RadioShack PRO-97 - Manual

7 The Basics SCAN / — scans through the programmed channels, or activates the Signal Stalker II function. FUNC (function) — lets you use various functions by pressing this key in combination with other keys. MAN — stops scanning and lets you directly enter a channel number. TRUNK — stores the trunki...

12 The Basics power sources You can power your scanner from any of these sources: • internal non-rechargeable batteries or rechargeable batteries (not supplied – see “Using Batteries”). • standard AC power (with an optional AC adapter – see “Using AC Power”). • vehicle power (with an optional DC ada...

13 The Basics recommend RadioShack nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries. You must charge rechargeable batteries before you use them the fi rst time. See “Charging Rechargeable Batteries”. Never install non-rechargeable batteries in the rechargeable yellow battery holder. Non-Rechargeable batteries ...

14 The Basics 5. Replace the cover. When battery power is low, Low battery! appears and the scanner beeps continuously. When battery power is depleted, the scanner turns itself off. Replace all four non-rechargeable batteries, or recharge the rechargeable batteries. See “Charging Rechargeable Batter...

15 The Basics It takes about 16 hours to recharge fully discharged 1600 mAh Ni-MH rechargeable batteries. You can operate the scanner while recharging the rechargeable batteries, but charging takes longer. The scanner can also charge Ni-Cd batteries. 600 mAh batteries require 6 hours and 850 mAh bat...

16 The Basics using vehicle battery power You can power the scanner from a vehicle’s 12V power source (such as cigarette-lighter socket) using a 9V, 300 mA DC adapter and a size C Adaptaplug™ adapter (neither supplied). Both are available at your local RadioShack store. You must use a power source t...

17 The Basics listening safely To protect your hearing, follow these guidelines when you use an earphone or headphones. • Set the volume to zero before putting on headphones. With the headphones on, adjust the volume to a comfortable level. • Avoid increasing the volume once you set it. Over time, y...

20 The Basics quick start To help familiarize yourself with the scanner’s functions, keypad, and available frequencies, you can utilize one of these four features before you begin programming the scanner. Signal Stalker II — searches nearby strong signals quickly. See “Signal Stalker II”. Preprogram...

21 The Basics military, some amateur radio, and some government transmissions. (Refer to “Specifi cations” for a list of the frequencies covered.) When the scanner receives a transmission on a channel set to the AM mode, it always stops on the transmission. FM mode The FM mode sets the scanner to rec...

22 The Basics transmissions. In your PRO-97 scanner, the DCS feature can be used to block the reception of transmissions on a shared channel to only those that use the DCS tone that you have specifi ed. DCS mode also features a Code Search setting that allows you to instantly display and store unknow...

23 The Basics bank’s talk group ID list and have not locked out. Motorola trunking systems come in three categories: Type I, Type II, and Type I/II Hybrid. Each category displays and uses talk group IDs in slightly different ways. Motorola Type II IDs are in the form FFF-SS, where; FFF=Fleet ID SS=S...

24 The Basics EDACS mode You can set your scanner so it decodes the talk group IDs used with EDACS (GE/Ericsson) trunking systems. This setting is called the EDACS mode. EDACS systems are trunking systems used primarily by business or private communications service providers, as well as by some publ...

25 The Basics LTR mode You can set your scanner so it decodes the talk group IDs used with LTR systems. This setting is called the LTR mode. LTR frequencies are organized in a specifi c order. Each frequency is assigned a Home Repeater Number (HR). For the scanner to correctly switch to an active fre...

26 The Basics LTR system are assigned to specifi c talk groups, which are identifi ed by the radio as six-digit numbers. These numbers are in the form AHHUUU, where: A = Area code (0 or 1) H = Home repeater (01 through 20) U = User ID (000 through 254) When the scanner receives a transmission on a cha...

27 The Basics When no ID code is programmed into the scanner, it receives the signal in MO, ED, or LT mode. In open mode, the scanner stops on any transmission. If the ID is stored, the text tag appears on the display. Otherwise, the talk group ID appears on the display. In closed mode, the scanner ...

28 The Basics setting up your scanner turning on the scanner and setting squelch 1. To turn on the scanner, turn VOL clockwise. Multi-system Trunking Scanner appears. After about 3 seconds, you might hear a hissing sound. Then adjust VOL to a comfortable level. 2. Turn SQ fully counterclockwise, the...

29 The Basics storing known frequencies into channels Good references for active frequencies are RadioShack’s Police Call, Aeronautical Frequency Directory, and Maritime Frequency Directory. We update these directories every year, so be sure to get a current copy. Follow these steps to store frequen...

