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20-314.fm Page 1 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM
Owner’s Manual Cat. No. 20-314
PRO-79
200-Channel VHF/Air/UHF
Handheld Scanner
Please read before using this equipment.
(illus - show front of product)
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20-314.fm Page 2 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM FEATURES Your new RadioShack PRO-79 200 Channel VHF/Air/UHF Handheld Scanner lets you scan conventional transmissions, and is preprogrammed with search banks for convenience. By pressing a single button, you can quickly search those frequen- cies most commonly used by public service and other agencies without tedious and complicated programming. This scanner gives you direct access to over 25,000 exciting fre- quencies, including those used
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20-314.fm Page 3 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM Weather Alert — the scanner automatically sounds an alert when it receives a weather emergency signal, providing more complete information about weather conditions in your immedi- ate area. Weather Band Key — scans seven preprogrammed weather frequencies to keep you informed about current weather condi- tions. Wired Programming — you can connect your scanner to a per- sonal computer and program frequencies into the scanner from the computer
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20-314.fm Page 4 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM Key Confirmation Tones — the scanner sounds a confirmation tone when you perform an operation correctly, and an error tone if you make an error. Three Power Options — you can power the scanner from inter- nal (rechargeable or non-rechargeable batteries) or external AC or DC power (using an optional AC or DC adapter). Your PRO-79 scanner can receive these bands: Frequency Types of Transmissions Range (MHz) 29–54 10-Meter Ham Band, VHF Lo, 6-
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20-314.fm Page 5 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM 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 including police and fire departments, ambulance services, gov- ernment agencies, private companies, amateur radio services, military operations, pager services, and wireline (telephone and telegraph) service providers. It is legal to listen to almost ever
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20-314.fm Page 6 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM CONTENTS Preparation ............................................................................ 8 Installing Batteries ............................................................ 8 Using AC Power ................................................................ 9 Using Vehicle Battery Power ............................................. 9 Charging Rechargeable Batteries .................................. 10 Connecting an Antenna ...........
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20-314.fm Page 7 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM Special Features .................................................................. 36 Delay ............................................................................... 36 Locking Out Channels or Frequencies ............................ 36 Locking Out Channels ................................................. 36 Locking Out Frequencies ............................................ 37 Reviewing Locked-Out Frequencies ......................
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20-314.fm Page 8 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM PREPARATION Note: If the scanner’s display locks up or does not work properly after you connect a power source, you might need to reset or ini- tialize the scanner. Important: If you have problems, first try to reset the scanner (see “Resetting the Scanner” on Page 26). If that does not work, you can initialize the scanner (see “Initializing the Scanner” on Page 26); however, this clears all information stored in your scanner’s memory. INSTA
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20-314.fm Page 9 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM When B appears on the display and the scanner beeps continu- ously, or if the scanner stops operating properly, replace the bat- teries. Warning: Dispose of old batteries promptly and properly. Do not burn or bury them. Caution: If you do not plan to use the scanner with batteries for a month or more, remove the batteries. Batteries can leak chem- icals that can destroy electronic parts. USING AC POWER You can power the scanner using a 9V, 3
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20-314.fm Page 10 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM Cautions: You must use a power source that supplies 9V DC and delivers at least 300 mA. Its center tip must be ! set to positive and its plug must fit the scanner's PWR jack. Using an adapter that does not meet these speci- fications could damage the scanner or the adapter. • Always connect the DC adapter to the scanner before you connect it to the power source. When you finish, disconnect the adapter from the power source before you discon
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1 - 8 0 0 - 8 20-314.fm Page 11 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM Note: Ni-Cd batteries last longer and deliver more power if you occasionally let them fully discharge. To do this, simply use the scanner until B appears on the display. Then fully charge the batteries. Important: This radio can use Ni-Cd recharge- able batteries. At the end of a Ni-Cd battery's useful life, it must be recycled or disposed of properly. Contact your local, county, or state haz- ardous waste management authoriti
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20-314.fm Page 12 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM Connecting an Outdoor Antenna Instead of the supplied antenna, you can connect an outdoor base-station or mobile antenna (not supplied) to your scanner using a BNC connector. Your local RadioShack store sells a va- riety of antennas. Choose the one that best meets your needs. When deciding on a mobile or base-station antenna and its loca- tion, consider these points: • The antenna should be as high as possible on the vehicle or building. •
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20-314.fm Page 13 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM Warning: Use extreme caution when you install or remove an outdoor antenna. If the antenna starts to fall, let it go! It could contact overhead power lines. If the antenna touches a power line, contact with the antenna, mast, cable, or guy wires can cause electrocution and death. Call the power company to re- move the antenna. DO NOT attempt to do so yourself. CONNECTING AN EARPHONE/ HEADPHONES For private listening, you can connect an earp
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20-314.fm Page 14 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM Traffic Safety • Do not use an earphone/headphones with your scanner when operating a motor vehicle or riding a bicycle in or near traffic. Doing so can create a traffic hazard and could be ille- gal in some areas. • If you use an earphone/headphones with your scanner while riding a bicycle, be very careful. Do not listen to a continu- ous transmission. Even though some earphones/head- phones let you hear some outside sounds when listening
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20-314.fm Page 15 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM UNDERSTANDING YOUR SCANNER Once you understand a few simple terms we use in this manual and familiarize yourself with your scanner’s features, you can put the scanner to work for you. You simply determine the type of communications you want to receive, then set the scanner to scan them. A frequency is the tuning location of a station (expressed in kHz or MHz). To find active frequencies, you can use the search function. You can also search
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20-314.fm Page 16 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM BAND Lets you search the scanner’s preprogrammed service-search banks. PRI/ALERT Turns the priority feature on and off; turns the WX alert mode on and off. WX Scans the seven preprogrammed weather chan- nels. SCAN Scans any preprogrammed channels. MAN Stops scanning and lets you directly enter a channel number. Number Each key has single-digit (0 to 9) and a range of Keys numbers. Use the range of numbers above the key (21–40 f
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20-314.fm Page 17 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM A LOOK AT THE DISPLAY The display has indicators that show the scanner’s current oper- ating status. This quick look at the display will help you under- stand how your scanner operates. Appears when you lock the keypad. t /s Indicates the search or scan direction. AIR Indicates that the scanner is searching the air service bank. ALErt Appears when the weather alert is on. -b- Appears during a service bank frequency search. B Appears when th
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20-314.fm Page 18 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM dEFAULt Appears when you remove all the lock-outs from the service bank frequencies. D-Err Appears when the scanner receives a data error during wired programming. DLY Appears when you program a 2-second delay. End Appears when the scanner has finished wired programming. Error Appears when you make an entry error. FD/PD Indicates that the scanner is searching the fire/ police service bank. FLo ALL-CL Appears when you remove all th
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20-314.fm Page 19 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM on tonE Appears when you turn the key tone on. P Appears when the scanner is tuned to the priority channel. PGM Appears when you program frequencies into the scanner’s channels. PRI Appears when the priority feature is turned on. SCAN Appears when the scanner scans channels. SRCH Appears during service bank and direct frequen- cy searches. StArt Appears when the scanner starts wired program- ming. WirEd Appears when you set the scann
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20-314.fm Page 20 Monday, December 13, 1999 12:55 PM Service Banks The scanner is preprogrammed with the frequencies allocated by fire/police, aircraft, ham radio, and marine services. This is handy for quickly finding active frequencies instead of searching through an entire band (see “Searching the Service Banks” on Page 28). Note: The frequencies in the scanner’s service banks are pre- set. You cannot change them. Fire/Police Step Group Frequency Range (MHz) (kHz) 1 33.420–33.980 20 37.02
