RadioShack Race Scanner - Manuals

6 CONTENTS Preparation ....................................................................................... 9 Power Sources ............................................................................ 9 Using Internal Batteries ........................................................ 9Charging Ni...

8 PREPARATION POWER SOURCES You can power your scanner from any of three sources: • Internal batteries (not supplied) • Standard AC power using an optional AC adapter • Vehicle battery power using an optional DC adapter Using Internal Batteries You can power your scanner using four AA batteries. For...

10 Charging Nickel-Cadmium Batteries The scanner has a built-in circuit that lets you recharge nickel-cadmiumbatteries while they are in the scanner. To charge the batteries, set AL- KALINE JACK NI-CD to NI-CD , install the nickel-cadmium batteries in the scanner, and connect an external AC or DC ad...

11 Using Standard AC Power You can power the scanner from a standard AC outlet using an option-al AC adapter (such as Cat. No. 273-1665). Warning: Do not use an AC adapter’s polarized plug with an extensioncord, receptacle, or other outlet unless the blades can be fully insertedto prevent blade expo...

12 Using Vehicle Battery Power To power the scanner from your vehicle's cigarette-lighter socket, youneed a DC adapter, such as Cat. No. 270-1560. Cautions: • The DC adapter must be capable of delivering 9 volts and at least 300 milliamps, its center tip must be set to negative, and its barrelplug m...

13 When you finish using the DC adapter, disconnect it from the cigarette-lighter socket, then disconnect it from your scanner. Note: If the scanner does not operate properly when you connect a DCadapter, unplug the adapter from the cigarette-lighter socket and cleanthe socket to remove ashes and ot...

14 Connecting an Optional Antenna The scanner’s antenna jack makes it easy to use the scanner with avariety of antennas. Instead of either of the supplied antennas, you canattach a different one, such as an external mobile antenna or outdoorbase station antenna. Your local RadioShack store sells a v...

15 CONNECTING AN EXTENSION SPEAKER In a noisy area, an extension speaker (such as Cat. No. 21-549), posi-tioned in the right place, might provide more comfortable listening. Plugthe speaker cable’s 1 / 8 -inch mini-plug into your scanner’s jack. CONNECTING AN EARPHONE/HEADPHONES For private listenin...

16 Listening Safely To protect your hearing, follow these guidelines when you use an ear-phone or headphones. • Do not listen at extremely high volume levels. Extended high- volume listening can lead to permanent hearing loss. • Set the volume to the lowest setting before you begin listening. After ...

17 UNDERSTANDING YOUR SCANNER Once you understand a few simple terms we use in this manual andfamiliarize yourself with your scanner’s features, you can put thescanner to work for you. You simply find the communications youwant to receive, then set the scanner to scan them. A frequency is the tuning...

19 A LOOK AT THE DISPLAY The display has indicators that show the scanner’s current operatingstatus. A good look at the display will help you understand how yourscanner operates. BANK — appears with numbers (1–10) to show which memory banks are turned on for scanning. Service bank indicators — appea...

21 UNDERSTANDING BANKS Memory Banks To make it easier to identify and select the channels you want to listento, the PRO-74’s channels are divided into 10 banks of 10 channelseach. Use each memory bank to group frequencies, such as the policedepartment, fire department, ambulance services, or aircraf...

22 Name Typical Usage Frequency Range (in MHz) Your scanner also has 7 preprogrammed weather frequencies. For example, if you wanted to search for transmissions between a driverand that driver’s pit crew at an auto race, you could search only the ser-vice bank where you are most likely to hear the t...

23 OPERATION TURNING ON THE SCANNER ANDSETTING SQUELCH Note: Make sure an antenna is connected to the scanner before youturn it on. 1. Turn SQUELCH fully counterclockwise. 2. Turn VOLUME clockwise until it clicks and you hear a hissing sound. 3. Turn SQUELCH clockwise, then leave it set to a point j...

24 STORING KNOWN FREQUENCIESINTO CHANNELS Good references for active frequencies are the RadioShack “BeyondPolice Call,” “Aeronautical Frequency Directory,” and “Maritime Fre-quency Directory.” We update these directories every year, so be sureto get a current copy. Follow these steps to store a fre...

25 • Your scanner automatically rounds the entered frequency to the nearest valid frequency. For example, if you enter a frequencyof 151.473, your scanner accepts it as 151.475. • Your scanner automatically delays scanning for 2 seconds after a transmission ends before it proceeds to the next channe...

26 To release hold and continue searching, press HOLD or hold down t or s for more than 1 second. Notes: • To step through the frequencies while HOLD is displayed, press t or s. • If you tune to a search skip frequency, L/O appears (see “Search Skip Memory” on Page 27). • To store a frequency into a...

27 Notes: • To step through the frequencies while HOLD is displayed, press t or s. • If you tune to a search skip frequency, L/O appears (see “Search Skip Memory” on Page 27). • To store a frequency into a channel while the frequency is paused or held, see “Storing Active Frequencies.” Storing Activ...

28 To skip a frequency, press S/S when the scanner stops on the frequency during asearch. The scanner stores the frequen-cy in memory and automatically resumesthe search. To clear a single frequency from searchskip memory so the scanner can stop onit during a search, follow these steps. 1. Press HOL...

29 Note: You cannot use this procedure to select a car number. See“Viewing Frequencies Associated with a Car Number” on Page 33 toselect a car number. To manually select a channel, press MAN , enter the channel number, then press MAN again. Or, if your scanner is scanning and stops at the desired ch...

30 LISTENING TO WEATHER BROADCASTS The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has allocated fre-quencies for use by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-tion (NOAA). Regulatory agencies in other countries have alsoallocated frequencies for use by their weather reporting authorities. Your...

31 USING THE PRO-74 AT THE RACES The PRO-74 is specially designed to help you listen to communicationsat auto races. Drivers and their pit crews and corner watchers, pacecar drivers, security officers, emergency personnel, track officials, andrepresentatives of governing organizations such as NASCAR...

32 Follow these steps to store a car number and frequency. 1. Press MAN then RACE. RACE and Car No?--- appears. 2. Enter the car number. If the number is one or two digits, enter the number, then press RACE . If the number is three digits, enter the number only. The car number and ---.--- appear. No...

33 Viewing Frequencies Associated with a Car Number After you store a car number and associate frequencies with that num-ber, you can view all frequencies associated with the number. 1. Press MAN then RACE. RACE and Car No?--- appears. 2. Enter the car number. If the number is one or two digits, ent...

34 FINDING WHAT CAR NUMBERS ARE IN WHAT CHANNELS If you are listening to a channel and want to know what car number youare hearing, simply press RACE twice. If a car number has been asso- ciated with this frequency, the car number and frequency appear.Press RACE twice to return to normal channel lis...

35 SPECIAL FEATURES TURNING MEMORY BANKS ON AND OFF You can turn each memory 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 that corresponds to the bankyou want to turn on or off. When BANK appears, the sc...

36 The scanner automatically designates each bank's first channel as itspriority channel. Follow these steps to select a different channel as thepriority channel. 1. Press PROG . 2. Enter the channel number you want to select as the priority chan- nel, then press PRIORITY . appears to the right of t...

37 USING THE KEYLOCK Once you set up and store channels into your scanner, you can protectit from accidental changes by turning on the keylock feature. Whenlocked, the only controls that operate are SCAN , MAN , KEYLOCK/ , VOLUME , and SQUELCH . To turn on the keylock, hold down KEYLOCK until K/L ap...

38 Notes: • You can use Hypersearch only in the 5 kHz step bands (29–54 MHz and 137–174 MHz. • Since the marine service bank is not in one of the 5 kHz step bands, you cannot use Hypersearch in the marine service bank. TURNING THE KEY TONE OFF/ON Your scanner comes set so each time you press a key, ...

39 SKIPPING DATA SIGNALS You can set the scanner so it skips nonmodulated or data signals (suchas modem transmissions) during a search or scan. Note: Since data signals are not generally found in the air band, thisfeature does not work in the air band. To turn on the data skip feature, press . appea...

40 A GENERAL GUIDE TO SCANNING Reception of the frequencies covered by your scanner is mainly “line-of-sight.” That means you usually cannot hear stations that are beyondthe horizon. GUIDE TO FREQUENCIES National Weather Frequencies Canadian Weather Frequencies Note: The Canadian frequencies are not...

41 Chan- nel No. Frequency Chan- nel No. Frequency Ship Shore Ship Shore Birdie Frequencies Every scanner has birdie frequencies. Birdies are signals created in-side the scanner’s receiver. These operating frequencies might inter-fere with broadcasts on the same frequencies. If you program one ofthe...

42 To find the birdies in your particular scanner, begin by disconnecting theantenna and moving it away from the scanner. Make sure that no othernearby radios or TVs are turned on near the scanner. Use the searchfunction to search every frequency range from its lowest to the highestfrequency. Occasi...

43 Primary Usage As a general rule, most of the radio activity is concentrated on the fol-lowing frequencies: VHF Band UHF Band Note: Remote control stations and mobile units operate at 5 MHz high-er than their associated base stations and relay repeater units. BAND ALLOCATION To help decide which f...

46 166.250 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GOVT, RTV, FIRE166.275–169.400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GOVT, BIFC169.445–169.505 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wireless Mik...

47 Conventional Systems Band – Locally Assigned851.0125–855.9875 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CSB Conventional/Trunked Systems Band – Locally Assigned856.0125–860.9875 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....

48 TROUBLESHOOTING If you have problems, here are some suggestions that might help. Ifnon e do , ta ke you r scan ner to y our l oca l RadioShack store for as-sistance. PROBLEM POSSIBLE CAUSE REMEDY Keys do not work or display changes at random. Undetermined error. Reset the scanner (see “Resetting ...

49 BATT.Lo appears. The batteries are weak. Recharge rechargeable batteries, or replace non-rechargeable batteries. PROBLEM POSSIBLE CAUSE REMEDY RESETTING THE SCANNER If the scanner’s display locks up or does not work properly after youconnect power, you might need to reset the scanner. Caution: Th...

50 CARE AND MAINTENANCE Your RadioShack PRO-74 100-Channel VHF/UHF/Air/800 MHz RaceScanner is an example of superior design and craftsmanship. The fol-lowing suggestions will help you care for your scanner so you can en-joy it for years. Keep the scanner dry. If it gets wet, wipe it dry immedi-ately...

51 SPECIFICATIONS Frequency Coverage ............................... 29–54 MHz (in 5 kHz steps) 108–136.975 MHz (in 12.5 kHz steps) 137–174 MHz (in 5 kHz steps) 406–512 MHz (in 12.5 kHz steps) 806.0000–823.9375 MHz (in 12.5 kHz steps)851.0000–868.9375 MHz (in 12.5 kHz steps) 896.1125–956.0000 MHz (i...

RadioShack A Division of Tandy Corporation Fort Worth, Texas 76102 UBZZ01292ZZ 6A8 Printed in the Philippines Limited One-Year Warranty This product is warranted by RadioShack against manufacturing defects in materialand workmanship under normal use for one (1) year from the date of purchase fromRad...