RadioShack Pro 74 Vhf Uhf Race Scanner Reciever Owners Manual

21
UNDERSTANDING BANKS
Memory Banks
To make it easier to identify and select the channels you want to listen
to, the PRO-74’s channels are divided into 10 banks of 10 channels
each. Use each memory bank to group frequencies, such as the police
department, fire department, ambulance services, or aircraft (see
“Guide to the Action Bands” on Page 42). For example, the police de-
partment might use four frequencies, one for each side of town. You
could program the police frequencies starting with Channel 1...

22Name 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 driver
and 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 transmissions (
CAr).
Notes: 
• The frequencies in the scanner’s service banks are preset. You
cannot change them.
• “Band Allocation” on Page 43 lists frequency ranges and the
broadcasters you are likely to...

23
OPERATION 
TURNING ON THE SCANNER AND
SETTING SQUELCH
Note:
 Make sure an antenna is connected to the scanner before you
turn 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 just after the
hissing sound stops.
Notes:
• If you have not stored frequencies into any channels, the scanner
does not scan.
• If the scanner picks up unwanted, partial, or very weak transmis-
sions,...

24
STORING KNOWN FREQUENCIES
INTO CHANNELS
Good references for active frequencies are the RadioShack “Beyond
Police Call,” “Aeronautical Frequency Directory,” and “Maritime Fre-
quency Directory.” We update these directories every year, so be sure
to get a current copy.
Follow these steps to store a frequency into a channel.
1. Press 
MAN, enter the channel number where you want to store a
frequency, then press 
PROG. The channel number appears. 
2. Use the number keys and 
CLEAR/• to enter the frequency...

25
• 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.
• Your scanner automatically delays scanning for 2 seconds after
a transmission ends before it proceeds to the next channel.
4. To program the next channel in sequence, press 
PROG and repeat
Steps 2 and 3. 
Note: 
If you previously stored a car number in a channel (see
“Storing a Car Number and Frequency” on Page 31), the...

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 channel while the frequency is
paused or held, see “Storing Active Frequencies” on Page 27.
Searching from a Selected Frequency
If you do not have a reference to frequencies in your area, you can
search for...

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 Active Frequencies
To store an active frequency into a channel, press PROG while the fre-
quency is paused or held. The lowest available channel number flash-
es.
• To enter the frequency into that channel,...

28
To skip a frequency, pressS/Swhen the
scanner stops on the frequency during a
search. The scanner stores the frequen-
cy in memory and automatically resumes
the search.
To clear a single frequency from search
skip memory so the scanner can stop on
it during a search, follow these steps.
1. Press
HOLDto hold the search.
2. Press
)or(to select the frequency.L/Oappears.
3. Press
S/S.L/Odisappears from the display.
To clear all the search skip frequencies at once, during a search, press...

29
Note: You cannot use this procedure to select a car number. See
“Viewing Frequencies Associated with a Car Number” on Page 33 to
select 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 channel, press 
MAN once.
Pressing 
MAN additional times causes your scanner to step through the
channels. To resume scanning, press 
SCAN.
SCANNING CHANNELS
To begin scanning channels, press SCAN. The...

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 also
allocated frequencies for use by their weather reporting authorities.
Your local weather reporting authority broadcasts your local forecast
and regional weather information on one or more of these frequencies.
If your scanner is within a weather reporting authority’s broadcast...