RadioShack Pro 2016 Vhf Uhf Scanner Reciever Owners Manual

							Cat. No. 20-422
OWNER’S MANUAL
Please read before using this equipment.
200CH VHF/Air/UHF Home Scanner
with Scanner Control Protocol and WX Alert
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FEATURES
Your RadioShack 200Ch VHF/Air/UHF
Home Scanner lets you in on all the ac-
tion! This scanner gives you direct ac-
cess to over 23,000 frequencies,
including those used by police and fire
departments, ambulance and transpor-
tation services, government agencies,
and amateur radio services. You can se-
lect up to 200 channels to scan and you
can change selections at any time. 
The scanner’s frequency bands let you
search specific, preset ranges of fre-
quencies quickly and easily.
Your scanner has all these special fea-
tures:
Weather Alert — warns you of serious
weather conditions by sounding an
alarm if the weather service transmits a
weather alert tone.
Weather Band Key — scans seven pre-
programmed weather channels to keep
you informed about current weather
conditions.
Scanner Control Protocol — lets you
download channel information (frequen-
cy, lockout, priority, delay) from your PC
to the scanner.
Ten 20-Channel Storage Banks — let
you store 20 channels in each of ten
banks to group channels so calls are
easier to identify.Ten Monitor Memories — let you tem-
porarily save ten frequencies located
during a frequency search, so you can
decide if you want to store them perma-
nently.
Priority Channels — let you set the
scanner to check up to ten channels ev-
ery 2 seconds so you do not miss impor-
tant calls.
Band Search — lets you quickly and
easily search preset frequency ranges,
so you can find new and unlisted broad-
casts. 
Direct Search — lets you search for a
transmission starting from a specified
frequency.
Search Skip — lets you select up to 20
frequencies for the scanner to skip dur-
ing a search, so you can search more
efficiently.
Two-Second Channel Scan/Search
Delay — lets you set the scanner so it
delays scanning or searching for 2 sec-
onds before moving to another channel/
frequency, so you can hear more re-
plies.
Lock-Out — keeps channels you select
from being scanned, so you can skip
over busy channels such as those with a
continuous transmission.
© 1999 Tandy Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.
RadioShack is a registered trademark used by Tandy Corporation.
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Key Confirmation Tones — the scan-
ner sounds a tone when you perform an
operation correctly and sounds an error
tone if you make an error.
Memory Backup — keeps channel fre-
quencies stored in memory for an ex-
tended time even if your scanner loses
power.
External Speaker Jack — lets you con-
nect an external speaker, or an ear-
phone or headphones for private
listening.
External Antenna Terminal — lets you
connect an external antenna (not sup-
plied) for improved reception.
Your scanner can receive all of these
frequencies:
• 29–54 MHz (10-Meter Amateur
Radio, VHF Lo, 6-Meter Amateur) 
• 108–136.975 MHz (Aircraft) 
• 137–174 MHz (Government, 2-
Meter Amateur Radio, VHF Hi) 
• 406–512 MHz (UHF Lo, 70-Centi-
meter Amateur Radio, Government,
UHF “T” Band) This table shows the preset frequency
steps your scanner uses for each fre-
quency range.
Note: The frequency steps are preset.
You cannot change them.
Your scanner can also receive these
preprogrammed weather channel fre-
quencies:
• 162.400 MHz
• 162.425 MHz
• 162.450 MHz
• 162.475 MHz
• 162.500 MHz
• 162.525 MHz
• 162.550 MHz
Frequency 
Range (MHz) Step (kHz)
29–54 5
108–136.975 12.5
137–144 5
144–148 5
148–174 5
406–450 12.5
450–470 12.5
470–512 12.5
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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 it. Try to
eliminate the interference by:
• moving your scanner away from the
receiver
• connecting your scanner to an outlet
that is on a different electrical circuit
from the receiver
• contacting your local RadioShack
store for help
If you cannot eliminate the interference,
the FCC requires that you stop using
your scanner. 
