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RadioShack Pro 74 Vhf Uhf Race Scanner Reciever Owners Manual
RadioShack Pro 74 Vhf Uhf Race Scanner Reciever Owners Manual
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Owner’s ManualCat. No. 20-513 PRO-74 100-Channel VHF/UHF/Air/800 MHz Race Scanner Please read before using this equipment. 20-513.fm Page 1 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 2:39 PM
2 FEATURES Your new RadioShack PRO-74 100-Channel VHF/UHF/Air/800 MHz Race Scanner lets you in on the action in the pits at the big race or on the streets of your home town. This scanner gives you direct access to more than 30,000 frequencies, including those used by participants and staff at auto races and air shows, by government agencies, police and fire departments, ambulance and transportation services, and am- ateur radio. You can select up to 100 channels for your scanner to scan, and you can change any of those selections at any time. We have included a frequency guide with your PRO-74 that includes listings by state for many of the frequencies you can listen to. Your scanner has these special features: Quick-Track Memory — lets you store a car’s number and any fre- quencies used by the driver’s team into the scanner’s channels. You can recall any of those frequencies by entering the car’s number. Two Supplied Antennas — let you select the antenna that best meets your needs. The supplied stub antenna helps your scanner receive strong local signals and makes the scanner easy to carry and use at events, while the supplied flexible antenna provides excellent reception and is designed to help prevent antenna breakage. Twelve Service Banks — lets you search preset frequencies in sepa- rate auto racing, marine, VHF, aircraft, military, ham radio, govern- ment, UHF, TV, and 800 MHz banks, to make it easy to locate specific types of calls. Weather Search — lets you easily search the scanner’s 7 prepro- grammed weather frequencies. Ten Memory Banks — let you store 10 channels in each of 10 banks to group channels so you can more easily identify calls. Priority Channels — lets you program one channel in each bank (10 in all) and then have the scanner check it every 2 seconds so you dont miss transmissions on that channel. © 1998 Tandy Corporation. All Rights Reserved. RadioShack is a registered trademark used by Tandy Corporation. Hypersearch is a trademark used by Tandy Corporation. 20-513.fm Page 2 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 2:39 PM
3 Hypersearchä — lets you set the scanner to search at up to 300 steps per second, to help you quickly find interesting broadcasts. (The nor- mal search speed is 100 steps per second). Two-Second Scan Delay — automatically delays scanning for about 2 seconds before moving to another channel, so you can hear more re- plies. Lock-Out Function — lets you set your scanner to skip over specified channels. Direct Frequency Search — lets you search all frequencies, starting directly from a specified frequency. Data Signal Skip — lets you set the scanner to skip non-modulated or data signals during searches. This lets the scanner avoid non-voice signals, making a search faster. Search Skip — lets you set the scanner to skip up to 20 frequencies you select during searches. This lets the scanner avoid unwanted sig- nals. Three Power Options — let you power the scanner using alkaline or rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries, external AC power using an optional AC adapter/charger, or DC power using an optional DC adapter. Memory Backup — keeps the frequencies stored in memory for up to 3 days if the PRO-74 loses power. Key Confirmation Tones — the scanner sounds a tone when you per- form an operation correctly, and an error tone if you make an invalid entry. You can turn the key confirmation tones on or off. Display Backlight — makes the scanner easy to read in low-light situ- ations. Battery Low Alert — warns you when battery power gets low. Battery Save — saves battery power when the scanner does not de- tect any transmissions for more than 5 seconds while a channel is manually selected or while you are programming the scanner. Key Lock — lets you lock the scanners keys to help prevent acciden- tal changes to the scanners programming. 20-513.fm Page 3 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 2:39 PM
4 Resume Start — the scanner saves its settings when you turn the power off. This returns you to the function you were using if you acci- dentally turn the scanner off or the batteries are weak. Triple-Conversion Circuitry — virtually eliminates any interference from IF (intermediate frequency) images, so you hear only the selected frequency. Your scanner can receive these bands: We recommend you record your scanner’s serial number here. The number is on the back panel. Serial Number: ___________________________Frequency Range (MHz)Step (kHz)Transmission 29–29.7 5 10-Meter Ham Band 29.7–50 5 VHF Lo 50–54 5 6-Meter Ham Band 108–136.975 12.5 Aircraft/Air Shows 137–144 5 Auto Racing, Aircraft/Air Shows, Government, Motion Picture/Video Industry, Pro Sports Teams, Radio/TV Remote Broadcast Pickup, Stadiums/Venues 144–148 5 2-Meter Ham Band 148–174 5 VHF Hi 406–450 12.5 70-cm Ham Band and Federal Government 450–470 12.5 UHF Standard Band 470–512 12.5 UHF “T” Band 806–823.9375 12.5 Public Service “800” Band, except cellular band 851–868.9375 12.5 UHF Hi 896.1125–956.000 12.5 UHF Hi 20-513.fm Page 4 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 2:39 PM
5 FCC NOTICE Your scanner might cause radio or TV interference even when it is oper- ating properly. To determine whether your scanner is causing the interfer- ence, turn off your scanner. If the interference goes away, your scanner is causing it. Try the following methods to eliminate the interference: • Move your scanner away from the receiver • Connect your scanner to an outlet that is on a different electrical circuit from the receiver • Contact your local RadioShack store for help Note: Mobile use of this scanner is unlawful or requires a permit in some areas. Check the laws in your area. SCANNING LEGALLY Your scanner covers frequencies used by many different groups in- cluding police and fire departments, ambulance services, government agencies, private companies, amateur radio services, military opera- tions, 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. These include: • Telephone conversations (cellular, cordless, or other private means of telephone signal transmission) • Pager transmissions • Any scrambled or encrypted transmissions According to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), you are subject to fines and possible imprisonment for intentionally listening to, using, or divulging the contents of such a transmission unless you have the consent of a party to the communication (unless such activity is otherwise illegal). This scanner has been designed to prevent reception of illegal trans- missions. This is done to comply with the legal requirement that scan- ners be manufactured so as to not be easily modifiable to pick up those transmissions. Do not open your scanners case to make any modifica- tions that could allow it to pick up transmissions that it is not legal to lis- ten to. Doing so could subject you to legal penalties. We encourage responsible, legal scanner use. 20-513.fm Page 5 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 2:39 PM
6 CONTENTS Preparation ....................................................................................... 9 Power Sources ............................................................................ 9 Using Internal Batteries ........................................................ 9 Charging Nickel-Cadmium Batteries .................................. 11 Using Standard AC Power ................................................. 12 Using Vehicle Battery Power .............................................. 13 Connecting an Antenna ............................................................ 14 Connecting an Optional Antenna ....................................... 15 Connecting an Extension Speaker ............................................ 16 Connecting an Earphone/Headphones ..................................... 16 Listening Safely ................................................................. 17 Traffic Safety ...................................................................... 17 Attaching the Belt Clip ............................................................... 17 Understanding Your Scanner ........................................................ 18 A Look at the Keypad ................................................................ 18 A Look at the Display ................................................................ 20 Understanding Banks ................................................................ 22 Memory Banks ................................................................... 22 Service Banks .................................................................... 22 Operation ........................................................................................ 24 Turning On the Scanner and Setting Squelch ........................... 24 Storing Known Frequencies into Channels ............................... 25 Finding and Storing Active Frequencies ................................... 26 Searching the Service Banks ............................................. 26 Searching from a Selected Frequency ............................... 27 Storing Active Frequencies ................................................ 28 Search Skip Memory ................................................................. 28 Manually Selecting a Channel ................................................... 29 Scanning Channels ................................................................... 30 Deleting a Frequency from a Channel ...................................... 30 Listening to Weather Broadcasts .............................................. 31 Using the PRO-74 at the Races ..................................................... 32 Storing a Car Number and Frequency ...................................... 32 Adding Frequencies to a Car Number ............................... 33 Viewing Frequencies Associated with a Car Number ........ 34 Deleting a Frequency from a Car Number ......................... 34 Scanning by Car Number .......................................................... 34 Finding What Car Numbers are in What Channels ................... 35 20-513.fm Page 6 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 2:39 PM
