20-311a.fm Page 1 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM Cat. No. 20-311A OWNER’S MANUAL PRO-71 VHF/UHF/Air Handheld Scanner Please read before using this equipment.
0-311a.fm Page 2 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM FEATURES Your new RadioShack PRO-71 VHF/UHF/Air Handheld Scanner lets you in on all the action! This scanner gives you direct access to 23,000 exciting frequencies that include police department, fire department, ambulance, aircraft, amateur radio, and transportation services. You can select up to 100 channels for your scanner to scan and you can change your selection at any time.
20-311a.fm Page 3 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM Your scanner can receive all of these bands: Frequency Range (MHz) Transmission 29–29.7 29.7–50 50–54 108–136.975 137–144 144–148 148–174 406–420 420–450 450–470 470–512 10-Meter Amateur Radio VHF Lo 6-Meter Amateur Radio Aircraft Government 2-Meter Amateur Radio VHF Hi Government 70-cm Amateur Radio UHF Standard UHF “T” Band In addition, your scanner is preprogrammed with the following weather service channels: Frequency (MHz) 162.400 162.425 162.
20-311a.fm Page 4 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM FCC NOTICE Your scanner might cause TV or radio interference even when it is operating properly. To determine whether your scanner is causing the interference, turn off your scanner. If the interference goes away, your scanner is causing it.
20-311a.fm Page 5 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM This scanner has been designed to prevent reception of illegal transmissions. This is done to comply with the legal requirement that scanners be manufactured so as to not be easily modifiable to pick up those transmissions. Do not open your scanner’s case to make any modifications that could allow it to pick up transmissions that it is not legal to listen to. Doing so could subject you to legal penalties. We encourage responsible, legal scanner use.
20-311a.fm Page 6 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM CONTENTS Preparation ....................................................................................... 8 Power Sources ............................................................................ 8 Installing Batteries ....................................................................... 8 Important Information About the External Power Jacks .............. 9 Using Standard AC Power .........................................................
20-311a.fm Page 7 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM A General Guide to Scanning ........................................................ Guide to Frequencies ................................................................ National Weather Frequencies ........................................... Canadian Weather Frequencies ......................................... Guide to the Action Bands ......................................................... Band Allocation ............................................
20-311a.fm Page 8 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM PREPARATION POWER SOURCES You can power your scanner from any of three sources: • internal batteries • standard AC power (using an optional AC adapter) • vehicle battery power (using an optional DC adapter) INSTALLING BATTERIES Your scanner requires 4 AA batteries (not supplied) for power. For the best performance and longest life, we recommend alkaline batteries. Or, you can use rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries.
20-311a.fm Page 9 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM 2. Install two batteries in the compartment and two in the cover as indicated by the polarity symbols (+ and –) marked inside each location. 3. Replace the cover. When BATT.Lo flashes and the scanner beeps every 15 seconds, immediately replace or recharge all four batteries. Cautions: • If you do not plan to use the scanner with batteries for a month or more, or if you plan to use only an AC or DC adapter, remove the batteries.
20-311a.fm Page 10 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM The POWER jack powers the scanner and disconnects the internal batteries. You can use this jack to connect an external power source (AC or DC adapter), regardless of the type of batteries you install. The CHARGE jack supplies power to operate the scanner and also charges the internal batteries. Use the CHARGE jack only when you have installed rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries.
20-311a.fm Page 11 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM Cautions: • You must use an AC adapter that supplies 9 volts and delivers at least 300 mA. Its center tip must be set to negative and its plug must fit the scanner’s POWER jack. The recommended adapter meets these specifications. Using an adapter that does not meet these specifications could damage the scanner or the adapter. • When you finish using the AC adapter, disconnect it from the AC outlet first. Then disconnect it from the scanner.
