VHF Channel 16 Alarm

[JLR]

I was out cruising this past week. My VHF was on channel 16. I heard a loud alarm on the VHF, almost as if it was an engine alarm. In forty plus years of boating, I have never heard that before. No speech, just a loud alarm. Turned the VHF off and the alarm stopped so I verified it was the VHF. Any idea what it could have been?

 

[JLR]

By the way, the VHF is an Icom 602.

 

[Pascal]

DSC distress signal. Your VHF display gives you the option to view th message incl. Lat Lon of sender

 

[PeterK]

Sounds to me (no pun intended) like you received an automated distress call. I don't have the same radio but on my Garmin there would have been a message.

 

[JLR]

Thanks. Never heard one before. Scared the heck out of me.

 

[PeterK]

I think it is supposed to as they should only be used by someone in dire straits. If you read you manaul, you can set options for a multitude of reasons for the distress call, i.e. explosion, sinking, collision, etc. This will read out on the screen of any radio that has the receiver capabilty. It will also broadcast the long/lat of the sender.

Here's a link to your Icom owners manual: http://www.icomamerica.com/en/downloads/default.aspx?Category=218

 

[SEVEN]

X3 on the distress signal.

 

[chuckbullett@gmail.com]

... And the information is supposed to be entered into your ship's log, along with a description of your response.The DSC alarms are quite common in busy shipping lanes.ThanksCap't Chuck- Chartmaker

 

[chuckbullett@gmail.com]

... And the information is supposed to be entered into your ship's log, along with a description of your response.The DSC alarms are quite common in busy shipping lanes.ThanksCap't Chuck- Chartmaker

 

[Boatsb]

Icom has been one of the lines that is quite reliable. I've installed many radios and ssb's over the years and do not find them prone to fail often. In fact the are the most popular radio for the offshore boaters in my area.

 

[JLR]

I picked up the alarm about two miles West of Plum Gut. The farthest point of land at the time was about three miles. The closest was about one mile.

 

[Plan B2]

On my standard horizon you get an alarm if the mic has been keyed for five minutes. The alarm is inteneded to alert the operator of a hot mic and tuirns the transmission off until the mic is released and keyed again.
Could yours have the same feature?