Motorola Speaker?

[mfred]

I have a Uniden handheld BC246T scanner. I’m looking to get better sound quality than the little speaker the scanner has built in. I’ve seen people hook up external Motorola speakers to scanners before and I know the Motorola speakers sound great when connected to a Motorola radio. Will a Motorola external speaker make my scanner sound better or just louder? If so, is there a certain model speaker I should be looking for on EBay? I notice the Motorola speakers have Motorola radio connectors on them. I’m assuming you cut these off and connect a standard plug connector that will fit the scanner? Thanks.

 

[DickH]

... Will a Motorola external speaker make my scanner sound better or just louder? If so, is there a certain model speaker I should be looking for on EBay? I notice the Motorola speakers have Motorola radio connectors on them. I’m assuming you cut these off and connect a standard plug connector that will fit the scanner?

Yes, it will sound better and louder.
I don't recall the numbers, but any should be good, but if it is a Power Voice Motorola spkr. you need to power it with 12 volts. It will drive you out of the car at half volume!
Yes change the plug.

Rather than e-bay, try a used electronics shop if you are near a fairly large city. They used to sell for as little as $5 to $10. You may also find GE or Johnson or others. Any two-way radio speaker should be good because they were specifically designed for the audio we listen to in our scanners.

 

[bneilson]

Radio Shack 21-541

So my BR330T handheld is fairly loud but the car is also very loud. To overcome this, I have been using the Radio Shack Amplified Mobile Extension Speaker (Catalog #: 21-541) with quite a bit of success.

The key to getting louder audio is that the speaker needs to be amplified. If you go the Moto route, just make sure the speaker is amplified first.

 

[jcecklund]

So my BR330T handheld is fairly loud but the car is also very loud. To overcome this, I have been using the Radio Shack Amplified Mobile Extension Speaker (Catalog #: 21-541) with quite a bit of success.

The key to getting louder audio is that the speaker needs to be amplified. If you go the Moto route, just make sure the speaker is amplified first.

I use the old motorola speakers and they have plenty of volume for scanners even the ones that are not amplified., I do have a 12v Motorola amplified speaker and it will blow you out of the room at half volume. These speakers are the old metal type and will last forever.

 

[mfred]

Thanks for the feedback. I just purchased a Motorola Radio External Speaker HSN4018A SYNTOR from EBay. It looks like the speaker has two wires used for connecting it to a Motorola radio or connector. Do I simply get a connector that fits into my BC246T from Radio Shack and connect it to one of these two wires? Thanks.

 

[garys]

No, you have to connect it to both wires. The connector you need is a 1/8 mono phone plug.

 

[xpawel15x]

Thanks for the feedback. I just purchased a Motorola Radio External Speaker HSN4018A SYNTOR from EBay. It looks like the speaker has two wires used for connecting it to a Motorola radio or connector. Do I simply get a connector that fits into my BC246T from Radio Shack and connect it to one of these two wires? Thanks.

Hey is that an amplified speaker? If so, does it need 12 volt DC power for use at home? I found it on Ebay and would like to buy it but it says that the end of wire is cut off

How do I install a 1/8 plug to a bare wire that would fit my scanner's headphone jack? Sorry I'm only 16 and I'm a noob at this.

Also how much watts does it have?

 

[garys]

It's not amplified. It can handle the output of the scanner with no problem. You will need to solder, or have someone solder, the connector to the speaker wire.

 

[xpawel15x]

It's not amplified. It can handle the output of the scanner with no problem. You will need to solder, or have someone solder, the connector to the speaker wire.

Hmm...non amplified...do you think it would be loud enough for my Pro-97 ? As you know, the pro-97 has a lowered audio through the headphone jack. And I don't want to open up my scanner for any modifications. I don't need it to be really LOUD but loud enough for comfortable listening in my room. And I want this Motorola speaker more to improve sound quality not to make it louder. So do you think this non amplified speaker would be enough ? or should I be better off getting an amplified motorola speaker since the pro-97 has only 10% of the volume through the headphone jack?