20-311a.fm Page 12 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM 4. Plug the other end of the adapter into your vehicle’s cigarettelighter socket. Note: If the scanner does not operate properly when you use a DC adapter, unplug the adapter from the cigarette-lighter socket and clean the socket to remove ashes and other debris. CHARGING NICKEL-CADMIUM BATTERIES The scanner has a built-in charging circuit that lets you recharge nickelcadmium batteries while they are in the scanner.
20-311a.fm Page 13 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM CONNECTING THE ANTENNA Follow these steps to attach the supplied flexible antenna to the connector on the top of your scanner. 1. Align the slots around the antenna’s connector with the tabs on the jack. 2. Press the antenna down over the jack and rotate the antenna’s base clockwise until it locks into place. Connecting an Optional Antenna The antenna connector on your scanner makes it easy to use the scanner with a variety of antennas.
20-311a.fm Page 14 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM CONNECTING AN EARPHONE/ HEADPHONES For private listening, you can plug an earphone or mono headphones (not supplied) with a 1/8-inch (3.5-mm) plug (such as Cat. No. 33-177 or 20-210) into the jack on top of your scanner. This automatically disconnects the internal speaker. Listening Safely To protect your hearing, follow these guidelines when you use an earphone or headphones. • Set the volume to the lowest setting before you begin listening.
20-311a.fm Page 15 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM CONNECTING AN EXTENSION SPEAKER In a noisy area, an optional extension speaker (such as RadioShack Cat. No. 21-549) or an amplified speaker (such as RadioShack Cat. No. 21-541), positioned in the right place, might provide more comfortable listening. Plug the speaker cable’s 1/8-inch (3.5 mm) mini-plug into your scanner’s jack. USING THE BELT CLIP You can attach the supplied belt clip to make the scanner easier to use when you are on the go.
20-311a.fm Page 16 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM UNDERSTANDING YOUR SCANNER A LOOK AT THE KEYPAD Your scanner’s keys might seem confusing at first, but this information should help you understand each key’s function. SCAN — scans through the programmed channels. MANUAL — stops scanning and lets you directly enter a channel num- ber. LOCKOUT/S/S — lets you lock out a selected channel. Skips a specified frequency during limit or direct search.
20-311a.fm Page 17 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM for example) shows the channels that make up a memory bank. In addition, the keypad has different functions in manual mode, scan mode, and program mode. See “Banks and Memories” on Page 19. A LOOK AT THE DISPLAY The display has several indicators that show the scanner’s current operating mode. A quick look at the display will help you understand how to operate your scanner. MON — appears when you listen to a monitor memory.
20-311a.fm Page 18 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM PRI — appears when you select the priority feature. L/O — appears when you manually select a locked-out channel, or during a search hold when the frequency is stored in search skip memory. WX — appears when you scan the preprogrammed weather channels. ▼ and ▲ — indicate the search direction. SRCH — appears during a limit search, a direct search, and a weather band search. -L- — appears instead of the channel number during a limit search.
20-311a.fm Page 19 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM BANKS AND MEMORIES Your scanner can store up to 110 frequencies. You store each frequency in either a memory called a channel, or a temporary memory called a monitor memory. This scanner has 100 channels and ten monitor memories. CHANNEL-STORAGE BANKS To make it easier to identify and select the channels you want to listen to, channels are divided into ten channel-storage banks of 10 channels each.
-311a.fm Page 20 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM OPERATION TURNING ON THE SCANNER AND SETTING SQUELCH 1. Make sure that SQUELCH is turned fully counterclockwise before you turn on the scanner. 2. Turn VOLUME clockwise until you hear a hissing sound. 3. Turn SQUELCH clockwise, just until the hissing sound stops. Note: If you want to listen to a weak or distant station, turn SQUELCH counterclockwise. If reception is poor, turn SQUELCH clockwise.
20-311a.fm Page 21 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM 4. Press E (WX) to store the frequency. Notes: • If you entered an incorrect frequency in Step 3, Error appears and the scanner beeps three times. Start again from Step 3. • Your scanner automatically rounds the entered frequency to the nearest valid frequency. For example, if you enter a frequency of 151.473, your scanner accepts it as 151.475. 5. Repeat Steps 1–4 to program more channels.
