Getting rid of humming noise on BCT15X scanner

[xms3200]

I have a Uniden BCT15X scanner which I use for VHF air and is awesome, however, when there are no transmissions on VHF, I get this constant humming sound due to the scanner being plugged into the ac outlet. Is there a way to get rid of this alternating current humming sound.

Thanks for all replies in advance.

 

[ka3aaa]

Try a different power supply, the wall wart is probably about ready to take a crap.

 

[AB4BF]

I use my HF radio power supply, power poles and all to a 3 pole connector on my BCT15 scanner. It does a very good job filtering out the hums and other static.

 

[tvengr]

If using an external amplified speaker, you need a ground loop isolator between the scanner and the speaker.

 

[xms3200]

Actually, I am using my headphones. Are there some power supplies that have less hum or do a good job of filtering the hum…just wondering.

 

[xms3200]

Okay, I figured it out…it only hums while scanning, if I stop scanning and listen to one freq., there is no humming at all.

 

[737mech]

Samlex 1212 power supply. Much better than a wall wart.

 

[xms3200]

I see it has a positive and neg terminal at the back. How do you adapt this to the plug at the back of the Uniden scanner.

 

[737mech]

Use the automotive harness that came with the scanner. Just use red and black wires.

 

[xms3200]

Okay, great, thanks for the suggestion and advice, will try it

 

[jonnyfa]

Okay, great, thanks for the suggestion and advice, will try it

DId you ever resolve the humming isseu with your 15x ? I have three of these , one has no hum and was bought much earlier. The secnd one I bought has a hum , makes no difference whetehr I use the power supply from the initial one it still hums (not whilst scanning and only really evident if you use headphones or plug the scanner into a PC for audio output. Anyway , the third one I bought brand new last week and out of the box using the US uniden psu that came with it has a hum when scanning . So I can only assume that ones with a later serial number ALL have this issue but its unlikely anyone would really notice unless they have headphones plugged in.

Additionally I found this on another forum that looks interesting:

https://uniden.groups.io/g/BCT15X/topic/96096166

 

[Ubbe]

The most common fault with BCT15x are its power supply. Try any other PSU that can give 10V-15V DC and 1A or more. A household usually have several of those to power other devices.

/Ubbe