Railfan Technology > A Repair Question For A Uniden Bearcat BC72XLT Scanner

I've probably gone through five of these scanners all for one particular reason the speaker wears out over time and I can never hear it, however I did test out the auxiliary port in my car with the radio and the transmission and volume from car worked just fine, so for what I'm wondering is so I can stop wasting money for new scanners every year or two is there anyway to repair the speaker to bring the sound back to the scanner or is it impossible. As a side I'm mostly best from visual learning so if any of you can demonstrate by video or know any videos where I can find this sort of problem to be answered I would very much appreciate it. Thanks in advance for whomever helps me with the answer :)

I've change the speaker out on another model scanner before a Radio Shack Pro-90. Depending on your skill level it can fairly easy or a pain. To give you an idea for the pro 90 had to remove 4 screws to remove the back cover, couple more to remove one section of the two piece control board to access to speaker then I think it was a couple more screws to remove the speaker. I got a replacement speaker close to same one from local electronic shop. I had to cut wires off the original speaker as it had a plug that plugged into the control board then solder them to new speaker.

Easiest would be to get external mic and plug it in headphone jack. I like to use lapel speaker mics as I use them at my work (fire dept.) they make hearing a lot easier. If you don't like the cord showing you could run it up your shirt and clip the mic your collar.. http://www.scannermaster.com/Scanner_Lapel_Speaker_p/01-531338.htm

Hope this helps

Jason

It is unlikely to be the speaker that is failing. Not much to go wrong with the speaker unless it gets wet. It could be something in the audio amplifier stage that fails. Do you leave it in a hot car all the time?

Yes I have left in a hot car all the time

UPDetector Wrote:
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> Yes I have left in a hot car all the time

I suggest buying a new one, and keeping it in a cooler environment when you aren't using it. Chances are it'll last a lot longer. Most consumer electronics aren't made to live in the temperature extremes of a car. It's OK for short periods.

Managed to kill one in that exact scenario -- hot car in the Deschutes River canyon. Now I take the radio with me when I'm out of the car.

FWIW, I've found the mini ear inserts help a lot if there's ambient noise (highway traffic, idling power, etc). Allows me to hear the DS etc.

The cheap plastic kind they give out on airlines work well.