A Different Kind of Speaker Problem

I have a 536 and plugged in a amplified speaker and nothing, and by nothing I mean no sound, the scanner stops on nothing, just keeps scanning. So i thought maybe by some strange thing nothing was going on, so I turned on my 436 and things were going on and being picked up on the 436, but the 536 just kept scanning over the same systems etc. I unplugged the speaker and the 536 started picking up the transmissions again. Any suggestions to what would keep the 536 from stopping on a transmission with a speaker plugged in ?
Thanks ! !

engine16 said:

I have a 536 and plugged in a amplified speaker and nothing, and by nothing I mean no sound, the scanner stops on nothing, just keeps scanning. So i thought maybe by some strange thing nothing was going on, so I turned on my 436 and things were going on and being picked up on the 436, but the 536 just kept scanning over the same systems etc. I unplugged the speaker and the 536 started picking up the transmissions again. Any suggestions to what would keep the 536 from stopping on a transmission with a speaker plugged in ?
Thanks ! !

Click to expand...

Going to presume you are using a mono plug, and plugging into the speaker jack on the back of the radio, and not the headphone jack.
Also, being an amplified speaker, is it powered up? Another point on amplified speakers, is that it takes a bit for the speaker to wake up and transmit voice. That is the one reason I don't use amplified speakers any more.
Larry

Thanks for the response. Mono plug and plugged into the rear Jack . And the speaker is powered up. The strange thing is the radio keeps scanning, it never stops on an active channel when the speaker is plugged into the rear jack. And I checked that stuf was going on, I turned my 436 on that is programmed identically.... I also tried plugging it in to the front headphone jack and it worked but with lousy audio...

I'm wondering if the power that is powering the speaker is causing a ground-loop with the radio or some weird situation. How is the powered speaker being powered? Is the power speaker grounded somehow? I recall reading that Uniden says the speaker output on the rear should NOT have either side of the speaker output grounded.

And have you tried a non-powered speaker to see if the same thing happens?

- Chris

536 External speaker thread

There have been multiple threads posted in the Uniden forum regarding issues using an external speaker with the BCD536HP. There is a Warning note at the top of page 10 of the User Manual regarding a type of Amplifier that can not be used.

Here's a link to a thread that I hope may be of help.

http://forums.radioreference.com/un...er-connection-considerations-precautions.html

ChrisP said:

I'm wondering if the power that is powering the speaker is causing a ground-loop with the radio or some weird situation. How is the powered speaker being powered? Is the power speaker grounded somehow? I recall reading that Uniden says the speaker output on the rear should NOT have either side of the speaker output grounded.

And have you tried a non-powered speaker to see if the same thing happens?

- Chris

Click to expand...

Speaker is powered by rechargeable batteries,not grounded that I know of. Don't have a non powered speaker to try yet. Even plugging the speaker in when the speaker is powered off, the scanner will still not stop on an active channel .

budevans said:

There have been multiple threads posted in the Uniden forum regarding issues using an external speaker with the BCD536HP. There is a Warning note at the top of page 10 of the User Manual regarding a type of Amplifier that can not be used.

Here's a link to a thread that I hope may be of help.

http://forums.radioreference.com/un...er-connection-considerations-precautions.html

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. All I want to do is listen to my 536 through a speaker, not stream or anything else, just listen. I have the 536 sitting on a table and with the speaker on the bottom of the unit it has to be turned up too loud to be heard without disturbing others.

engine16 said:

Thanks for the link. All I want to do is listen to my 536 through a speaker, not stream or anything else, just listen. I have the 536 sitting on a table and with the speaker on the bottom of the unit it has to be turned up too loud to be heard without disturbing others.

Click to expand...

I understand what you are saying. Since you don't have an un-powered external speaker handy you could try a simple test using headphones or earbuds.

Turn the volume all the way down on your scanner. Then turn the scanner off. Plug in the headphones or earbuds. Turn the scanner back on. Let it run for a 1 minute or so, check to see if it is stopping on or picking up any traffic. Now slowly start turning the volume up. Do you hear any traffic when the scanner stops scanning?

If the answer is no, then my best guess would be a bad speaker jack. If you can hear traffic, then you know the speaker jack is good. Your best option is to buy an inexpensive un-powered external speaker.

engine16 said:

Thanks for the link. All I want to do is listen to my 536 through a speaker, not stream or anything else, just listen. I have the 536 sitting on a table and with the speaker on the bottom of the unit it has to be turned up too loud to be heard without disturbing others.

Click to expand...

Hope you found a cure..If you did try what I did. Attach the mobile mounting bracket to the radio. (Bracket on the bottom). Use it as a stand. You can even tilt it. Sound is much better

Did you plug the speaker into the 436 to see if it would work on that radio ?

Thanks for the link. All I want to do is listen to my 536 through a speaker, not stream or anything else, just listen. I have the 536 sitting on a table and with the speaker on the bottom of the unit it has to be turned up too loud to be heard without disturbing others.

Click to expand...

Here's what I use in my truck. I've never had an issue with this speaker. Great loud sounding audio:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ZIC18Q?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage