Radio Shack PRO-63 manual

Ca t. N o. 20-561 OWNER’S MANUAL PR O-6 3 100 -Cha nne l Portab le Event S canner Plea se read befor e using thi s equ ipmen t. 20-5 61 .f m Pag e 1 Wed ne s day , Au gus t 4, 199 9 3:4 8 P M[...]

2 INTRODUC TION Your new Radi o Shac k PRO-63 100-Chan nel Po rtabl e Event Scanner le ts you i n on a ll t he acti on — in the pit s a t the bi g race, on t he si deline s a t a pr o footba ll g ame, or on the s treet s o f your home town. Thi s sca nner gi ve s y ou dir ect a ccess t o over 24 ,000 exci ting fr equen cies, in cludi ng t hose us[...]

3 Direct Channel Access — lets you di rect ly acces s any sto red channel whi le y ou scan the bank s. Button — lets you loc k t he scanner ’ s keys t o hel p preve nt accide ntall y chan ging the sca nner ’s program m ing . Priori ty Channel — you can set th e sc anner t o che ck o ne ch an- nel e ver y 2 se conds s o y ou do not miss im[...]

4 Your PRO-63 sc anner can rec ei ve all of t hese f req uencies. • 29-54 MHz (10 -Meter Amat eur Radio, VHF Lo, 6- Meter Amateur Rad io) • 108-13 6.9 75 MHz ( Aircr aft/ Air Shows) • 1 37- 1 74 MH z (Airc ra ft/A i r Sho ws , Au to Ra cin g , Go ver nm ent , Moti on Picture /V ideo Indus try , Pro Sports T eams, Radio/ TV Remote Br oad cast [...]

5 This owne r’s manu al al so incl udes the se ction “A Gen eral Gui de to Scann i n g,” which hel ps you find frequency r anges t o s can for a wide variet y of broadcast er s . Note : Mobil e use of t his scanner is un lawful or requi r e s a permit in so m e areas . Check the l aws i n your area. FCC NOTICE Your scann er might cause TV or [...]

6 SCANNING LEGALL Y Your sca nner covers fr equ encies us ed by many differ ent group s incl uding pol ice and fire depar t ment s, amb ulance ser vices , gov- ernment agencies, privat e compa ni es, amateur radio services, mili tary opera tions , pager ser vices, and wirel ine (telephon e and tel egraph) service provider s. It is le gal t o liste [...]

7 CONTEN TS PR EP A R A TIO N .... ... .. ..... .. ... ..... .. ... .... ... .. ..... ... .. ..... .. ... ..... .. ... .... 9 Connecti ng t he Flex ib l e Antenna .... . .. . ... ... . .. . ... ... . ... . ....... . ...9 Ins t allin g B at te ries ... .. ... ..... .. ... .... ... .. ..... ... .. ..... .. ... ..... .. ... .... 9 Import ant I nf orma[...]

8 OP T ION S ... .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .. . 33 Connect i n g Opti onal Power Sources . .. . ....... .. . ....... .. .. ... .. 33 Us ing AC Po we r ... .. ... ..... .. ... .... ... .. ..... ... .. ..... .. ... ..... .. . 33 Us ing Ve hi cle Ba tt ery Po we r ..... .. ..[...]

9 PREP AR A TION CONNECTING THE FLEX IBLE ANTENNA 1. Hold t he antenna so i t st ands str aight up. 2. Slip t he sl ot s in t he antenna’ s conne ct or ove r th e tabs on the ANT ja ck on to p of the scanne r . 3. Press down and t urn the ant enna’s bas e clockwise unt il i t locks i nto place. Note : I nst ead of the sup pl ied f lexibl e ant [...]

10 Foll ow the se steps to inst al l or repl ace bat teries. 1. If t he scanner is on, turn VOL UM E OF F/MA X ful l y count er - cl ock wis e u n til i t cl ic ks to tur n it o ff. 2. While pressing and ho lding down the b attery c ompartment cover on the bott om of the sca nner , slide t he c over i n the dir ection of the arrow t o remove it . 3[...]

11 • Never m ix rec hargeabl e and non-re chargeable b atterie s, or rechar geab le batteri es of dif ferent capaci t i e s. 5. Insert six batteri es in t he batter y holder as indi cated by t he polari ty sym bols (+ and – ) marked on th e battery hol der and insi de the bat tery compart m ent . 6. Replace t he batter y holder in the batt ery [...]

