low volume transmissions

[flydream777]

In a couple of the agencies that I moniter, I have noticed times when the officer's voice volume is so low that i have to turn the scanner almost all the way up to understand, and then turn it down very quickly because the dispatcher's voice is normal volume....

Is this because the officer is using a mobile radio and doesnt bring the mic close to his face while transmitting, or is it a problem w/his radio, or what? Occasionally the dispatcher tells them that the volume is too low, but most of the time they can understand, while i have to turn the volume all the way up.....

 

[twolf816]

my local s.o. dispatch is the same way except anyone that talks on it is low volume....every other channel is normal

 

[denseglow]

It's probably the repeater volume.. on a repeater you can set your volume level. There is one department that has low audio too. Also the DPL 754 always seem to be very low as well.

 

[DPD1]

Sometimes running your radio audio through a compressor/limiter can help equalize those up and down transmissions. You can find fairly affordable ones at music gear stores. But sometimes stuff is so low, even that won't fix it.

Dave
http://www.dpdproductions.com
- Custom Scanner, Aviation, MURS, GMRS, Marine & Ham Antennas -

 

[rattlerbb01]

My local law enforcement combined their dispatch centers (so and pd) and operate on the original so repeater. When city units want to talk around, or are on handheld in a foot chase, they go to the pd repeater. The PD repeater is connected to dispatch 10 miles away at the sheriff's office not by an antenna on top of the building, but by phone line to the city water tower. Somewhere in this process, the volume was lowered coming from and into the dispatch center. The output of the repeater is fine, any unit except dispatch is loud and clear, but dispatch is so low and muffled you must have your volume up to hear them. The dispatchers say that they hear the units in communications with the same low, muffled sound we hear out here. Sounds like a simple fix by going with an antenna instead of by phone since it is only ten miles with a clear line of sight between both locations, right? But I'm no radio technician, just a hobbyist/fireman, so maybe it is deeper than I am making it.

 

[consys]

Could be they went to in ear speakers- that's what happened with the local PD here. They became about 1/3 the volume of the other agencies I monitor. If they are loud enough, then everything else is blasting away. Riding the volume control is annoying.

I recently setup an a Alesis nanocompressor, an audio compressor / limiter. I go from the ear phone of the scanner to the compressor, then to an amplified speaker. I put an audio transmormer on the speaker/amp to prevent mixing DC between the units. The setup works well, but it isn't portable.

 

[mdulrich]

In a couple of the agencies that I moniter, I have noticed times when the officer's voice volume is so low that i have to turn the scanner almost all the way up to understand, and then turn it down very quickly because the dispatcher's voice is normal volume....

If it's not on all transmissions and seems limited to certain officer/s it is probably because the officer is not holding the mic near his mouth. This would be my guess especially if dispatch is telling him that they can't hear him. My local PD had an officer that never took the mic out of the holder.

Mike

 

[n1das]

The officer may be talking away from the mic or indavertently covered part of the mic when talking. I've done that a few times on some of my radios. The actual microphone hole is just a pinhole going to the small electret condenser mic element. It may be easy or hard to cover this hole by accident, depending on the design of the equipment.