Quote Originally Posted by msrance
No toys - I am too old for them and no kids (actually no wife too) - so the whole thing might be a bit too expensive for a screening test.
Okay...so you're too old for toys and don't have any kids, but maybe you have some old materials left over from medical school.

Perhaps you have on hand Milton Bradley's "Operation"


Of all the toys out there, this is nothing more but an entertaining continuity tester! But if you don't have one on hand, just forget it. The problem is most likely in that homemade cable. Get a store-bought one and I'm sure your hum & no-left-channel problem will go away.