Recording in stereo, but one ear gives continual hum

I have been recording my vinyl LPs into my PC with an ION turntable and Audacity 1.2.4 software for 3 years or so. All of a sudden the recording now is perfect in one speaker/ear and just a piercing hum in the other ear. I definitely have Audacity set up to record in Stereo. Would be grateful if anyone can help. Thank you. Sorry if this is posted in the wrong section

That sounds very like something is broken in your turntable, and you are picking up mains hum on one channel.
I doubt there is much you can do about it, since the turntable is three years old, but maybe someone else will come up with something different.

PO’L

Check that all four connectors on the cartridge are pushed home and secure - do this very carefully.

And make sure the headshell is srewed home securely.

Also check the USB lead - both ends - unplug/replug or gently wiggle - try a different USB port on your computer.

By the way you really should upgrade to 1.2.6 or 1.3.11 when it is released shortly. 1.2.4 is so old that Methuselah used to use it. You can updates from here: http://audacityteam.org/download/ the site has 1.3.10 at the moment (it has a serious Export bug which will bite you) - the page will show 1.3.11 fairly soon.

WC