RadioShack PRO-94 - Manual

6 Features 20 Channel-Storage Banks — you can store up to 50channels in each of 10 different banks, in two separategroups, for a total of 1000 channels, so you can moreeasily identify calls. Five Scan Lists — you can store up to 50 trunking talkgroup IDs in each trunk scanning bank. Digital Weather ...

7 Features Hyperscan  — the scanner automatically scans up to 50 channels per second to help you quickly find interest-ing broadcasts. Key Lock — lets you lock the scanner’s keys to helpprevent accidental changes to the scanner’s program-ming. Data Signal Skip — lets you set the scanner to skipnon-...

8 Features Battery Save — saves battery power when the scannerdoes not detect any transmissions for more than 5 sec-onds when a channel is manually selected. Battery Low Alert — warns you when battery powergets low. Weather Alert Indicator — your scanner also functionsas a severe weather alert monit...

9 Features • contact your local RadioShack store for help Note: Mobile use of this scanner is unlawful or requiresa permit in some areas. Check the laws in your area. SCANNING LEGALLY Your scanner covers frequencies used by many differentgroups including police and fire departments, ambulanceservice...

10 Preparation ˆ Preparation 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 alkaline, li...

12 Preparation 5. Replace the cover, inserting the lower tabs first. When BATT.Lo flashes and the scanner beeps every 15 seconds, replace all four batteries. Warning: Always dispose of old batteries promptly andproperly. Do not bury or burn them. Using Rechargeable Batteries You can also use four re...

13 Preparation Important: This scanner can use Ni-Cdrechargeable batteries. At the end of aNi-Cd battery’s useful life, it must be re-cycled or disposed of properly. Contactyour local, county, or state hazardouswaste management authorities for infor-mation on recycling or disposal pro-grams in your ...

14 Preparation scanner and recharges the installed batteries at thesame time. USING VEHICLE BATTERY POWER You can power the scanner from a vehicle’s 12V powersource (such as cigarette-lighter socket) using a 9V, 300mA DC adapter and a size H Adaptaplug (neither sup-plied). Both are available at your...

15 Preparation Note: If the scanner does not operate properly whenyou use a DC adapter, unplug the adapter from thecigarette-lighter socket and clean the socket to removeashes and debris. CONNECTING THE ANTENNA To attach the suppliedflexible antenna to theconnector on the top ofyour scanner, align t...

16 Preparation scanner. This automatically disconnects the internalspeaker. Listening Safely To protect your hearing, follow these guidelines whenyou use an earphone or headphones. • Do not listen at extremely high volume levels. Extended high-volume listening can lead to perma-nent hearing loss. • ...

17 Preparation CONNECTING AN EXTENSION SPEAKER In a noisy area, an optional extension speaker, posi-tioned in the right place, might provide more comfort-able listening. Plug the speaker cable’s 1 / 8 -inch (3.5- mm) mini-plug into your scanner’s jack. Your local Ra- dioShack store carries a selecti...

18 About Your Scanner ˆ About Your Scanner We use a few simple terms in this manual to explain thefeatures of the scanner. Familiarize yourself with theseterms and the scanner’s features, and you can put thescanner to work for you right away. Simply determine thetype of communications you want to re...

19 About Your Scanner A LOOK AT THE KEYPAD Key Function(s) HOLD (A/B) Switches the bank groups; holds the fre-quency search; holds the current ID in thetrunking mode. SCAN Scans the stored channels and scan lists. MAN Stops scanning and lets you directly enter achannel number or frequency; manuallys...

20 About Your Scanner A LOOK AT THE DISPLAY The display has indicators that show the scanner’s cur-rent operating status. The display information helps youunderstand how your scanner operates. Bank A or B — appears with numbers ( 1 – 10 ). A or B indicates the bank group. The numbers show whichchann...

22 About Your Scanner — appears when the battery save function is active (during conventional scanning only). WX HAM MRN AIR POL — appears along with an indica- tor which shows the current service bank during a ser-vice search. ALERT — appears when the weather alert is turned on, or flashes when the...