30 Beyond the Basics 2. Press PGM . M changes to P . 3. Use the number keys and ./DELAY to enter the frequency (including the decimal point) you want to store. If you make a mistake, press CL to delete a single digit or press and hold CL about 2 seconds to delete all digits. 4. Press ENT to store th...

31 Beyond the Basics CTCSS and DCS Your PRO-97 scanner features an advanced, DSP based CTCSS and DCS decoder. CTCSS and DCS allow you to program frequencies into your scanner that are used by more than one group in your area and listen only to the group that is of interest to you by specifying the g...

32 Beyond the Basics 3. By default, the search code (indicated with Code Search in the bottom of the display) is programmed. To program a specifi c code, press FUNC , MODE , and then use the arrow keys to scroll to the desired CTCSS or DCS code. You can also use the keypad to enter the code manually....

34 Beyond the Basics 6. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 to enter the other trunking group frequencies for EDACS or additional control channel frequencies for Motorola systems. 7. If necessary, press MODE to change the receiving mode. storing text tags You can customize your scanner by storing text tags (up to ...

35 Beyond the Basics Press 6 then 1 . • A space is entered by pressing ./DELAY . • “6” is the sixth number associated with 1 on the keypad. Press 1 then 6 . • “m” is the fi rst letter associated with 6 on the keypad. Press 6 and FUNC (for the lower case set), then press 1 . 5. Press ENT to input the ...

36 Beyond the Basics text input chart To access the numbers, after you press TEXT (when you assign the text tag to a channel) or you press FUNC and bank number (when you assign the text tag to a bank), press 1 . Then press the desired number you want to enter. To enter lowercase character or a chara...

37 Beyond the Basics fi nding and storing active frequencies You can search for transmissions in the scanner’s preprogrammed search bank. The search bank is divided into seven search bands. You can change the search range of Bank SR6 manually by setting the lower and higher ends of the search range. ...

38 Beyond the Basics 2. In the marine, CB, and FRS/GMRS/MURS bands, you can directly select a channel or search through the band. When MAN appears at the right of the third line, you can directly select a channel (refer to “Band Charts”). Press the desired channel number while MAN appears to select ...

40 Beyond the Basics search bank: SR1 CB band Receive mode: AM Ch. Frequency (MHz) Ch. Frequency (MHz) 01 26.9650 02 26.9750 03 26.9850 04 27.0050 05 27.0150 06 27.0250 07 27.0350 08 27.0550 09 27.0650 10 27.0750 11 27.0850 12 27.1050 13 27.1150 14 27.1250 15 27.1350 16 27.1550 17 27.1650 18 27.1750...

42 Beyond the Basics 1 153.770 – 154.130 60 154.145 – 154.445 15 154.650 – 154.950 15 155.010 – 155.370 60 155.415 – 155.700 15 155.730 – 156.210 60 158.730 – 159.210 60 166.250 170.150 2 453.0375 – 453.9625 12.5 458.0375 – 458.9625 12.5 460.0125 – 460.6375 12.5 465.0125 – 465.6375 12.5 3 851.0125 –...

43 Beyond the Basics search bank: SR5 amateur band Receive mode: FM Group Frequency (MHz) Step (kHz) 0 28.0000 – 29.7000 5 1 50.0000 – 54.0000 5 2 144.0000 – 148.0000 5 3 222.0000 – 225.0000 5 4 420.0000 – 450.0000 12.5 5 1240.0000 – 1300.0000 6.25 search bank: SR6 programmable limit search Receive ...

44 Beyond the Basics 7. Rotate SQ clockwise and leave it set to a point just after the rushing sound stops. When the scanner fi nds an active frequency, it stops searching. You can copy and save a frequency into a specifi ed bank, channel, or priority channel when the scanner fi nds an active frequency...

45 Beyond the Basics manually tuning a frequency You can manually set the scanner to move through all receivable frequencies, or select a specifi c frequency as a starting point. 1. Press TUNE . The currently-tuned frequency , *** PAUSED ***, and Fine Tune Mode appear. 2. Use the number keys to enter...

46 Beyond the Basics listening to a weather channel To hear your local forecast and regional weather information, press WX . Your scanner scans through the weather band then stops within a few seconds on the next available weather broadcast. SAME standby mode The National Weather Service precedes ea...

