Radio Shack PRO-74 20-513, Owner'S Manual

Page 1: ...Owner s Manual Cat No 20 513 PRO 74 100 Channel VHF UHF Air 800 MHz Race Scanner Please read before using this equipment ...

Page 2: ...ring the car s number Two Supplied Antennas let you select the antenna that best meets your needs The supplied stub antenna helps your scanner receive strong local signals and makes the scanner easy to carry and use at events while the supplied flexible antenna provides excellent reception and is designed to help prevent antenna breakage Twelve Service Banks lets you search preset frequencies in s...

Page 3: ...his lets the scanner avoid unwanted sig nals Three Power Options let you power the scanner using alkaline or rechargeable nickel cadmium batteries external AC power using an optional AC adapter charger or DC power using an optional DC adapter Memory Backup keeps the frequencies stored in memory for up to 3 days if the PRO 74 loses power Key Confirmation Tones the scanner sounds a tone when you per...

Page 4: ... number is on the back panel Serial Number ___________________________ Frequency Range MHz Step kHz Transmission 29 29 7 5 10 Meter Ham Band 29 7 50 5 VHF Lo 50 54 5 6 Meter Ham Band 108 136 975 12 5 Aircraft Air Shows 137 144 5 Auto Racing Aircraft Air Shows Government Motion Picture Video Industry Pro Sports Teams Radio TV Remote Broadcast Pickup Stadiums Venues 144 148 5 2 Meter Ham Band 148 17...

Page 5: ...t is legal to listen to almost every transmission your scanner can receive However there are some transmissions you should never intentionally listen to These include Telephone conversations cellular cordless or other private means of telephone signal transmission Pager transmissions Any scrambled or encrypted transmissions According to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act ECPA you are subjec...

Page 6: ...ice Banks 22 Operation 24 Turning On the Scanner and Setting Squelch 24 Storing Known Frequencies into Channels 25 Finding and Storing Active Frequencies 26 Searching the Service Banks 26 Searching from a Selected Frequency 27 Storing Active Frequencies 28 Search Skip Memory 28 Manually Selecting a Channel 29 Scanning Channels 30 Deleting a Frequency from a Channel 30 Listening to Weather Broadcas...

Page 7: ...ery Save Function Off On 39 Skipping Data Signals 40 A General Guide to Scanning 41 Guide to Frequencies 41 National Weather Frequencies 41 Canadian Weather Frequencies 41 VHF FM Marine Frequencies 41 Birdie Frequencies 42 Guide to the Action Bands 43 Typical Band Usage 43 Primary Usage 44 Band Allocation 44 Frequency Conversion 48 Troubleshooting 49 Resetting the Scanner 50 Care and Maintenance 5...

Page 8: ...ack Cat No 23 552 You can also use four rechargeable nickel cadmium batteries Cat No 23 125 Before you use nickel cadmium batteries you must charge them see Charging Nickel Cadmium Batteries on Page 10 Follow these steps to install batteries 1 While pushing up the tab above the battery compartment cover on the back of the scanner lift open the battery compartment cover to remove it 2 If you are in...

Page 9: ... fresh batteries of the required size and recommended type Always remove old or weak batteries Batteries can leak chemi cals that destroy electronic circuits Do not mix old and new batteries different types of batteries alkaline or rechargeable or rechargeable batteries of different capacities 4 Replace the cover If BATT Lo flashes and the scanner beeps every 15 seconds replace alkaline or recharg...

Page 10: ...t time charge them at least 24 hours to bring them to a full charge Discharged batteries take about 10 to 18 hours to fully recharge It takes longer to fully charge them if you operate the scanner while you recharge them Notes Nickel cadmium batteries last longer and deliver more power if you occasionally let them fully discharge To do this simply use the scanner until it begins beeping every 15 s...

Page 11: ...Using an adapter that does not meet these specifications could damage the scanner or the adapter To protect your scanner and AC adapter always plug the adapter into the scanner before you plug it into the AC outlet and always unplug the adapter from the AC outlet before you unplug it from the scanner If batteries are installed make sure ALKALINE JACK NI CD is set to the correct position see Using ...

