Radio-shack PRO-72 User Manual

OWNER’S MANUALPRO-7250-Channel Portable ScannerPlease read before using this equipment.Cat. No. 20-56620-566.fm Page 1 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:0

10You can also use six rechargeable nickel-cadmium batter-ies (such as Cat. No. 23-125) to power the scanner. Tocharge or recharge nickel-cadmium batt

113. If you are installing individual batteries, insert six AAbatteries in the battery holder as indicated by thepolarity symbols (+ and –) marked on

12Using Standard AC PowerTo power the scanner from AC power, you need an ACadapter (Cat. No. 273-1665).Cautions:• You must use an AC adapter that supp

13Using Vehicle Battery PowerTo power the scanner from your vehicle’s cigarette-lightersocket, you need a DC adapter (Cat. No. 270-1560).Cautions:• Yo

14Notes: • Mobile use of this scanner is unlawful or requires apermit in some areas. Check the laws in your area.• If the scanner does not operate pro

15Important! At the end of a rechargeable battery pack’suseful life, it must be recycled or disposed of properly.Contact your local, county, or state

16Connecting an Optional AntennaThe ANT jack on the top of the scanner makes it easy touse the scanner with a variety of antennas. Instead of thesuppl

17Listening SafelyTo protect your hearing, follow these guidelines when youuse an earphone or headphones:• Do not listen at extremely high volume leve

18CONNECTING AN EXTENSION SPEAKERIn a noisy area, an extension speaker (Cat. No. 21-549) oran amplified speaker (Cat. No. 21-541) might providemore co

19YOUR SCANNEROnce you understand a few simple terms we use in thismanual and familiarize yourself with your scanner’s fea-tures, you can put the scan

2FEATURESYour new RadioShack PRO-72 50-Channel PortableScanner gives you direct access to over 32,000 excitingfrequencies, including police and fire d

20A LOOK AT THE KEYPADYour scanner’s keys might seem confusing at first, but thisinformation should help you understand each key’s func-tion.WX — scan

21 — locks/unlocks the keypad to prevent accidental en-tries.LIGHT — turns on/off the display’s backlight.Number Keys — use these keys to enter the nu

22A LOOK AT THE DISPLAYThe display has indicators that show the scanner’s currentoperation.MAN — appears when you manually select a channel.SCAN — app

23 — appears when you lock the keypad.ch — appears after the digits (1–50) that show whichchannel the scanner is tuned to.–d — appears during a direct

24UNDERSTANDING BANDS/MONITOR MEMORYSearch BandsYour scanner can tune over 32,000 different frequencies.Many of these frequencies are grouped within p

25You can search these bands to quickly find active frequen-cies you might want to store into the scanner’s channels.For example, if you wanted to sea

26OPERATIONTURNING ON THE SCANNER/ SETTING VOLUME AND SQUELCHNote: Make sure the scanner’s antenna is connected be-fore you turn it on.1. Turn SQUELCH

27• If you have not stored frequencies into any channels(see “Storing Active Frequencies” on Page 27), thescanner does not scan.STORING ACTIVE FREQUEN

282. Use the number keys to enter the channel numberwhere you want to store the frequency, then pressPGM again. Or, repeatedly press PGM until thedesi

29Band SearchIf you do not know of a frequency to store, you can searchyour scanner’s preprogrammed search bands (see“Search Bands” on Page 24) for ac

3Channel Lockout — keeps channels you select from be-ing scanned.Memory Backup — keeps the channel frequenciesstored in memory for about 1 hour during

30Notes:• To reverse the search direction at any time, holddown for about 1 second.• To search the band upward or downward in smallincrements (in st

31Direct SearchYou can search up or down from the currently displayedfrequency and store the frequency into the monitor mem-ory. 1. Press MANUAL or PG

32MOVING A FREQUENCY FROM THE MONITOR MEMORY TO A CHANNEL1. Press MANUAL, enter the channel number whereyou want to store the frequency, then press PG