Also, knowing how much watts the speaker has would be a lot of help.

Thanks, xpawel

 

[slicerwizard]

No, you have to connect it to both wires. The connector you need is a 1/8 mono phone plug.

No, the 246T (and the 396, and others) have a stereo jack, so a stereo plug is called for. A mono plug will short a good chunk of the signal through the 10 ohm resistor:

http://home.ica.net/~phoenix/wap/BC246T/Audio.gif

 

[garys]

No, the 246T (and the 396, and others) have a stereo jack, so a stereo plug is called for. A mono plug will short a good chunk of the signal through the 10 ohm resistor:

http://home.ica.net/~phoenix/wap/BC246T/Audio.gif

I've used both with no problem and good audio, but technically you are correct.

 

[garys]

Hmm...non amplified...do you think it would be loud enough for my Pro-97 ? As you know, the pro-97 has a lowered audio through the headphone jack. And I don't want to open up my scanner for any modifications. I don't need it to be really LOUD but loud enough for comfortable listening in my room. And I want this Motorola speaker more to improve sound quality not to make it louder. So do you think this non amplified speaker would be enough ? or should I be better off getting an amplified motorola speaker since the pro-97 has only 10% of the volume through the headphone jack?

Also, knowing how much watts the speaker has would be a lot of help.

Thanks, xpawel

I don' t know about the Pro-97, but I haven't had any problems with the 396. However, if you want something that is pre wired, has a stereo jack, and is amplified, pick up a cheap set of amplified computer speakers. I have a set of small Altec Lansing computer speakers and they work fine.

 

[mfred]

Thanks for the advice. Ill head out to Radio Shack and get a 1/8 stereo plug. Ill connect both wires to the plug and I should be all set.

 

[iMONITOR]

Most all the Motorola "amplified" speakers require some modifications prior to being usable on a scanner.

Check this site for details:

NOSS' Ham Radio Site
http://www.n0ss.net/index_general.html

 

[mfred]

I received the speaker and connected a stereo plug to the end of it. When I use the speaker on my BC246T, I actually loose volume! When I connect it to my BC780XLT, the volume is through the roof, nice and loud. What gives? I was hoping to make my handheld sound better and at least keep the same volume it has without the speaker. On top of that, I have to fiddle with the connector to get any sound out of it (twist it, pull it out a bit, etc). When I plug it into the BC780XLT, it works fine, no fiddling.

 

[slicerwizard]

Describe how you connected the wires to the plug.

 

[mfred]

I used a Radio Shack connector. I stripped the wires about 1/8 of an inch. I crimped the wires to the base of the connector basically to hold them in place (connector has an open crimp towards the bottom and the speaker wires have insulation around them that far away from the teminals), Then I soldered the two wires to to the two posts, one wire per post. None of the bare wires appear to be touching each other. I am also not sure if it makes a difference as to what wire goes to what post.

 

[ButchGone]

The 780 cranks out 2 watts of audio, so it will be louder. The 396 cranks out less than a half watt, so it will be less. Plus, the 396 has the ear phone plug rigged so that it will fold back the amount of audio out to protect the ears. There used to be a way to "ground out" that connection on older Unidens by putting a wire between the ground side of the earphone jack and the ground side of the antenna connection (could be done inside the case). It would restrore full audio output. Does this work on the 396 now, I dunno. That's why an amplified speaker works better with handhelds.
BG..

 

[slicerwizard]

A stereo plug has three connections: ground - the part that crimps; tip - one of the posts; and ring - the other post.

For the 246, you're supposed to connect one wire to ground and the other to the tip (you'll have to figure out which one it is)

That arrangement should also work fine with your 780.

 

[slicerwizard]

the 396 has the ear phone plug rigged so that it will fold back the amount of audio out to protect the ears.

Not true. The 396T earphone jack connects directly to the audio amp output and to ground (though a 47 uF cap).

Connecting the earphone jack ground to antenna ground will not increase the volume level, but it will increase the DC current draw. Might even pop the amplifier.