Radio Shack PRO-79 manual

Owner’s Manual Cat. No. 20- 314 PRO-79 200-Chan nel VH F/Air/UHF Handheld Sc anner Please read bef ore us ing this equip ment. (illus - s how fron t of produc t) 20-314.fm P age 1 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 P M[...]

2 FEATURES Your ne w RadioSha ck PR O-79 200 Cha nnel V HF/Air/UHF Handhe ld Scanne r lets you s can conv entional tr ansmis sions, and is prepro grammed with search banks for conveni ence. By pressing a singl e button, y ou can qu ickly se arch tho se frequ en- cies mos t commonl y used by public servic e and other agencies without ted ious and co[...]

3 We ath er Al ert — the sc anner automat ically sound s an aler t when it r eceives a wea ther eme rgency s ignal, p rovidi ng more complete information ab out weath er cond itions i n your immedi- ate area. Weather Band Key — scans seve n preprogram med weath er frequenc ies to keep yo u infor med about cur rent weathe r condi- tions. Wired P[...]

4 Key Confirmation Tones — the scann er sound s a con firm ation tone when you perform an operation cor rectly, and an error tone if yo u make an err or. Three Power Options — you can power the scanner fr om inte r- nal (recha rgeab le or non-rec harge able batter ies) or exter nal AC or DC powe r (using a n optional AC or DC adapter) . Your P [...]

5 Not e: Mobil e use of th is sca nner is unlawful o r requi res a per mit in some a reas. Che ck the laws in your area. SCANNING LEG ALLY Your scanne r covers frequenci es used by many diffe rent grou ps includi ng polic e an d fire departme nts, amb ulanc e serv ices, gov- ernment a gencies , privat e compani es, amate ur radi o servic es, milita[...]

6 CONTENTS Preparation .... ............. ............. ................... ............. ............. . 8 Installing Batter ies .............. ............. ............. ............. ....... 8 Using AC P ower ..... ................... ............. ............. ............. . 9 Using V ehicle Bat ter y P ower .................. ....... ......[...]

7 Special Feat ures ............. ................... ............. ............. ........ 36 Delay ...... ............. ............. ................... ............. ............. .. 36 Locking Out Chann els or F r equencie s .................... ........ 36 Locking Out Channe ls ............... ............. ............. ........ 36 Locking Ou[...]

8 PREPARATION Note: If the scanne r’s di splay lock s up or doe s not wor k p roperly after yo u con nect a powe r so urce, y ou might n eed to r eset or ini- tializ e the sca nner. Important: If you have problems, firs t try to reset the scan ner (see “Rese tting the Sca nner” on Page 26). If tha t does not work, you can i nitializ e the sca[...]

9 When B appea rs on the disp lay and the s canner beeps c ontin u- ously, o r if the s canner stops op erating properly, replac e the ba t- teries. Warning: Dispose of old batt eries p rompt ly and properl y. Do no t burn or bur y them. Caution: If you do not p lan to use the sc ann er with b atte ries for a month or more, r emove th e batteri es.[...]

10 Cautions: Y ou must use a pow er sour ce that s upplies 9V DC and del iv er s at leas t 3 00 mA. Its cente r tip must b e set to pos itive an d its pl ug mus t fit the scann er's PWR jack. Usi ng an adap ter that does not meet thes e speci- fication s co uld dam age the scanner or the a dapter . • Always c onnect the DC ad apter to th e s[...]

11 Note: Ni-Cd batt eries last long er and delive r more powe r if you occasi onally let them fully d ischarge. To do th is, simply use the scanner unti l B appe ars on the display . Then fully ch arge the batteries . Important: This radio can use Ni-C d recha rge- able batte ries. At the en d of a Ni-Cd battery's useful li fe, it m ust be re [...]

12 Connecting an Outdoor Antenna Instead of the su pplie d antenna, you can connect an outd oor base -station or mobil e anten na (not s upplied) to yo ur scan ner using a BNC c onn ec tor. You r loca l Rad ioS ha ck sto re sells a va- riety o f antennas . Choose th e one th at best meets yo ur needs . When dec idin g on a mob ile o r base-s tation[...]

13 Warning: Use extreme cautio n whe n you ins tall or r emov e an outdoor antenna. If th e antenna s tarts to f all, let it go ! It could contact overhea d p ower li nes. I f the a ntenna touch es a power line, co ntact w ith the ante nna, ma st, ca ble, or guy wir es can cause el ectrocuti on and death. Call the powe r company to re- move the ant[...]

14 T raffi c Saf ety • Do not use an e arphone/h eadpho nes with your sc anner when oper ating a mot or vehicl e or r iding a bicyc le in or near traffic. Doing so can create a traffic hazard and could be ille- gal in s ome ar eas. • If you us e an ea rphone/he adphone s with your s canner w hile riding a bicycle, be ve ry carefu l. Do not list[...]

