Radio Shack PRO-79 Owner's Manual

Owner’s ManualCat. No. 20-314PRO-79200-Channel VHF/Air/UHFHandheld ScannerPlease read before using this equipment.(illus - show front of product)20-31

10Cautions:You must use a power source that supplies 9V DCand delivers at least 300 mA. Its center tip must beset to positive and its plug must fit th

11Note: Ni-Cd batteries last longer and deliver more power if youoccasionally let them fully discharge. To do this, simply use thescanner until B appe

12Connecting an Outdoor AntennaInstead of the supplied antenna, you can connect an outdoorbase-station or mobile antenna (not supplied) to your scanne

13Warning: Use extreme caution when you install or remove anoutdoor antenna. If the antenna starts to fall, let it go! It couldcontact overhead power

14Traffic Safety• Do not use an earphone/headphones with your scannerwhen operating a motor vehicle or riding a bicycle in or neartraffic. Doing so ca

15UNDERSTANDING YOUR SCANNEROnce you understand a few simple terms we use in this manualand familiarize yourself with your scanner’s features, you can

16BAND Lets you search the scanner’s preprogrammedservice-search banks.PRI/ALERT Turns the priority feature on and off; turns theWX alert mode on and

17A LOOK AT THE DISPLAYThe display has indicators that show the scanner’s current oper-ating status. This quick look at the display will help you unde

18dEFAULt Appears when you remove all the lock-outs fromthe service bank frequencies.D-Err Appears when the scanner receives a data errorduring wired

19on tonEAppears when you turn the key tone on. P Appears when the scanner is tuned to the prioritychannel.PGM Appears when you program frequencies in

2FEATURESYour new RadioShack PRO-79 200 Channel VHF/Air/UHFHandheld Scanner lets you scan conventional transmissions,and is preprogrammed with search

20Service BanksThe scanner is preprogrammed with the frequencies allocatedby fire/police, aircraft, ham radio, and marine services. This ishandy for q

21AirAmateur RadioMarine3 453.0375–453.9625 12.5458.0375–458.9625 12.5460.0125–460.6375 12.5465.0125–465.6375 12.5Frequency Range (MHz) Step (kHz)108.

2214 156.700015 156.750016 156.800017 156.850018 156.900019 156.950020 157.0000/161.600021 157.050022 157.100023 157.150024 157.2000/161.800025 157.25

2378 156.925079 156.975080 157.025081 157.075082 157.125083 157.175084 157.2250/161.825085 157.2750/161.875086 157.3250/161.925087 157.3750/161.975088

24MONITOR MEMORIESThe scanner has 20 monitor memories that you can use to tem-porarily store frequencies while you decide whether to savethem into cha

25OPERATIONTURNING ON THE SCANNER/SETTING VOLUME AND SQUELCH1. Turn SQUELCH fully counterclockwise (until the indicatorpoints to MIN) before you turn

26Resetting the Scanner1. Turn off the scanner, then turn it on again.2. Insert a pointed object, such as a straightened paper clip,into the reset ope

27STORING KNOWN FREQUENCIES INTO CHANNELSGood references for active frequencies are the RadioShack Po-lice Call Guide including Fire and Emergency Ser

28•Press DELAY if you want the scanner to pause 2 secondson this channel before it proceeds to the next channelafter a transmission ends (see “Delay”

29• To pause the search while receiving a signal, press ▲ or▼. To resume searching, hold down ▲ or ▼.• To quickly move up or down through the frequenc

3Weather Alert — the scanner automatically sounds an alertwhen it receives a weather emergency signal, providing morecomplete information about weathe

30Note: You can use the scanner’s delay feature while using di-rect search.1. Press MAN then enter the frequency (including the decimalpoint) you want

31• If you entered a frequency that is already stored inanother channel, -dUPL- (duplicate) and the lowest-numbered channel containing the duplicate f

322. Press MON/CL. M, a monitor memory number, and CH flash,and the frequency in the selected monitor memory appears.3. Enter the desired monitor memo

33TURNING CHANNEL-STORAGE BANKS OFF AND ONChannel-storage banks (1–10) are on when they have a bar un-derneath them and off when no bar appears undern

34CLEARING A STORED CHANNELIf you no longer want a frequency stored in a channel (and youdo not want to replace that frequency with a different one),

35Your scanner should stop within a few seconds on your localweather broadcast. If the broadcast is weak, you can press WXagain to resume scanning.WX

36SPECIAL FEATURESDELAYMany agencies use a two-way radio system that has a period ofseveral seconds between a query and a reply. To avoid missinga rep

37To remove the lockout from a channel, manually select thatchannel again, then hold down L/O/L/O RVW until L/O disap-pears.Notes:• Your scanner autom

38Removing Lockouts From All Frequencies in All Service BanksNotes:• These steps do not clear any lockouts in the marine servicebank.• If you locked o

39Note: If you program a weather frequency into the priority chan-nel and the scanner detects a WX alert tone on that frequency(see “WX Alert” on Page

4Key Confirmation Tones — the scanner sounds a confirmationtone when you perform an operation correctly, and an error toneif you make an error.Three P

40To turn on the keylock, hold down for about 3 seconds un-til the scanner beeps three times and appears. To turn itoff, hold down for about 3 s

41A GENERAL GUIDE TO SCANNINGReception of the frequencies covered by your scanner is mainly“line-of-sight.” That means you usually cannot hear station

42GUIDE TO THE ACTION BANDSTypical Band Usage (MHz)Primary UsageAs a general rule, most of the radio activity is concentrated onthe following frequenc

43Note: Remote control stations and mobile units operate at 5MHz higher than their associated base stations and relay re-peater units.BAND ALLOCATIONT

44TELM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Telephone MaintenanceTOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

45VHF High Band (148–174 MHz)148.050–150.345 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CAP, MAR, MIL150.775–150.790 . . . . . . . . .

46Low Band (450–470 MHz)450.050–450.925 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RTV451.025–452.025 . . . . . . .

47TROUBLESHOOTINGIf your scanner is not working as it should, these suggestionsmight help you eliminate the problem. If the scanner still doesnot oper

48CARE AND MAINTENANCEYour RadioShack PRO-79 200 Channel VHF/Air/UHF Hand-held Scanner is an example of superior design and craftsman-ship. The follow

49SPECIFICATIONSFrequency Coverage (MHz):10 Meter Amateur Radio ... 29–30 (in 5 kHz steps)VHF Lo ...

5Note: Mobile use of this scanner is unlawful or requires a permitin some areas. Check the laws in your area.SCANNING LEGALLYYour scanner covers frequ

50Power Requirements ... 6 Volts DC, 4 AA BatteriesAC Adapter (Optional)DC Adapter (Optional)Current Drain (Squelched) ...

51NOTES20-314.fm Page 51 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM

RadioShackA Division of Tandy CorporationFort Worth, Texas 76102GE-99D-342612A99 Printed in Hong KongLimited One-Year WarrantyThis product is warrante

6CONTENTSPreparation ... 8Installing Batteries ...

7Special Features ... 36Delay ...

8PREPARATIONNote: If the scanner’s display locks up or does not work properlyafter you connect a power source, you might need to reset or ini-tialize

9When B appears on the display and the scanner beeps continu-ously, or if the scanner stops operating properly, replace the bat-teries.Warning: Dispos