Radio Survey: How to prepare for and pass a Radio or PSC survey

Good evening, so this is the radio room of the vessel. So let us go inside and familiarize with the radio equipments and also I'll talk to you about what all difficulties I faced during a radio survey and once you clear the radio survey it is the same with the PSE so it goes hand in hand. So first of all I'll show you the equipments on board. This is my MFHF. Next comes both Sat Cs. I am not having NBDP so I am having two Sat Cs. Then the Navtex. This is the Navtex receiver and the printers for everything. This is the Sat C printer. Next comes the Navtex printer that is a Weatherfax and again another Sat C printer. Now VHF is kept outside on the bridge. This is just the radio room. So whenever you are going to attend a survey there are some documents that you have to paste on your bridge. First document is the vessel's name, IMO number, MMSA number and the Inmersat IDs. This was a requirement we didn't have it posted but the surveyor was kind enough to give us some time to do it. Again the distress communication and false alert. How to cancel a distress alert and false alert? This paper you will find in your GMDSS volume 5. Again the nav area limits. This nav area limit paper you have to post on your radio room. This is how you will be able to select the stations on Sat C as well as for MFHF DAC calls. Again this next paper is action by vessel on VHF or MFHF DAC distress call by HF distress call and guidance on the distress alert buttons. So this button is basically for distress, the undesignated distress. All these papers 1, 2, 3, 4 and number 5, all these papers are available in GMDSS volume 5 and they have specifically marked that page with a scissor symbol. You can see the scissor symbol meaning that this is a one-sided page that has to be cut and pasted in your radio room. So this they have specifically provided you for cutting it out from the book and pasting it as per your need. Another thing that you need to know is again the nav text instructions for use and how the messages are to be read. Sorry this is also from the GMDSS volume 5. This is also a page that can be cut and pasted. Next is the installed apparatus information. This is a requirement for the radio survey. Then comes the battery on and off load test, how to test it. Then you should specifically mark the panels that is having the AC current and the DC current. So I will show you the DC current now. So this is for DC. So I should mark specifically the panel that is having both the numbers. Another requirement was about the expiry dates. They wanted to have the expiry dates printed and available for quick reference. That also we did it. So this practically covers the radio survey requirements. Remember whenever you are going to attend a radio survey, always keep your GMDSS logbook up to date. I have shown you how to write a GMDSS logbook. Do the test at least a day before the survey is going to happen. So even if it is a PAC or a radio survey, just do a test call on MFHF to a coast station or ship station and a loop test so that when the surveyor is going to be on board, you at least have a proof that it was working at least till the last date. Next, whichever equipments the batteries are going to expire in less than a year, if your company is good enough, they will supply you with a replacement if it is less than one year. That is basically for the survey purpose. Normally they will issue it at least one to two months before expiry. Next comes the two-way RT. The two-way RTs have to be kept fully charged before survey and also the spare batteries, this is a spare battery, their spare batteries have to have an expiry date that is acceptable. The VHFs, you should carry out the loop test before survey. I have shown in an earlier video how to carry out a loop test. Again the second VHF, this video has also been uploaded before. Then the shorts, if your short is inoperable, you should request for a replacement. I have uploaded a video about that also. Now comes something about EPUB. One of the mistakes we had with the EPUB stand was this side was facing up. That means the surveyor told what if the vessel sinks and this projection doesn't allow the EPUB to float free. So we had to change it accordingly. Again next comes your vessel's antennas. You should always check for the quality of the antenna. This is a monthly requirement as per my company BMS. Depends upon your company. So any problems or faults you face with the antenna, you can ask for a replacement. And finally once your survey is completed, you will just write down the survey date and the certificate you had received and keep it pinned to your GMDSS radio logbook. So this is how GMDSS or radio survey can be easily completed. I believe I could help you out in a manner so that you won't face the difficulties I faced when I had done the radio survey. And once you complete the radio survey, the same things are going to be acceptable by the PAC. So that means if you pass the radio survey, that means you are well enough to pass a PAC inspection. I believe I gave you a good understanding. Thank you.