external speaker problem

govermentcheese · #1 (**permalink**) 02-21-2013, 12:48 AM

Hello to all I am using a radio shack external amplified spaeker it doesnt seem that loud. The external amplified speaker works really loud with another scanner I have but with the psr800 it doesnt seem that loud.???. Is there some kind of setting Iam missing.. Also in setting the encode mode I use is silent and I have the db setting at -90. What setting should this be set at. Also what is this setting... Any help greatly apperciated..

jimg · #2 (**permalink**) 02-21-2013, 4:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by govermentcheese

Hello to all I am using a radio shack external amplified spaeker it doesnt seem that loud. The external amplified speaker works really loud with another scanner I have but with the psr800 it doesnt seem that loud.???. Is there some kind of setting Iam missing.. Also in setting the encode mode I use is silent and I have the db setting at -90. What setting should this be set at. Also what is this setting... Any help greatly apperciated..

I think, but am not sure, that the RS speaker has a mono plug so you might want to check to see if a stereo adapter is needed.

shortride · #3 (**permalink**) 02-21-2013, 5:35 AM

Make sure the ohms rating of the external speaker matches that of the external speaker output of the PSR-800.

kb3isq · #4 (**permalink**) 02-21-2013, 6:25 AM

GRE HH scanners earphone jack needs to be grounded to the antenna ground to allow high volume

mikedel83 · #5 (**permalink**) 02-21-2013, 12:53 PM

try this external speaker, it work's best and doesn't need to mess with anything with the scanner.

RadioShack Mini Audio Amplifier : Audio Amplifiers | RadioShack.com

rhaasjr · #6 (**permalink**) 02-21-2013, 3:38 PM

The EncMode and EncLevel control how the scanner handles encrypted voice signals. There are three modes to choose from: "Noise" will play the undecoded encryption noise, "Silent" plays no audio, and "Tone" will play a soft tone.

The EncLevel setting is only used if the Tone mode is chosen and basically controls the loudness of the tone. -90db is a very low setting.

jackj · #7 (**permalink**) 02-21-2013, 3:56 PM

The PSR-800's earphone jack is stereo. Plugging in a mono plug could short one side of the audio to ground. You need to either get a stereo to mono adapter or install a stereo plug on the speaker.

rhaasjy is correct about the Encrypted audio settings.

Halfpint · #8 (**permalink**) 02-21-2013, 6:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackj

The PSR-800's earphone jack is stereo. Plugging in a mono plug could short one side of the audio to ground. You need to either get a stereo to mono adapter or install a stereo plug on the speaker.

Pray tell me then just how it is that my old Radio Shack pillow speaker, which has a Mono plug, works quite well with my PSR-800, and also PSR-500, while the newer pillow speakers I bought from C. Crane Co. which have Stereo plugs need a Mono plug to Stereo jack adapter? (BTW, *both* brands pillow speakers have more than enough output which causes me to have to run the volume controls on the scanners in around the lower quarter to third of their range. Currently I have C. Crane pillow speakers on a 500 and 800 and the old RS pillow speaker, which happens to also have it's own volume control, is hooked up to a PSR-310 that I use to monitor local RR traffic. The built in volume control allows me to back down the RR traffic quicker than trying to reach for the scanner if it happens to need to be done. (The 310 & 500 run right around one quarter whilst the 800 is usually set at around 10 unless I have to increase it, maybe as high as 12-13, because of an unusually `quiet' officer/vehicle, dispatcher console transmission, or need to slightly override a transmission being received on the other scanner at the same time. [IE: Listening to both LEO and FD working the same scene/incident.])