20-311a.fm Page 22 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM Limit Search A limit search lets you search for active frequencies between upper and lower limits that you set. -L- appears during a limit search. When you are in the search mode, MON appears and the flashing number at the top of the display indicates the currently selected monitor memory. Once you have stored a frequency into that monitor memory, press ▼ or ▲. The scanner shifts to the next monitor memory and restarts the search mode. 1.
20-311a.fm Page 23 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM Notes: • You can press ▼ or ▲ while -H- appears to step through the frequencies toward the upper or lower limits. • If you tune to a search skip frequency, L/O appears (see “Search Skip Memory” on Page 27) Direct Search When you listen to a channel, you can search up or down from the displayed frequency. -d- appears during a direct search. 1.
20-311a.fm Page 24 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM LISTENING TO MONITOR MEMORIES Once you have stored frequencies into monitor memories using a direct or limit search, you can listen to the monitor memories by pressing MANUAL, MON, then the number for the monitor memory you want to listen to. Use the 1–9 number keys for memories 1–9, and 0 for memory 10. MOVING A FREQUENCY FROM A MONITOR MEMORY TO A CHANNEL Follow these steps to move a frequency stored in a monitor memory to a permanent channel. 1.
20-311a.fm Page 25 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM MANUALLY SELECTING A CHANNEL You can continuously monitor a specific channel without scanning. This is useful if you hear an emergency broadcast on a channel and do not want to miss any details — even though there might be periods of silence — or if you want to monitor a specific channel. Follow these steps to manually select a channel. 1. Press MANUAL. 2. Enter the channel number. 3. Press MANUAL again.
20-311a.fm Page 26 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM SPECIAL FEATURES USING THE KEYLOCK Once you program your scanner, you can protect it from accidental program changes by turning on the keylock feature. In this mode, the only controls that operate are SCAN, MANUAL, KEYLOCK ( ), VOLUME, and SQUELCH. Note: Turning on the keylock does not prevent the scanner from scanning channels.
20-311a.fm Page 27 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM TURNING CHANNEL-STORAGE BANKS ON AND OFF You can turn each channel-storage bank on and off. When you turn off a bank, the scanner does not scan any of the 10 channels in that bank. While scanning, press the number key corresponding to the bank you want to turn on or off. (Press 0 to select bank 10). If the memory bank indicator is on, the bank is turned on and the scanner scans all channels within that bank that are not locked out.
20-311a.fm Page 28 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM Notes: • If you program more than 20 skip frequencies, each new frequency replaces one you stored earlier, starting from the first stored frequency. • You can select a skipped frequency by using ▼ or ▲ when the scanner is holding. L/O appears when you select a skipped frequency. PRIORITY You can scan through channels and still not miss an important call on a specific channel.
20-311a.fm Page 29 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM LISTENING TO THE WEATHER BAND The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has allocated 11 channels for use by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). We have preprogrammed your scanner with the seven frequencies most commonly used by NOAA. To hear your local forecast and regional weather information, simply press WX (E). Your scanner begins scanning through the weather band, and WX appears.
20-311a.fm Page 30 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM A GENERAL GUIDE TO SCANNING Reception of the frequencies covered by your scanner is mainly “lineof-sight.” That means you usually cannot hear stations that are beyond the horizon. During the summer months, you might be able to hear stations in the 30–50 MHz range located several hundred or even thousands of miles away. This is because of summer atmospheric conditions.
20-311a.fm Page 31 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM Birdie Frequencies Every scanner has birdie frequencies. Birdies are signals created inside the scanner’s receiver. These 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. The birdie frequency on this unit to watch for is 146.65 MHz.
