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20-310.fm Page 1 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM
OWNER’S MANUAL
PRO-70
50-Channel Portable Scanner
Please read before using this equipment.
Cat. No. 20-310
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20-310.fm Page 2 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM INTRODUCTION Your new RadioShack PRO-70 50-Channel Portable Scanner lets you in on all the action. This scanner gives you direct access to over 22,000 exciting frequencies, in- cluding police and fire departments, ambulance services, and amateur radio services. You can select up to 50 chan- nels to scan, and you can change your selection at any time. The secret to your scanner’s ability to scan so many fre- quencies is its custom-designed mi
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20-310.fm Page 3 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM Channel Lockout — keeps channels you select from be- ing scanned. Key Lock — lets you lock the scanner’s keys to help pre- vent accidentally changing the scanner’s programming. Flexible Antenna with BNC Connector — provides ex- cellent reception and is designed to help prevent antenna breakage. Liquid Crystal Display — makes it easy to view and change programming information. Display Backlight — makes the scanner easy to read in low light si
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20-310.fm Page 4 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM Your PRO-70 scanner contains the following prepro- grammed frequencies (divided into search bands). See “Using Band Search” on Page 25. Frequency Search Band Description Range (in MHz) 0 29-30 10-Meter Amateur Radio 1 30-50 VHF Low 2 50-54 6-Meter Amateur Radio 3 137-144 Aircraft/Air Shows, Government 4 144-148 2-Meter Amateur Radio 5 148-174 VHF Hi 6 380-420 U.S. Government 7 420-450 70-Centimeter Amateur Radio 8 450-470 UHF Low 9 470-512
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20-310.fm Page 5 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM This owner’s manual also includes the section “A General Guide to Scanning,” which helps you target frequency ranges in your service area so you can search for a wide variety of broadcasts. FCC NOTICE Your scanner might cause TV or radio interference even when it is operating properly. To determine whether your scanner is causing the interference, turn off your scanner. If the interference goes away, your scanner is causing the interference.
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20-310.fm Page 6 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM SCANNING LEGALLY Scanning is a fun and interesting hobby. You can hear police and fire departments, ambulance services, govern- ment agencies, private companies, amateur radio servic- es, aircraft, and military operations. It is legal to listen to almost every transmission your scanner can receive. However, there are some electronic and wire communi- cations that are illegal to intentionally intercept. These in- clude: • Telephone conversati
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20-310.fm Page 7 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM CONTENTS Preparation .................................................................. 9 Power Sources ...................................................... 9 Using Batteries ............................................... 9 Using Standard AC Power ............................ 11 Using Vehicle Battery Power ........................ 12 Charging a Rechargeable Battery Pack ....... 13 Connecting the Antenna ...................................
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20-310.fm Page 8 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM A General Scanning Guide ...................................... 36 Guide to Frequencies .......................................... 36 National Weather Frequencies ..................... 36 Ham Radio Frequencies ............................... 36 Birdie Frequencies ....................................... 37 Guide to the Action Bands ................................... 37 United States Broadcast Bands ................... 37 Typical Band Usage .