Page 12: ...stem always plug the adapter into the scanner before you plug it into your vehicle s cigarette lighter socket Always unplug the adapter from the vehicle s ciga rette lighter socket before you unplug it from the scanner If batteries are installed make sure ALKALINE JACK NI CD is set to the correct position see Using Internal Batteries on Page 8 1 Turn VOLUME counterclockwise until it clicks to make...

Page 13: ...he scanner easier to carry and use The supplied flexible antenna provides slightly better reception and helps your scanner receive strong local signals You can attach ei ther of the supplied antennas or an optional antenna to the scanner see Connecting an Optional Antenna on Page 14 Follow these steps to attach either of the supplied antennas to the con nector on the top of your scanner 1 Align th...

Page 14: ...instructions supplied with the antenna route the antenna cable to the scanner then connect it to the antenna jack fol lowing the steps in Connecting an Antenna on Page 13 Warning Use extreme caution when installing or removing 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 an tenna mast cable or ...

Page 15: ...e more comfortable listening Plug the speaker cable s 1 8 inch mini plug into your scanner s jack CONNECTING AN EARPHONE HEADPHONES For private listening you can plug an earphone or headphones with a 1 8 inch mini plug such as Cat No 33 178 or 20 210 into the jack on top of your scanner This automatically disconnects the internal speaker ...

Page 16: ...c Safety Do not use an earphone headphones with your scanner when operat ing a motor vehicle or riding a bicycle in or near traffic Doing so can create a traffic hazard and could be illegal in some areas If you use an earphone headphones with your scanner be very careful Do not listen to a continuous broadcast Even though some earphones headphones let you hear some outside sounds when listening at...

Page 17: ...rvice When you find a frequency you can store it into a programmable memory location called a channel which is grouped with your other channels in a memory bank You can then scan the memory banks to see if there is ac tivity on the frequencies stored there Each time the scanner finds an ac tive frequency it stays on that channel until the transmission ends Remember you search frequencies and scan ...

Page 18: ...a particular chan nel Also turns Hypersearch on and off L OUT S S lets you lock out a selected channel and skips a specified frequency during a service bank direct or weather search t and s enters the search direction down or up DEL deletes the frequencies and car numbers stored in the memory KEYLOCK locks the keypad to prevent accidental program changes Also turns on the display light for 15 seco...

Page 19: ...d frequencies in the scanner s channels add and delete frequencies from car numbers dis play car numbers and move to the channel where a car number is stored PRI appears when you set the scanner to scan the priority channels every 2 seconds appears when you turn on the data skip function HOLD appears during a search hold WX appears when you search the preset frequencies in the weather band HYPER a...

Page 20: ...e MHz indicator when the displayed frequency is an odd multiple of 12 5 kHz for frequencies between 406 956 MHz or 108 136 975 MHz SCAN appears when you scan channels MAN appears when you manually select a channel PGM appears while you store program frequencies into the scan ner s channels L O appears when you manually select a locked channel or a skip frequency appears when the battery save funct...

Page 21: ...nd program the fire department frequencies start ing with Channel 11 the first channel in bank 2 Service Banks You can search for auto racing marine VHF aircraft military amateur radio government UHF TV and 800 MHz transmissions even if you do not know the specific frequencies that are used in your area And you can store any of the frequencies you find into channels This table shows each service b...

Page 22: ...hear the transmissions CAr Notes The frequencies in the scanner s service banks are preset You cannot change them Band Allocation on Page 43 lists frequency ranges and the broadcasters you are likely to hear on those frequencies HAM 2 Meter Ham 144 0000 148 0000 HI VHF Hi 148 0000 174 0000 FEd Federal Government 406 0000 420 0000 HAM 70 Centimeter Ham 420 0000 450 0000 UHF UHF 450 0000 470 0000 TV...

