Radio Shack PRO-66 manual

Ca t. N o . 2 0-511 OWNER’S M ANUAL PRO-66 5 0-Cha nn el Dir ect Entry P rogr ammab le Scan ner Please rea d b efore using th is equip ment. 20-5 11 .f m Pag e 1 Wed ne s day , Au gus t 4, 199 9 2:1 3 P M[...]

2  19 96 Ta ndy Co rpor atio n. A ll Ri ghts Re serve d. Rad ioShac k is a tr adem ark us ed by Tand y Co rpora tio n. FEA TURES Your n ew RadioShac k PRO- 66 50-Chan nel Direct Ent r y Progra mmable Scanner lets you in on al l the act ion! This sc anner gives you dir ect ac- cess to more tha n 28,000 frequ enci es that inclu de the polic e depa[...]

3 Memory Back up — kee ps the channel fr equencies st or ed in mem ory for up to 1 hour duri ng a power loss . Low Ba ttery Alarm — lets you know whe n the batteri es get l ow. Three Power Sour ces — let y ou power the scan ner fro m intern al bat- teri es, a sta ndard AC ou t l et (usi ng an opti ona l AC adapter ), or a ve hi- cle’ s batt[...]

4 This owner’ s manua l also i nclude s t h e secti on “ Gui de to th e Act i on Bands” on P age 30, which lets you t arget serv i ce s in y our ar ea by givi ng you f requency rang es to search . You can then store any of these fr e- quenci es into memory for easy scanni ng. For y our recor ds, we r eco mmend yo u r ecord y our sca nner ’s[...]

5 SCANNING LEGALL Y Your scann er co vers fr eque ncies use d by many di ffe rent gr oups i nclud- ing pol i c e and fir e depart m ents , ambulance ser vices, gover nment agen- cies, priv at e compan i es , amateu r radio se rvice s, milit ary op erations, pager ser vices, and wireline (t el e phone and teleg r aph ) se r vice p rovid- ers. I t i [...]

6 CONTEN TS Pre pa rat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Po wer Sou rc es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Us ing Int ern al B att erie s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Impor tant Inform ati on abou t th [...]

7 T roubleshoot ing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Re se ttin g th e S ca nne r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 7 Ca re an d M aint e nanc e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Sp ec ific ati ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[...]

8 PR EP A R A TI ON POWER SOURCES You ca n power yo ur sca nner from any of t hree sources : • Int er na l bat teri es ( n ot sup pl i ed ) • Standa rd AC power ( usi ng an optional AC adapter ) • Vehi cl e b a tte r y p ow e r (us i ng an op t i o n al DC po w e r co rd ) USING INTERNAL BA TTERIES You can power you r s canner with fo ur AA b[...]

9 4. In stall t wo batte r ies i n the com partment and two in t h e cov er as indic at ed by the pol ar i ty sym bo ls (+ a nd –) marked ins i d e. Cautions : • Never m ix r echargeable and non-rech ar ge able bat teries, or rechar geable batteri es of dif ferent ca pacities . • Use on ly fr esh batt er ies of the re quired siz e and type. A[...]

10 The POWER jack power s the scanner and d isconne ct s the inter nal b at - ter i es . You c an use thi s jack to connect an external power source ( AC adapt er or DC powe r cord ) rega rdless of the typ e of batt eries yo u instal l . The CHARGE jack suppl ies power to operate t he sc anner and also charg es the i nter nal batter ies. Use the CH[...]

11 1. Connec t the adap ter’s blue-t ipped barr el plug to the adapte r’s cord and set the bar re l pl ug’ s t i p to posit i v e. 2. In sert the adapter ’ s blue-t ipped ba rrel pl ug int o your sca nner ’ s POW ER j ac k. Note: I f you instal l ed recharge able nick el- c ad mium ba tter i es i n the scanner , remove t he plasti c cap f[...]

12 USING VEHICLE BA TTER Y POWER You can power the scanner f r om your v ehicl e’ s cigare tte ligh ter sock et with an opti ona l DC cig are t te li ght er po wer cord (s uch as Cat . No. 270- 1533). Cauti ons: • Th e recomm ended DC power cor d supplie s 12 volts and d elive rs at l east 200 millia m ps . Its cen t er tip is set t o posit i v[...]

13 • If t he scanner does not oper ate proper l y when you use a DC power cor d, u nplug th e power cord fr om the ci garette l ighter socket and clean t he socke t to remove ashes and debr is. If it stil l does not o perate pro perly , ch eck the fu se i n the power cord. CHARGING NICKEL-CADM IUM BA TTERIES The scan ner has a built- i n ci rcuit[...]

14 CONNECTING THE ANTENNA Foll ow these step s t o at t ach the s upplied f l ex ible a nt en na to the conne c- tor on the top of your scanne r. 1. Ali gn t he slots around t he antenna’ s connect or with t h e t abs on the jac k. 2. Press the antenna do wn over the j ack a nd rotat e the ant enna’s base cl ockwise unti l it lo cks into plac e[...]

