Turn down DSC alarm on an ICOM VHF

[robertager1962]

I know this has been discussed recently but couldn't find a resolution.
I have an ICOM M601 VHF with remote mic in the cockpit and wondered if any other ICOM users had found a tweak to either reduce or mute the DSC alarm.
We are based in the Med and we often get alarms from coastal stations that can be hundreds of miles away and are irrelevant to us.
The issue is when we are on a night sail and the crew has just turned in and suddenly all the alarms start blaring because there is a weather report in Cadiz.
Even if I could turn it down it would be a bonus.
I have been through the manual but could find nothing that remotely mentions this. As per the previous poster, I now travel (at night) with the VHF switched off, which is counter intuitive to what the VHF is actually for.

 

[Boathook]

I'm sure that I reduced the volume of the DSC alarms on my icom IC-M423 but cant see anything obvious in the manual. I suspect that I 'hunted' around the dsc settings.

The manual does mention turning the alarms on and off by entering the alarm in dsc settings and then it allows you turn off the different dsc alarms such as routine, safety, warning, etc.

 

[Sandy]

Earplugs when sleeping. I want whoever is on watch to be paying attention to whatever they need to be paying attention to.

 

[robertager1962]

Earplugs when sleeping. I want whoever is on watch to be paying attention to whatever they need to be paying attention to.

Give me strength.

 

[st599]

The DSC Spec doesn't allow a user to alter the alarms.

A Distress must play a two-tone alarm increasing in volume until manually overridden
An Urgency a one-tone increasing in volume...

See 6.6.5 and D.1
https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_en/300300_300399/30033802/01.05.01_60/en_30033802v010501p.pdf

 

[jbweston]

It's unfortunate that the DSC spec/system as implemented is so (let's say) unselective, rather than the digital selective calling that it promises. Most of us would want to hear a Mayday alarm sent from a vessel near us. We don't want to be woken up in the middle of the night for the third repeat of the routine navigation warnings by a coast station 100 miles way that always likes to press it's DSC button before transmitting.

Unfortunately this motivates people to turn off their VHFs when it would be better for everyone if they were able to maintain a listening watch at a reasonable volume with no danger of getting blasted by a warning that sounds like a fire engine trapped in the saloon.

It seems to be a common problem that we all pay lip service to 'less is more' but when it comes to warnings (audible and written) some designers of products and services don't understand 'More is less'. A couple of examples:
- Some modern cars are so riddled with pings, dings and bongs that we learn to ignore so effectively that we're likely to miss something important.
- Company accounts are now filled with pages of rhubarby guff that nobody reads, so it's hard to spot the one sentence that says the company is living on borrowed time.

 

[st599]

It does only require alarms within the range at which you may be of help, but that range is 500NM in the spec.

 

[ashtead]

I don’t believe this is only an icom issue -I learnt fairly quickly to turn off raymarine when berthed /moored etc . I guess the way round issue might be to just use a handheld in cockpit ? And turn off main set ?

 

[Boathook]

It does only require alarms within the range at which you may be of help, but that range is 500NM in the spec.

Does vhf have a range of 500 nautical miles which is what dsc operates on.

 

[westernman]

Does vhf have a range of 500 nautical miles which is what dsc operates on.

VHF of course not. More like 35 miles.

However, DSC messages get relayed - i.e. pass along in a daisy chain. So potentially you could get a message originating from a considerable distance away.

 

[st599]

Does vhf have a range of 500 nautical miles which is what dsc operates on.

The ITU radio regulations list the following for DSC

156.525 MHz, 2187.5 kHz, 4207.5 kHz, 6312 kHz, 8414.5 kHz, 12577 kHz, 16804.5 kHz.

Only the first is VHF, the second is MF and the others HF

 

[wonkywinch]

Does vhf have a range of 500 nautical miles which is what dsc operates on.

From 160,000 feet up it would. VHF = line of sight. Formula 1.25x sq root of height in feet gives range in nm.