WS1080/WS1088 User Guide EZ SCAN DIGITAL HANDHELD RADIO SCANNER All Hazards NOAA’s National Weather Service ®
Contents Introduction......................................................................4 What is Object Oriented Scanning?...............................4 Features............................................................................5 Package Contents............................................................5 Scanning Legally...............................................................6 FCC Statement.................................................................7 Setup.......................
Contents Internal Clock/Calendar.................................................45 Monitoring and Scanning..............................................45 Frequency or Talkgroups...............................................45 Active Scanlists...............................................................45 Enable / Disable Scanlists...............................................46 Lock Out Objects...........................................................46 Skip Transmission..............................
Introduction Scanning technology has changed dramatically over the years.
Features • Functional keypad and backlit LCD display • USA/Canada Radio Reference database on SD Card • Quick Location based Programming (City, Zip, County) • Detects and masks encrypted voice audio • Decodes Radio ID/Talkgroup ID data • Upgradeable CPU Firmware, DSP Firmware and Database Library • USB Interface 2.
Scanning Legally Your scanner covers frequencies used by many different groups including police and fire departments, ambulance services, government agencies, private companies, amateur radio services, military operations, pager services, and wireline (telephone and telegraph) service providers. It is legal to listen to almost every transmission your scanner can receive. However, there are some transmissions you should never intentionally listen to.
FCC Statement This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a scanning receiver, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
Setup Antenna To connect the included antenna: 1. Align the slots around the antenna’s connector with the tabs on the antenna jack. 2. Press the antenna down over the jack and turn the antenna’s base clockwise until it locks into place. You can use a variety of antennas. To connect and external antenna, follow the installation instructions supplied with the antenna. Always use 50-ohm coaxial cable, such as RG-58 or RG-8 low-loss dielectric coaxial cable. You may also need a BNC adapter.
WARNING: Outdoor antennas must be properly grounded to prevent static buildup and lightning damage. Article 810 of the National Electrical Code, ANSI/NFPA 70, provides information about proper grounding of the antenna mast, connection of coaxial cable to an lightning arrestor, size of grounding conductors, location of the lightning arrestor and connection of grounding conductors to grounding electrodes. Disconnect your radio from the outdoor antenna during electrical storm activity to prevent damage.
Batteries A low battery warning sounds every 30 seconds (default setting) when the batteries are low. 1. Be sure to turn the scanner off! 2. Slide open the battery compartment cover. Battery Type Selector 3. Set the Battery Type Selector: • ALKA − Alkaline • NI-MH − Rechargeable NI-MH 4. Install four AA batteries, matching the polarity symbols (+ and –). 5. Replace the cover. WARNING: Never install alkaline batteries with the Battery Type Selector switch set to NI-MH.
External Power Always turn the scanner off before connecting or disconnecting power sources. Use the supplied USB cable to connect the scanner to a USB power source (not included). Some USB power adapters can interfere with the scanner's reception. Using an incompatible USB cable may damage your scanner. NOTE: If your vehicle’s engine is running, you might hear electrical noise from the engine while scanning. This is normal.
Understanding the Keypad Your scanner features an easy-to understand backlit keypad. WS1080 WS1088 POWER – press and hold for one second to turn on and off. Press briefly to confirm the backlight level. MENU – provides access to additional functions related to the current operating mode of the scanner, and provides access to the Main Menu where the main functions are controlled. WX – provides instant access to NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts and SAME Weather Alert Receiver mode.
/II/SEL – controls the Scan, Pause, and Playback modes, and is used in menus to select, enable, or disable options. Four Way Push button Pad – , keys are used for navigation while browsing objects and menus. Alphanumeric Keypad (WS1088) – quick data entry of frequencies, talkgroup ID and labels. While scanning, pressing 1 thru 200 will toggle the selected scanlist on or off. Each button must be pressed within 2 seconds of the last.
Setting Bandplan and Clock When you first power up your scanner it will prompt you to set the bandplan, date and time. Press the or key to select the USA or Canada bandplan, then press /II/SEL. -Bandplan- USA -Bandplan- Press SEL to Set Canada Press SEL to Set The scanner will then prompt you to enter the current date and time. Press the or key to select the desired digit, then press the key. Press the or key to change the value, then press /II/SEL.
Program Methods There are two methods to program your scanner. To get started quickly, you can use “Set Location.” The set location method stores objects in your area automatically and puts them in Scanlists 151 and higher. These Scanlists are already named, “Multi Dispatch,” “Law Tac,” “Interop” “Fire Talk,” and so forth. This method gets you scanning in minutes, but you cannot monitor a single police or a single fire department – they will all be together in the same Scanlist.
Setting Location Your scanner can select services to scan based on your location. Press MENU and scroll to “Set Location” and press the key. You can specify your location by City, County or ZIP Code. Scroll to the desired method and press the key. If you select City or County, the scanner will prompt you for your State. Use the or key to select the first letter of your State, then press the /II/SEL key. Scroll to your state and press the key.
To select Custom Types, press the key. Scroll through the list of Services and press the /II/SEL key to select Services you wish to import. A check mark appears next to each selected Service. Services: SEL = Toggle Multi Dispatch Law Dispatch Fire Dispatch EMS Dispatch When you are done, press the key, then the / II/SEL key to import the selected services. Press the SKIP key to return to the Service list without importing.
Power up Password Set a user defined power-on password to restrict access to the radio. 1. Press MENU. 2. Scroll to Set Password and press . 3. Use the arrows to set the password. 4. Use the /II/SEL key to accept the updated settings, or the MENU key to exit without saving changes. NOTE: Power-on password can be reset by anyone using the EZ Scan software. Password provides only limited protection from immediate unauthorized use.
Individual Object displays are shown when the scanner is monitoring activity on an enabled Object. The LCD includes a row of icons at the top that provides information about the status of the scanner while monitoring an Object. The amount of information displayed is configured using the Simple Display option in the Global Settings menu.
S T G County Police TGRP psDR Police North Public Safety Radio ID: 18249 Display showing reception of a trunking talkgroup with Simple Display set to “on” and Show Radio ID enabled. There are many combinations of data that can be shown on the Object display using the Show options in the Global Settings menu. You can learn more about these options in the Configuration Settings section of the guide.
Display Icons A row of icons at the top of the display provides status information about the scanner.
EZ Scan Library Your scanner comes with an installed Micro SD card that contains the entire USA/Canadian Radio Reference database as well as the EZ Scan software. NOTE: Make a copy of the EZ Scan software files in case the SD card is lost or damaged. To remove the Micro SD card from the scanner: WARNING: To prevent corrupted data on the Micro SD Card, always turn the scanner off using the front panel power key before opening the battery compartment cover. 1.
For reference, below is the directory structure for the Micro SD Card. You may wish to make a copy of the CDAT folder on your computer as a backup. The CDAT folder contains your EZ Scan programming. Modifying these directories or their contents outside of the scanner or the EZ Scan software is not recommended, and may cause the scanner to malfunction. BTMP Contains various temporary files used by the scanner CDAT Contains your programming CDAT_VS.
Installing EZ Scan Software A method for programming a new scanner is using the supplied USB cable and the included software. Also www.RadioReference.com provides a range of resources to help improve your overall scanning experience.
Preferred Programming - from Library 1. From the Main Menu, select Browse Library. 2. Select Country. 3. Select first letter of State/Province. 4. Select State/Province. 5. Select Counties/Cites. 6. Select first letter of County. 7. Select County. 8. Select Data Type NOTE: Police/Fire and Emergency services will be in “Categories” for smaller towns, “Systems” for larger ones. 9. Select desired agency, category or system available for the county. 10. Select desired subcategory.
Backup into the First V-Scanner Folder PC Objects can be backed up to the first available V-Scanner folder from the Set Location menu (See V-Scanner II section for a discussion of Folders). We recommend you back up your data to guard against accidental changes or deletions. From the Set Location menu scroll to Backup Data and press the key.
Library Structure Each state contains three data types: • Agencies – Statewide conventional frequencies • Counties/Cities – County or independent city • Systems – Statewide trunked systems, control frequencies (sites) and talkgroups. Each county contains three data types: • Agencies – Local conventional frequencies • Categories – Public service conventional frequencies • Systems – Public service trunked systems, control frequencies (sites) and talkgroups.
Standard Text Entry Method Your scanner features a high-contrast, backlit alphanumeric display that provides constant feedback about what the radio is doing while scanning and monitoring your “Scannable Objects”. To get the most out of your scanner and this display, you will want to name your objects as you program them into the radio.
The character set and corresponding entry codes are provided below for reference. Pressing Fn to toggle the shift lock status will produce lower case characters for letters, and a second set of punctuation marks for special characters. For brevity, lower case letters are not shown in the table below.
Creating Your First New OjectsObject Edit When you enter Program Menu, the scanner will provide the following Programming Menu options and is ready for you to enter the first Objects into the memory: Global Settings Edit System Add System Add Conv Freq When an Object is displayed, press SEL or MENU to customize your Object and Set Scanlist. Essential Conventional Channel parameters By default, your new CONV object will be tagged “Channel”.
Essential Trunking Talkgroup parameters As a standalone object, a TRGP object is really no more complicated than a CONV object. The trunking system (TSYS) that the TGRP is a member of must be specified. Each talkgroup has a digital “address” on the trunking system, which is called the talkgroup ID, and this must be provided. We also recommend that you label your TGRP object by giving it a name in the TAG field.
Adding a New Trunk System From the Program Menu, Select Add System, Select System type. < Motorola > < EDACS > < LTR > Press SEL will enter the -Add System- menu. Scroll to Edit Sites, Press SEL to enter –Edit Sitesmenu. Scroll to 0001: New site, press SEL to enter -Edit Sitemenu. Edit Frequencies and Alpha Tag using text method described earlier. Press SEL after making your edits, scroll to Save Changes, press SEL returns to –Edit Sites-.
Adding the First Talk Group to a New Trunk System Under Main Menu, Program Menu, Edit System: Scroll the display if necessary to select the system where you will add the new talkgroup. Press Select. Scroll the display by pressing the down arrow until you get to Add Talkgroup and press Select. Your radio's display should appear as follows: -Add TGRPCancel Changes Save Changes TGID Wildcard Radio ID Alpha Tag In the following step you will store a Wildcard talkgroup with the number 65535.
71P 63O 53L 43I 23C 32E . 31D 43I 74S 71P 21A 81T 23C 42H Press SEL to store the name, then press SEL to store the TGRP as a new object. As with the other object types, there are many other parameters you can edit for the TGRP, but for now, that's all you have to do to start monitoring traffic on that TGRP! To add more TGRPs on the same system, follow the same steps above, this time specifying the TSYS that you just created.
• Wildcard Private Call: will monitor all private call radio traffic on the desired trunked radio system (in the TGID field, and set the Type field to Private) • Private Call with ID: will only monitor private call radio traffic on the specified TGID (enter the desired Radio ID in the TGID field, and set the Type field to Private) NOTE: For now, just let your new objects go to the default Scan List. Later in this section we will show you how you can group your objects into Scan Lists.
Editing Objects Manually From the main menu, select Browse Objects, browse to an object and press Menu. Note: Not all options are available on all objects. Cancel Changes Cancels changes you have just made. Save Changes Saves changes you have just made. Edit System Edits system parameters. Frequency Edit object frequency. Alpha Tag The object name. Press or to move the cursor; press orto change the value. Set Scanlists Changes the objects Scanlists.
Audio Boost Increases audio level when channel becomes active. Alarm An alarm sounds when activity is found for a frequency or talkgroup. Press or to select an alarm sound. Light Press or to select the desired light options: Leave – use default backlight settings On – turn the backlight on Flash – flash according to the set flash pattern Flash Pattern A light pattern used to identify the channel.
Alert LED Settings Note: The EZ Scan PC application allows you to group objects (such as all Keller Fire Department) and edit the color to red. Even add an alert tone to differentiate Keller Fire from Hurst Fire. The following instructions show you how to edit color of an individual object from the keypad. The Alert LED has been enhanced.
On Solid - Single Color These settings will illuminate the LED with a single color, solid, no flashing when the Object is receiving traffic. Flash Pattern n/a On Time n/a Off Time n/a LED Enable Checked LED Flash Unchecked Color Count 1 Color 1 FF0000 (red) Color 2 n/a Color 3 n/a Color 4 n/a Slow Flash - Single Color These settings will illuminate the LED with a single color, flashing on and off at the rate of one cycle per second.
Highway Department 1 - Strobe Effect These settings produce a rapid yellow pulsing strobe effect. Flash Pattern A8A8A8A8 On Time 5 Off Time 9 LED Enable Checked LED Flash Checked Color Count 1 Color 1 FFFF00 (yellow) Color 2 n/a Color 3 n/a Color 4 n/a Highway Department 2 - Strobe Effect These settings produce a rapid yellow and white strobe effect.
Police Department 2 - Strobe Effect The settings produce a rapid blue continuous strobe effect. Flash Pattern AAAAAAAA On Time 5 Off Time 9 LED Enable Checked LED Flash Checked Color Count 1 Color 1 0000FF (blue) Color 2 n/a Color 3 n/a Color 4 n/a Police Department 3 - Strobe Effect These settings produce an alternating blue/red strobe effect.
Fire/EMS 2 - Strobe Effect These settings produce a rapid red/white strobe effect. Flash Pattern AAAAAAAA On Time 5 Off Time 9 LED Enable Checked LED Flash Checked Color Count 2 Color 1 0000FF (blue) Color 2 FF0000 (red) Color 3 n/a Color 4 n/a Christmas Tree - Flasher Effect Just for fun.
Recording and Playback Your scanner features a powerful audio recording system that captures transmissions that occur on selected Objects to the Micro SD card using the high quality, industry standard .AU audio file format. For example, a 2GB Micro SD card with a very large scanning configuration (e.g.
3. While playing a file, the and keys set the playback volume, and the or keys move backward and forward in the file being played in five second increments. The SKIP key ends playback of the current file. 4. After scrolling to a file, you can press the MENU key for a list of playback options. Main Menu jumps to the Main Menu. • Back jumps back to the list of recorded files. • Play From Here plays the current recording and all recordings afterwards. • Delete All deletes all recorded audio files.
Internal Clock/Calendar Your scanner includes a real time clock/calendar that is used to correctly date and time stamp recorded audio files. The first time you power on your scanner, you will be prompted to set the time and date. If batteries are allowed to fully discharge, or if they are removed from the scanner for more than a few minutes, the date and time will need to be set again.
To enable or disable Scanlists: (WS1080) 1. Select Scanlists from the main menu, and then press . 2. Press SEL to enable a Scanlist. A checkmark ( ) indicates an active Scanlist. A square () indicates a disabled Scanlist. 3. Press or MENU to return to Main Menu. To enable or disable Scanlists: (WS1088) While scanning, pressing 1 thru 200 will toggle the selected scanlist on or off. Each button must be pressed within 2 second of the last.
TIP: Consider how you plan to organize your objects for scanning. You can organize your scan lists geographically, assigning objects for your location in one list and objects for other locations in different lists. You can organize your scan lists by trunking system, assigning TGRP objects associated with specific trunked radio systems to separate lists. To rename a Scanlist: 1. Select Scanlist from the main menu, and then press . 2. Select a Scanlist and press . The Scanlist name appears. 3.
NOTE: When you start a scan, the first thing the scanner does is check to see what Scan set(s) is (are) enabled. It finds Scan set 01 on by default. Next it checks to see what Scanlists are permitted in Scan set 01 and it finds that every scanlist is checked (all are allowed). This means the scanner will use the checked Scanlist boxes to control what Scanlists are scanned.
To perform a Service Search: 1. In the main menu, select Search, and press to enter to the search menu. 2. Select Service Search and press . 3. Scroll through the available services, select a service, and press to start the search. 4. Press MENU to stop search which enters service menu. To perform a Limit Search: 1. In the main menu, select Search, and press to enter to the search menu 2. Select Limit Search, and press . The search begins immediately. 3. To change the search range, press MENU. 4.
