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Cat. No. 20-509
OWNER’S MANUAL
PRO-29
60-Channel
Direct Entry Programmable Scanner
Please read before using this equipment.
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FEATURES Your new Radio Shack PRO-29 60-Channel Direct Entry Programma- ble Scanner lets you in on all the action! This scanner gives you direct access to 30,000 exciting frequencies that include police department, fire department, ambulance, amateur radio, and transportation services. You can select up to 60 channels for your scanner to scan and you can change your selection at any time. The secret to your scanner’s ability to scan so many frequencies is its custom-designed microprocessor — a t
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Your scanner can receive all of these bands: • 29–29.7 MHz (10-Meter Amateur Radio) • 29.7–50 MHz (VHF Lo) • 50–54 MHz (6-Meter Amateur Radio) • 108–136.975 MHz (Aircraft) • 137–144 MHz (Government) • 144–148 MHz (2-Meter Amateur Radio) • 148–174 MHz (VHF Hi) • 406–420 MHz (Government) • 420–450 (70-cm Amateur Radio) • 450–470 MHz (UHF Standard) • 470–512 MHz (UHF “T” Band) • 806–823.9375 MHz (Public Service) • 851–868.9375 MHz (UHF Hi) • 896.1125–956 MHz (UHF Hi) In addition, your scanner is pr
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FCC NOTICE Your scanner might cause TV or radio interference even when it is op- erating properly. To determine whether your scanner is causing the in- terference, turn off your scanner. If the interference goes away, your scanner is causing the interference. Try the following methods to elimi- nate 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 Radio Shack store for
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CONTENTS Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Power Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Using Internal Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Important Information About the External Power Jacks . . . . . . 7 Using Standard AC Power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Using Vehicle Battery Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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PREPARATION POWER SOURCES You can power your scanner from any of three sources: • Internal batteries • Standard AC power (using an optional AC adapter) • Vehicle battery power (using an optional DC adapter) USING INTERNAL BATTERIES You can power your scanner with four AA batteries. For the longest op- eration and best performance, we recommend alkaline batteries (Radio Shack Cat. No. 23-552). Or, you can use rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries (Cat. No. 23-125). Warning: The scanner has a buil
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3. Install two batteries in the compartment and two in the cover as indicated by the polarity symbols (+ and –) marked inside. Caution: Use only fresh, AA alkaline, nickel-cadmium, or general purpose batteries of the required size. Never mix fresh and old batteries or different types of batteries. 4. Replace the cover. If BATT.Lo flashes on the display and the scanner beeps every 15 seconds, immediately replace or recharge all four batteries. IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE EXTERNAL POWER JACKS
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The CHARGE jack supplies power to operate the scanner and also charges the internal batteries. Use the CHARGE jack only when you in- stall rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries. Warning: Never use the CHARGE jack with non-rechargeable batteries. If you try to recharge non-rechargeable batteries, they become very hot and could explode. USING STANDARD AC POWER To power the scanner from AC power, you need an AC adapter such as Radio Shack Cat. No. 20-188. Plug the adapter’s barrel plug into the sca
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USING VEHICLE BATTERY POWER You can power the scanner from your vehicle’s battery power, if the ve- hicle has a 12-volt, negative ground electrical system. To do so, you need a Radio Shack DC Universal Adapter, Cat. No. 270-1560. Cautions: • You must use a DC adapter that supplies (regulated) 9-volt power and delivers at least 300 milliamps. Its center tip must be set to negative, and its plug must correctly fit the scanner’s DC 9V POWER jack. The recommended adapter meets these specifica- tions
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• If the scanner does not operate properly when you use a DC adapter, unplug the adapter from the cigarette-lighter socket and clean the socket to remove ashes and other debris. CHARGING NICKEL-CADMIUM BATTERIES The scanner has a built-in charging circuit that lets you recharge nickel- cadmium batteries while they are in the scanner. To charge the batter- ies, remove the plug from the scanner’s CHARGE jack and simply con- nect an AC adapter or a DC Universal Adapter to the jack (see “Using Stand
