Handheld headphone jack mod?

[NUGEN]

Not sure if this is the correct spot for this or not but I know the headphone jack on all of the uniden handhelds is greatly reduced in power for headphone use only.

Is there a mod to do to a BCD436hp to convert the headphone jack to a "line out" like a base would have to use a non amplified speaker on? Yes I know I could go and buy the bc23a, but this is more of a curiosity than anything.

 

[Voyager]

LINE OUT is still too low to drive a speaker directly, and if there were a mod to drive a speaker it would kill your battery life (or maybe exceed the USB port current draw).

Just use an amplified speaker which is the same thing but puts the amp in the speaker rather than the scanner.

 

[NUGEN]

Thanks for the feedback Voyager 😊

 

[dsalomon]

Here's a link to a RR post showing how a guy used one of those small bluetooth dongle transmistters in his 436:http://forums.radioreference.com/general-scanning-discussion/307422-uniden-bcd436hp-bluetooth.html. He's sending the audio to a bluetooth amplified, portable, wireless speaker. According to him, using the bluetooth transmitter module has no discernible negative effect on reception in the 436. You can get the bluetooth transmitters on Amazon for about $20. That will give you the ability to use an external speaker and still have some mobility with the radio. That's assuming, of course, that you have a bluetooth speaker. Otherwise, you'd have to buy one of those as well. They can be had from very inexpensive to very expensive. Again, just search on Amazon or eBay. There are plenty to find.

I've read posts that say that using a bluetooth transmitter with the 436 causes too much interference. I'd like to hear from anyone who has actual experience with this, because I'm curious myself about using this type of setup.

Best regards - David, AG4F

 

[RandyKuff]

Here's a link to a RR post showing how a guy used one of those small bluetooth dongle transmistters in his 436:http://forums.radioreference.com/general-scanning-discussion/307422-uniden-bcd436hp-bluetooth.html. He's sending the audio to a bluetooth amplified, portable, wireless speaker. According to him, using the bluetooth transmitter module has no discernible negative effect on reception in the 436. You can get the bluetooth transmitters on Amazon for about $20. That will give you the ability to use an external speaker and still have some mobility with the radio. That's assuming, of course, that you have a bluetooth speaker. Otherwise, you'd have to buy one of those as well. They can be had from very inexpensive to very expensive. Again, just search on Amazon or eBay. There are plenty to find.

I've read posts that say that using a bluetooth transmitter with the 436 causes too much interference. I'd like to hear from anyone who has actual experience with this, because I'm curious myself about using this type of setup.

Best regards - David, AG4F

I've done it... works fine... The only problem is if there is not much scanner activity (No audio) most bluetooth speakers will time out after a few minutes to conserve battery and shutdown. If powering the speaker from a power adapter it should be ok.
I think the Bluetooth transmitter will also shutdown from inactivity.

Addition... Just checked my speaker and Bluetooth transmitter... They both have an inactivity (No audio) timeout of 5 min before they will turn off.

 

[radionut44]

With GRE handheld you can tie the common side of the headphone jack to the ground side of antenna connector to get full speaker output to the jack which defeats the resistor used for "hearing protection" for earphone use. I used an alligator clip connected to common side of extension speaker to make the connection when I used speaker, the earphones would get the normal reduced output. I don't have a Uniden so can't say if this would work there. Haven't seen diagram but assume GRE put the resistor in common side to jack.