If you are one of those guys that have a set of radios in your shack instead of just one or two you have probably considered different options for presenting the audio. There are several options, including these:
Internal Speakers:
This is the easiest and cheapest way to present the audio. Nothing is needed to purchase, just turn on the radio and adjust the volume. No extra cables, no extra expense. While often this works just fine, some people might have some issues, especially if you mount the radios in a cabinet.
If you have just a couple radios this will probably work just fine. In addition, you can position the radios to provide spatial separation so that your ears can tell you what radio is squawking instantly.
If you mount the radios in a cabinet or rack the cabinet might block, reduce or redirect the audio, making it more difficult to figure out what radio is chirping at you. Now look at the next option:
External Speakers:
Using individual external speakers, amplified or not, can reduce or eliminate some of the issues of using the radios internal speakers. This allows you to position the speakers more advantageously so that you can regain that aural spatial separation. Depending on your setup and budget this could be either an elegant solution or quite janky. Remember to get communications speakers of the proper impedance. Most scanners will work fine with 8-to-32-ohm speakers but try to match the speakers to the impedance listed in the radio’s manual.
Most Uniden, Whistler, GRE and RadioShack desktop/mobile scanners use 8-ohm impedance thru the rear external speaker jack. Portable scanners only have a headphone jack so will only work well with amplified speakers and often use a higher impedance. Check the manual to be sure. There may also be some issues with grounding speakers on some radios, to be safe do not wire external speakers to ground without consulting the radio’s manual.
External speakers can be mounted to a cabinet, on top of the radio, on the side, or wherever needed to properly present the audio. By selectively placing the speakers the user can tailor the audio direction desired. If you place the speakers properly you can quicky figure out what radio is speaking by the proximate location of the audio.
Amplified speakers can be used when needed. If you are in a noisy environment have hearing issues or need to hear the radios at a distance you might want to use amplified speakers. Also, if you are using handheld scanners or other radios, amplified speakers can make a huge difference. Do not plug in an unamplified speaker into a radio's headphone jack, they cannot present enough power to drive the speaker and are usually the wrong impedance.
Issues with amplified speakers include additional cost and wiring complications. Some also present hum or poor audio. I have had very good luck using amplified computer speakers on both handheld and desktop scanners via the headphone jack. They are cheap and easy to obtain and present pretty darn good audio.
Audio Mixer:
Several companies make multi-channel mixers that are intended for musicians or audience halls (theaters, churches etc.) These often have anywhere from 4 to 64 inputs and can provide tailoring of the audio quality and volume to suit your needs. Behringer products seem to be very popular in the scanner community lately. I have used a couple different Behringer models and currently own (but do not use) an RX1602 slimline 16-channel mixer. When I was using it, it worked fine. I also had a Behringer X2222. While this did work great it was huge and had way too many controls for a scanner setup like mine. It was really geared toward a music studio or presentation hall.
Lindsay always suggests the Behringer X32 Rack unit with the S16 snake. This allows you to remote mount everything and control it all on a computer (and perhaps a smartphone or tablet?). If you have a large budget and like remote-mounting your stuff, then this might be the way to go.
NCS3240:
For many years I drooled over and dreamed about an NCS3240 scanner mixer. This was purpose-built for guys like me, connecting to 6 scanners, allowing them to be selectively sent to speakers, recorders, or streamed, with an easy-to-use control interface. After I wrote a Scanner Tale about how much I wanted one a reader made me an offer for one and I snapped it up. I got it, hooked it up and it was everything I had dreamed about. It lasted a week or two before I replaced it with a Zetron Model 27 (see the next section).
The NCS3240 is an awesome device! It will serve you well for up to 6 scanners and allow some pretty cool features. At the time however I was using 8 scanners so had to choose 2 that was not included on it. Read on for more info.
Zetron Model 27:
The Zetron Model 27 took the RadioReference Community by storm over the last couple of years as they started to hit the secondary market. There was an eBay seller that had a batch that normally sold for between $150 and $200 each. These are basically an 8-channel audio mixer with built-in speakers, purposely designed for public safety dispatch consoles.
I had considered getting one when they we heavily discussed a while back, but I just never pulled the pin. A week after finding my dream unit NCS3240 I was at a hamfest and found 2 of them being sold for $10 each. The guy said they worked and so I took a chance. I brought them home and hooked them up to a scanner and sure enough they worked fine. The audio was phenomenally loud! I ran one side by side with the NCS3240 for a week or so and decided to keep one of the Zetrons and sell the NCS3240. The second Zetron went to my buddy Will, and he is using it now.
So why the Zetron over the NCS3240? They both do much the same thing, except the Zetron is a 3u Rackmount device, has built-in speakers and handles 8 channels (radios) instead of 6. The NCS3240 is stand-alone, has recording/streaming outputs and uses external speakers. I had no need for recording or streaming but had 8 radios to connect to. I also wanted the rack-mount setup as I didn’t like that the NXS3240 would scootch across the desk when pressing a button. I am a rack-mount kind of guy…)
I sold the NCS3240 to a friend for pretty much what I paid and gave him all the cables I had purchased for it as they did not work for my Zetron. He is happy, I am happy and my buddy Will is even happier.
Summary:
Depending on several factors, such as the number of radios, your budget and available room one of these options might work well for you. Remember to make accommodations for expenses for cabling, power supply and space for whatever option you decide upon. Keep an eye out for a bargain, you might not need it now but if an opportunity presents itself you might want to grab it in case it will work for you in the future. If you do invest in a solution and not end up using it you can always sell it and move on.