Now in a much noisier environment, lessay in a vehicle, I can see a need to have an amplified speaker with any of the aforementioned scanners. Though, at least in my experience in all but the nosiest of our assorted vehicles here on the farm, *I* haven't had any problems just using the scanners built in speakers. True, I do have to turn them up a bit more. And I have been considering adding amplified speakers inside a couple of our trucks along the lines of what I use in another couple trucks and on our tractors. But, the plugs I use to hook up said speakers are still Mono plugs, or Mono plug to Stereo jack adapters if I have to deal with a Stereo plug from the speaker/amplified speaker/Stereo radio line input.

jackj · #9 (**permalink**) 02-21-2013, 9:13 PM

All I can tell you, Halfpint, is that I have had problems trying to use a mono plug in my 800. It does appear to be a two-circuit jack and seems to work better with a two-circuit plug.

gmclam · #10 (**permalink**) 02-21-2013, 10:06 PM

GRE hand-held scanners do not have an EXTernal SPeaker jack, they have a headphone jack. They've wired the headphone jack in a goofy way so that you can plug in STEREO headphones, even though it is a MONO signal.

What you need to do to get full volume out of the scanner is connect the "hot" audio lead to the hot from the headphone jack and connect the ground side to either the ground of the antenna connector or negative of external power adapter. I wouldn't just jump the negative side of the audio between headphone jack and antenna connector, although if you do, you'll notice the significant increase in volume.

bfletcher · #11 (**permalink**) 02-22-2013, 7:24 AM

With the varying opinions regarding the 800's headphone jack do you know why its audio output is higher if playing back recordings than what is yielded during live scanning---without shorting to ground---and with stereo or mono plugs? Does that signify that in addition to some or all of the claims posted here there may be code that reduces its output? That maybe it was accidentally missed in playback mode, lol?

govermentcheese · #12 (**permalink**) 02-22-2013, 12:23 PM

From the radio shack amplified speaker you have two wires your saying one should be grounded to the antenna or ground . So the stereo to mono plug will not work.. I know you said it was not stereo it is a headphone jack not sure what the difference is . I understand basic electronics. Would undestand if I seen a simple drawing.. Again to all thanks for the help..Working 6 days a week sunday is my play day. So this sunday I hope to resolve this problem.. Also on the db setting on the encode should it be set at -24 default or at +1 would be better. Again thanks for all the advice.

gmclam · #13 (**permalink**) 02-22-2013, 2:45 PM

What they did was add a resistor or two so that you can plug in a MONO headphone or a STEREO headphone into the same jack and have both ears work. To do that they "lifted" the ground" through a resistor.

When you connect to an external device (I feed USB sound cards for streaming), especially that has a relatively low impedance such as 600 ohms, it attenuates the signal more than desired (no attenuation is ideal). So what I had to do was run the "hot" audio signal from the tip of the headphone jack and connect the ground to a real ground (not the one on the headphone jack).

I didn't experience this problem with base model GRE scanners (such as PSR-400) when using EXT SP because they actually provide a ground.

jackj · #14 (**permalink**) 02-22-2013, 3:16 PM

The db setting just sets how loud the audio is when the scanner receives an encrypted signal (the encryption bit is set). You will NOT be able to decrypt the audio regardless of the setting. So if you want to hear the braaaacccckkkk of digital then go for it.

The audio from the scanner is a monaural signal (only one speaker) but most earphones today are stereo so GRE used a stereo jack for a headphone jack. The audio output is wired to both the left and right side but it is still monaural. If you look at the plug on your headphones, it has three connections. They are commonly referred to as the Tip, Ring and Sleeve. The Tip is the connection on the very tip of the plug and carries the left audio. The Ring is the connection just after the tip, looks like a ring, and carries the right audio. The Sleeve is the shaft of the plug and is the common or return for both channels.

Some of the older mono jacks had a longer sleeve that would short the ring to ground. You might not notice this with a stereo signal but with a mono signal wired to both sides, it would reduce or short out the audio signal. That's why I recommended either using a stereo to mono adapter or replacing the mono plug with a stereo one.

govermentcheese · #15 (**permalink**) 02-23-2013, 11:58 AM

Does radio shack carry one of these conversion plugs you speak of..Again thanks for all the help.And also thanks for the explanation of encode mode and settings is -24 the best bieng that it is default setting or is a + setting better..Sunday dio shack to get a conversion plug for the speaker problem..