I use my BCP436 mostly in my car, every once in a while when I power up the scanner it will not have any audio. It is almost like the audio is muted. The scanner works fine otherwise, scans, stops on active channels but no audio. Even when I turn the squelch down to zero and it locks onto channel....nothing. Volume adjust up or down does not help either. It eventually will "unmute" but I have yet to figure out whats causing this...hope its something simple. Has anyone ran into this besides me? Thank you in advance - Dan in Western NY
BCP436 audio muted on start up
- Thread starter dan9125
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doctordialtone
Member
Looking at the back of the Scanner the serial number starts with 376Z what is the 1st number after the Z?
tvengr
Well Known Member
It sometimes takes several transmissions on a system for the digital decoding to adapt before you hear audio.
Doc's red pen strikes again! To the OP: can you provide specific system info on what you're having trouble monitoring? Is the issue evident on conventional channels? trunking channels? both? Could simulcast distortion be a factor?
Simulcast is one possible cause. You'll get a strong signal indication, and the scanner may stop scanning, but there will be no audio, or if there is audio, it may be garbled or cut in and out. Audio will come and go as you move around and the phase and signal strength relationships between the transmitters change.
Another possibility is dirt or oxidation on the contacts in the headphone jack making the signal to the speaker cut out intermittently.
Another possibility is dirt or oxidation on the contacts in the headphone jack making the signal to the speaker cut out intermittently.
The reason for me asking serial number is the headphone jack but could not remember 436 536
tvengr
Well Known Member
The headphone jack on the early 536's had noisy and distorted audio. I had to return one of mine for that problem. It wasn't a loss of audio.
Thank you for the help, I am pretty sure my problem is related to the headphone jack. (never thought of that) I was having the same no audio problem this morning but as soon as I plugged in an external speaker it worked fine. Unplugged the speaker and no audio! The serial number does start with a 376Z the next digit is 8, what is the fix for this....just clean up the headphone jack? Its funny that this is the problem because I never use the headphone jack.
thanks again-Dan
thanks again-Dan
That makes your scanner built in 2018 not a year they were having problems but still can be the problem.
tvengr
Well Known Member
Try spraying some contact cleaner into the headphone jack then insert and remove a plug numerous times to clean dirty contacts. If that doesn't fix the problem, you have to remove the cover to check for a bad solder connection or adjust the contacts if they are accessible. I would also check the solder connections to the speaker. If the speaker has a plug, remove the plug and spray with contact cleaner and insert and remove several times to clean it. The headphone jack contacts or its solder connections are the most likely problems.
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Thanks again...just glad I know what it is now. I did not want to send it back to the factory.
There are no solder connections to the speaker. THe speaker has spring clips that contact pads on the mainboard. If you remove the 6 screws in the back of the scanner, you can remove the front faceplate and bend out the clips to get a better connection to the board.
tvengr
Well Known Member
Thanks for that info Jon. Good to know! So far, I have had the good fortune not to have to remove the cover on mine.
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