47 Beyond the Basics 6. Press WX to exit the FIPS code entry table. Press WX then a number key to quickly review stored FIPS codes. Press L/OUT to toggle lockout status. Your scanner can also detect the 1050 Hz weather alert tone when a weather channel is set as the priority channel and weather prio...

48 Beyond the Basics Skywarn Many areas of the country have amateur radio repeaters that have been designated as “Skywarn” repeaters. During times of severe weather, these repeaters are used to relay reports of severe weather directly to meteorologists at a local National Weather Service (NWS) forec...

49 Beyond the Basics 2. Press the desired bank and the channel number where you want to store the frequency. The display indicates the bank and channel number. After about 1 second, the frequency to be copied fl ashes. 3. Press ENT . All the conditions such as receive mode and delay condition are cop...

50 Beyond the Basics copying a frequency into the priority channel You can copy a frequency into the priority channel (see “Priority ”) when the scanner stops on the frequency during Search, Scan, Manual, Tune, or WX mode. Press FUNC then PRI when the frequency appears. The display fl ashes twice and...

51 Beyond the Basics using Signal Stalker II Your scanner’s Signal Stalker II functions when you press and hold for approximately 1 second. The Signal Stalker II function can be set to watch for activity on all band frequencies or Police/Fire frequencies only. To change the all bands to police/fi re ...

52 Beyond the Basics due to their high transmitter output power. You can press L/OUT when the Signal Stalker II stops on these undesired transmissions to prevent the Signal Stalker II from stopping on them in future sweeps, however, the Signal Stalker II will still see their RF signal energy when sw...

53 Beyond the Basics key so the bank’s number disappears. For example, to turn off bank 1, press 1 . The scanner does not scan any of the channels within the banks you turned off. To turn on banks while scanning, press the number key until the bank’s number appears. For example to turn bank 1 on aga...

55 Beyond the Basics 2. Press FUNC then the bank number you want to clear. Bank X selected. Fn+CLR to delete all frequencies. TEXT to edit tag appears. 3. Press FUNC then CL . Clear entire bank? Press 1 to clear all, any other key aborts appears. 4. Press 1 to clear the selected bank’s all channel m...

56 Beyond the Basics You can still manually select locked-out channels. To remove the lockout from a channel, manually select the channel and press L/OUT so LO changes to lo . reviewing locked-out channels To review all locked out channels, press MAN . Then repeatedly alternate between pressing FUNC...

57 Beyond the Basics L/OUT again to cancel reviewing locked-out frequencies. clearing a locked-out frequency To clear a locked-out frequency, select that frequency (see “Reviewing Locked-Out Frequencies”), then press CL . If all locked-out frequencies are cleared within a bank, No Lockout appears. c...

58 Beyond the Basics on, the scanner checks that channel every 2 seconds, and stays on the channel if there is activity until the activity stops. The priority feature does not operate while the scanner receives a trunking voice channel or during trunking delay time. Therefore, the priority check see...

59 Beyond the Basics 1. Press WX . 2. Select the weather channel you want to program as the priority channel. 3. Press FUNC then PRI . The display fl ashes two times. To turn on the priority feature, press PRI so pri changes PRI on the display while scanning. If the scanner detects activity on the pr...

61 Beyond the Basics mode. Normal ATT. appears on the bottom line for about 2 seconds. If you turn on the attenuator, the scanner might not receive weak signals. turning the key tone on and off Each time you press any of the scanner’s keys, the scanner sounds a tone. To turn the scanner’s key tone o...

62 Beyond the Basics With Ignore mode, the backlight functions as described in Keypress mode, except that the scanner ignores the fi rst keypress. This mode is useful when you wish to quickly illuminate the display and keypad without having to search for the key. The fi rst keypress is ignored, and th...

63 Beyond the Basics using the keylock Once you program your scanner, you can protect it from accidental program changes by turning on the key lock feature. When the keypad is locked, the only controls that operate are FUNC , / , SQ , and VOL . You cannot activate the keylock while you are entering ...

64 Beyond the Basics cloning the programmed data You can transfer the programmed data to and from another PRO-97 scanner using an optional connecting cable with 1/8-inch (3.5 mm) phone plugs on both ends (not supplied, available at your local RadioShack store). “CLONE MODE” Incorrect Model appears i...

65 Beyond the Basics trunking how trunking works The scanner tracks transmissions that use the Motorola Type I and Type II (such as Smartnet and Privacy Plus) and hybrid analog trunking systems, plus GE/ Ericsson (EDACS) and EF Johnson (LTR) type systems extensively used in many communication system...

