General Guide To Scanning - Radio Shack PRO-60 User Manual

PRO-Series Direct Entry Programmable Scanners

General Guide To Scanning

Birdies
Birdies are frequencies your scanner uses when it operates.
operating frequencies might interfere with broadcasts on the same
frequencies. If you program one of these frequencies, you hear only noise
on that frequency.
If the interference is not severe, you might be able to turn SQUELCH
clockwise to cut out the birdie.
listed below.
Birdie Frequencies:
31.05 MHz
41.40 MHz
51.75 MHz
113.85 MHz
Reception Notes
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. During the summer months you may be able to hear stations in the
30-50 MHz range located several hundred or even thousand of miles away.
This is because of summer atmospheric conditions.
is unpredictable but often very interesting!
One very useful service is the National Weather Service's continuous
weather broadcast.
for the areas around the station, plus bulletins on any threatening
weather conditions.
162.475 or 162.55 MHz.
of these frequencies.
A Guide To The Action Bands
With the right frequencies programmed into your PRO-Series Scanner, you
can monitor exciting events.
active frequencies in your community.
pointers, and you can take it from there.
sense when you hear an emergency call.
emergency. It could be very dangerous.
Find out if there is a local club that monitors your community's
frequencies. Perhaps a local electronics repair shop that works on
equipment similar to your scanner can give you frequencies used by local
radio services.
A volunteer police department or fire department can also be a good source
for this information.
As a general rule on VHF, most activity is concentrated between 153.785
and 155.98 MHz and then again from 158.73 to 159.46 MHz.
local government, police, fire and most such emergency services.
are near a railroad yard or major railroad tracks, look around 160.0 to
161.9 MHz for signals.
In some larger cities, there has been a move to the UHF bands for
The most common birdies to watch for are
124.20 MHz
134.55 MHz
144.90 MHz
155.25 MHz
These broadcasts contain weather forecasts and data
These stations use three frequencies - 162.40,
In most areas of the country, you can receive one
With a little investigation, you can find
This type of reception
We can give you some general
Please use caution and common
Never go to the scene of an
These
Here you find
If you