12 Important I nformation About t he PWR and CHG Jack s There a re two ex ternal jacks on the lef t side o f the scanne r — PW R and CHG . It is importa nt that you unders tan d the pur pose of each jack befor e you con nect any adapt er to the sc anner . The PW R jack powers the s canner and disconnect s t h e inter nal batt eries . Yo u can use[...]

13 Warni ng: Do not co nnect ei ther adapt er to th e scanner’s CHG ja ck if you instal led non- rechar geable bat teri es (standa rd, extr a-li fe, or alkal ine). Non -recha r gea ble bat teries beco me hot a nd can e x - plode if you tr y to rechar ge t hem. It tak es about 10 t o 18 hours to rec harge bat t e ries t hat are f ully discha rged [...]

14 3. Afte r 2 seconds, r elease BAND/ • a nd 0 . USING THE BEL T CLIP You can use the b elt cl ip at tached to t he back of the scan ner for hands- free carr ying when you ar e on the go. Simpl y sl i d e the belt cli p over y our belt o r wai st band. 20-5 61.f m Pag e 14 We dne sda y, Augus t 4 , 19 99 3: 48 P M[...]

15 UNDERST ANDING YOUR S CANNER A LOOK A T THE KEYP A D A quick l o ok at t he scanner’ s ke ys wil l hel p you underst and the scanner ’s funct ions. Number Keys — ea ch k ey has a single di git on i t and a range of numbers p rinted a bove it. The singl e d igit s ref er to the numb er of a channel or a frequenc y. The range of num bers (80[...]

16 WX — scans thr ough t he 10 prep r ogram m ed weat her ch annel s. LIGHT — a quick press turn s on t he di s pl ay’s backli ght f or 5 sec- onds, or turns off th e backli ght if it is on. SEARCH / — star ts searc hi ng for act ive fr equenci es so y ou can fi nd o nes you want to store, or sel ects t he search dir ection when you scan ch[...]

17 M.SCAN — app ear s wit h nu m be rs ( 0-9) t o show which cha nnel- storag e banks ar e turned on for s canning. A b ar under th e num ber shows tha t the cha nnel -stor age bank i s se lected . See “Band s and Banks” on Page 18. BA T T — fl ashe s when the batteri es ar e low. CH — appear s with a number (00- 99) to show whi ch of the[...]

18 BANDS AN D BANKS SEARCH BANDS Your s canner can t une over 24 ,000 diff erent frequenci es. Each of these frequenci es is c ontained wi thin a group of frequen ci e s call ed a band. The sca nner use s permanen t me mory lo cations call ed search bands (0-9) to group these ban ds. You can s earch these b ands to qui ckly find ac tive f requenci [...]

19 Notes: • The fr equencies i n the s canner’s sear ch bands are pr eset. Y ou ca nnot c hange them . • “Band Al l ocat ion” on Page 42 lists freque ncy ranges and t he broadcas ters you are likel y to hear on th ose f requ encies. • Althou gh the scanner displays 108-137 when you sele ct search ba nd 2, it re ceives frequenc ies of 10[...]

20 BASIC OPERA TION TURNING ON THE SCANNER AND SETTING SQUELCH No te: Make sure the scan ner ’s antenn a is connect ed before you turn it o n. 1. T urn SQUELCH M IN/MAX fully counterc lockwi se. 2. T urn VOL UM E OF F/MA X clock wise until it clicks a nd you hear a hissi ng so und. 3. T urn SQUELCH MIN/ MAX clock w ise , then leav e it set to a p[...]

21 Notes: • If t he scanner pi cks up unwant ed, part ial, o r very weak trans- missions, turn SQUELCH MIN/MAX clock wise to decrease the scanner’ s sen sitivity to th ese signal s. I f you want t o lis t en t o a weak or di st a nt stat ion, turn SQUELCH MIN/MAX coun ter- clockwi se. •I f SQUELCH M IN/MAX is adjus ted so you always hear a h [...]

22 Limi t Se ar c h If you do not know a frequ ency to store , y ou c an sele ct a searc h band cont aining a prep rogram med frequ ency range and searc h that r a nge f or a cti ve frequenci es. Then you ca n store fr equencies you fi nd there into cha nnels. SRCH appears on t he display dur ing a search . 1. Press BAND/ • . 2. Withi n about 2 s[...]