15 UNDE RSTANDING Y OUR SCANN ER Once y ou u nde rstan d a few simp le ter ms we us e in thi s man ual and familia rize yo urse lf with your scanner ’s featur es, you can put the scan ner to work for yo u. You simply dete rmine the type of commun icati ons you want to rec eive, the n set the sc anner to scan them. A frequency is the tuning loc at[...]

16 BAND Lets you sear ch the sc anner’s preprogra mmed servic e-searc h bank s. PRI/ALERT Turns the pri ority feat ure on and off; turns th e WX alert m ode on a nd off. WX Scans the seven prepr ogramme d weather chan- nels. SCAN Scans any pre programmed chann els. MAN Stops scannin g and let s you dir ectly en ter a chann el num ber. Number Each[...]

17 A LOOK AT THE DISPLAY The disp lay ha s indic ators tha t show the scan ner’s cur rent oper - ating st atus. This qu ick look at the displ ay will hel p you under - stand how y our scann er ope rates. Appea rs when you lock the key pad. ▼ / ▲ Indicates the searc h or sc an direc tion. AIR Indic ates that the scan ner is se arch ing the air[...]

18 dEFAULt Appears when yo u remove all the lock -outs from the service bank freq uen ci es . D-Err Appears when the scanne r receives a da ta error during wir ed progr amming. DLY Appear s when you pro gram a 2- second delay. End Appears when the sc anner has finish ed wired programmi ng. Error Appear s when you mak e an ent ry error. FD/PD Indica[...]

19 on tonE Appea rs when y ou turn t he key to ne on. P Appear s when th e scanner is tuned to th e priori ty channel . PGM Appe ars when yo u p rogram freq uencies into the scanne r’s ch annels. PRI Appea rs when t he prior ity featu re is tu rned on. SCAN Appears wh en the sc anner sc ans c hannels . SRCH Appear s during servic e bank and direc[...]

20 Servi ce Ba nks The s canner i s p reprogra mmed with the fre quencies alloc ated by fire/ police, ai rcraft, ham radio, and marine services . This is handy fo r quic kly fin ding a ctive f requenci es ins tead o f searc hing through an entire band (s ee “Searc hing th e Servic e Banks ” on Page 28). Note: The fr equencie s in t he scann er?[...]

21 Air Amat eur Rad io Marin e 3 453.0375 –453.9625 12.5 458.0375 –458.9625 12.5 460.0125 –460.6375 12.5 465.0125 –465.6375 12.5 Freque ncy Range (M Hz) Step (kHz) 108.000 –136.9875 12.5 Group Freque ncy Range (M Hz) Step (kHz) 1 29.000 –29.700 5 2 50.000 –54.000 5 3 144.000 –148.000 5 4 420.000 –450.000 12 .5 Channel Frequenc y ([...]

22 14 156.7 000 15 156.7 500 16 156.8 000 17 156.8 500 18 156.9 000 19 156.9 500 20 157.000 0/161.6000 21 157.0 500 22 157.1 000 23 157.1 500 24 157.200 0/161.8000 25 157.250 0/161.8500 26 157.300 0/161.9000 27 157.350 0/161.9500 28 157.400 0/162.0000 64 156.2 250 65 156.2 750 66 156.3 250 67 156.3 750 68 156.4 250 69 156.4 750 70 156.5 250 71 156.[...]

23 78 156. 9250 79 156. 9750 80 157. 0250 81 157. 0750 82 157. 1250 83 157. 1750 84 157.2250 /161.8250 85 157.2750 /161.8750 86 157.3250 /161.9250 87 157.3750 /161.9750 88 157. 4250 Channel Frequenc y (MHz) 20-314.fm P age 23 Monday, December 13, 1999 12 :55 PM[...]

24 MONITOR MEMORIES The sc an ner has 2 0 m oni tor m emo ries th at yo u c an us e to tem- porarily sto re freq uencies while you d ecide wh ether to sav e them into chan nels. This is hand y for q uick ly storin g an active frequenc y when you are searchi ng throug h an entir e band. Yo u can store a frequency into a moni tor memor y during a ser[...]

25 OPERATION T URNING ON THE SCANNER/SETTING V OLUME AN D SQUELCH 1. T urn SQUELCH fully counter clockw ise (until the indi cator points to MIN ) before y ou turn on the sc anner . 2. T o tu rn on the sc anner , turn VOLUME clockwis e until you hear a hi ssing s ound. 3. T urn SQUELCH clock wise, just un til the hissi ng soun d stops. Notes: • T [...]

26 Resetting the Scanner 1. T ur n off the scann er , then tur n it on ag ain. 2. Insert a po inted objec t, such as a str aightened paper clip, into the res et opening on the side of th e scanner (as shown). The n g entl y pr ess th e r eset bu tton in si de the op en- ing. In formatio n disa ppears f rom the disp lay as y ou press the reset bu tt[...]