23 About Your Scanner Monitor Memories The scanner also has 10 temporary memory locationscalled monitor memories. Use these monitor memoriesto temporarily store frequencies when you searchthrough an entire band (see “Searching For and Tempo-rarily Storing Active Frequencies” on Page 25). You canthen...

24 Operation ˆ Operation TURNING ON THE SCANNER AND SETTING SQUELCH Note: Make sure the scanner’s antenna is connectedbefore you turn it on. 1. Turn SQUELCH fully counterclockwise. 2. Turn VOLUME/OFF clockwise until it clicks and you hear a hissing sound. 3. If the scanner is scanning, press MAN (ma...

25 Operation quency, then press PROG . The channel number appears. 2. Use the number keys and • ( MON/CLR) to enter the frequency (including the decimal point) you want tostore. 3. Press E ( SVC ) to store the frequency into the chan- nel. Notes: • If you entered an invalid frequency in Step 2, Erro...

26 Operation audio (voice) signals (see “Skipping Data Signals”on Page 35). Limit Search A limit search lets you search within a specific rangeof frequencies. -L- appears during a limit search. 1. Press PROG , then LIMIT (SRC) . Lo and 29.000 MHz (or the previous low limit frequency) appear. 29.000 ...

27 Operation 1. Press MAN . 2. Enter the frequency you want to start from using the number keys. (Press • to enter a decimal point). Notes: • To start the search from a frequency already stored in one of your scanner’s channels, press MAN or PROG . Then use the number keys to enter the channel numbe...

28 Operation vice bank, repeatedly press SVC . A bar appears above the selected bank. When the scanner stops on a transmission, quicklypress either: • HOLD to stop searching and listen to the transmis- sion. HOLD appears. • MON/CLR to store the displayed frequency into the current monitor memory. To...

29 Operation To clear all the skip frequencies at once while searching,press HOLD , then hold down S/S until the scanner beeps twice. Notes: • If you selected all frequencies to be skipped within the search range, the scanner beeps 3 times anddoes not search. • If you select more than 50 frequencies...

30 Operation 5. Repeat Steps 2–4 to store the remaining monitor memory frequencies into channels, as necessary. SCANNING THE STORED CHANNELS To begin scanning channels, press SCAN . The scanner scans through all non-locked channels in the activatedbanks. (See “Locking Out Channels” on Page 32 and“Tu...

31 Special Features ˆ Special Features DELAY Sometimes a user might pause before replying to atransmission. To avoid missing a reply on a specificchannel, you can program a 2-second delay into anychannel or frequency. The scanner continues to monitorthe channel frequency for an additional 2 seconds ...

32 Special Features The scanner scans all the channels within the displayedbanks that are not locked out (see “Locking Out Chan-nels”). The bank number flashes when the scannerscans a channel that belongs to the bank. Notes: • You can manually select any channel within a bank, even if that bank is t...

33 Special Features 2. Enter the channel number you want to select as the priority channel, then press PRIORITY (H/S) . appears to the right of the selected channel number. 3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 for the channel in each bank you want to program as a priority channel. To review all priority channels...

34 Special Features USING THE DISPLAY BACKLIGHT To turn on the display light for easy viewing at night,press .The display lights for 15 seconds. To turn off the light sooner, press again. USING THE AUTO BACKLIGHT DISPLAY You can set the scanner so the auto backlight turns onfor about 5 seconds when ...

35 Special Features TURNING THE BATTERY SAVE FUNCTION OFF/ON When the scanner is set to receive (monitor) a manuallyselected channel, and it is not actively scanning, usingthe battery save feature conserves energy. To turn the battery save function off or back on, turn offthe scanner, then hold down...

36 Special Features geographical data, it does detect SAME signals and de-code the alert level. The scanner displays this data ascodes corresponding to the levels of severity (L1, L2,and L3). Turning On the SAME Weather Alert Feature 1. Press SVC (E) and select the weather search mode. See “Service ...

