Radio Shack Race Scanner manual

Owner’s M anual Cat. No . 20-513 PR O-74 1 00-Ch annel VHF/UHF/Air/800 MHz Race S can ner Please re ad befo re usi ng t his equi pment. 20-5 13 .f m Pag e 1 We d ne s day , Au gus t 4, 199 9 2: 3 9 P M[...]

2 FEA TURES Your new Radi oSha ck PRO-74 100- Channel VHF/UHF/Ai r/800 MHz Race Scanner lets you in on the action in the pi ts at th e big race or on the str eets o f your home town . Thi s sc anner give s yo u di rect acc ess to more t han 3 0,0 00 freq uenci es , includi ng tho se used by par tici pan ts and s taf f at a uto races and ai r sh ows[...]

3 Hypersear ch  — lets you set t he sca nner to searc h at up t o 300 s tep s per sec ond, to help yo u quickly find int eresting broadcasts . (The nor- mal sea rch speed is 100 ste ps per sec ond). Two-Second Scan Delay — automat ically del ays sca nning for abo ut 2 seconds before moving to anot her channel , so you can hea r more re- plie[...]

4 Resume Start — t he scanner sav es its set t ings when you t urn the power off. Thi s r eturns you to t he functi on you were us ing if you acci- denta lly turn the scanne r off or the batter i e s are weak . Trip l e-C onversi on Circuit r y — virt ually eli minates any interf erence fro m IF (i nt ermediate f r e quenc y) images , so y ou h[...]

5 FCC NOTICE You r sc an ner migh t ca us e ra dio or TV int erf er ence eve n wh en it i s ope r- at ing prope rl y. T o dete rm ine w het her your sca nn er is ca using t he i nt erfe r- ence , tu rn of f y ou r sc ann er. If th e i n ter fe r en ce go es aw ay , yo ur s ca nn er is cau sing it. Try th e follow i ng metho ds to elimina te the int[...]

6 CONTEN TS Pre p a ra t io n ..... .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. .. 9 Po wer So urc es . ... ..... .. .. ..... ... .. ..... .. ..... ... .. ..... ... .... ... .. ..... ... .... ... .. .. 9 Us ing Int er nal Ba tte ries . ..... .. .. ..... ... .. ..... ... .... ... .[...]

7 Sp ec ial F eat ure s ... .. ..... .. ... ..... .. ..... .. ... ..... .. ..... ... .. ..... .. ..... ... .. ..... .. ... . 36 Turn ing Me mor y Ba nks On a nd Off ... ..... .. ... .... ... ..... .. ... .... ... .. .... 3 6 Lockin g Out Ch annel s .... . ..... .. . . .. . ..... . ... ..... . ....... ..... .. . . . ....... ..... .. 36 Pr iori ty . [...]

8 PR EP A R A TI ON POWER SOURCES You ca n power your sca nner f rom any of t hree sources : • Interna l bat t e ri es (n ot supplied ) • Standard AC power using an optional AC adapte r • Ve hicle batt ery power using an opt i o nal DC adapter Using I nt ernal Bat teries You ca n power your scanne r using four AA batt er ies. For the l ongest[...]

9 War nin g: Never se t ALKALINE JACK NI-CD to NI-CD if you ar e install ing non-r echargeable batteri es. Non- rechargeabl e batter i es can get hot or ex plode if y ou try t o r echarge th em. 3. Instal l two batteri es in t he compartment and two i n the cove r as indic at ed by the pol arity symbols (+ and –) marked insi de those locations . [...]

10 Charging Nickel-Cadmi um Batteries The scanner has a built -in ci rcuit that lets you rec harge nic kel-c admium batt er ies whil e t hey are in the sc anner. To charg e t he batt eries, se t AL - KALINE JACK NI-CD to NI-CD , in stall t he nickel- cadmium bat teri es in the scanner , and con nect a n external AC or DC adapter to the sc an- ner?[...]