Page 23: ...fter the hissing sound stops Notes If you have not stored frequencies into any channels the scanner does not scan If the scanner picks up unwanted partial or very weak transmis sions turn SQUELCH clockwise to decrease the scanner s sensitiv ity to these signals If you want to listen to a weak or distant station turn SQUELCH counterclockwise If SQUELCH is adjusted so you always hear a hissing sound...

Page 24: ...ber appears 2 Use the number keys and CLEAR to enter the frequency includ ing the decimal point you want to store 3 Press E to store the frequency into the channel Notes If you entered an inappropriate frequency in Step 2 Error appears and the scanner beeps three times Simply repeat Steps 2 and 3 RACE MA N PROG BAND SCAN HOLD DATA 1 2 3 1 10 11 20 21 30 H S S S 4 5 6 31 40 41 50 51 60 PRIORITY L O...

Page 25: ...s called service banks Each service bank is associated with a specific activity see Service Banks on Page 21 You can search for auto racing marine VHF aircraft military amateur radio government UHF TV and 800 MHz transmissions even if you do not know the specific frequencies that are used in your area 1 Press BAND A service bank s name SEARCH and the frequency search range appear Note The frequenc...

Page 26: ...ect 1 Press MAN 2 To start the search from a frequency enter it using the number keys and CLEAR Or to start the search from a frequency stored in a channel enter the channel number then press MAN 3 Press t to search downward or s to search upward from the selected frequency d SEARCH and t or s appear 4 When the scanner stops on a transmission quickly press either t or s to continue searching HOLD ...

Page 27: ...appears for about 2 seconds then the new frequency appears Press E to store the new frequency Notes If you previously stored a car number and frequency in a channel see Storing a Car Number and Frequency on Page 31 the scanner clears the number and frequency when you store a new frequency into that channel If there are no empty channels the channel number changes to 1 and FULL appears To clear FUL...

Page 28: ...the weather band the scanner will not start searching In this case the scanner sounds three beeps If you program more than 20 frequencies to skip each new fre quency replaces one you already stored starting from the first fre quency you stored You can manually select a skipped frequency L O appears on the display when you select a skipped frequency MANUALLY SELECTING A CHANNEL You can continuously...

Page 29: ...LS To begin scanning channels press SCAN The scanner scans through all non locked channels in all banks that are turned on from the lowest to the highest channel number See Turning Memory Banks On and Off and Locking Out Channels on Page 35 When the scanner finds a transmission it stops on it Two seconds af ter the transmission ends the scanner resumes scanning Note If SQUELCH is adjusted so you a...

Page 30: ...frequencies If your scanner is within a weather reporting authority s broadcast range you can scan these frequencies Your scanner has 7 weather service frequencies preprogrammed See National Weather Frequencies on Page 40 for a list of these frequen cies To hear your local forecast and regional weather information simply press WX Your scanner scans through the weather frequencies Your scanner shou...

Page 31: ...ne car number and frequency or one frequency by itself in each channel for up to 100 car numbers and frequencies For example if you want to listen to communications between the driv er of car number 24 and that driver s pit crew find all the frequencies used by the driver s team by using the steps in Searching the Service Banks on Page 25 using the supplied frequency guide Searching from a Selecte...

Page 32: ...e with the car number by using the number keys and CLEAR 4 Press E to store the frequency The car number and frequency are stored in the first available channel Adding Frequencies to a Car Number Follow these steps to select a car number then associate additional fre quencies with that car number 1 Press MAN then RACE RACE and Car No appears 2 Enter the car number If the number is one or two digit...

Page 33: ...eleting a Frequency from a Car Number 1 Recall the car number 2 Repeatedly press s or t until the frequency you want to delete appears 3 Hold down DEL for about 1 second The scanner beeps and the frequency disappears SCANNING BY CAR NUMBER Once you store car numbers into channels you can set the scanner so it displays the car numbers you assigned to the channels as it scans them To scan by car num...

Page 34: ...e hearing simply press RACE twice If a car number has been asso ciated with this frequency the car number and frequency appear Press RACE twice to return to normal channel listening To see what car numbers are stored press MAN then RACE then re peatedly press The car numbers from lowest channel number to highest show DATA ...