37 Special Features NWR-SAME Alert Tone Test To hear and test the tones for the three alert levels,press SVC (E) to select the weather service, then hold down ALT for about 1 second. The tones sound in the or- der L3, L2, then L1, and TESt flashes. Each alert code appears as its tone sounds. Press a...

38 Trunking Operation ˆ Trunking Operation The scanner tracks transmissions that use the MotorolaType I, Type II, hybrid, and Ericsson EDACS analogtrunking systems. The frequencies for many of the 800MHz, 900 MHz, and EDACS public safety systems arelisted in the separate National Public Safety Trunk...

39 Trunking Operation centralize their communications and control the type ofusers on a single system. Determining the exact fleet-subfleet hierarchy for a particular area is referred to asfleet map programming. The disadvantage of a Type I system is that the briefburst of data sent when a user tran...

40 Trunking Operation To scan both trunking and conventional banks, selectthe banks you wish to be active with trunking off, thenpress TRUNK . The scanner begins scanning. To return to conventional scanning, press TRUNK again. SETTING SQUELCH FOR THE TRUNKING MODE Your scanner’s squelch setting is a...

41 Trunking Operation 3. Use the number keys to enter a valid frequency within the trunk system, then press E (SVC) . BANK and the bank number, the channel number, and E (EDACS) or M (Motorola) appears depending upon the trunk system selected. Notes: • If you enter an invalid frequency (outside the ...

42 Trunking Operation SEARCHING A TRUNKED BANK Once the data channel is acquired, the scanner begins atrunk search. With the search function, you will be ableto find all the active talk groups within the trunked sys-tem. Press SCAN . You can switch to the trunk scan mode from the trunk search mode. ...

43 Trunking Operation Skipping a Trunked Bank You can scan conventional frequencies programmed inthe same bank by holding down SRC ( LIMIT ) for about 2 seconds. If there is no conventional frequency, the scan-ner scans the next bank. Turning the Status Bit Ignore (S-Bit) On or Off You can set how y...

44 Trunking Operation Identifying a Trunked Frequency While ID scanning (looking for IDs within a trunked sys-tem) or performing an ID search, press 9 9 9 9 to see the current trunked frequency. (The frequency flashestwice.) Then hold down 9 9 9 9 until a confirmation tone sounds and the ID and the ...

45 Trunking Operation Using HOLD to Monitor an Active Talk Group ID Follow these steps to stop scanning and keep the scan-ner tuned to a desired ID. 1. Press HOLD (A/B) . HOLD appears and the scanner stays on the current ID. 2. If you want to listen to (and hold) a different ID, use the number keys ...

46 Trunking Operation To lock out an ID, press L-OUT (S/S) when the ID ap- pears. The ID is locked out, and the next active ID ap-pears. Unlocking a Single Talk Group ID 1. Hold down L-OUT (S/S) until you hear two short beeps. 2. Repeatedly press 8 8 8 8 or 9 9 9 9 to select the ID you want to unloc...

47 Trunking Operation Monitoring Talk Group IDs You can use your scanner’s display to monitor the fre-quencies/talk group IDs of a trunked system for activity.While you cannot hear conversations in this mode, it isan excellent way to determine which talk group IDs arethe most active. To set the scan...

48 Trunking Operation USING TALK GROUP ID LISTS When you program trunked frequencies into a bank (see“Storing Trunked Frequencies” on Page 40), your scan-ner sets up five scan lists for that one bank in which youcan store your favorite IDs. Each list can contain up to10 IDs, for a total of 50 IDs fo...

49 Trunking Operation Note: To clear a mistake while entering an ID, press 0 then E , then start over at Step 1. 5. Repeatedly press PROG or 8 8 8 8 to select the next scan list location you want to program. Then repeatStep 4 to enter another ID. 6. When you finish, press E to store the entries. Ent...