27 STORING KNOWN FREQUENCIES INTO CHANNELS Good ref erenc es for a cti ve frequ enc i es are th e Rad ioSha ck Po- lice Call Guide includi ng Fire an d Emergen cy Se rvice s , Official Aeronaut ical Fr equen cy Direc tory , and Maritim e Frequ ency Di- recto ry . We update th ese d irector ies every year, s o be sure to get a current copy . Follow [...]

28 •P r e s s DELA Y if you want t he s canne r t o pau se 2 s ec onds on th is cha nnel befo re i t proc eeds to the n ext cha nnel after a transmi ssion ends (see “Del ay” on Page 36). The scanner a lso stor es this setting in the cha nnel. 4. T o pr ogram t he nex t channel in sequ ence, p ress PGM an d repeat S teps 2 and 3. FINDING AND S[...]

29 • T o p ause the search wh ile receivin g a signal, pre ss ▲ or ▼ . T o r esume sear ching, h old down ▲ or ▼ . • T o qui ckly mo ve up o r down thr ough the fre quencies , hold down ▲ or ▼ . The scanne r tunes through the fr equenci es until you releas e ▲ or ▼ . • If nece ssar y , yo u can sele ct search group s us ing th[...]

30 Note: You ca n use the sc anner’s delay fea ture whi le using di- rect sea rch. 1. Press MAN t hen enter t he frequen cy (including t he decima l point ) you wan t to use as a sta rting poi nt for the search . Note: To start f rom a frequenc y alrea dy stor ed in one of your sca nner’s chann els, p ress MAN and enter the de sired channel num[...]

31 • If you ent ered a freq uency tha t is alrea dy sto red in another c hannel, -dUPL- (duplicate) and th e lowest- numbered c hannel co ntaining th e dupli cate frequ ency flash on the disp lay for about 3 second s. If you want to store the frequenc y anyway , pres s ENT again. 4. T o stor e the display ed frequenc y in a monitor me mory , pres[...]

32 2. Press MON/CL . M , a monitor memory nu mber , and CH flash, and the fr equency in the selecte d moni tor memor y appear s. 3. Enter the desire d monitor m emory’s number (1–20), the n press MON/CL again. The selected monitor me mory’s fre- quency app ear s . 4. Press ENT . The sc anner s tores th e frequenc y in the sele cted channel . [...]

33 T URNING C HANNEL-STORAGE BANKS OFF AND ON Channel-sto rage ban ks (1 –10) are o n when the y have a bar un- derneath t hem and off when no bar app ears un derneath t hem. To turn o ff a channe l-st orage ban k, press SCAN to see which banks are c urrently on , then press the bank’s number key. The bar under th e bank ’s numbe r disap pear[...]

34 CLEARING A STORED CH ANNEL If you no lo nger want a freq uency stored in a channel (an d you do not want to r eplace th at frequen cy with a different one), fol- low these steps to clea r the stored frequenc y. 1. Press MAN to stop s canning. 2. T o s elect the desi red cha nnel n umber , us e the n umber k eys to enter that ch annel numb er (1?[...]

35 Your scann er sh ould stop within a few secon ds on you r local weather bro adcast. If the broadcas t is weak, you ca n press WX again to r esume s canning. WX Ale rt Your scanne r’s WX alert warns y ou of se rious wea ther condi- tions by soundi ng an a larm if a National W eather Servic e broad- caster in y our ar ea broadcas ts a w eather a[...]

36 SPECIAL FEATURES DELAY Many agen ci es use a t wo-way radi o s ystem tha t has a pe r iod of sever al s eco n ds betw een a qu er y a nd a re pl y. T o av oid mi ss in g a reply, you can pr ogram a 2-s econd del ay int o any channe l or set a dela y for all frequ encies. W hen y our sca nner stop s on a channel or frequen cy with a pr ogrammed d[...]

37 To remov e the l ockout from a chan nel, manua lly sel ect tha t channel aga in, then hol d down L/O/L/O RVW unt il L/O disap- pears. Notes: • Y our scanner autom aticall y lock s out e mpty cha nnels. • Y ou can sti ll manua lly s elect l ocked- out cha nnels. Locking Out Frequencies To lock out a fre quenc y during a ser vice bank or direc[...]

38 Removing Lockouts From All Frequencies in All Service B anks Notes: • These step s do not clear any lock outs in the marine servic e bank. • If you l ocked o ut fr equencie s whi ch are within the ran ge of any o f the ser vice ban ks d uring di rect se arch , the sc anner also r emove s tho se lock ed-out frequ encies when y ou use these st[...]

