So, I was looking around and stumbled across this…
The course is recognized by the FCC… seems like a great deal. I hope someone can get a course like this that is online to reduce the amount of time spent sitting in a class, money spent on hotels, etc that is CG approved!
I may be mistaken but for the coast guard to issue gmdss in your mmd you need to actually do a course, because the course has the actual equipment to do the practical.
Yeah, that’s my understanding as well. I know some courses have a digital representation of gmdss equipment that they use instead of having the physical equipment.
It would be nice if someone could get this done on an online platform. I’d bet it would be wildly popular and be able to sell a ton of classes! It would save a lot of traveling, hotel costs, travel costs, food costs, etc while going to a conventional class.
I’ve taken a couple online classes that are approved by the uscg and I really appreciated it. If I had any issues, I was able to contact someone at the school who could talk me through it.
Imagine not having to take your valuable home time off to take some of the redundant courses or courses that you really don’t need someone talking you through it (BRM or leadership). Just take them on your downtime on the vessel…
I’ll keep dreaming.
At this point in the game I would only get gmdss if I had a job waiting for me. The course would be over 2k and two weeks away from work.sure as hell can’t justify that these days…and that’s if I was able to get the class within driving distance.
Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean. If it were cheaper and available in a format that you could do from home, it would be more well accepted. I’ve been dreading that class and avoiding it like the plague… lol I need to get it eventually to hold a captain spot with the company I work for but at the moment, I don’t think they are looking to move me up with all the people currently at home not working.
A feasible approach would be a portion online then you have to go to the facility for X number of days to do the practical assessments on the equipment and take the exam.
I’ve seen the blended courses like that before. It would work as well and still save money for the stay
Just completed US Captains Training GMDSS Maintainers License Course .
It is for the FCC License only . No simulator or hands on . The study material is the pool of Questions that the actual exam is taken from .
They only Proctor the exam and pass the results along to the FCC for licensing . GMDSS still requires a USCG approved course .
Just the same , I do agree that some sort of blended course would be helpful and a lot cheaper . Wouldn’t count on it .
Yeah, for example, the Chouest training center uses a digital rendition of a gmdss unit instead of having an actual physical set of equipment. If that’s accepted there, it would be assumed it could be accepted in another setup?
One day, I’m going to just have to accept that I’m going to have to sit through a 2 week course about radio signals that I am loathing even the thought of.
Best for price, time schedule, and accommodations that I have found so far is in Houston Tx. , PM me if you want the details , they have a class just about once a month .
An other is also a school with digital simulator in Jacksonville Fl. Bit more $ but ok place to stay . The prices just go up from there , as dose the cost of getting and staying there for ten days .
MPT has a mock radio room set up lab kind of thing . Looked alright , but I was there for something else , and did not take the course . Everything they have is over priced for the content .
@blaineatk, Transas is in the process of putting the GMDSS sim tools online, but the bottom line is that any course still needs to be proctored by an instructor. Our customers are quite interested in pursuing this and the NMC hopefully will get onboard and be receptive to new technology.
GMDSS is a subject that is just begging for a “blended learning” class, where most of the material is learned at home online followed by a few days of class for the labs and exam.
That is how I feel as well.
I ended up taking the course and now I am waiting on the FCC to finish their evaluation of my application. Apparently they have now implemented a background check program that has had my application caught up in their system now for over a month for something I did 10 years ago… Go figure. I asked them how long this process usually takes to which I was told I am one of the first to go through it because they JUST implemented it and havent had anyone go through it yet.
I have had to write a letter explaining how the general public would benefit from them giving me the GMDSS License. Do you know how hard it was to come up with how the general public benefitted from me having that???
Such is life, you gotta pay for your mistakes, no matter how may times you pay there is always another bill around the corner…
Which leads me to another question… I sent in the completion certificate to the USCG to get the endorsement on my license. So, does the USCG give it to me based on the completion of the course? I am trying to hurry along the FCC process to ensure they issue before the CG has issue with the situation.
Interesting part is I already hold another FCC license but they do not care about that, even though I have been issued their license AFTER my legal issue when I was younger… We shall see how this pans out.