50 Trunking Operation 2. Select the ID scan list location where you want to store the IDs, then press PROG . PGM appears. 3. Press MON/CLR . A monitor ID appears. 4. Press E . The scanner stores the IDs into the selected ID scan list. Scanning the Talk Group ID Lists Press SCAN to begin scanning the...

51 Trunking Operation served for storing lists (see “Using Talk Group ID Lists”on Page 48) can have only one priority ID, and the ID as-signed that priority in List 1 has the highest priority of all. To assign a priority to an ID, press PROG . Enter the de- sired ID number (list number and location ...

52 Trunking Operation Select a size code for a block, then press SRC and listen to the conversations. If you are receiving most of the re-plies, then you have probably selected the right sizecode and can program the next block of the map. Thereare 16 preset fleet maps to choose from, and it is best ...

54 Trunking Operation Selecting a Preset Fleet Map 1. Set the scanner for conventional scanning and press PROG then TRUNK to select the bank to store the fleet map. 2. Press a number key to select the bank to store the fleet map. 3. Repeatedly press 8 8 8 8 or 9 9 9 9 to select E1 , then press E . A...

55 Trunking Operation Note: When the scanner searches for transmissions,you see Type I fleet and subfleet IDs such as 100-12 , 100-9 , 000-12 , or 400-8 . How do you know if the preset map you selected is cor-rect? Listen to find out if you are following complete con-versations. If not, try another ...

57 Trunking Operation 7. Enter the frequency using the number keys accord- ing to the following guide: • For Motorola Type II VHF, (E2-VHF Hi band) use 5kHz steps between 5 kHz – 100 kHz. • For Motorola Type II UHF, (E2-UHF band) use 12.5kHz steps between 12.5 kHz – 100 kHz. Programming a Hybrid Sys...

58 A General Guide to Scanning • You cannot use the disconnect tone detect function if you are programming a trunking frequency or afleet map. To set the scanner to automatically tune to the datachannel once again when it detects a disconnect tone,press SVC (E) . ˆ A General Guide to Scanning Your s...

59 A General Guide to Scanning GUIDE TO THE ACTION BANDS Typical Band Usage Primary Usage As a general rule, most of the radio activity is concentrat-ed on the following frequencies: VHF Band VHF BandLow Range 29.00–50.00 MHz 6-m Amateur 50.00–54.00 MHz U.S. Government 137.00–144.00 MHz 2-m Amateur ...

60 A General Guide to Scanning UHF Band Note: Remote control stations and mobile units operateat 5 MHz higher than their associated base stations andrelay repeater units. BAND ALLOCATION Use the following listing of the typical services withinyour scanner’s frequency coverage to assist you to de-cid...

64 A General Guide to Scanning FREQUENCY CONVERSION The tuning location of a station can be expressed in fre-quency (kHz or MHz) or in wavelength (meters). The fol-lowing information can help you make the necessaryconversions. 1 MHz (million) = 1,000 kHz (thousand) To convert MHz to kHz, multiply th...

65 Troubleshooting ˆ Troubleshooting If your scanner is not working as it should, these sugges-tions might help you eliminate the problem. If the scan-ner still does not operate properly, take it to your localRadioShack store for assistance. Problem Possible Cause Remedy Scanner is on but will not s...

68 Troubleshooting RESETTING THE SCANNER If the scanner’s display locks up or stops operating prop-erly, you might need to reset the scanner. Caution: This procedure clears all the information youhave stored in the scanner. Before you reset the scan-ner, try turning it off and on to see if it begins...

69 Care and Maintenance 1. Turn off the scanner. 2. While holding down 2 and 9 , turn on the scanner. CLEAR flashes for about 5 seconds as the scanner clears its memory. Note: Do not turn off the scanner again until CLEAR stops flashing. Otherwise, the scanner might not clear itsmemory properly. ˆ C...

70 Specifications ˆ 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) 216–224.995 MHz (in 5 kHz steps) 406–512 MHz (in 12.5 kHz steps) 806.0000–823.9375 MHz (in 12.5 kHz steps)851.0000–868.9875 MHz (in 12...