fluke281
Member
One of the problems that I noticed with scanners is that there is no integrated tone control to contour the audio to the listener's individual hearing or to eliminate hiss (bacon-frying) which is mostly in the high frequency range. Hiss is usually considered due to less than optimum signal but some analog radios, repeaters, or antenna systems produce hiss even when the scanner is within sight of the repeater. I have confirmed this recently with WS-1088 and TRX-2 scanners. Some handheld radios have more "punch" than others and the high audio level masks the hiss. A lot of people seem to overcome this problem by using speakers that are more contoured to the human voice. I have had great success by using inexpensive tone control assembled kits from China or Hong Kong which are available on a very popular Web auction site. These generally cost less than $15 ( or less if you like to solder) and provide very substantial boosts or cuts in the bass and treble. The kits using the LM1036N chip have an onboard voltage regulator and will work with a 12V-16V power supply at 200 ma. Other assembled kits use the NE5532 chip which requires an AC voltage or higher DC voltage; an AC transformer would cost more than the kit. Use an adapter to convert the 1/8 inch headphone output from the scanner to RCA plugs that plug into the tone control input. The tone control outputs are wire taps which should be connected to the input of an amplifier or computer speakers. This may require opening a cable to make the right connections. This certainly beats the price of a stereo equalizer and my analog audio is much less annoying when the hiss can be minimized. .
