Firmware 7.0 Varia tone

Martin, there's a not inconsiderable segment of the bicycling population that is moderately to severely hearing impaired. If there is a fix, hopefully Garmin will not revert the alert to to its former one beep tone. For those whose hearing is on the other side of the hearing spectrum and who find the multi-beep alert to be irritating, perhaps Garmin can offer options on the alert tone. Until that happens, is there not a way for you to turn off audio alerts yet maintain the visual alert on your 1030? It's only been a few months since the alerts were changed. Varia Radar was release several years ago, and for most of that time the audio alert was insufficient for those who have some hearing impairment.

Heck, I'd just be happy with any tone(s). I know it's a bunch of typing but could someone type all the keystroke sequences to check/enable the Varia tone on the 1030? I've done everything that I think is needed - noted in the post above but there are no Radar tones. I've also done numerous master resets erasing all data and restoring the unit to factory settings. I'm on 7.3 and have no tones from the 510 nor the original Radar unit.

bpvh
Our Garmins must have the same problem. I have held it up to my ear and I hear nothing when a car shows on the Varia. I do have tones for other alerts but they are barely audible.

I finally called tech support and was told of the "test mode" feature of the 510. Have your 1030 or other display device on. Now to the Radar unit...From Off, push and hold the power button for about 6-8 seconds - just until the slow flashing little Blue pilot LED on the side of the unit turns a rapid flashing yellow then immediately stop pushing the power button. The radar main light and the Yellow pilot light will continue to flash rapidly and a simulated radar target display will appear on the 1030. The 2 or 3 beep tone will sound each time the test dot appears at the bottom of the screen. Mine is testing correctly including the tones. I now need to try it on a street with traffic. The tones are not as loud as I would expect and my hearing is pretty much normal, as tested.

I'm baffled at why I can't hear any alert. I have the tone enabled in the Varia sensor setting and I have tones enabled in settings. Would resetting the 1030 possibly correct the problem or what else can I look into?

In my posts above, I cite the same issue as yours. My post above details a test procedure and it resulted in my hearing of the Radar alert tone - which I had never heard. Have you tried the above test procedure?

IMO Garmin missed the boat with the tone/beep on the 1030 (and other models?) by not factoring in age-related hearing loss; very common for the male population.
Sometime after age 60 you won't hear most chirps on a 1030. The tone is simply too high a frequency falling right smack into the typical hearing loss zone.
There needs to be a setting to select tone based on your hearing range. When you select an option a test tone should sound. Ideally you want low, medium, and high ranges along with high/low volume option.
As others have noted without an audible tone the purpose of radar detection is partially defeated as you can't watch your 1030 screen continuously.
Perhaps this functionality isn't possible based on the chipset or beeper inside the device. So no firmware update can fix it. If so, I sure hope a future replacement model for the 1030 resolves this issue.
For those of you who can hear the 1030 is there a difference in the radar tone between firmware v6.3 and 7.x or is it just multiple chirps at the same frequency?
I can't tell because I can't hear most beeps just like I can't hear many bird songs anymore. Woodpecker calls? No problem. Goldfinch chirping? Not so much.

Speaking of woodpeckers... A future version of the RTL510 Garmin should include "hammering" of the seatpost as an alert option. If enabled then no sound is required.
Also add a speaker/siren onto the device itself plus a proximity sensor that lets the device know when you're in traffic (or a group of riders) versus the open road. With a speaker they could include voice alert options such as the proverbial "Car back!" plus a siren "whoop-whoop" (like a police car) if somebody drives too close to you on the open road.

Another enhancement should be a camera for video recordings. Not continuous but incident recordings triggered by the radar/proximity sensors. No need for a lot of memory. Just wipe old recordings as space is used up or automatically remove recordings over X days old.

The new multi tone is a higher pitch than the old beep that was on 6.3 and older firmwares.

We’re now at 3+ months without a fix. I got a replacement 1030 due to the halo on my old device and the new one has the multi tone beep as well

I did the test and the low volume of the alert is pretty disappointing. You wonder who tested the alert tones on the 1030? Apparently nobody with any type of hearing loss. At this point why doesn't Garmin just admit the design failure instead of having us pound sand hoping for a fix that is never coming?