11 Using Standard AC P ower You can power the scan ner from a s tan dar d AC outlet usi ng an opti on- al AC adapter ( such as Ca t. No. 273-1665). Warni ng: Do not use an AC adap ter ’s polar iz ed plug wit h an extensi on cord, r eceptacle , or other o utlet unl ess the b lades can be full y inser ted to preven t blade expo sure. Cautions : •[...]

12 Using V e hicle Battery Power To power the sc anner f r o m your vehi cle's cigare tte-li ghter soc ket, you need a DC adapter , such as Cat. No. 270-1560 . Cauti ons: • The DC adapt er must be cap able of deli veri ng 9 volts and at least 300 mil l iamps , its cent er tip must be se t to negati ve, and its ba r rel plug mus t corr ectly [...]

13 When you f i ni s h usi ng the DC adapter , disc onnect it f ro m the ci garette- light er s ocket, then disco nnect it fr om your scanner. Note: I f the scanner does not oper ate proper ly when you connect a DC adap ter , u npl ug t he ada pter from the cig are tte- light er sock et and cle an the socket to remove ashe s a nd othe r debris. CON[...]

14 Connecting an Optional Antenna The scanne r’s antenna jack makes it easy to use t he scanner with a vari ety of ant enna s. Ins tead of either of t h e sup plied a nte nnas, you can att ach a diff erent one, su ch as an extern al mobil e antenna o r outdoor base sta tion antenna. Your local Radio Shack stor e sell s a variet y of anten nas. Al[...]

15 CONNECTING AN EXTE NSION SPEAKER In a noi sy area, an ex t ensi on spe aker (su ch as Cat. No. 21-549) , posi- tione d in the r i ght place, might pr ovide mo re comfortabl e list eni ng. Plug the s peaker cable’s 1 / 8 -i nch mini-pl ug in t o your scan ner’s jack. CONNECTING AN EARPH ONE/ HEADPHONES For pri vate li steni ng, y ou can pl ug[...]

16 Listeni ng S afely To prot ect your hearing, f oll ow these gui delines when you use a n ear- phone or head phones. • Do not l iste n at ext remely hig h vo lume le vels. Extend ed hi gh - volume l i s ten ing can lead to per m anent heari ng l oss. • Set the vol ume to the lowes t sett ing before y ou begin liste ning. After you begi n list[...]

17 UNDERST ANDING YOUR SCANNER Once you un derstand a few simple terms we use in this manual a nd familiar ize yourself wi th your sca nner’s feat ures, you ca n put the scanner to work fo r you. You simply find the comm unications you want to r eceiv e, then s et the scanner to scan them . A frequ ency i s the tuning loca t ion of a stat ion (ex[...]

18 RACE — le ts you stor e car number s and frequen cies in th e scanner’s channel s, add and delet e frequenc ies from car number s, displa y car numb ers , and listen to the cha nnel wh ere a car number i s sto red. MAN — st ops scanning an d lets you di r e ctl y en ter a cha nnel number or fre quency. PROG — stor es f r equen cies into [...]

19 A LOOK AT THE DISPLA Y The disp lay has ind i c ators t hat show the scanner’s current ope rating statu s. A good l ook at the d i sp lay w ill help you u nderstand how your scanner operat es. BANK — appea r s with nu mbers (1– 10) to show wh ich memory bank s are tur ned on for scann i ng . Servic e bank ind icators — appear when y ou s[...]

20 No. — appears whe n a ca r number i s displ ayed MRN — a ppear s with CH w hen you select th e scanner ’ s mar i ne service bank (se e “Ser vice Banks” on Page 21). — appears when you li st en t o a prior ity channel . CH — di gi t s that preced e th i s ind icator sh ow whi c h of t h e 100 c hannels the sca nner is tuned to. MHz [...]