Page 35: ...T so L O appears You can still manually select locked out channels To remove the lockout from a channel manually select the channel and press L OUT so L O disappears from the display Or to unlock all channels or frequencies in the banks that are turned on press MAN to stop scanning then hold down L OUT until the scanner beeps twice Note If you select a weather frequency by pressing WX and then loc...

Page 36: ...repeatedly press PRIORITY to step through the priority channels To turn on the priority feature press PRIORITY during scanning PRI appears To turn off the priority feature press PRIORITY again PRI disappears Notes The priority feature must be turned off to use the data skip feature see Skipping Data Signals on Page 39 You can lock out priority channels If you lock out all priority channels and app...

Page 37: ...rn on the display backlight for easy viewing at night Press to turn it on for 15 seconds To turn it off before 15 seconds elapse press the button again CHANGING SEARCH SPEEDS The PRO 74 has two search speeds To switch between normal and Hypersearch speeds during a service bank or direct search press H S HYPER appears during Hypersearch Normal Search Hypersearch 100 steps second 300 steps second BA...

Page 38: ... you are programming the scanner the scanner has a battery save function which automatically sets the scanner to a standby mode if no button is pressed for 5 seconds when no signal is detected and sets the scanner back to full power mode when it detects a button press or receives a signal The battery save function is set to on at the factory but you can change it appears when the function is activ...

Page 39: ...a signals such as modem transmissions during a search or scan Note Since data signals are not generally found in the air band this feature does not work in the air band To turn on the data skip feature press appears To turn off the feature press again disappears DATA DATA DATA DATA ...

Page 40: ...162 425 162 500 162 550 162 450 161 650 161 775 163 275 Chan nel No Frequency Chan nel No Frequency Ship Shore Ship Shore 6 156 3000 156 3000 64 156 2550 156 2550 7 156 3500 156 3500 65 156 2750 156 2750 8 156 4000 156 4000 66 156 3250 156 3250 9 156 4500 156 4500 67 156 3750 156 3750 10 156 5000 156 5000 68 156 4250 156 4250 11 156 5500 156 5500 69 156 4750 156 4750 12 156 6000 156 6000 70 156 52...

Page 41: ...found in this scanner are 19 156 9500 156 9500 79 156 9750 156 9750 20 157 0000 161 6000 80 157 0250 157 0250 21 157 0500 157 0500 81 157 0750 157 0750 22 157 1000 157 1000 82 157 1250 157 1250 23 157 1500 157 1500 83 157 1750 157 1750 24 157 2000 161 8000 84 157 2250 161 8250 25 157 2500 161 8500 85 157 2750 161 8750 26 157 3000 161 9000 86 157 3250 161 9250 27 157 3500 161 9500 87 157 3750 161 9...

Page 42: ...0 MHz 6 Meter Amateur 50 00 54 00 MHz U S Government 137 00 144 00 MHz 2 Meter Amateur 144 00 148 00 MHz High Range 148 00 174 00 MHz UHF Band U S Government 406 00 420 00 MHz 70 cm Amateur 420 00 450 00 MHz Low Range 450 00 470 00 MHz FM TV Audio Broadcast Wide Band 470 00 512 00 MHz Public Service 806 00 823 93 MHz Conventional Systems 851 00 856 00 MHz Conventional Trunked Systems 856 00 861 00...

Page 43: ... vary from area to area For a more complete listing refer to the book Beyond Police Call available at your local RadioShack store Abbreviations Services BIFC Boise ID Interagency Fire Cache BUS Business CAP Civil Air Patrol CB Citizens Band CCA Common Carrier CSB Conventional Systems CTSB Conventional Trunked Systems Activities Frequencies Government Police and Fire 153 785 155 980 MHz Emergency S...