15 CONNECTING AN EARPH ONE/ HEADPHONES For pri vate l iste ni n g, you can plug an earpho ne or mono hea dphone s (such as RadioShack Cat. No. 33-175 or 20-210) i nto the jac k on top of your sca nner. This aut om ati ca ll y discon nects the int er na l spe aker . Listening Safely To prot ect your he ar i ng, f ollow the se guide l i nes when y ou[...]

16 CONNECTING AN EXTENSION SP EAKER In a noi sy area, an ext ension speaker (such as Radi oShack Cat. No. 21- 549) o r an amplif ied sp eaker (such as RadioSh ack Cat. No. 21- 541), posi t i oned in t he right place, might pr ovide mor e comforta bl e liste ning. Plug th e speak er cabl e’ s 1 / 8 -inch mini- pl ug i n t o you r sca nner ’ s ja[...]

17 UNDERST ANDI NG YOUR SCANNER A LOOK A T THE KEYP AD Your s canner’s keys might seem confusi ng at f irst, bu t this informat ion should hel p you understan d each key’ s funct ion. SC AN — scans th r ou gh the st ored channels . MANUAL — stops scanni ng and l ets you d irectl y enter a channel nu m - ber or frequen cy. DELA Y — program[...]

18 A LOOK A T TH E DISPLA Y The di splay has several indicat ors t hat show t he scann er’s curren t op- erat i ng mode. A quick l ook at the di splay wi ll hel p you underst and how to oper at e your sc anner. SRCH — ap pears duri ng a band sear ch ( b also a ppears) or a direct searc h ( d also appear s). SCAN — appears when you scan channe[...]

19 b — a ppears dur i ng a ban d sear ch. d — a ppears dur i ng a direct search. H — a ppears dur i ng a ban d sear ch hold. h — a ppears dur i ng a direct search ho ld. 20-5 11.f m Pag e 19 We dne sday, Augus t 4 , 19 99 2:13 P M[...]

20 OPER A T ION TURNING ON THE SCANNER AND S ETTING SQUELCH 1. T urn SQUELC H full y clock wise. 2. T urn VOLU ME/OF F clock wise until it cl icks. I f you alre ady pro- gramm ed ch annels, the sc anner autom atica lly s cans those ch an- nels . 3. Press MANUAL to stop the s canning. Th e display shows the cur - rent channel. 4. T urn VOLU ME /OFF [...]

21 5. Slo wl y turn SQ UEL CH counte r cloc kwise unti l you hear a h issi ng sound. 6. Adj ust VOL UME /O FF to a comfort able li st ening level . 7. Slo wl y t urn SQUELC H clock wise until the hissi ng sound stops. Note: I f you want to l iste n to a weak o r distan t s tati on, t ur n SQUELCH counter clockwise to inc rease re ceiver sens i ti v[...]

22 Notes: • If y ou make a m ist ake in Step 2, Error app ear s on the di splay and the s canner beeps thr ee times. Simply star t again from Step 2. • Y our scanne r aut omat ic al ly r ounds the enter ed fr equency to the neares t valid fre quency . For examp le, i f you tr y to ent er a f re- quency of 1 51.473, your sc anner accep ts it as [...]

23 3. T o c hange th e search di rection, pr ess t to s earch downward or s t o search upwar d. b , SRCH , and t or s appear on the display . 4. Wh en the scanner st ops on an active frequency , you ca n do one of t he f o ll ow i n g: • T o sto re the displaye d frequency into the monit or memory , pre ss MON/0 . MON appears on the di spl ay . ?[...]

24 • T o cont inu e the sear ch, press t or s. • T o hol d the fr equenc y , press HOLD/BAND. h ap pear s on the dis- play . T o continue th e search, pres s and hold t or s for about 1 second . Notes: • If y ou want t o step throu gh the frequ enci es while h is d isp lay ed, press t or s. • If you tune to a se arch s kip f requenc y , L a[...]

25 LISTENING TO THE MONITOR MEMOR Y The scanner has one monitor mem ory. You can use t his memo ry to temporar ily st or e a freq uency whil e y ou decide whet her to s tore it into a channel . This i s handy f or quickly st oring an active f re quency wh en y ou search th rough an enti re band. Once you have te mporar ily stor ed a fre- quency i n[...]

26 4. Press MO N/ 0 . T he entered freque ncy appear s, and th e channel numb er st ar ts fl as hi ng. 5. Press WX/E . The sc anner sto r es the fre quency into t he select ed channel , and t he cha nnel n umber stops flashi ng. SCANNING THE STORED CHANNELS To scan t he stored channe l s , press SCAN . Your scanner then s cans thr ough all non-lock[...]

27 To tur n off t he 2-second delay on any act ive channel , press DEL A Y agai n while t he chann el number is disp lay ed. D disappears from the dis play. Locking Out Cha nnels You can incre ase the eff ectiv e scanning speed by locki ng out indi vidual channel s t hat have a con tinuou s t ransm issi on, such as a weat her chan- nel. To lock out[...]

