Related Manuals for Radio Shack PRO-72
Summary of Contents for Radio Shack PRO-72
- Page 1 20-566.fm Page 1 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM OWNER’S MANUAL Cat. No. 20-566 PRO-72 50-Channel Portable Scanner Please read before using this equipment.
- Page 2 20-566.fm Page 2 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM FEATURES Your new RadioShack PRO-72 50-Channel Portable Scanner gives you direct access to over 32,000 exciting frequencies, including police and fire departments, ambu- lance services, and amateur radio services. You can se- lect up to 50 channels to scan, and you can change your selection at any time.
- Page 3 Display Backlight — makes the scanner’s display easy to read in low-light situations. Three Power Options — you can power the scanner from internal batteries (not supplied – including non- rechargeable batteries, rechargeable batteries, or a re- chargeable scanner battery pack) or external AC or DC power (using optional adapters).
- Page 4 20-566.fm Page 4 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM Your PRO-72 scanner can receive all of these frequen- cies: • 29–54 MHz (10-Meter Amateur Radio, VHF Lo, 6- Meter Amateur Radio) • 137–174 MHz (Aircraft/Air Shows, Government, 2- Meter Amateur Radio, VHF Hi) •...
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Page 5: Fcc Notice
Try to eliminate the interference by: • Moving your scanner away from the TV or radio • Connecting your scanner to an outlet that is on a dif- ferent electrical circuit from the TV or radio • Contacting your local RadioShack store for help This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules . -
Page 6: Scanning Legally
20-566.fm Page 6 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM SCANNING LEGALLY Your scanner covers frequencies used by many different groups including police and fire departments, ambulance services, government agencies, private companies, ama- teur radio services, military operations, pager services, and wireline (telephone and telegraph) service providers. -
Page 7: Table Of Contents
Listening Safely ... 17 Traffic Safety ... 17 Connecting an Extension Speaker ... 18 Using the Belt Clip ... 18 Your Scanner ... 19 A Look at the Keypad ... 20 A Look at the Display ... 22 Understanding Bands/Monitor Memory ... 24 Search Bands ... - Page 8 Primary Usage ... 42 Specified Intervals ... 43 Band Allocation ... 43 Frequency Conversion ... 47 Troubleshooting ... 48 Resetting/Initializing the Scanner ... 50 Resetting the Scanner ... 50 Initializing the Scanner ... 51 Care and Maintenance ... 52 Specifications ... 54...
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Page 9: Preparation
• Vehicle battery power (using an optional DC cigarette- lighter adapter) Notes: • Connecting an AC or DC adapter to the scanner dis- connects any internal batteries, but it does not dis- connect a rechargeable battery pack. If you install a... - Page 10 20-566.fm Page 10 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM You can also use six rechargeable nickel-cadmium batter- ies (such as Cat. No. 23-125) to power the scanner. To charge or recharge nickel-cadmium batteries, however, you must remove them from the scanner and use an ex- ternal charger (such as Cat.
- Page 11 3 seconds. Immediately replace all six non-rechargeable batteries, remove and recharge all six rechargeable batteries, or recharge the battery pack. Caution: Always dispose of old batteries promptly and properly. Do not bury or burn them. flashes and the scanner...
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Page 12: Using Standard Ac Power
20-566.fm Page 12 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM Using Standard AC Power To power the scanner from AC power, you need an AC adapter (Cat. No. 273-1665). Cautions: • You must use an AC adapter that supplies 9 volts and delivers at least 200 milliamps. -
Page 13: Using Vehicle Battery Power
• To protect your vehicle’s electrical system, always plug the adapter into the scanner before you plug it into your vehicle’s cigarette-lighter socket. Always unplug the adapter from the vehicle’s cigarette- lighter socket before you unplug it from the scanner. -
Page 14: Charging A Rechargeable Battery Pack
Your scanner has a built-in charging circuit that lets you charge a rechargeable battery pack (Cat. No. 23-288) while it is in the scanner. To charge the battery pack, sim- ply connect an AC or DC adapter to the scanner’s jack. -
Page 15: Connecting The Antenna
RadioShack store, recycling collection centers, and mailback programs. CONNECTING THE ANTENNA Follow these steps to attach the supplied flexible antenna to your scanner. 1. Align the slots around the antenna’s connector with the tabs on the jack. -
Page 16: Connecting An Optional Antenna
20-566.fm Page 16 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM Connecting an Optional Antenna jack on the top of the scanner makes it easy to use the scanner with a variety of antennas. Instead of the supplied antenna, you can attach a different one, such as an external mobile antenna or outdoor base station anten- na. -
Page 17: Listening Safely
Traffic Safety Do not use an earphone or headphones with your scanner when operating a motor vehicle or riding a bicycle in or near traffic. Doing so can create a traffic hazard and could be illegal in some areas. -
Page 18: Connecting An Extension Speaker
In a noisy area, an extension speaker (Cat. No. 21-549) or an amplified speaker (Cat. No. 21-541) might provide more comfortable listening. Plug the speaker cable’s -inch plug into your scanner’s jack. USING THE BELT CLIP You can use the belt clip for hands-free carrying when you are on the go. -
Page 19: Your Scanner
Once you understand a few simple terms we use in this manual and familiarize yourself with your scanner’s fea- tures, you can put the scanner to work for you. You simply determine the communications you want to receive, then set the scanner to scan those frequencies. -
Page 20: A Look At The Keypad
20-566.fm Page 20 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM A LOOK AT THE KEYPAD Your scanner’s keys might seem confusing at first, but this information should help you understand each key’s func- tion. — scans through the preprogrammed weather chan- nels. - Page 21 20-566.fm Page 21 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM — locks/unlocks the keypad to prevent accidental en- tries. — turns on/off the display’s backlight. LIGHT Number Keys — use these keys to enter the numbers for a channel or frequency. 0 —...
