Realistic Pro-2018 = open mic??!!

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ve3wva

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Very strange problem here... not sure where to post but since it impacts my feed directly I thought this might be the place!
Got my digital Fleetnet stream up tonight and put my analog stream of my local amateur radio repeater back on line after giving my computer an enema and while both were streaming I noticed something very strange.
My $35.00 Realistic Pro-2018 scanner I use for the analog stream is acting like an open mic! While it's connected (it only has a headphone jack & audio levels are adjusted properly and I have an isolation transformer as well as a snap-on toroid on the audio cable) I noticed I could hear my digital feed VERY faintly in the background of my analog feed... If I knock on the shelf where it sits, I can hear that re-broadcast on my feed... If I speak while near the scanner that too is picked up and re-broadcasted! I also have a slight hum when it's plugged in; I can see it on the digital level meter running on the PC but I don't hear the hum on the feed.
I have verified it is indeed the scanner by swapping it out (using the same cable setup/audio isolation transformers etc) with my trusty old Icom IC-R10 receiver; with the Icom connected, the 'open mic syndrome' goes away completely.
I am looking for a suitable replacement, but if anyone has any ideas/suggestions I would love to hear it!
The replacement would need to be a scanner of some sort, as I have my local repeater input AND ouput scanning because I am frequently the net controller on the local repeater and when I am transmitting locally my transmitter de-senses the receiver and listeners can't hear my audio; the scanner automatically locks on to the input of the repeater and now both sides of the conversation can be heard.

Has anyone ever had an issue like this, or have any suggestions for a fix? Maybe taking the output from a different spot? I am not against hacking the Pro-2018 as indeed I only paid 35.00 for it BRAND NEW in Dayton Ohio several hamfests ago. It was normally $100.00 and I have seen some great reviews written about it.

Many thanks!
 

datainmotion

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My Pro-197 does the same thing when it's on. It's not used for a feed, but it is connected via a shielded audio cable to the only PC with speakers connected to it - I tap on the desk and can hear it on the speakers.
 

N0WEF

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I can't help you with your problem, but maybe this was the problem the CA, REDCOM provider was having last month.

Hopefully, your problem wasn't as bad as his. (Or, more accurately, as entertaining.)
 

datainmotion

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I can't help you with your problem, but maybe this was the problem the CA, REDCOM provider was having last month.

Hopefully, your problem wasn't as bad as his. (Or, more accurately, as entertaining.)

Yeah - somehow I think that was an entirely different issue. :lol:
 

ve3wva

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Aug 1, 2005
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Location
M'Chigeeng, Ontario
just for info...

I tried disconnecting the internal speaker on the Pro-2018, thinking it was doubling as a mic somehow. This did not change a thing. I have no idea how or why it's picking up local audio... I am resigning it to the junk box and I have hooked up my Icom IC-R10 handheld receiver for my analog feed. It seems to be working fine.

Thanks to all who replied!

Rusty
 
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