23 When the scann er stops on an act ive fr equency, pres s EN TER to store it i n the f lashi ng channel or press an d hold or for abo ut a second to cont inue the searc h. Notes: • T o search the fre quency band upward or downwar d step by step (5, 12.5 , or 25 kHz), quickly press and r elease or . or disappear s f rom the dis play . See “Spe[...]

24 Hint: I f you ar e storin g a f requency use d by a spec i fi c broad- cast er (such as a raci ng team) , you can remembe r where you stor ed the frequ ency by stori ng it in t h e same channel numb er as t he team’ s car numbe r . No te: If you ent er an inval id channel number , t he sc anner beeps th ree times and Er ro r flashes on the dis[...]

25 • If yo u tried t o s tore a f r equency i n a locked channel , the scanner beeps onc e and L (ne xt to the channel numbe r) and LOC flash on the displ ay , then the freque ncy flash es. T o store t he fr equency , e ither unlock the channel ( s ee “Using Channel Lo ck” on Page 30) and repe at Steps 1-4, or repeat Steps 2-4 to s elect an o[...]

26 Notes: • Y ou can manually s el e ct any chan nel in a ban k, even if t he bank is turned of f. • Y ou cannot turn off al l banks. There must be at le ast one acti ve bank. • Y ou cannot turn on a bank where all the channels in the bank are ski pped ( see “Ski pping Channel s” on Page 28). Scanning a Cha nne l-Storage Bank You can sca [...]

27 Follo w t hese st eps to m anually select a channel . 1. Press MANUAL . MAN app ear s o n the di splay . 2. Enter th e channe l number . 3. Press MANUAL . 4. T o select a nother channel wi t h in t he b ank, r epeatedly press to selec t hi gher ch annel s or to sel ect lower chann el s. Or, if your scan ner is scanni ng and s tops at t he desir [...]

28 ADV ANCED OPE RA TION DELA Y Many agenci es use a tw o-way r adio syste m that m ight have a pause of sever al secon ds between a query and a re pl y. Your scanne r’s delay f eat ure lets it wai t f or 2 seconds af ter each tr ans- missi on on a channel or fre quenc y w hil e sca nning or searchi ng. To pr ogram a 2 -second delay, pr ess DELA [...]

29 To remove t he skip fro m a channe l , manual ly sel ect t he cha nnel, then p ress SKIP . SKIP di sappear s from the display. Notes: • The scanner automat ical l y s ki ps empty ch annels. • Y ou ca nnot r emove t he skip from an empt y chan nel. PRIORITY You can scan throug h channel s and st ill not m is s an im p o rt ant or inter esti n[...]

30 USING CHANNEL LOCK When y ou enter a f requency into a cha nnel , the sc anner aut omat- ical l y locks t he channel t o pr event it from b eing ov erwr itt en by an- other frequenc y. L a ppear s t o the lef t of the ch annel number. To unloc k a channel, pre ss LO C K . L disapp ears from the di splay. Foll ow the se steps to unloc k all chann[...]

31 USING THE A TTENUA TOR To redu ce i nter ferenc e or no is e caused by st rong s ignals , you can reduce t he scanner’s se nsitivi ty to th ese signal s. Press AT T until AT T appear s on the disp l ay to red uce the scanne r’ s sens itivit y. Note : If you turn on this f eature, the sc anner might not recei ve weak signal s. To turn of f th[...]

32 3. Afte r a secon d, re lease 2 and ENTER . USING THE KEYLOCK Onc e you p rogram you r sc anner, you can pr otec t it fro m a cci den- tal progr am changes by turni ng on the keylock f eature. When the keypad is locked, the only cont rols t hat o perate ar e LIG HT , VOL - UME O FF/MAX , a nd SQUELCH MIN/MAX . (However , the sc anner conti nues [...]

33 OPTI ONS CONNECTING OPTIONA L POWER SOURCES Using AC Power To opera te the sc anner fro m AC power, you ne ed an AC a dapter such as Radio Shack Cat. No. 273-1665. Cautions : • T o prevent el ectr i c shock , the plug’ s blades are pola r ized and fi t only one way . If t he plug does not fit easi ly , tur n it over and try agai n. Do not fo[...]