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CONNECTING THE ANTENNA Follow these steps to attach the supplied flexible antenna to the connec- tor on the top of your scanner. 1. Align the slots around the antenna’s connector with the tabs on the jack. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 2. Press the antenna down over the jack and rotate the antenna’s base clockwise until it locks into place. Connecting an Optional Antenna The antenna connector on your scanner makes it easy to use the scan- ner with a variety of antennas. Instead of the supplied antenna, you can at
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CONNECTING AN EARPHONE/ HEADPHONES For private listening, you can plug an earphone or mono headphones (such as Radio Shack Cat. No. 33-175 or 20-210) into the jack on top of your scanner. This automatically disconnects the internal speaker. Listening Safely To protect your hearing, follow these guidelines when you use an ear- phone or headphones: • Do not listen at extremely high volume levels. Extended high-vol- ume listening can lead to permanent hearing loss. • Set the volume to the lowest se
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Traffic Safety Do not wear an earphone or headphones while you drive a vehicle or ride a bicycle. This can create a traffic hazard and is illegal in some ar- eas. Even though some earphones and headphones are designed to let you hear some outside sounds when you listen at normal levels, they still present a traffic hazard. CONNECTING AN EXTENSION SPEAKER In a noisy area, an extension speaker (such as Radio Shack Cat. No. 21-549) or an amplified speaker (such as Radio Shack Cat. No. 21- 541), pos
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UNDERSTANDING YOUR SCANNER A LOOK AT THE KEYPAD Your scanner’s keys might seem confusing at first, but this information should help you understand each key’s function. ~~ ~ HI LO AIR ~~ ~ SCAN — scans through the programmed channels. MANUAL — stops scanning and lets you directly enter a channel num- ber. LOCKOUT/S/S — lets you lock out a selected channel. Skips a specified frequency during limit or direct search. PRIORITY — sets and turns on and off priority for a particular channel. /. CLEAR
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Number Keys — each key has a single-digit label, and keys 1-6 have a range of numbers printed above them. The single digits refer to the number of a channel or frequency entered. The number range (21-30, for example) show the channels that make up a memory bank. In addi- tion, the keypad has different functions in manual mode, scan mode, and program mode. See “Banks and Memories.” A LOOK AT THE DISPLAY The display has several indicators that show the scanner’s current op- erating mode. A quick l
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MAN — appears when you manually select a channel. PGM — appears while you program frequencies into the scanner’s chan- nels. PRI — appears when you select the priority feature. L/O — appears when you manually select a locked-out channel, or dur- ing a search hold when the frequency is stored in search skip memory. WX — appears when you scan the preprogrammed weather channels. t and s — indicate the search direction. SRCH — appears during a limit search, a direct search, and a weather band search
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BANKS AND MEMORIES Your scanner can store up to 66 frequencies. You store each frequency in either a memory called a channel, or a temporary memory called a monitor. This scanner has 60 channels and six monitor memories. CHANNEL-STORAGE BANKS To make it easier to identify and select the channels you want to listen to, channels are divided into six channel-storage banks of 10 channels each. Use each channel-storage bank to group frequencies, such as the police department, fire department, ambulan
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OPERATION TURNING ON THE SCANNER AND SETTING SQUELCH 1. Make sure that SQUELCH is turned fully counterclockwise before you turn on the scanner. 2. Turn VOLUME clockwise until you hear a hissing sound. 3. Turn SQUELCH clockwise, just until the hissing sound stops. Note: If you want to listen to a weak or distant station, turn SQUELCH counterclockwise. If reception is poor, turn SQUELCH clockwise. STORING FREQUENCIES Follow these steps to store frequencies into channels. 1. Press MANUAL. Enter
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3. Use the number keys and CLEAR/. to enter the frequency (includ- ing the decimal point) you want to store. ~ ~~ HI LO AIR ~~ ~ 4. Press WX/E to store the frequency. Notes: • If you made a mistake in Step 3, Error appears on the display and the scanner sounds three beeps. Simply start again from Step 3. • Your scanner automatically rounds the entered frequency to the nearest valid frequency. For example, if you try to enter a fre- quency of 151.473, your scanner accepts it as 151.475. 5. Repeat
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Limit Search A limit search lets you search for active frequencies between upper and lower limits that you set. -L- appears on the display during a limit search. 1. Press PROGRAM, then LIMIT. Lo appears on the display. 2. Enter the lower limit of the frequency range you want to search. 3. Press WX/E, then LIMIT. Hi appears on the display. Note: If the frequency you entered is not a valid frequency, Error appears. To enter a different frequency, start again from Step 2. 4. Enter the upper limit o