This device complies with Part 15 of the
FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the
following conditions: (1) This device
must not cause harmful interference and
(2) this device must accept any interfer-
ence received, including interference
that may cause undesired operation.
SCANNING LEGALLY
Your scanner covers frequencies used
by many different groups including po-
lice and fire departments, ambulance
services, government agencies, private
companies, amateur radio services, mili-
tary operations, pager services, and
wireline (telephone and telegraph) ser-
vice providers. It is legal to listen to al-most every transmission your scanner
can receive. However, there are some
transmissions you should never inten-
tionally listen to. These include:
• telephone conversations (cellular,
cordless, or other private means of
telephone signal transmission)
• pager transmissions
• any scrambled or encrypted trans-
missions
According to the Electronic Communica-
tions Privacy Act (ECPA), you are sub-
ject to fines and possible imprisonment
for intentionally listening to, using, or di-
vulging the contents of such a transmis-
sion unless you have the consent of a
party to the communication (unless such
activity is otherwise illegal).
This scanner has been designed to pre-
vent reception of illegal transmissions.
This is done to comply with the legal re-
quirement that scanners be manufac-
tured so as to not be easily modifiable to
pick up those transmissions. Do not
open your scanner’s case to make any
modifications that could allow it to pick
up transmissions that it is not legal to lis-
ten to. Doing so could subject you to le-
gal penalties.
We encourage responsible, legal scan-
ner use.
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CONTENTS
Preparation ..............................................................................................................  6
Removing the Display Protector  .........................................................................  6
Connecting an Antenna  ......................................................................................  6
Connecting Power  ..............................................................................................  7
Connecting an External Speaker ........................................................................  8
Connecting an Earphone or Headphones  ..........................................................  8
Understanding Your Scanner  ................................................................................  9
A Look at the Front Panel ...................................................................................  9
A Look at the Display  .......................................................................................  10
Understanding Banks and Bands  .......................................................................  12
Channel-Storage Banks  ...................................................................................  12
Monitor Memories .............................................................................................  12
Frequency Bands  .............................................................................................  12
Operation ...............................................................................................................  14
Turning On the Scanner/Setting Volume and Squelch  .....................................  14
Resetting the Scanner  ......................................................................................  14
Manually Storing Frequencies into Channels  ...................................................  14
Searching For and Temporarily Storing Active Frequencies  ............................  15
Listening to Monitor Memories  .........................................................................  16
Moving a Frequency From a Monitor Memory to a Channel  ............................  17
Deleting a Frequency From a Channel  ............................................................  17
Scanning Channels  ..........................................................................................  17
Manually Selecting a Channel  ..........................................................................  18
Special Features  ...................................................................................................  19
Delay ................................................................................................................  19
Skipping Frequencies/Channels .......................................................................  19
Priority ..............................................................................................................  20
Listening to the Weather Band  .........................................................................  21
Turning the Key Tone On or Off ........................................................................  21
A General Guide to Scanning  ..............................................................................  22
Guide to Frequencies  .......................................................................................  22
Guide to the Action Bands ................................................................................  23
Band Allocation  ................................................................................................  24
Frequency Conversion  .....................................................................................  27
Troubleshooting ....................................................................................................  28
Care and Maintenance ..........................................................................................  29
Specifications .......................................................................................................  30
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PREPARATION
This scanner is designed for use in the
home as a base station. You can place it
on any flat surface such as a desk, shelf,
or table.
REMOVING THE DISPLAY 
PROTECTOR
Your scanner’s display is protected dur-
ing shipment by a piece of film. Peel off
this film before you use the scanner.
CONNECTING AN 
ANTENNA
Connecting the Supplied 
Antenna
You must install an antenna before you
can operate the scanner. 
The supplied telescoping antenna helps
your scanner receive strong local sig-
nals. To install the antenna, thread it
clockwise into the hole on the scanner’s
top.
The scanner’s sensitivity depends on
the antenna’s length and various envi-
ronmental conditions. For the best re-ception of the transmissions you want to
hear, adjust the antenna’s length.