34 No te: If yo u inst alled rec hargeable n i c kel-ca dmiu m batt erie s in the s canner, you can connect t he AC adapter to the CHG jack. Simpl y rem ove the rub ber cap from the CHG jack , conne ct the AC adapt er’s barrel pl ug t o the jac k , then pl ug t he adapt er’s power modu l e int o a standard AC outlet. This power s the scanne r a[...]

35 Notes: • If you i nstall ed recha rgeable nick el-ca dmium bat teri es in the scanner , you ca n connect th e DC cigarette l ighter adapter to th e CHG jack. Simply remov e t h e rubber cap from the CHG jack, co nnect t he adapter’ s b arrel plug t o the jack , t he n plug the oth er en d of the a dapter into you r vehicle’ s cigar ette li[...]

36 When de cidin g on a mobile or base-st at ion antenn a and its loca- ti on, consi der the followi ng: • Th e anten na should be mounted as hi gh as possibl e. • Th e ante nna and antenna cabl e should be as f ar as possi ble fro m sour ces of el ectrica l noi se (appli ances, i gnition sys- tems, gauges, and so on) . • Th e anten na should[...]

37 Warni ng: Us e extreme ca ution whe n you instal l or remov e an out- door antenn a. If the antenna st arts to fa ll, let it go! It c ould conta ct overhead power line s. If the antenna touc hes a power li ne, co ntact with the antenna, mast , cable, or guy wi res can cause el ectrocu- tion and deat h. Call t he power com pany to remove th e ant[...]

38 • Do not l isten at extr emel y hig h volume level s. Ext ended high- volume l i stening can lead to p erman ent hea ring lo ss. • Onc e you set t he volume, do not i ncrease it. Over t ime, your ears adapt to th e volume l evel, so a volum e leve l t hat doe s not cause d iscomfo r t mi ght s till damage your hearing. T raf fi c Sa fe ty Do[...]

39 A GENERAL GUIDE T O SCANNING Recepti on of t he frequenci es covered by your scanner i s mainly “li ne-of- sight . ” Th is means you ca nnot us ually hea r sta t ions that are beyond t he hor izo n. UNITED ST A TES BROAD CAST BAND In the Uni ted Stat es, ther e ar e se veral br oadcast bands. The stan- dard AM and FM b ands ar e proba bly th[...]

40 UHF Band (3 0 0.00 MHz — 3.0 G H z ) Broa dca st T ype Se ar c h Band Fre que nc y Ran ge ( MHz ) 2- Me te r Am at eu r 4 1 44. 00 1 48. 00 Auto Racing, Motion Pic- tu re/Video Ind ustry , Pro Sports T eams, R adio/TV Remote Broa dcast Pick- up, Stadium s/V enues 5 148 .00 1 74 .00 Br oad cast Type Se ar c h Band Fre quenc y Rang e (MHz) Milit[...]

41 PRIMARY USAGE As a general r u l e, most radio acti vity is concen trated on th e follow- ing f requenc ies: VHF Band UHF Band Note: Remot e con trol sta ti ons and mobile units oper ate at 5 MHz higher than t heir as sociat ed base stat ions and r elay repeater units . Broa dca st T ype Searc h Band Fre que nc y Ran ge ( MH z ) G o ve rnment , [...]

42 SPECIFIED INTERV ALS All the f requenc ies i n the sca nner’s sea rch ban ds are acce ssible only at specif i c int erv als. For exampl e: No te: Your s canner automat i c ally r ounds the e ntered fre quency down to t he closest valid f requen cy. For exam pl e, if you t ry t o en- ter a frequency of 151. 473, your sc anner accept s i t as 15[...]

43 MA RI .. .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. . M a ri tim e L im it e d C o as t (C oas t Gu ard , M ari ne telepho ne, Shipbo ard Ra d io, Pri va te sta ti ons ) MED .. .. . .. . ... ....... . . ... ...... . ... .. ...... . ... . .. Emergenc y/ Med i ca l Ser vi c es MI L .. ... ..... .. ... .... ... .. ..[...]

44 37. 020 -3 7. 980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P UB 38. 000 -3 9. 000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G OVT , MIL 39. 020 -3 9. 980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P UB 40. 000 -4 2. 000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[...]

45 154.540- 154.570 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AUTO, SPORT , ST AD 154.600. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SPORT , ST AD 154.655- 156.240 . . . . . . . . . . . . AUTO, MED, POL, PUB, ST AD 156.275- 157.425 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MARI 157.450. . . . . . . . . . . . [...]

