Woketman
Well-known member
I have an issue with the audio output of my radar detector and was wondering if anyone here has a solution.
I ride with an Escort 8500 X50. The 8500 has a 3.5 mm audio out jack (mono, not stereo). I purchased a small, cheapo adapter from Radio Shack that converts the mono jack into a stereo female plug (Escort warned me NOT to plug a stereo connector into the mono socket saying that doing so would damage the 8500). When I power up the 8500 with headphones or ear buds plugged into the jack, all is fine. In fact, the volume is way too loud, but I can dial it down easily with the 8500’s volume adjustment.
The problem arises when I use a “Y” adapter cable so that I can input two sources to the headphones/ear buds. I have tried both my little MP3 player and the Jensen JHD910 motorcycle radio. As before, when using the 8500, with the “Y” adapter plugged in but nothing else plugged in, the headphones yield a nice loud alert. However, when I plug in the MP3 or the Jensen into the other leg of the “Y”, no matter if the MP3 player or the Jensen are turned on or off, the volume of the radar detector’s output is vastly diminished. In fact, it is lowered so very much that it can hardly be heard and certainly will not be heard with ANY degree of road noise. Likely some impedance mis-match issue or the fact that one is stereo and one not?
I have seen at least two different brands of audio mixers, made for motorcycles, that will apparently solve this issue. You can plug in a detector and/or a GPS into an aux input and it will squelch the music when the aux channel outputs a signal. That is OK, but I really don’t need the squelch function and the two that I know of are up in the $175 to $200 range! WOW!
What I would prefer is a simple solution that allows me to hear the detector and music without needing a 2nd mortgage. Is there such a thing in our universe that someone here is aware of? A simply do it yourself circuit that I can build? A better way to hook this stuff up? A more reasonably priced mixer available? Something I have completely overlooked?
Thanks!
I ride with an Escort 8500 X50. The 8500 has a 3.5 mm audio out jack (mono, not stereo). I purchased a small, cheapo adapter from Radio Shack that converts the mono jack into a stereo female plug (Escort warned me NOT to plug a stereo connector into the mono socket saying that doing so would damage the 8500). When I power up the 8500 with headphones or ear buds plugged into the jack, all is fine. In fact, the volume is way too loud, but I can dial it down easily with the 8500’s volume adjustment.
The problem arises when I use a “Y” adapter cable so that I can input two sources to the headphones/ear buds. I have tried both my little MP3 player and the Jensen JHD910 motorcycle radio. As before, when using the 8500, with the “Y” adapter plugged in but nothing else plugged in, the headphones yield a nice loud alert. However, when I plug in the MP3 or the Jensen into the other leg of the “Y”, no matter if the MP3 player or the Jensen are turned on or off, the volume of the radar detector’s output is vastly diminished. In fact, it is lowered so very much that it can hardly be heard and certainly will not be heard with ANY degree of road noise. Likely some impedance mis-match issue or the fact that one is stereo and one not?
I have seen at least two different brands of audio mixers, made for motorcycles, that will apparently solve this issue. You can plug in a detector and/or a GPS into an aux input and it will squelch the music when the aux channel outputs a signal. That is OK, but I really don’t need the squelch function and the two that I know of are up in the $175 to $200 range! WOW!
What I would prefer is a simple solution that allows me to hear the detector and music without needing a 2nd mortgage. Is there such a thing in our universe that someone here is aware of? A simply do it yourself circuit that I can build? A better way to hook this stuff up? A more reasonably priced mixer available? Something I have completely overlooked?
Thanks!