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Page 22: A Look At The Display
20-566.fm Page 22 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM A LOOK AT THE DISPLAY The display has indicators that show the scanner’s current operation. — appears when you manually select a channel. SCAN — appears when you scan channels. — appears when you scan or manually search the pre- programmed weather channels. - Page 23 –d — appears during a direct frequency search. 000.0000 — the digits on the right of the display show which frequency the scanner is tuned to. Error — appears when you make an entry error. dUPL (duplicate) — appears when you try to store a fre-...
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Page 24: Understanding Bands/Monitor Memory
20-566.fm Page 24 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM UNDERSTANDING BANDS/MONITOR MEMORY Search Bands Your scanner can tune over 32,000 different frequencies. Many of these frequencies are grouped within permanent memory locations called search bands. Displayed Search Band Description Range... -
Page 25: Monitor Memory
Note: The frequencies in the scanner’s search bands are preset. You cannot change them. Monitor Memory The scanner also has a monitor memory that you can use to temporarily store a frequency while you decide whether to save it into a channel. This is handy for quickly storing an active frequency when you are searching through an entire band using direct search. -
Page 26: Operation
SQUELCH stops. Notes: • If the scanner picks up unwanted, partial, or very weak transmissions, turn SQUELCH decrease the scanner’s sensitivity to these signals. If you want to listen to a weak or distant station, turn counterclockwise. -
Page 27: Storing Active Frequencies
STORING ACTIVE FREQUENCIES You can manually store frequencies you already know into the scanner’s channels. You can also store frequencies you found using band search directly into channels. You can also store a frequency into a monitor memory then store it into a channel. - Page 28 Notes: • If you entered an invalid frequency in Step 3, Error appears, the channel number flashes, and the scanner beeps three times after you press . Simply repeat Steps 3 and 4. • Your scanner automatically rounds the entered frequency down to the nearest valid frequency.
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Page 29: Band Search
If you do not know of a frequency to store, you can search your scanner’s preprogrammed search bands (see “Search Bands” on Page 24) for active frequencies, then store any that you find into your scanner’s channels. Follow these steps to search for and store active frequen- cies using band search. - Page 30 (in steps of 5 or 12.5 kHz, depending on the band), repeatedly press and release • To select a different band after the scanner begins searching the current band, simply repeat Step 2. The scanner stops when it finds an active frequency.
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Page 31: Direct Search
2. Hold down for about 1 second to search up or down from the selected frequency. When the scanner finds an active frequency, it stops searching. 3. To store the frequency in the monitor memory, simply press appears on the display. -
Page 32: Moving A Frequency From The Monitor Memory To A Channel
3. Press disappears, the channel number stops flashing, and the scanner stores the frequency in the selected channel. MONITORING A STORED CHANNEL You can continuously monitor a specific channel without scanning. This is useful if you hear an emergency broad- cast on a channel and do not want to miss any details —... -
Page 33: Scanning The Channels
If the scanner finds an active frequency, it stops and dis- plays that channel and frequency number, then it automat- ically begins scanning again when the transmission ends on that frequency. -
Page 34: Listening To The Monitor Memory
20-566.fm Page 34 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM LISTENING TO THE MONITOR MEMORY To listen to the frequency stored in the monitor memory, press then MANUAL stored in the monitor memory appear. CLEARING A CHANNEL 1. Press MANUAL 2. Use the number keys to enter the channel number containing the frequency you want to delete, then press . -
Page 35: Listening To A Weather Band
To hear your local forecast and regional weather informa- tion, simply press . Your scanner scans through the weather band, and should stop within a few seconds on your local weather broadcast. -
Page 36: Special Features
2 seconds after the transmission stops before it re- sumes scanning. You can program a 2-second delay in any of these ways: • If the scanner is scanning and stops on an active channel, quickly press before it starts to scan again. -
Page 37: Using The Display Backlight
L-OUT Notes: • You can still manually select locked-out channels. • Your scanner automatically locks out empty chan- nels. USING THE DISPLAY BACKLIGHT You can turn on the display’s backlight for easy viewing in dimly-lit areas. Press... -
Page 38: Turning The Key Tone On And Off
TURNING THE KEY TONE ON AND Each time you press any of the scanner’s keys (except ), the scanner sounds a tone. LIGHT Follow these steps to turn the scanner’s key tone off or back on. 1. If the scanner is on, turn VOLUME until it clicks to turn it off. -