21 UNDERSTANDING BANKS Memor y B an k s To make it e asier to i dentif y and select t he channe l s you want to list en to, th e PRO-74’s ch annels are div i d ed into 10 banks of 10 channels each. Use each mem ory bank to gro up fr equencies, suc h as the polic e depart m ent, fire dep artment , ambulance se rvices, o r air craft (s ee “Guide [...]

22 Name Typi cal Usage Frequency Range (in MH z) Your scan ner also has 7 prepr ogrammed weather fr equencies. For exampl e, if you want ed to search f or tran smissions bet ween a driver and that drive r’s pi t crew at an auto ra ce, y ou could sea rch on ly the ser- vice bank wher e y ou are most li kely to hear the t ransmi ssions ( CAr ). Not[...]

23 OPE RA TI ON T URN ING ON THE SCANN ER AND SETTING SQUELCH Note: Mak e sure an an tenna i s connec ted to th e scanner be fore y ou turn it on. 1. T urn SQ UEL CH ful ly count erclockwi se. 2. T urn VOLUM E cl ockwis e unti l it clicks and you hear a h i s sing sound. 3. T urn SQ UEL CH clo ckwise, then leave it set to a point j ust aft er the h[...]

24 STORING KNOWN FREQUENCIES INTO CHANNELS Good refer ences for ac t ive f requencie s are the Radi oShack “Beyond Poli c e C all, ” “Aeronaut ical Fr equen cy Dir ectory,” and “Mar itime Fr e- quency Directo r y.” We updat e these di r ector ies ever y year, so be sure to get a curre nt cop y. Foll ow the se steps to stor e a frequency[...]

25 • Y our sca nner automati cally roun ds t h e ente red frequency to t he nearest valid fr equency . For example, i f you ent er a frequenc y of 151.47 3, you r scan ner accepts it as 151. 475. • Y our s canner au tomati cally delays scanni ng for 2 seconds after a transmi ssion ends befor e it pr o ceeds to the nex t cha nnel. 4. T o pr ogra[...]

26 T o release hol d and contin ue searching, press HOL D or ho ld down t or s for more than 1 seco nd. Notes: • T o st ep throug h the fr equencies whi le HOLD is di splayed, press t or s . • I f you t une to a search s kip freque ncy , L/O appea rs (see “Se a rc h Sk ip M e mo ry ” on P ag e 27) . • T o sto re a frequency i nto a ch ann[...]

27 Notes: • T o step thr ough the frequ enci es while HOLD is disp la y e d, pr e ss t o r s. • If you t une to a sear ch skip fre quency , L/O appear s ( s ee “Search Skip Memory” on Page 27). • T o stor e a f requen cy into a chann el while th e f requen cy is paused o r hel d, se e “Stori ng Activ e Frequenci es.” Storing Activ e F[...]

28 To sk ip a frequency , press S/S when the scan ner st ops on t he fre que ncy dur ing a sear ch. The scanner s tores the freq uen- cy in me mory a nd auto matical ly resu mes the sea rch. To clear a single frequ ency from search skip m emory so th e scanne r can sto p on it during a search , follow these st eps. 1. Press HOLD to ho ld th e sear [...]

29 Note: You canno t use this proced ur e to s elect a car number. See “Viewing F requenci es Assoc iated wi t h a Car Number ” on Pa ge 33 t o select a car number . To m anuall y select a c hannel, press MAN , enter the chan nel nu mber, then pr ess MAN ag ain. Or, i f y our scan ner is sc anning a nd stops at the desir ed channel, pres s MA N[...]

30 LISTENING TO WEATHER BROADCASTS The FCC (Fe deral Communi cati ons Commission) has alloc ated fre- quenci es for use by the Nat i onal Ocean ic and At mo spher ic Adminis t r a- ti on (NOAA). Regul atory ag encies in other count ries hav e also all ocat ed frequenci es for use by thei r weat her repor ting author ities. Your local weat her repo [...]