Search Settings To change search settings, press MENU while the search is active. Spectrum Sweeper Settings • Atten – Attenuation. On or Off. • Zeromatic – On or off. • Delay –How long scanner waits after a transmission before resuming. • Special Mode – Skips 1MHz block where you have skipped five or more frequencies. Special Mode is useful when you are close to many high-power transmitters that are close together in frequency. • Frequency Ranges – Defines a frequency range to focus a search.
Saving Found CTCSS, DCS or NAC CODES When importing objects from the Library, squelch codes are automatically imported. If this information is missing, your scanner can quickly identify these codes during a search, if present. When a channel includes a CTCSS, DCS or NAC code, the code appears on the bottom line of the display, followed by an“ ”, which indicates a valid CTCSS, DCS or NAC code: CTCSS 127.3 To save the found code with the channel: 1.
Weather Monitoring A weather alert tone includes a digitally-encoded SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) signal, FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) code, and an event code. Before you can use SAME Stand by Mode, you must program at least one FIPS code. Unless you are near a county boarder, enter only the FIPS code for your county. This prevents alerting when events happen in nearby counties.
Entering SAME Location and Event Codes The following steps are used to create a SAME entry that provides all weather alerts for a given location. Press the WX key twice to enter Weather mode. Use the or keys on the 4-way push button pad to scroll to the desired SAME code entry. Press the SEL key to edit the selected SAME entry. With the Entry field selected, press on the 4-way push button pad to turn the entry on.
Scroll to the Lockout: field. Note that Lockout is currently set to off. Lockout is a special purpose parameter that can be used to lock out individual event or area codes. We recommend that you leave Lockout set to off for general purpose weather alerting. When you have finished editing your SAME entry, press the SEL key to store the data, then press the SEL key to save all SAME changes and return to the Weather mode.
To activate Weather Priority: 1. Press to begin scanning for weather frequencies. When scanner stops on the strongest NOAA channel, press MENU. 2. Select Priority and press or to select the channel. Be aware that normal scanner audio will be regularly interrupted when the scanner jumps away to check for a weather alert. 3. Scroll to Save Changes and press /II/SEL or to save.
Using V Scanner Storage V-Scanner II Storage System -Scanner II (VS-II) system provides you with a way to store multiple configurations on your scanner. VS-II configurations are created, managed and copied to the SD Card using the EZ Scan software. You can load stored VS-II configurations by selecting the V-Scanner option from the Main Menu, then scrolling to the desired VS-II configuration using the or keys. Press the SEL key to activate the selected VS-II configuration.
• Search Dg AGC – Applies Digital AGC to found digital transmissions. • G AGC Mode – Enables Global AGC. • G AGC On – Activates Global AGC. • Scan Sets Opt - Turns on Scan Set Feature. • Sounds – Sets EZ Scan beeps and alert sounds. • Alerts –Controls audio alerts. • Key Beeps – Enables or disables key tones. • Beep Volume – Sets key tone volume. • Alert Volume –Object volume. • Contrast – Sets the LCD contrast. • LModeBAT – Backlight mode during battery operation.
• CONV Radio ID – Displays the Radio ID for P25 conventional calls. Simple Display must be unchecked. • PC/IF CCDump – Streams ASCII Control Channel Dump data over the USB interface for trunking control channels. To file – Stores ASCII Control Channel Dump data to the SD card. Limit 100 Trim Logs • Low Batt Time – Interval (seconds) between low battery alert sounds. • Charge Time – Sets the radio charge time. • TG Disp – Display format for talkgroup IDs.
Using EZ Scan Software to Update the Scanner 1. Turn off the Scanner. 2. Connect the scanner to your computer using the USB cable supplied. The computer should recognize the scanner’s Micro SD card as a new drive. If an auto run screen appears, close it. 3. Select Check for CPU Firmware Update in the update menu. 4. Click Check for Updates on the update screen. 5. If there are available updates, click Update My Scanner. 6. Please be patient, this can take several minutes. When complete, click Done.