28 LISTENING TO THE WEA THER BA ND The FCC (Fed eral Communicat ions Commi ssion) has all ocated 11 channel s for use by the Nat i onal O cean ic a nd Atmo spher ic Adminis tra- ti on (NO AA). We hav e prepr ogr ammed y our sc anner wit h the sev en fre- quenci es most commonl y used by NOAA (see “Nati ona l Weather Freque ncies” on Page 29). T[...]

29 A GENERAL GUIDE T O SCANNING Recepti on of t he frequen cies covered by you r scanner is mainl y “line- of- sight .” That mean s yo u usu ally cannot h ear stati ons th at are beyon d t he horiz on. GUIDE TO FREQUENCIES National W eather Frequencies * Not prepr ogrammed in this sc anner . Birdie Fr e quencies Every s canne r ha s bir die f r[...]

30 GUIDE TO THE ACTION BANDS T ypical Band Usage Prim ary U sa ge As a gener al rule, most of t he radio activity i s concentrat ed on the fol - lowi ng fr equencies: VHF Band VHF Band (30.0 0–300.0 M Hz) Low Rang e 29. 00– 50.0 0 MHz 6-Me ter Am ateu r 50. 00– 54.0 0 MHz U. S. G o ver nme nt 13 7.00– 14 4 .00 M Hz 2-Me ter Am ateu r 144 .0[...]

31 UHF Band Note: Remot e cont r ol st ations and mobi le units ope r at e at 5 MHz higher than t heir as sociat ed base stat ions and r elay repea ter unit s. S p ec if ie d In t e r va ls Frequenc i es i n dif ferent bands ar e acces sible only at sp ecific interval s. For ex ample: BAND ALLOCA TION To hel p decide which frequency ranges to scan,[...]

32 MAR I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M aritim e Li mited Coa st . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Coas t Guard, Marine T elepho ne, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S hipb oard Radio, Pri vate Stati ons) MAR S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [...]

33 6-Meter Am ateur Band — (50–54 MHz) 50. 00–5 4.00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H AM U.S. Govern ment Ba nd (137 –144 MHz) 137 .000 –144 .000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G OVT , MIL 2-Meter Am ateur Band (1 44–148 MHz) [...]

34 173. 225– 173. 5375 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MOV , NEW S, UT IL, M IL 173. 5625 –173.5 875 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M IL M edical /Cra sh Cre ws 173. 60–1 73.9 875 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GOVT ULTRA HIGH FREQUENCY (UHF) ([...]

35 A VO IDING IMAGE FREQUENCIES You might discover one of your r e gular s t at ions on another f requenc y that i s not l isted. It mi ght be what is known as an im age fr equency. For example, you might fi nd a s ervic e t h at regul arly uses a frequen cy of 453.075 al so on 474.775 . To see if it is an image, do a litt l e mat h. Note the new f[...]

36 TROUBLES HOOTING If yo u have problems, her e are some s uggesti ons that might help. I f none of t hese sugge stions help, take you r scann er to your loca l Rad ioSh ack store for assi sta nce. PROBLEM POSSIBLE CAUS E REMEDY Ke ys do not w ork or di sp la y ch an ge s at ra ndom. Undeterm ined e rror. Reset the s canner (s ee “Res et tin g t[...]

37 RESETTING THE SCANN ER If th e scanner’ s displa y locks up or does not w ork pro perly af ter y ou con- nect power , you mig ht hav e to reset the scan ner . Caution: This proc edure cl ears all the i nf o rmatio n you have pro- grammed into t he sc anner. Before yo u reset the s canner, try t urning it off an d on to see i f it be gins wor k[...]

38 CARE AND MAINTENANCE Your Ra di o Shack PRO-66 50- Channel Dir ect Ent ry Pr ogr a mmable Scanner i s an exampl e of s uperior des ign and cr aftsmans hip. The fol - lowi ng suggest i ons will hel p yo u care for your sca nner so you can enj oy it for yea rs. Keep the sc anner dry. I f i t g ets we t, wip e it dry immedi at ely. Liqui ds ca n co[...]

39 SPECIFIC A TIONS Frequenc y Coverage: 29–54 MHz ( in 5 kHz st eps) 137–174 MHz ( in 5 kHz st eps) 406–512 M Hz (in 12.5 kHz steps) 806.00 00–823.9375 M Hz (in 12.5 kHz steps) 851.00 00–868.9375 M Hz (in 12.5 kHz steps) 896.1 125–956 .0000 M Hz ( i n 12. 5 kHz steps) Channels of Operat i on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [...]

Ra di oShac k A Divi si on o f Ta ndy Corpo rati on For t Worth, Texas 761 02 UBZZ01259ZZ 1A6 P rinted i n the Ph i lippi nes RadioShac k Limited Warr anty Th is prod uct is war rante d ag ai ns t de fec ts for 1 ye ar fr om dat e of pu rcha se fr o m Rad ioSha ck com pa ny-o wned s tores and a uth oriz ed R ad ioS hack fra nchi - s ees and d eale [...]