20-311a.fm Page 32 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM Primary Usage As a general rule, most of the radio activity is concentrated on the following frequencies: VHF Band Activities Government, Police, and Fire Emergency Services Railroad Frequencies 153.785–155.980 MHz 158.730–159.460 MHz 160.000–161.900 MHz UHF Band Activities Land-Mobile “Paired” Frequencies Base Stations Mobile Units Repeater Units Control Stations Frequencies 450.000–470.000 MHz 451.025–454.950 MHz 456.025–459.950 MHz 460.025–464.
20-311a.fm Page 33 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM ceives. These frequencies are subject to change, and might vary from area to area. For a more complete listing, refer to the “Police Call” available at your local RadioShack store. Abbreviations Services AIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aircraft BIFC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Boise (ID) Interagency Fire Cache BUS . . . . . . . . . . . . .
20-311a.fm Page 34 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM 10-Meter Amateur Band—(28.0––29.7 MHz) 29.000–29.700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HAM Very High Frequency (VHF) — (30 MHz–300 MHz) Low Band —(29.7–50 MHz—in 5 kHz steps) 29.700–29.790 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IND 29.900–30.550 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GOVT, MIL 30.
20-311a.fm Page 35 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM 152.480 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BUS 152.510–152.840 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TELB 152.870–153.020 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IND, MOV 153.035–153.725 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IND, OIL, UTIL 153.740–154.445 . . .
20-311a.fm Page 36 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM 452.0375–453.00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IND, TAXI, TRAN TOW, NEWS 453.0125–453.9875 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PUB 454.000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OIL 454.025–454.975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TELB 455.050–455.925 . . . . . . . . .
20-311a.fm Page 37 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM AVOIDING IMAGE FREQUENCIES You might discover one of your regular stations on another frequency that is not listed. It might be what is known as an image frequency. For example, you might find a service that regularly uses a frequency of 431.875 also on 474.675. To see if it is an image, do a little math. Note the new frequency. Double the intermediate frequency of 21.4 MHz (42.8) and subtract it from the new frequency. 474.
20-311a.fm Page 38 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM TROUBLESHOOTING If you have problems, here are some suggestions which might help. PROBLEM Scanner is on but will not scan. Scanner is totally inoperative. POSSIBLE CAUSE SQUELCH is not REMEDY adjusted correctly. Adjust SQUELCH clockwise. Only one channel or no channels are stored. Store frequencies into more than one channel. Channels are locked out. Remove the lockout. No power.
20-311a.fm Page 39 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM RESETTING THE SCANNER If the scanner’s display does not work properly after you install batteries or connect it to power, you might have to reset the scanner. Caution: This procedure clears all the information you have programmed into the scanner. Before you reset the scanner, try turning it off and on to see if it begins working properly. To reset the scanner, turn it off then turn it back on while holding down the 2 and 9 keys.
20-311a.fm Page 40 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM CARE AND MAINTENANCE Your RadioShack PRO-71 VHF/UHF/Air Handheld 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. Keep the scanner dry. If it gets wet, wipe it dry immediately. Liquids might contain minerals that can corrode the electronic circuits. Use and store the scanner only in normal temperature environments.
20-311a.fm Page 41 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM SPECIFICATIONS Frequency Coverage: VHF Lo ........................................... 29–50 MHz (in 5.0 kHz steps) 6-Meter Ham .................................. 50–54 MHz (in 5.0 kHz steps) Aircraft ............................... 108–136.975 MHz (in 12.5 kHz steps) VHF/Government ....................... 137–144 MHz (in 5.0 kHz steps) 2-Meter Ham .............................. 144–148 MHz (in 5.0 kHz steps) VHF Hi .......................................
20-311a.fm Page 42 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM Dimensions (HWD) .................................. 53/4 × 29/16 × 111/16 Inches (147 × 64.5 × 42.5 mm) Weight ...................................................................................... 7.94 oz (225 g) Specifications are typical; individual units might vary. Specifications are subject to change and improvement without notice.
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20-311a.fm Page 44 Friday, February 12, 1999 4:51 PM 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 RadioShack franchisees and dealers.