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Okay, you have your computer and you have your scanner and you are ready to start streaming!
What next? Well, we need to connect the scanner to the computer via the computer's sound
card. This is the same card that the speakers plug in to. Most sound cards have at least
three 1/8th inch connectors on them: speaker out, mic in and line in. Newer sound cards have
these plugs color coded as follows: speakers = green, mic in = pink and line in = blue.
Occasionally, you will run across one that does not have the line in. In this case, the mic
in may be used, although the quality will not be quite as good.
You will need a cable with 1/8" male connectors on both ends - one end will connect to your
scanner's headphone jack, the other end to the sound card. These can usually be purchased at
your local Radio Shack store.
Turn your scanner on and make sure you have a good signal of some sort. I usually tune in to
our local weather service while testing since this gives me a constant source of audio. Set
your volume to a reasonable level, then connect the cable. Connect one end to the scanner's
headphone jack and the other end to the Line In jack on your sound card. At least for initial
testing, the computer should have a set of working speakers (you may want to remove or turn
these off later). With this simple connection, you should now hear the scanner through your
computer's speakers.
If this works and you can hear the scanner at a reasonable level without a lot of distortion
or poor sound quality, you should be able to safely move on to Part 3, although we will cover
a little troubleshooting now, that might come in handy to you later.
Okay, your scanner sounds fine with the cable unplugged, but connected to the computer, you
do not hear the audio through your speakers? Let's look at a couple of the most likely causes.
First item would be to double check that your cable is plugged in to the correct jack on the
sound card. The naming/pictures on some soundcards can be a little tricky sometimes, so check
this first. If your cable is connected correctly, let's look now at the Windows Volume Control
to see if maybe the Line In connection is muted or turned all the way down. To access the
Windows Volume Control (this should apply to most versions of Windows), click on Start, then
Programs, then Accessories, then Entertainment and lastly the link for Volume Control. Something
similar to this is what you should see:
If you do not see the Line In volume listed, click on Options, then Properties and make sure
the check-box next to Line In is checked, then click OK. Now you can see the Line In volume,
check to see if the volume slider is turned down all the way or if the Mute check-box is checked.
Disable the Mute check-box and adjust the volume slider until you can hear the scanner at a
reasonable level.
The above should take care of most problems encountered if you cannot hear your scanner through
the computer speakers. If you have done all of the above and it is still not working, you
might need to check the device drivers for your sound card. This subject is a bit too in depth
to tackle in this tutorial, but you should be able to find plenty of information on the 'net
with regards to device drivers and troubleshooting them.
Onward to Step 3!
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