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20-310.fm Page 9 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM PREPARATION POWER SOURCES You can power your scanner from any of three sources: • Internal batteries or a rechargeable scanner battery pack (not supplied — see “Using Batteries”) • Standard AC power (with an optional AC adapter — see “Using Standard AC Power” on Page 11) • Vehicle battery power (with an optional DC adapter — see “Using Vehicle Battery Power” on Page 12) Notes: • Connecting an AC or DC adapter to the scanner dis- connects any
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20-310.fm Page 10 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM Follow these steps to install batteries or a battery pack. 1. Press down on the battery compartment cover on the bottom of the scanner and slide the cover in the direction of the arrow to remove it. 2. Pull up and slide the battery holder or battery pack out of the battery compartment. 3. If you are installing individual batteries, insert six bat- teries in the battery holder as indicated by the polar- ity symbols (+ and –) marked on the ba
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20-310.fm Page 11 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM 4. Slide the battery holder or battery pack into the com- partment. Caution: The battery holder or battery pack fits only one way inside the battery compartment. Do not force it. 5. Replace the cover. If BATT flashes on the display, immediately replace all six non-rechargeable batteries, remove and recharge all six rechargeable batteries, or recharge the battery pack. See “Charging a Rechargeable Battery Pack” on Page 13. Caution: Always di
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20-310.fm Page 12 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM Warning: Do not use an AC adapter’s polarized plug with an extension cord, receptacle, or other outlet unless the blades can be fully inserted to prevent blade exposure. Cautions: • You must use an AC adapter that supplies 9 volts and delivers at least 300 milliamps. Its center tip must be set to negative, and its plug must correctly fit the scanner’s PWR/DC 9V jack. The recommended adapter meets these specifications. Using an adapter that
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20-310.fm Page 13 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM 4 3 2 1 1. Connect the DC adapter’s orange barrel plug to the adapter’s cable, with the tip set to – (negative). 2. Set the adapter’s voltage switch to 9V. 3. Insert the barrel plug into the scanner’s PWR/DC 9V jack. 4. Plug the other end of the adapter into your vehicle’s cigarette-lighter socket. Note: If the scanner does not operate properly when you connect a DC adapter, unplug the adapter from the ciga- rette-lighter socket and clean t
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20-310.fm Page 14 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM Note: A rechargeable battery pack lasts longer and deliv- ers more power if you occasionally let it fully discharge. To do this, simply use the scanner until BATT appears on the display. Then fully charge the battery pack. Important! At the end of a rechargeable battery pack’s useful life, it must be recycled or disposed of properly. Contact your local, county, or state hazardous waste man- agement authorities for information on recycling o
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20-310.fm Page 15 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM Connecting an Optional Antenna The antenna connector on your scanner makes it easy to use the scanner with a variety of antennas. Instead of the supplied antenna, you can attach a different one, such as an external mobile antenna or outdoor base station anten- na. Your local RadioShack store sells a variety of anten- nas. Always use 50-ohm coaxial cable, such as RG-58 or RG- 8, to connect an outdoor antenna. For lengths over 50 feet, use RG
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20-310.fm Page 16 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM CONNECTING AN EARPHONE/ HEADPHONES For private listening, you can plug an earphone or mono headphones (such as Cat. No. 33-175 or 20-210) into the jack on top of your scanner. This automatically dis- connects the internal speaker. Listening Safely To protect your hearing, follow these guidelines when you use an earphone or headphones: • Do not listen at extremely high volume levels. Extended high-volume listening can lead to perma- nent h
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20-310.fm Page 17 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM Even though some earphones and headphones let you hear some outside sounds when you listen at normal lev- els, they still can present a traffic hazard. CONNECTING AN EXTENSION SPEAKER In a noisy area, an extension speaker (such as Cat. No. 21-549) or an amplified speaker (such as Cat. No. 21- 541), positioned in the right place, might provide more 1 comfortable listening. Plug the speaker cable’s /8-inch mini-plug into your scanner’s jack
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20-310.fm Page 18 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM UNDERSTANDING THE PRO-70 A LOOK AT THE KEYPAD Your scanner’s keys might seem confusing at first, but this information should help you understand each key’s func- tion. WX — scans through the 10 preprogrammed weather channels. BAND — selects a prepro- grammed search band. SCAN — scans through the programmed channels. MANUAL — stops scanning and lets you directly enter a channel number. / — begins searching up or down for active frequen- cies
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20-310.fm Page 19 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM A LOOK AT THE DISPLAY The display has indicators that show the scanner’s current operation. A quick look at the display will help you under- stand how to operate your scanner. MAN — appears when you manually select a channel. SCAN — appears when you scan channels. WX — appears when you scan or manually search the 10 preprogrammed weather channels. MON — appears when you listen to the monitor memory. BATT — appears when the batteries are low
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20-310.fm Page 20 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 10:49 AM ch — the digits that precede this indicator (1—50) show which channel the scanner is tuned to. –d — appears during a direct frequency search. 000.0000 — the digits in the middle of the display show which frequency the scanner is tuned to. Error — appears when you make an entry error. dUPL — (duplicate) appears when you try to store a fre- quency that is already stored in another channel. 20