Page 44: ...Safety PTR Private Trunked ROAD Road Highway Maintenance RTV Radio TV Remote Broadcast Pickup TAXI Taxi Services TELB Mobile Telephone Aircraft Radio Common Carrier Landline Companies TELC Cordless Phones TELM Telephone Maintenance TOW Tow Trucks TRAN Transportation Services Trucks Tow Trucks Buses Railroad Other TSB Trunked Systems TVn FM TV Audio Broadcast USXX Government Classified UTIL Power W...

Page 45: ... BUS 151 985 TELM 152 0075 MED 152 030 152 240 TELB 152 270 152 480 IND TAXI BUS 152 510 152 840 TELB 152 870 153 020 IND MOV 153 035 153 725 IND OIL UTIL 153 740 154 445 PUB FIRE 154 490 154 570 IND BUS 154 585 Oil Spill Cleanup 154 600 154 625 BUS 154 655 156 240 MED ROAD POL PUB 156 255 157 425 OIL MARI 157 450 MED 157 470 157 515 TOW 157 530 157 725 IND TAXI 157 740 BUS 157 770 158 100 TELB 15...

Page 46: ...USXX 70 cm Amateur Band 420 450 MHz 420 000 450 000 HAM Low Band 450 470 MHz 450 050 450 925 RTV 451 025 452 025 IND OIL TELM UTIL 452 0375 453 00 IND TAXI TRAN TOW NEWS 453 0125 454 000 PUB OIL 454 025 454 975 TELB 455 050 455 925 RTV 457 525 457 600 BUS 458 025 458 175 MED 460 0125 460 6375 FIRE POL PUB 460 650 462 175 BUS 462 1875 462 450 BUS IND 462 4625 462 525 IND OIL TELM UTIL 462 550 462 9...

Page 47: ...125 939 9875 PTR General Trunked 940 0125 940 9875 GTR FREQUENCY CONVERSION The tuning location of a station can be expressed in frequency kHz or MHz or in wavelength meters The following information can help you make the necessary conversions 1 MHz million 1 000 kHz thousand To convert MHz to kHz multiply the number of megahertz by 1 000 9 62 MHz x 1000 9620 kHz To convert from kHz to MHz divide ...

Page 48: ...hannel Scanner is totally inoperative No power Check the batteries or make sure the scanner is plugged into a working AC or DC outlet Be sure the adapter s barrel plug is fully plugged into the POWER jack Recharge the recharge able batteries or replace the non rechargeable batteries The scanner s dis play dims or the scanner sounds a tone every 15 30 seconds Batteries are not correctly installed M...

Page 49: ...you are sure it is not working properly 1 Turn off the scanner 2 While you hold down the 2 and 9 keys turn on the scanner If you still have problems after resetting the scanner take it to your lo cal RadioShack store Poor or no recep tion Batteries are weak or dead Check the batteries or make sure the scanner is plugged into a working AC or DC outlet Error appears Frequency entered incorrectly Re ...

Page 50: ... it can damage circuit boards and cases and can cause the scanner to work improperly Use and store the scanner only in normal temperature environments Temperature extremes can shorten the life of electronic devices damage batteries and distort or melt plastic parts Keep the scanner away from dust and dirt which can cause premature wear of parts Wipe the scanner with a damp cloth occasionally to ke...

Page 51: ... 0 8 µV Scan Speed 50 Channels Sec Search Speed 100 Steps Sec Priority Sampling 2 Seconds Delay Time 2 Seconds IF Frequencies 380 7 MHz 10 85 MHz and 450 kHz Audio Power 330 mW Maximum Built in Speaker 17 16 Inches 36 mm 8 Ohm Dynamic Type Maximum Current Drain 160 mA Power Requirement 4 AA Alkaline Batteries 6 0 VDC or 4 AA Rechargeable Ni Cd Batteries 4 8 VDC or AC Adapter Cat No 273 1665 or DC ...

Page 52: ... of a product defect during the warranty period take the product and the RadioShack sales receipt as proof of purchase date to any RadioShack store Ra dioShack will at its option unless otherwise provided by law a correct the defect by product repair without charge for parts and labor b replace the product with one of the same or similar design or c refund the purchase price All replaced parts and...