Stupid warning beeps

[Daydream believer]

As a single handed skipper on a 31 ft yacht my mind is tuned into every single sound it makes. Any change be it small or large alerts the senses to be aware.
What really drives me mad is the fact that nearly every electrical item, from echo sounder, to chart plotter failure to autopilot cut off to GPS repeater to - well you name it, even my watch- has the same b..y beep.
So sailing along I might be below & hear a beep. What the h..ll is it?
I go on deck & simply must check every thing because I do not know what item beeped. if I miss something & go below you can be certain it will beep again.
Why cannot manufacturers make individual beeps. Surely it is not beyond them to do this. Even the Welsh national anthem would be better than nothing-- well perhaps not , but you get my drift
Anyone else feel that something should be done

 

[RupertW]

I remember one night when I was off watch on a boat with the same beeps for autohelm power loss (which happened too often as our batteries weren't kept charged enough), the shallow water alarm and our radar detector gadget when a ship got closer. beeps went off and I ran around checking everything with wife on watch to no avail and eventually found a mobile phone with low signal beeps.

 

[Blue_mischief]

Just about to enter the west end of Cuan Sound last Saturday after a fairly bouncy passage from Lochaline, when a series of beeps erupted from the cabin below ..... I was committed, single handed, and could do no more than stick my head below for a second. Nothing obviously wrong, no smells or smoke, but the beeping increased in intensity. Didn't recognise the beeps, but talk about stress! I couldn't do anything other than stick to the helm while we whizzed past Cleit Rock. Eventually turned out to be an electronic kitchen timer which had fallen behind some books and switched itself on at some point in the passage.

 

[mjcoon]

I don't think there is any middle ground to the full ability to select a tone like phone ring-tone selection. That's quite a step up in functionality.

Some years ago we were two-up on flotilla but "free-sailing" (in other words, on our own). An alarm appeared to be coming from the engine control panel and since we were motoring this engendered some panic. After lots of rushing round switching things off it turned out to be a DSC alarm. We hadn't been briefed on that!

Mike.

 

[Resolution]

Some beeps require action. An elderly yachtsman motor-sailing across the Channel in stormy conditions failed to react to the engine overheating beeps. ( The boat was so heeled over that the water intake was exposed). Eventually the engine overheated and seized. Cost into the thousands of pounds.
Also a charter boat.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Wouldn't it be fun to leave one of these well hidden on a charter boat?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Annoy-A-Tron-Electronic-Prank/dp/B003NODNNQb

 

[Bru]

I'm right with you there! It drives me nuts that everything beeps the same beep no matter whether it's urgent and important or an unimportant bit of info

 

[Minchsailor]

In my work I visited the control rooms of big plants, think oil refineries, chemical works, power stations and the like. One of the problems with the introduction of digital control systems (say, 25 years back) was the proliferation of alarms - everything would start bleeping; the operators would go into panic mode with reduced effectiveness in dealing with the situation.

A lot of work was done on how to prioritise alarms, so that only the truly important showed up, and the less important and those consequential of the primary alarm were subordinated. Proved quite difficult to implement. Don't know what's happening now as been out of that bit of industry for a few years.

 

[Hoolie]

Yeah, they're a pain. We had persistent bleep, not very loud so difficult/impossible to locate. It turned out to be the fridge compressor that's in a locker. It had stopped working which became apparent when the beer warmed up ... ...

 

[Daydream believer]

Yeah, they're a pain. We had persistent bleep, not very loud so difficult/impossible to locate. It turned out to be the fridge compressor that's in a locker. It had stopped working which became apparent when the beer warmed up ... ...

Now it stands to reason that if it had played Waltzing Matilda instead of just bleeping you would have known straight away that the beer was in trouble. ----Either that or the kangaroo had escaped !!!!

 

[capnsensible]

 

[Seajet]

Aircraft like the later Harriers had at the last count 9 different ' tones' in the pilot's headset for various warnings, all different; and for many years now fighters have a system whereby ' Attention Getter ' red lights flash beside the Head Up Display and an audible tone go off if there's a problem, one then looks down to the big row of captions lights to see which bit has gone wrong.

In this day and age when we can choose any ringtone, one might hope future instruments could give a choice of tones, otherwise we'll need a new ' Attention Getter ' master instrument with a row of LED's to say which instrument is calling, like the 19th Century row of lights or bells to tell the downstairs servants which room was calling...

 

[GHA]

Only beep I can think of is the DSC, and it hardly ever goes off down Portugal way anyway.

There are the warnings from a Raspberry Pi onboard nav computer though, set to this ...

http://www.wavsource.com/snds_2017-09-17_1751672946049674/tv/simpsons/homer/run_for_your_lives_x.wav

 

[TheEcho]

That wavsource site has a nice choice of sounds. We now need a standard so that we can all identify the problem from its sound effect. I suggest to get us started:

Irate honking noise: AIS potential collision
Emergency vehicle sirens: Man Overboard
Man Screaming: Engine Overheating
Toilet Flushing: Plumbing Problem
Ice Cream Van Chime:Fridge Problem
Discreet Cough: DSC Radio wants attention

What have I missed?

 

[elton]

Half a dozen of us went on a memorable cruise up the north east coast on a friend's luxurious yacht he'd recently bought. My cabin contained an AIS, that he didn't know how to operate, let alone turn off After a night of suffering its incessant beeping, I sat with it, and worked out how to control it. It was set to receive all alerts, from all vessels, in all sea areas . Soon I had it receiving distress only, from the Tyne area only The rest of the trip was fantastic, and we all returned well rested

 

[TSB240]

Unknown beeps always occur at the most stress full time.

My examples:

First time through Bardsey Sound only a few meters from the cliffs and a persistent beep not ever heard before from cockpit mfd..

Yep we had triggered the deep alarm for the first time ever! It took quite a while to work it out and then to visualize that the cliffs towering over us to starboard were only a 1/3 of the depth of water under us.....

Similar worries when the high wind alarm went off for the first time. ( It was set at 45 Knots ) I was putting another roll in the Genoa at the time to prevent uncontrolled surfing......

 

[[70521]]

I have two sets of beeps onboard

1) VHF about time I get a mic at the wheel as they are a pain

2) Engine overheat alarm, but I've usually detected the change in engine tone before that goes off.

there is a third, depth, but sailing on the Exe you watch that like a hawk as the seabed keeps moving about.

 

[mjcoon]

That wavsource site has a nice choice of sounds. We now need a standard so that we can all identify the problem from its sound effect. I suggest to get us started:

Irate honking noise: AIS potential collision
Emergency vehicle sirens: Man Overboard
Man Screaming: Engine Overheating
Toilet Flushing: Plumbing Problem
Ice Cream Van Chime:Fridge Problem
Discreet Cough: DSC Radio wants attention

What have I missed?

Pattering water: water tank low (alternative: screaming female...)

Mike.

 

[capnsensible]

Sailing in areas where dodgy immigrant boat alerts are frequent on dsc tests ones radio patience sometimes....

 

[TangaraToo]

Most annoying one on current boat is bow thruster power down. Does this half way down the channel after leaving marina. I should be used to it by now but still makes me jump.