33SCANNING THE CHANNELSTo begin scanning channels or to start scanning again af-ter monitoring a specific channel, press SCAN. SCAN and appear, and

34LISTENING TO THE MONITOR MEMORYTo listen to the frequency stored in the monitor memory,press MANUAL then MON. MAN, MON, and the frequencystored in t

35LISTENING TO A WEATHER BANDThe FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has al-located channels for use by the National Oceanic and At-mospheric Admi

36SPECIAL FEATURESDELAYMany agencies use a two-way radio system that mighthave a pause of several seconds between a query anda reply. To avoid missing

37To remove the lockout from a channel, manually select thechannel then press L-OUT until L/O disappears.Notes:• You can still manually select locked-

38TURNING THE KEY TONE ON AND OFFEach time you press any of the scanner’s keys (except and LIGHT), the scanner sounds a tone. Follow these steps to tu

39A GENERAL GUIDE TO SCANNINGReception of the frequencies covered by your scanner ismainly “line-of-sight.” That means you usually cannot hearstations

4Your PRO-72 scanner can receive all of these frequen-cies:• 29–54 MHz (10-Meter Amateur Radio, VHF Lo, 6-Meter Amateur Radio)• 137–174 MHz (Aircraft/

40Birdie FrequenciesEvery scanner has birdie frequencies. Birdies are sig-nals created inside the scanner’s receiver. These operat-ing frequencies mig

41GUIDE TO THE ACTION BANDSUnited States Broadcast BandsIn the United States, there are several broadcast bands.The standard AM and FM bands are proba

42Primary UsageAs a general rule, most of the radio activity is concentratedon the following frequencies:VHF BandUHF BandNote: Remote control stations

43SPECIFIED INTERVALSFrequencies in different bands are accessible only at spe-cific intervals. For example:BAND ALLOCATIONTo help decide which freque

44OIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oil/Petroleum IndustryPOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

45U.S. Government Band137.000–144.000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GOVT, MIL2-Meter Amateur Band144.000–148.000 . . . . . .

46170.425–170.450 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BIFC170.475. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

47Public Safety Band — Locally Assigned866.0125–868.9875 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PSB33-Centimeter Amateur Band90

48TROUBLESHOOTINGIf your scanner is not working as it should, these sugges-tions might help you eliminate the problem. If the scannerstill does not op

49ProblemPossible CausesRemediesScanner is on but does not scan.SQUELCH is not correctly adjust-ed.Adjust SQUELCH clockwise (see “Turning On the Scann

5FCC NOTICEYour scanner might cause TV or radio interference evenwhen it is operating properly. To determine whether yourscanner is causing the interf

50RESETTING/INITIALIZING THE SCANNERIf the scanner’s display locks up or does not work properlyafter you connect a power source, you might need to res

51Initializing the ScannerImportant: This procedure clears all frequencies youstored in the scanner’s memory and initializes the scannerto its default

52CARE AND MAINTENANCEYour RadioShack PRO-72 50-Channel Portable Scanneris an example of superior design and craftsmanship. Thefollowing suggestions w

53Modifying or tampering with the scanner’s internal compo-nents can cause a malfunction and might invalidate yourscanner’s warranty and void your FCC

54SPECIFICATIONSFrequency Coverage:Ham ... 29–30 MHz (5.0 kHz steps)VHF Lo ... 30–50 MHz (5.0 kHz st

55Squelch Sensitivity:Threshold ... Less than 1.0 µVTight ... (S+N)/

RadioShackA Division of Tandy CorporationFort Worth, Texas 76102GE-97-D-24294A7 Printed in Hong KongLimited One-Year WarrantyThis product is warranted

6SCANNING LEGALLYYour scanner covers frequencies used by many differentgroups including police and fire departments, ambulanceservices, government age

7CONTENTSPreparation ... 9Power Sources ...

8Special Features ..... 36Delay .....

9PREPARATIONPOWER SOURCESYou can power your scanner from any of four sources:• Internal batteries (not supplied) with the providedbattery holder• A re