67 Beyond the Basics setting squelch for trunking mode Your scanner automatically mutes the audio during trunk scanning when it decodes control channel data. However, we recommend you turn SQ clockwise and leave it set to a point just after the rushing sound stops. This lets the scanner quickly acqu...

68 Beyond the Basics one at a time, repeat the sequence of PGM , FUNC then e or d until you reach the desired bank. 2. Press TRUNK to enter the ID program mode. 3. Repeatedly press MODE to select Motorola, EDACS (GE/ Ericsson), or LTR (EF Johnson) system to scan. This sets the talk group ID decoding...

70 Beyond the Basics Base and offset frequencies vary for each type of trunking system. You can get information about these frequencies for the trunking system you want to scan using www. trunkscanner.com , other Internet sources, or locally published guidebooks. If you try to program an offset freq...

71 Beyond the Basics programming Motorola trunking systems (800 MHz) Follow these steps to program 800 MHz band Motorola trunking. On the 800 MHz trunking band, you can select a base frequency (normal or offset). On the 900 MHz trunking band, you do not need to set the base frequency (base, offset, ...

72 Beyond the Basics 3. Press FUNC . Then press 8 . Size Code Setting appears. 4. Enter the size code supplied with the Type I system information, referring to the instruction that appears on the display. If the information was not supplied, try the following common fl eet maps. Block Size Code 1 2 3...

73 Beyond the Basics 5. Press ENT for each entry. If you make a mistake, press CL and enter the correct size code. The default setting of the bank is for Motorola Type II. However, if you set Type I and you want to return to Type II, enter 15 at Step 4. To confi rm the input, repeat Steps 1-5 and pre...

74 Beyond the Basics When you try to store more than 150 talk group IDs in a bank, Memory Full! appears. Clear some talk group IDs in order to store new ones (see “Clearing Talk Group IDs”). Follow these steps to manually store talk group IDs or to edit a stored ID. 1. Press PGM . 2. Press TRUNK . 3...

75 Beyond the Basics 9. To store the next ID memory in sequence, press e and repeat Step 7. 10. Press SCAN to start scanning. If you made a mistake in Step 4, Invalid ID value appears and the scanner beeps when you press ENT . Start again at Step 3. You can enter either a decimal or AFS code for ED ...

76 Beyond the Basics talk group ID hold You can set your scanner to follow a trunking signal that you want to track during scanning. While the scanner is stopped on a voice channel ( VC appears), hold down TRUNK until ID hold ON . appears. When ID hold is activated and the scanner receives a voice c...

77 Beyond the Basics locking out talk group IDs 1. Press PGM . You can only lock out talk group IDs when the scanner is in the closed mode (see “Open and Closed Modes”). 2. Press TRUNK . 3. Press FUNC , e or d to move to the desired bank. 4. Press e or d to select the ID memory. 5. Press L/OUT to lo...

78 Beyond the Basics 3. Press ENT . When activated, ID delay watches the control channel command for the delay time when the signal disappears from the voice channel. reviewing locked-out talk group IDs You cannot clear all lockouts from a talk group at the same time. 1. Press PGM then TRUNK . 2. Pr...

79 Beyond the Basics appears. To cancel the deletion, press any key except 1 . The scanner returns to the talk group ID memory mode. changing the open/closed mode 1. Press MAN . 2. Press FUNC then e or d to select the channel storage bank. 3. Press FUNC then ./DELAY . Bank OPEN . or Bank CLOSED . ap...

80 Beyond the Basics care 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, and wipe it with a damp cloth occasionally to keep it lo...

81 Beyond the Basics specifi cations Frequency Coverage: 25–54 MHz ............................................................................ (in 5 kHz steps) 108–136.99166 MHz ........................................................ (in 8.33 kHz steps) 137–174 MHz ....................................

84 Beyond the Basics initializing your scanner If the scanner’s display locks up or does not work properly after you connect a power source or install batteries, you might need to initialize it. This procedure clears all information you stored in the scanner’s memory. Initialize the scanner only whe...

85 Beyond the Basics The FCC wants you to know 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. Thi...

86 Beyond the Basics glossary Frequency — the receving signal location (expressed in MHz). To fi nd active frequencies, you can use frequency guides available from your local RadioShack store, frequency listings posted on the Internet, or the built-in search function. Channels — programmable memory l...

87 Beyond the Basics FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) The scanner is not working at all. What’s wrong? The AC or DC adapter might not be connected. Be sure the adapter’s barrel plug is fully inserted into the PWR DC 9V jack. The center tip of the adapter’s barrel plug must be set to positive. The b...