46 Ultr a High Fre quency (UHF) — ( 3 00 MHz–3 GHz) Mili tary Air c raft Ban d — (319 .1–406 MHz ) 380 .00 0- 383 .90 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AIR , C oas t Gu ard 384 .00 0- 406 .00 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A IR, GO VT U.S. Gover nm ent Band — (406–450 MHz) 406 .12 5- 419 .97 5 . [...]

47 Note : Some citi es use the 470-512 MHz band for land/m obil e ser- vices. HAM RADIO FREQUENCI ES Ham radio operators o f ten br oadcast em ergency i n formati on when other means of communi cations bre ak down. The fol lowin g chart sh ows the voi ce frequenc i es you can moni tor. NA TIONAL WEA THER FRE QUENCIES All of th e follo wing f requen[...]

48 BIRDIE FREQUENCIES Bird i es ar e frequen cies your scanner us es when i t ope rates. These oper ating freque ncies migh t inter f ere wit h broad casts on the same f requencies . If you p rogram one of the se f r equenci es, you m ight hear on ly noi se on t hat fre quency. If t he int er fer ence is not seve r e, you m ight be able to tur n SQ[...]

49 FREQUENCY CONVERS ION The tuni ng loca tion of a st atio n can be express ed in frequ ency (kHz or MHz) or in wa velengt h ( meters) . The f ollowi ng in form ation can help you make t he necessary conve rsions. 1 M H z (m illi o n) = 1 ,0 0 0 k H z (t ho u s a nd ) To convert MHz to kHz, multip l y by 1,000. 30.62 M Hz x 100 0=30620 k Hz To con[...]

50 TROUBLES HOOTING If y our scanne r is not work ing as i t shoul d, thes e suggest ions might help you el i minat e the problem. I f the sc anner still does not operat e no rmally , take i t to yo ur local Radio Shac k store for assi s- tance . Pro blem Su gg estion Sc anne r i s on but wi ll no t sc an . • If SQUELCH MIN/MAX is ad jus ted so y[...]

51 Prob lem Sugge stio n Scan ner re ceiv es s tat io ns p oor ly or no t at a ll. • Chec k the a nte nna ( ind oor or o utdoo r). S ee “Con nect- ing t he Fle xi bl e A ntenn a” on P ag e 9 an d “C on nec tin g a Mo bile or Base-Sta tion A nte nna ” on Pa ge 3 5. • S igna ls may b e bl oc ke d f rom bein g re c eive d b y th e scann er[...]

52 CARE AND MAINTENANCE Your Radi o Shac k PRO-63 100-Channel Portable Ev ent Scanner is an ex ample of super i o r design and cr aftsmans hip. The fol lowi ng sugges tions wil l help you c are for your sca nner so yo u can enjo y it for yea rs. Keep t he sca nner dr y. I f i t gets wet, wi pe it dry i m- mediat ely. Li quids ca n contain mi nerals[...]

53 SPEC IFI C A TIONS Frequency Cover age VHF Lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.7–50 MHz (in 5 kH z step s) Amateur Radi o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29–29.7 MH z (i n 5 kHz step s) 50–54 M H z (i n 5 kHz step s) 144–148 M H z (i n 5 kHz step s) 420–450 M H z (i n 12.5 k Hz step s) Amateur Radi o/G o ver nment . 450 –470 [...]

54 Int er medi at e Fr e quenc ies (IF) : 1 s t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0. 7 MH z 2 n d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455 kH z IF Reje ct ion ( 10.7 MHz) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 dB at 154 MH z Sq uel ch Se ns it ivity : T h res hol d . .[...]

55 NOTES U.S. P ATENT NOS. 3,794, 925 3,801, 914 3,961, 261 3,962, 644 4,027, 251 4,092, 594 4,123, 715 4,245, 348 20-5 61.f m Pag e 55 We dne sda y, Augus t 4 , 19 99 3: 48 P M[...]

RADIO SHACK A Divisi on of Tandy Corporation Fort Wo rth, Texas 76102 GE-9 5D-15 00 11A5 Printed in Hon g Kong RADIO SHACK L I MITED W ARRANTY Thi s pro du ct i s warr anted agai ns t defe cts f or 1 ye ar fr om date of pur cha s e fro m Ra di o Sha c k com pa ny-o w ned s tor es and aut ho- ri zed R adi o Sh ack fran ch isee s an d dea ler s. Wi t[...]