31 USING THE PRO-74 AT THE RAC ES The PRO-74 is spec ia l ly designed t o help you l isten t o c ommunicat i on s at aut o r a ces. Driv ers and t heir pit cr ews and c or ne r watche r s, pac e car dri vers, secu rity off icer s, e m e r gen cy person nel, t rack of ficial s, and repres entatives of governing or ga nizat i ons suc h as NASCAR, SCC[...]

32 Foll ow the se steps to stor e a car number and fr equency. 1. Press MAN th en R ACE. RACE an d Car No?--- appear s. 2. Enter the car number . If the number is one or two digi ts, ente r the numb er , th en press RACE . I f the number i s thr ee digits, ent er the numb er onl y . The car number a nd --- . --- ap pear . Notes: • I f you add on [...]

33 Viewi ng Frequencies Associat ed with a Ca r Num ber After you store a car number and associa t e frequen cies with that num- ber, you can view all f req uencies associ ated with the numb er. 1. Pres s MAN then RACE. RACE and Car No?--- appea rs. 2. Ent er the car number . If the n umber i s one or two d i gi ts, enter t he number , then press R[...]

34 FINDING WHAT CAR NUMBERS ARE IN WHAT CHANNELS If you are li st ening to a channel an d want to kn ow what c ar n umber you are hear i ng, sim ply press RACE twice. If a car numbe r has been asso- ciat ed with t his f requency, t h e car number and frequen cy appear . Press RACE twice to re tur n t o norm al channel li st ening. To see what car n[...]

35 SPECIAL FEA TURE S T URN ING MEMORY BANK S ON AND OFF You can turn each memory bank on and off . When you tur n off a bank, the s canner does not scan any of the 10 channel s in t hat b ank. While scan ning, press th e numb er key that cor respond s to the bank you want t o t urn on or off. When BANK appea rs, the scan ner scans all the cha nnel[...]

36 The scan ner aut omatical ly desig nates eac h bank's fi rst channel as i t s pri or ity cha nnel. Fol low these st eps to sel ect a dif ferent channel as t he pri or ity c hannel. 1. Press PROG . 2. Enter the channel number y ou want t o select as the pri or i ty ch an- nel , t hen pr ess PRI ORI TY . appear s to t he right of the chann el[...]

37 USING THE KEYLOCK Once yo u set up and st ore chan nel s into your sc anner, you can p rot ect it f rom acci dental chang es by turni ng on the keyl ock featur e. When locked , t he only control s t hat operat e are SCAN , MAN , KEYL OCK/ , VOL UME , a nd SQUE LC H . To turn on the keylock, hold down KEYLOCK until K/L appears. To tur n it off, h[...]

38 Notes: • Y ou can use Hypersearch o nly in th e 5 kHz step band s (29–54 MHz and 137 –174 MHz. • Since the mari ne servi ce bank is not in one of the 5 kHz step bands, you cannot use Hyperse arch i n the m ari ne servic e b ank. T URNING THE KEY T ONE OFF/ON Your sc anner comes s et so each ti m e you pr ess a key, you he ar a tone. To t[...]

39 SKIPPING DATA SIGNA LS You can set t he scanner s o it sk ips n onm odul ated or data s ig nals (suc h as modem tr ansm i ssions) dur i n g a search or scan. Note: Si nce dat a signals are not gen erally f ound in t he air band, thi s featur e does no t work in the air band. To turn on t he data ski p feature, press . appears. To tur n off the f[...]

40 A GENERAL GUIDE T O SCANNING Recept ion of th e frequenci es covered by your scann er is m a inly “l ine- of- sight.” That means you usua lly cannot hear stat ions that are beyond the hor i z on. GUIDE TO FREQUENCIES National Weather Fr equencies Canadian W eather Frequencie s No te: The Canadian fr equencies are not preprogra m med in this [...]

41 Chan- nel No. Frequency C han- nel No. Frequency Ship Shore Ship Shor e Birdie Fr e quencies Every sc anner has birdi e freq uencies. Bi rdie s are signal s c reated i n- side the scanner ’s rece iver. Th ese oper atin g frequenc i es might inter- fere wi th br oadcasts on t he same freque ncies. If yo u program one of these f r equ encies, yo[...]