39 Not e: If you progr am a weather frequenc y into the priority chan- nel an d the sc anner de tects a WX aler t tone on that fr equency (see “W X Alert” on Page 35), the sca nner soun ds the aler t tone and ALErt flashes. Press any key to t urn of f the alar m. USING THE DISPLAY BACKLIGHT You ca n turn on the di splay’ s bac klight fo r eas[...]

40 To turn on t he keylo ck, hold down f or abo ut 3 secon ds un- til the s canner beeps three times an d ap pears. T o turn i t off, hold down for abo ut 3 second s until the s canner b eeps three ti mes and di sappea rs. A VOIDING IMAGE F REQUENCIES You might d iscover on e of your regul ar stati ons on anothe r fr e- quency that is not l isted. [...]

41 A GENER AL GUIDE TO SCANNIN G Reception of the fr equ enc ie s c ov ered by yo ur sc an ner is ma in ly “line-of- sight.” That m eans you usually c annot hear s tations that are beyo nd the h orizon. GUIDE TO FREQUENCI ES National W eather Frequ encies Birdie Frequencies Every sc anner has bird ie frequenc ies. Birdie s are signal s creat- e[...]

42 GUIDE TO THE ACTION BANDS T ypica l Band Usage (MHz) Primar y Usage As a ge neral r ule, mos t of the radio a ctivity i s conc entrated o n the follo wing freq uencie s: VHF Band UHF Band VHF Band Low Range 29.00–50 .00 6-Meter A mateur 50.00–54 .00 Aircraf t 108.00–13 6.00 U .S. Gov er nment 137.00–14 4.00 2-Meter A mateur 144.00–14 8[...]

43 Not e: Remot e control statio ns and mob ile units operate at 5 MHz highe r than t heir as soci ated ba se stat ions and rela y re- peater uni ts. BAND ALLOCATION To help dec ide which fre quency rang es to scan , use the foll ow- ing listi ng of the typi cal se rvices tha t use the frequenci es your scanner receives . Thes e frequen cies ar e s[...]

44 TELM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T e lephone M aintenance TOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T ow T rucks TRAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T ransportation Serv ices (T ru cks, T ow Trucks, Buses , Railro ad, Oth er ) TSB . . .[...]

45 VHF High B and (148 –174 MHz) 148.050 –150.345 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CAP , MAR, MIL 150.775 –150.790 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MED 150.815 –150.980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TOW , Oil Spill Cle anup 150.995 –151.475 . . . . . . . . .[...]

46 Low Band (450–47 0 MHz) 450.050– 450.925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RTV 451.025– 452.025 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IND, OIL, TELM, UTIL 452.0375 –453.00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IND, T AXI, TRAN T OW , NEWS 453.0125 –454.000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [...]

47 T ROUBLESHOOTING If your scanne r is not working as it should, the se sugges tions might he lp you eliminat e the pro blem. I f the s canner still does not opera te prope rly, ta ke it to your local RadioSh ack st ore f or assis tance. PROBLEM POSSI BL E C AUSE REM ED Y Scanner is totall y inopera - tive. The AC or DC adapter is not co n- nected[...]

48 CARE AND MAINTENANCE Your RadioShack PRO-79 200 Ch annel VHF /Air/U HF Hand- held Scanner is an ex ample of s uperior design a nd crafts man- ship. The fol lowin g suggesti ons will hel p you care for yo ur scann er so y ou can enj oy it for years . Keep the s canner dry. If it gets wet, wi pe it dry immedi- ately. Li quids mig ht conta in miner[...]

49 SPECIFICATIONS Frequen cy Cove rage (MH z): 10 Meter Amateur Rad io ...... ............. .. 29–30 (in 5 kHz step s) VHF Lo ....... ............. ............. ............... 30– 50 (in 5 kHz steps) 6 Meter Amateu r Radio .. ................... .. 50–54 (i n 5 kHz step s) Aircraft ........ ............. .......... 108–1 36.9875 (in 12.5 [...]

50 Power Re quirement s .......... ............ 6 V o lts DC, 4 A A Batter ies AC Adapte r (O pti on al) DC A dapter (Optiona l) Current Dr ain (Sq uelched) ..................... ............. ............ 4 5 mA Dimensions (HWD) ...... ............. ........... 5 11 / 16 × 2 3 / 8 × 1 3 / 8 Inches (145 × 62 × 34 mm) Weight (without antenna and[...]

51 NOTES 20-314.fm P age 51 Monday, December 13, 1999 12 :55 PM[...]

RadioShack A Division of T and y Corporation For t W or th, T exas 76102 GE-99D-3426 12A99 Printed in Hon g K ong Limited O ne-Y ear W arranty This product i s war ranted b y RadioS hack against ma nufactu ring d efects in materi al and wo rkmans hip unde r normal use for o ne (1) year from the date of purchas e from RadioSh ack compa ny-owne d sto[...]