, as I was very comfortable and confident when I sat to test. Well worth the money, but you do need internet access to use it.
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For what it is worth - for those studying to upgrade their license, I recently recieved the latest Capt. Joe CD, and it is now nicely organized by license level you are going for, i.e. Master Unlimited, Chief Mate, 2nd Mate, 3rd Mate, Master Oceans/NC 500/1600 GT, Mate Oceans/NC 500/1600 GT, Master Oceans/NC 200/100 GT, on through the different levels for Great Lakes/Inland, as well as rivers. Nice to have everything set up this way, so you only study what you need to.
The tutorials are also excellent, some in pdf format, and others as Powerpoint files. The pdf files can be printed out for your three ring binder - don’t know if you can do it with the Powerpoint files.
Good luck to everyone who is plugging away at their studying.
This is now a relevant question for me. For those of you that have used Lapware, how is plotting handled? Is there some hard copy material that is also needed?
Is there anybody that would say another license prep is better and/or disagree with the proposition that lapware is “excellent”?
Capt. Joe’s is also excellent, and you do not need an internet connection. It provides good solutions to many of the problems that you can print out an put into a three ring binder for study and review. The CD also has great tutorials. http://www.uscgexam.com/index.html
It is helpful to have a couple of different study guides - they are all laid out a bit differently, and you can double check between them.
You can order the training charts for about $6 each. Charts 12221TR, 12354TR, and 13205TR. Try Marine Education Textbooks in Houma. They also have maneuvering boards and plotting sheets, and give good service. http://www.marineeducationtextbooks.com/
The biggest problem is sorting through all the material. So much of it is geared toward unlimited tonnage and you will have to know what to study. Check the CFR’s for that:
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=4a575f180572cd2e48ccdcc3d33e2e52&rgn=div8&view=text&node=46:1.0.1.2.11.9.7.3&idno=46
Hawspipe CD is mentioned earlier in this thread, and is also good to have, but does not offer any solutions to problems. They offer a CD study for the 500/1600 test. The CD also has all the books on it that you need for study - about 30 of them, including Bowdich, Light Lists, Coast Pilots, Tide Tables, Nautical Almanac.
46CFR should be added to the study materials list. The REC had all 46CFR volumes for Parts 1 - 199 in the test room, and a lot of the questions from Deck Safety and Environmental Protection were in there. You don’t need to study the material, but get to know the layout of the CFRs so you know what materials each volume covers, and be able to easily find the indexes - which are at the end of the subchapters, and not necessarily at the end of the book.
I answered only 29 questions on the first pass, and though WTF! But after going through the CFRs, most of the questions got anwered, and I only took a WAG on a few of them.
You can save yourself a lot of anxiety if you get familiar with the CFRs before you get in the test room.
Has anyone had any luck finding a study course that works on a Netbook? I don;t want to buy a laptop if I don;t have to, but if I do I was thinking about the Apple with the 13" screen. Does anyone have experience with one of those. Thanks
MURPHY BOOKS, then get help with Terrestrial Navigation… No computer needed… But if you do, look at Lapware, Hawsepipe, and Capt. Joes
I have recently been studying for Master 500. I have used Seasources, USCGQ, Mariner Advancement & Capt Joes. I have to rule out Seasources and USCGQ due to their pricing and network requirements. Being forced to purchase other items for offline use, these products now seem to have only redundancy for other purchases.
Of these I have found Capt Joe’s to be the most useful tool. However, it lacks coverage on several topics. Stability and Cel Nav stand out as needing more work. This is the only product I have used that presents concepts in a way other than “per Bowditch”. Mariner Advancement (I used for Cel Nav) is great for seeing solutions to problems in a bound printed book. I found the “writings” to be generally direct copies of Bowditch with little or no explanation, clarification or interpretation.
Both of these two lack concise and/or accurate convenient division and presentation of the question pool for specific licenses. Though, as best I can tell, there is no way to determine which questions you may encounter on exam beyond the[B] latest revisions[/B] to CFR http://cfr.regstoday.com/46cfr11.aspx#46_CFR_11p910 . Upon my last review, neither of these two programs offer convenient, accurate test simulation and training for this structure.
Captain Joe & Upgrade U App! Just used both for my CM UL. No Internet required. Just a Laptop for Joe and IPhone or IPad for U. Good luck!
A Hawsepiper’s Guide to Applying, Studying and Testing for Master and Mate 500/1600
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