42 To fin d the birdi es in your partic ular scanner , begin by di sconnect ing the anten na and moving it away fr om the scan ner. Make sure that no other nearby radi os or TVs ar e t urned on near the sca nner. Use the sear ch funct ion to sear ch every fr equen cy range f r om it s lowest to the highe st fre quency. Occasi onally, the se arching[...]

43 Pr imar y U sag e As a general rule, most of the radio ac tivity is concen trated on t he fol- lowing fre quencies: VHF Band UHF Band Note: Remot e control stat ions and mobil e units oper at e at 5 MHz high- er than th eir associated bas e sta ti ons and rel ay r epe ate r units. BAND ALLOCATION To help deci de which fr equency ran ges to scan [...]

44 FIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fi re D epart ment HAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amate ur (Ham ) Radio GOV T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fe dera l Go vern ment GMR . . . . . [...]

45 42. 960– 43.18 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IND 43. 220– 43.68 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TELM, IND , PUB 43. 700– 44.60 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T RAN 44. 62[...]

46 166. 250 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G OVT , RTV , FIRE 166. 275– 169. 400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G OVT , BIF C 169. 445– 169. 505 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wi reles s Mi kes, G OVT 169. 55–1 69.9 8[...]

47 Co nvent ional Sys tems Band – L ocally Assi gned 851 .012 5–85 5.98 75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CSB Co nvent iona l/Tr unke d Sys tems Band – Lo ca lly As sig ned 856 .012 5–86 0.98 75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CT SB Tr u[...]

48 TROUBLES HOOTING If yo u have problems, here are some suggest ions that might help. If none do , take you r scan ner to y our loca l R ad io Sh ac k st o re fo r a s- sist ance. PROBLEM POSSIBLE CAUSE REMEDY Keys d o not wo rk or disp lay ch ange s at ra ndom . Und etermi ned e rror . R eset th e scan ner (see “Re se tti ng the Sc an ner ” o[...]

49 BATT .Lo appe ars . Th e ba tte rie s are weak. Rec ha rge re cha rge ab le bat te rie s, or r epla c e no n- re charge able batte rie s. PROBL EM POSSI BLE C AUSE REMEDY RESETTING THE SCANN ER If t he scanner’ s display l o cks up or doe s not wor k proper ly afte r you connect power, you might need to reset the scanner . Caution: This proc e[...]

50 CARE AND MAINTENANCE Your Radi oShack PRO-74 100- Channel VHF/UHF/ Air/8 00 MHz Race Scanner is an example of super ior design and cr af t s mans hip. The fol - lowi ng suggesti ons will help y ou care for yo ur scanner so y ou can en- joy i t for year s. Keep th e scanner dry. If it gets wet, wipe i t dr y immedi - atel y. Liqui ds can c ontain[...]

51 SPECIFIC A TIONS Frequenc y Cover age ...... . .. ..... .. . .. ....... . ... . 29–5 4 MHz (in 5 kHz st eps) 108–136.9 75 MHz ( i n 12. 5 kHz st eps) 137–174 MHz ( in 5 kHz st eps) 406–512 M Hz (in 12.5 kHz steps) 806.00 00–823.93 75 MHz (in 12. 5 kHz st eps) 851.00 00–868.93 75 MHz (in 12. 5 kHz st eps) 896.1 125–956 .0000 M Hz (i[...]

RadioSha ck A Divi sion of T a ndy Corpor ation Fort Wor th, T exas 76102 UBZ Z01 29 2Z Z 6A8 Pri nted in the P hil ip pi n e s Limited One-Y ear W arrant y Thi s product is warran ted b y RadioS hack a g ains t manufactur i n g defec ts in m aterial and w o rkman ship u nder n ormal us e for one (1 ) y ear from the date of purchas e fr o m Ra dioS[...]