Page 39: A General Guide To Scanning
20-566.fm Page 39 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM A GENERAL GUIDE TO SCANNING Reception of the frequencies covered by your scanner is mainly “line-of-sight.” That means you usually cannot hear stations that are beyond the horizon. GUIDE TO FREQUENCIES US Weather Frequencies 162.400... -
Page 40: Birdie Frequencies
Occasionally, the searching will stop as if it had found a signal, often without any sound. That is a birdie. Make a list of all the birdies in your scanner for future reference. SQUELCH 38.400 41.900... -
Page 41: Guide To The Action Bands
20-566.fm Page 41 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM GUIDE TO THE ACTION BANDS United States Broadcast Bands In the United States, there are several broadcast bands. The standard AM and FM bands are probably the most well known. There are also four television audio broadcast bands —... -
Page 42: Primary Usage
20-566.fm Page 42 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM Primary Usage As a general rule, most of the radio activity is concentrated on the following frequencies: VHF Band Activities Government, Police, and Fire 153.785–155.980 MHz Emergency Services 158.730–159.460 MHz Railroad 160.000–161.900 MHz UHF Band Activities... -
Page 43: Specified Intervals
To help decide which frequency ranges to scan, use the following listing of the typical services that use the fre- quencies your scanner receives. These frequencies are subject to change, and might vary from area to area. For a more complete listing, refer to the Police Call Radio Guide including Fire and Emergency Services , available at your local RadioShack store. - Page 44 20-566.fm Page 44 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM OIL ......Oil/Petroleum Industry POL .
- Page 45 20-566.fm Page 45 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM U.S. Government Band 137.000–144.000 ......GOVT, MIL 2-Meter Amateur Band 144.000–148.000 .
- Page 46 20-566.fm Page 46 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM 170.425–170.450 ....... . BIFC 170.475.
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Page 47: Frequency Conversion
20-566.fm Page 47 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM Public Safety Band — Locally Assigned 866.0125–868.9875 ....... PSB 33-Centimeter Amateur Band 902.0000–928.0000 . -
Page 48: Troubleshooting
20-566.fm Page 48 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM TROUBLESHOOTING If your scanner is not working as it should, these sugges- tions might help you eliminate the problem. If the scanner still does not operate properly, take it to your local Ra- dioShack store for assistance. - Page 49 20-566.fm Page 49 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM Possible Problem Causes Scanner is on is not SQUELCH but does not correctly adjust- scan. In the scan Programmed fre- mode, the quencies are the scanner locks same as birdie on frequen- frequencies.
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Page 50: Resetting/Initializing The Scanner
20-566.fm Page 50 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM RESETTING/INITIALIZING THE SCANNER If the scanner’s display locks up or does not work properly after you connect a power source, you might need to reset or initialize it. Important: If you have problems, first try to reset the scanner. -
Page 51: Initializing The Scanner
Important: This procedure clears all frequencies you stored in the scanner’s memory and initializes the scanner to its default settings. Initialize the scanner only when you are sure the scanner is not working properly. 1. Turn off the scanner, then turn it on again. -
Page 52: Care And Maintenance
20-566.fm Page 52 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM CARE AND MAINTENANCE Your RadioShack PRO-72 50-Channel Portable Scanner is an example of superior design and craftsmanship. The following suggestions will help you care for your scanner so you can enjoy it for years. - Page 53 Modifying or tampering with the scanner’s internal compo- nents can cause a malfunction and might invalidate your scanner’s warranty and void your FCC authorization to op- erate it. If your scanner is not performing as it should, take it to your local RadioShack store for assistance.
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Page 54: Specifications
20-566.fm Page 54 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM SPECIFICATIONS Frequency Coverage: Ham ... 29–30 MHz (5.0 kHz steps) VHF Lo ... 30–50 MHz (5.0 kHz steps) Ham ... 50–54 MHz (5.0 kHz steps) Government ... 137–144 MHz (5.0 kHz steps) Ham ... - Page 55 20-566.fm Page 55 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM Squelch Sensitivity: Threshold ... Less than 1.0 V Tight ... (S+N)/N 25 dB Antenna Impedance ... 50 Ohms Audio Output Power (10% THD) ... 200 mW Nominal Built-in Speaker ... 1 Power Requirements ...
- Page 56 20-566.fm Page 56 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM Limited One-Year Warranty This product is warranted by RadioShack against manufacturing defects in material and workmanship under normal use for one (1) year from the date of purchase from RadioShack company-owned stores and authorized Ra- dioShack franchisees and dealers.