Maintenance Keep the scanner dry; if it gets wet, wipe it dry immediately. Use and store the scanner only in normal temperature environments. Handle the scanner carefully; do not drop it. Keep the scanner away from dust and dirt, andwipe it witha damp cloth occasionally to keep it looking new. Modifying or tampering with the scanner’s internal components can cause amalfunction andmight invalidate its warranty and void your FCC authorization to operate it.
Troubleshooting/Error Messages For detailed troubleshooting/error messages, please visit the FAQ section of our website at www.whistlergroup.com or call toll free 866-923-8719. Should you experience difficulty, please refer to the following troubleshooting guide for assistance. Poor or no reception • Weak signals from distant stations. Reposition for best reception. 2-Way radio reception is line-ofsight. Consider an outdoor antenna; the first 30 feet of elevation makes the most difference.
“Init SD Card” appears when the scanner is turned on • The MicroSD Card is not properly formatted. Use the PC Application to reformat the card. • The MicroSD Card may not be inserted fully. Press the MicroSD Card into the slot until a click is heard and the card is fully inserted in the slot. The scanner does not function • Ensure that the scanner is equipped with fresh batteries. If powering the scanner from external power, make certain that the USB power plug is fully inserted into the scanners USB jack.
Library Copyright Notice The data contained in EZ Scan’s library is provided by special arrangement with Radio Reference and is Copyright ©2014 RadioReference.com, LLC who retains sole ownership of the database. We ask that you respect this copyright by adhering to the following guidelines: The library data is intended for your personal use only in conjunction with programming and using your EZ Scan. As such,RadioReference.
Specifications Receiving modes ...........................AM, FM, FM-MOT (Motorola), LTR (EF Johnson), CTCSS, DCS, .NAC on P25, EDACS wide/narrow (GE/Ericsson/HARRIS), P25-Phase I, X2-TDMA, P25-Phase II Receiving system..............Triple conversion PLL super heterodyne WX frequencies.....162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525, 162.550 MHz Display..................................Full dot matrix bitmap LCD (132x65 dots) Sensitivity......................
Frequency Coverage 25.000-26.960 MHz....................................(in 10 kHz steps/AM) 26.965-27.405 MHz....................................(in 10 kHz steps/AM) 27.410-29.505 MHz.......................................(in 5 kHz steps/AM) 29.510-29.700 MHz.......................................(in 5 kHz steps/FM) 29.710-49.830 MHz.....................................(in 10 kHz steps/FM) 49.835-54.000 MHz.......................................(in 5 kHz steps/FM) 108.000-136.9916 MHz......................
Consumer Warranty This Whistler product is warranted to the original purchaser for a period of one (1) year from the date of original purchase against all defects in materials and workmanship, when purchased from an authorized Whistler retailer. This limited warranty is void if the unit is abused, misused, modified, installed improperly, or if the housing and/or serial numbers have been removed. There are no express warranties covering this product other than those set forth in this warranty.
Service Under Warranty During the warranty period, defective units will be repaired or replaced (with the same or a comparable model), at Whistler’s option, without charge to the purchaser when returned prepaid, with dated proof of purchase to the address below. Units returned without dated proof of purchase will be considered out-of-warranty and therefore are not covered by the described Limited Warranty. (Refer to Service Out-of-Warranty section.
Service Out-of-Warranty Units will be repaired at “out-of-warranty” service rates when: • The unit’s original warranty has expired. • A dated proof of purchase is not supplied. • The unit has been returned without its serial number. • The unit has been misused, abused, modified, installed improperly, or had its housing removed. The minimum out-of-warranty service fee for your Whistler Scanner is $120.00 (U.S.).
CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS 1716 SW Commerce Dr. Ste. 8 PO Box 1760 Bentonville, AR 72712 Toll Free (800) 531-0004 TEL (479) 273-6012 FX (479) 273-2927 www.whistlergroup.com CUSTOMER RETURN CENTER 1412 South 1st St. Rogers, AR 72756 Customer Service Tel (866) 923-8719 Email: info@whistlergroup.com For US Patent info visit: www.whistlergroup.com/pat P/N 581004a 12D15 ©2015 The Whistler Group, Inc.