- Use the internal speakers
- Use external speakers
- Use an audio mixer
- Use a console mixer
Internal Speakers:
This is the easiest and cheapest way to present the audio. Nothing is needed to purchase, just turn on the radio and adjust the volume. No extra cables, no extra expense. While often this works just fine, some people might have some issues, especially if you mount the radios in a cabinet.
If you have just a couple radios this will probably work just fine. In addition, you can position the radios to provide spatial separation so that your ears can tell you what radio is squawking instantly.
If you mount the radios in a cabinet or rack the cabinet might block, reduce or redirect the audio, making it more difficult to figure out what radio is chirping at you. Now look at the next option:
External Speakers:
Using individual external speakers, amplified or not, can reduce or eliminate some of the issues of using the radios internal speakers. This allows you to position the speakers more advantageously so that you can regain that aural spatial separation. Depending on your setup and budget this could be either an elegant solution or quite janky. Remember to get communications speakers of the proper impedance. Most scanners will work fine with 8-to-32-ohm speakers but try to match the speakers to the impedance listed in the radio’s manual.
Most Uniden, Whistler, GRE and RadioShack desktop/mobile scanners use 8-ohm impedance thru the rear external speaker jack. Portable scanners only have a headphone jack so will only work well with amplified speakers and often use a higher impedance. Check the manual to be sure. There may also be some issues with grounding speakers on some radios, to be safe do not wire external speakers to ground without consulting the radio’s manual.
External speakers can be mounted to a cabinet, on top of the radio, on the side, or wherever needed to properly present the audio. By selectively placing the speakers the user can tailor the audio direction desired. If you place the speakers properly you can quicky figure out what radio is speaking by the proximate location of the audio.
Amplified speakers can be used when needed. If you are in a noisy environment have hearing issues or need to hear the radios at a distance you might want to use amplified speakers. Also, if you are using handheld scanners or other radios, amplified speakers can make a huge difference. Do not plug in an unamplified speaker into a radio's headphone jack, they cannot present enough power to drive the speaker and are usually the wrong impedance.
Issues with amplified speakers include additional cost and wiring complications. Some also present hum or poor audio. I have had very good luck using amplified computer speakers on both handheld and desktop scanners via the headphone jack. They are cheap and easy to obtain and present pretty darn good audio.
Audio Mixer:
Several companies make multi-channel mixers that are intended for musicians or audience halls (theaters, churches etc.) These often have anywhere from 4 to 64 inputs and can provide tailoring of the audio quality and volume to suit your needs. Behringer products seem to be very popular in the scanner community lately. I have used a couple different Behringer models and currently own (but do not use) an RX1602 slimline 16-channel mixer. When I was using it, it worked fine. I also had a Behringer X2222. While this did work great it was huge and had way too many controls for a scanner setup like mine. It was really geared toward a music studio or presentation hall.
Lindsay always suggests the Behringer X32 Rack unit with the S16 snake. This allows you to remote mount everything and control it all on a computer (and perhaps a smartphone or tablet?). If you have a large budget and like remote-mounting your stuff, then this might be the way to go.
NCS3240:
For many years I drooled over and dreamed about an NCS3240 scanner mixer. This was purpose-built for guys like me, connecting to 6 scanners, allowing them to be selectively sent to speakers, recorders, or streamed, with an easy-to-use control interface. After I wrote a Scanner Tale about how much I wanted one a reader made me an offer for one and I snapped it up. I got it, hooked it up and it was everything I had dreamed about. It lasted a week or two before I replaced it with a Zetron Model 27 (see the next section).
The NCS3240 is an awesome device! It will serve you well for up to 6 scanners and allow some pretty cool features. At the time however I was using 8 scanners so had to choose 2 that was not included on it. Read on for more info.
Zetron Model 27:
The Zetron Model 27 took the RadioReference Community by storm over the last couple of years as they started to hit the secondary market. There was an eBay seller that had a batch that normally sold for between $150 and $200 each. These are basically an 8-channel audio mixer with built-in speakers, purposely designed for public safety dispatch consoles.
I had considered getting one when they we heavily discussed a while back, but I just never pulled the pin. A week after finding my dream unit NCS3240 I was at a hamfest and found 2 of them being sold for $10 each. The guy said they worked and so I took a chance. I brought them home and hooked them up to a scanner and sure enough they worked fine. The audio was phenomenally loud! I ran one side by side with the NCS3240 for a week or so and decided to keep one of the Zetrons and sell the NCS3240. The second Zetron went to my buddy Will, and he is using it now.
So why the Zetron over the NCS3240? They both do much the same thing, except the Zetron is a 3u Rackmount device, has built-in speakers and handles 8 channels (radios) instead of 6. The NCS3240 is stand-alone, has recording/streaming outputs and uses external speakers. I had no need for recording or streaming but had 8 radios to connect to. I also wanted the rack-mount setup as I didn’t like that the NXS3240 would scootch across the desk when pressing a button. I am a rack-mount kind of guy…)
I sold the NCS3240 to a friend for pretty much what I paid and gave him all the cables I had purchased for it as they did not work for my Zetron. He is happy, I am happy and my buddy Will is even happier.
Summary:
Depending on several factors, such as the number of radios, your budget and available room one of these options might work well for you. Remember to make accommodations for expenses for cabling, power supply and space for whatever option you decide upon. Keep an eye out for a bargain, you might not need it now but if an opportunity presents itself you might want to grab it in case it will work for you in the future. If you do invest in a solution and not end up using it you can always sell it and move on.
