Audio Fix for BCD396T or XT or ? FOUND!!!

[del1964]

Audio Fix for BCD396T or XT or ? FOUND!!! Ok....a little dramatic. But the 396T I had was very hard to hear while in my car cruising down the interstate and I knew there was the FM transmit things that transmit to your car stereo and you would tune it to 89.5mhz for example and maybe you'd get some audio across. And there's the extension speakers that are a tiny bit better than the internal speaker. Sooooooooo I was in WalMart the other day and bammmm Philips cassette adapter.....$8 Wow....as long as you have a cassette player in your car, you're in luck... Of course you can't listen to your car radio at the same time but incredible scanner audio blasting all around inside my Toyota Camry. Also, this works on IPOD's and MP3 players!!! Ok....sorry if I got a little excited about that.

 

[SCPD]

Get an Bluetooth adapter for the Scanner and listen from a Bluetooth earpiece.
This way you still can listen to your Car stereo.

 

[sjlamb]

Audio Fix for BCD396T or XT or ? FOUND!!! Ok....a little dramatic. But the 396T I had was very hard to hear while in my car cruising down the interstate and I knew there was the FM transmit things that transmit to your car stereo and you would tune it to 89.5mhz for example and maybe you'd get some audio across. And there's the extension speakers that are a tiny bit better than the internal speaker. Sooooooooo I was in WalMart the other day and bammmm Philips cassette adapter.....$8 Wow....as long as you have a cassette player in your car, you're in luck... Of course you can't listen to your car radio at the same time but incredible scanner audio blasting all around inside my Toyota Camry. Also, this works on IPOD's and MP3 players!!! Ok....sorry if I got a little excited about that.

I'm surprised that you didn't find this solution by doing a search of earlier posts regarding improved handheld audio in a mobile environment. It has been recommended by many other users. While there are a number of viable solutions to this issue; the cassette adapter (where possible) is one of the best for booming handheld audio.

 

[del1964]

You're correct

You're correct about if I had done some more extensive searching I probably could've found it. But the way i figure it, what does it hurt to write a thread like this one if it helps just one of our scanner brothers.

 

[frankcastle]

I'm surprised that you didn't find this solution by doing a search of earlier posts regarding improved handheld audio in a mobile environment. It has been recommended by many other users. While there are a number of viable solutions to this issue; the cassette adapter (where possible) is one of the best for booming handheld audio.

I only wish that I had this option with both my vehicles. My '02 Excursion has the casseette player that works great for my scanner or my iPod. The '07 Dodge Ram only has a CD player. I bought a $90 Belkin FM transmitter/charger for the iPod, and it sucks! I can't find a clear channel. If I hold the goose neck of the dock, it clears up some of the static, but it still doesn't sound near as good as a direct connection. Of course as I travel I have to check for a better FM frequency every 20 miles.

 

[del1964]

I don't know why these auto manufacturers thought it was a good idea to leave out the cassette players. I mean, what were they thinkin'?! There's thousands of scanner enthusiasts and Ipod/MP3 player people who use this method to enhance their listening/driving pleasure.

 

[del1964]

Get an Bluetooth adapter for the Scanner and listen from a Bluetooth earpiece.
This way you still can listen to your Car stereo.

Can you recommend one that's not too expensive...with the single earpiece / 1/8" plug?

 

[SCPD]

It's been a while since I got mine.
Just search Google for Bluetooth Adapter for Non-Bluetooth Cell Phones, you may have to get an adapter for the Audio out and the Bluetooth

 

[SCPD]

It's been a while since I got mine.
Just search Google for Bluetooth Adapter for Non-Bluetooth Cell Phones, you may have to get an adapter for the Audio out and the Bluetooth

check out the following links.

Jabra A210 Bluetooth Adapter for Non-Bluetooth Cell Phones with 2.5mm Jack

Cardo II Bluetooth Wireless 2.5 mm Audio Adapter

 

[bpsmicro]

If you're good at soldering, and willing to do a little tweaking, watch eBay for lots of "defective" Jabra A210 adapters. They often come up in lots of 5 for $10, and from what I've been told by people, almost all of them are perfectly fine except the battery is fried. You just need to wire in an alternate source of 3.7v and they're perfectly fine.

However, one problem with these things (and a lot of the FM transmitters) is that they power down after <n> seconds of quiet (for battery life), and take a second or two to fire back up when audio comes in. Depending on a number of factors, you may find yourself missing a couple of seconds from the start of each transmission. When I tried one of the FM transmitters a couple of years ago, that drove me nuts.

There's a mod you can make to the Jabra A210 to force it to stay on all the time, but you obviously *don't* want to run it from battery in that case.

There's an article at VE2ZAZ - Bluetooth Headset with PTT for Amateur Radio that talks of converting an A210 to use with ham radios. I have 10 of the "defective" A210s and I'm going to make at least one of these for my ham rig, and probably one (sans PTT option) for the scanner. I just hope my aging eyeballs are up to the soldering task.

Brad.

 

[Gator596]

I am using an iLuv brand Bluetooth "dongle" transmitter and the Jaybird 200 earpiece(s). So far it works GREAT. This set up allows me to listen to my 396xt in stereo and then take a phone call from my cell phone when one comes in. It then switches back to the scanner after the call is over.

 

[jkahn]

Bluetooth ?

Get an Bluetooth adapter for the Scanner and listen from a Bluetooth earpiece.
This way you still can listen to your Car stereo.

I got a Motorola Bluetooth adapter to plug into the radio, but every time the transmission stops and scanning resumes, the bluetooth thinks the call is ended and drops off!

 

[CStarr59]

I went to walmart and bought a 1/8" stereo patch cord for $6. One end plugs into the scanner, the other end into AUX outlet in your car stereo. Works fantastic, all I need now is a mobile antenna.

 

[mlacasella]

I went to walmart and bought a 1/8" stereo patch cord for $6. One end plugs into the scanner, the other end into AUX outlet in your car stereo. Works fantastic, all I need now is a mobile antenna.

I agree!

Both of my current vehicles have AUX inputs - I don't know how I lived with out them.
2007 Honda RidgeLine
2009 Harley Davidson TriGlide

They should make them mandatory on all vehicles....