7 Special Features ............................................................................. 36 Turning Memory Banks On and Off ........................................... 36 Locking Out Channels ............................................................... 36 Priority ....................................................................................... 36 Using the Keylock ...................................................................... 38 Using the Display Backlight ....................................................... 38 Changing Search Speeds .......................................................... 38 Turning the Key Tone Off/On ..................................................... 39 Turning the Battery Save Function Off/On ................................. 39 Skipping Data Signals ............................................................... 40 A General Guide to Scanning ........................................................ 41 Guide to Frequencies ................................................................ 41 National Weather Frequencies ........................................... 41 Canadian Weather Frequencies ......................................... 41 VHF FM Marine Frequencies ............................................. 41 Birdie Frequencies ............................................................. 42 Guide to the Action Bands ......................................................... 43 Typical Band Usage ........................................................... 43 Primary Usage .................................................................... 44 Band Allocation ......................................................................... 44 Frequency Conversion .............................................................. 48 Troubleshooting .............................................................................. 49 Resetting the Scanner ............................................................... 50 Care and Maintenance .................................................................... 51 Specifications ................................................................................. 52 20-513.fm Page 7 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 2:39 PM
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 the longest operation and best performance, we recommend you use alkaline bat- teries (such as RadioShack Cat. No. 23-552). You can also use four rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries (Cat. No. 23-125). Before you use nickel-cadmium batteries, you must charge them (see “Charging Nickel-Cadmium Batteries” on Page 10). Follow these steps to install batteries. 1. While pushing up the tab above the battery compartment cover on the back of the scanner, lift open the battery compartment cover to remove it. 2. If you are installing alkaline batteries, use a pointed object such as a pen to set ALKALINE JACK NI-CD inside the compart- ment to ALKALINE. Or, if you are installing nickel-cadmium bat- teries, set it to NI-CD. 20-513.fm Page 8 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 2:39 PM
9 Warning: Never set ALKALINE JACK NI-CD to NI-CD if you are installing non-rechargeable batteries. Non-rechargeable batteries can get hot or explode if you try to recharge them. 3. Install two batteries in the compartment and two in the cover as indicated by the polarity symbols (+ and –) marked inside those locations. Cautions: • Use only fresh batteries of the required size and recommended type. • Always remove old or weak batteries. Batteries can leak chemi- cals that destroy electronic circuits. • Do not mix old and new batteries, different types of batteries (alkaline or rechargeable), or rechargeable batteries of different capacities. 4. Replace the cover. If BATT.Loflashes and the scanner beeps every 15 seconds, replace (alkaline) or recharge (rechargeable nickel-cadmium) the batteries. Caution: Always dispose of old batteries promptly and properly. Do not bury or burn them. 20-513.fm Page 9 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 2:39 PM
10 Charging Nickel-Cadmium Batteries The scanner has a built-in circuit that lets you recharge nickel-cadmium batteries 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 adapter to the scan- ner’s POWER jack (see “Using Standard AC Power” on Page 11 or “Us- ing Vehicle Battery Power” on Page 12). Warning: Do not connect either adapter to the scanner if you have non-rechargeable batteries (such as alkaline batteries) installed in the scanner and ALKALINE JACK NI-CD is set to NI-CD, or you are un- sure of the switch’s position. Non-rechargeable batteries will get hot and can even explode if you try to recharge them. Before you use nickel-cadmium batteries for the first time, charge them at least 24 hours to bring them to a full charge. Discharged batteries take about 10 to 18 hours to fully recharge. It takes longer to fully charge them if you operate the scanner while you recharge them. Notes: • Nickel-cadmium batteries last longer and deliver more power if you occasionally let them fully discharge. To do this, simply use the scanner until it begins beeping every 15 seconds and BATT.Loflashes. • To prevent damaging nickel-cadmium batteries, never charge them in an area where the temperature is above 113°F or below 40°F. Important: At the end of a rechargeable battery’s useful life, it must be recycled or disposed of properly. Contact your local, county, or state hazardous waste management authorities for information on recycling or disposal programs in your area. Some options that might be avail- able are: municipal curb-side collection, drop-off boxes at retailers such as your local RadioShack store, recycling collection centers, and mail- back programs. 20-513.fm Page 10 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 2:39 PM