Connecting an Outdoor 
Antenna
Instead of the supplied antenna, you can
connect an outdoor base-station anten-
na (not supplied) to your scanner. Your
local RadioShack store sells a variety of
antennas. Choose the one that best
meets your needs.
When deciding on a base-station anten-
na and its location, consider these
points:
• The antenna should be as high as
possible on the house.
• The antenna and its cable should be
as far as possible from sources of
electrical noise such as appliances
or other radios.
• The antenna should be vertical for
the best performance.
To connect a base-station antenna, first
remove the supplied antenna from the
scanner. Always use 50-ohm coaxial ca-
ble, such as RG-58 or RG-8, to connect
the base-station antenna. For lengths
over 50 feet, use RG-8 low-loss dielec-
tric coaxial cable. If the antenna cable’s
connector does not fit in the 
ANT jack,
you might also need an antenna plug
Frequency 
(MHz)Antenna Length
29–54 Extend fully
108–174 Collapse one segment
406–512 Collapse both segments
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adapter. Your local RadioShack store
carries a wide variety of coaxial antenna
cable and connectors.
Once you choose an antenna, follow the
mounting instructions supplied with the
antenna. Then route the antenna’s cable
to the scanner and connect the cable to
the 
ANT jack on the back of the scanner.
Cautions:
• Do not run the cable over sharp
edges or moving parts that might
damage it.
• Do not run the cable next to power
cables or other antenna cables.
• Follow all cautions and warnings
included with your antenna.
CONNECTING POWER
Use the supplied 10V, 300-mA AC
adapter to power the scanner.
Warning: Do not use the AC adapter’s
polarized plug with an extension cord re-
ceptacle unless the blades can be fully
inserted to prevent blade exposure.Cautions:
You must use a Class 2
power source that supplies
10V AC and delivers 300
mA. Its plug must fit the scanner’s
AC 10V jack. The supplied adapter
meets these specifications. Using
an adapter that does not meet these
specifications could damage the
scanner or the adapter.
• A replacement adapter is available
by special order through your local
RadioShack store.
• Always connect the AC adapter to
the scanner before you connect it to
AC power. When you finish, discon-
nect the adapter from AC power be-
fore you disconnect it from the
scanner.
Insert the AC adapter’s barrel plug into
the 
AC 10V jack on the back of the scan-
ner, then plug the AC adapter into a
standard AC outlet.
!
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CONNECTING AN 
EXTERNAL SPEAKER
You can connect an optional external
speaker with a 1/8-inch (3.5-mm) plug to
the scanner. Use an 8-ohm external
speaker that can handle at least 2.5
watts of power. Your local RadioShack
store sells scanner accessories, includ-
ing external speakers.
Insert the speaker’s plug into the 
EXT.
SP.
 jack on the back of the scanner.
Note: Plugging in an external speaker
disconnects the scanner’s internal
speaker.
CONNECTING AN 
EARPHONE OR 
HEADPHONES
You can connect an optional earphone
or pair of monaural headphones with a 1/8-
inch (3.5-mm) plug to the scanner. Your
local RadioShack store sells a complete
line of earphones and headphones.Insert the earphone’s or headphones’
plug into the 
EXT. SP. jack on the back of
the scanner.
Note: Plugging in an earphone or head-
phones disconnects the scanner’s inter-
nal speaker.
Listening Safely
To protect your hearing, follow these
guidelines when you use an earphone/
headphones.
• Set the volume to the lowest setting
before you begin listening. After you
begin listening, adjust the volume to
a comfortable level.
• Do not listen at extremely high vol-
ume levels. Extended high-volume
listening can lead to permanent
hearing loss.
• Once you set the volume, do not
increase it. Over time, your ears
adapt to the volume level, so a vol-
ume level that does not cause dis-
comfort might still damage your
hearing. 
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UNDERSTANDING YOUR SCANNER
A LOOK AT THE FRONT PANEL
VO L U M E  Turns the scanner on or off and adjusts the volume.
SQUELCH Adjusts the scanner’s squelch.
/   Sets the search direction.
BAND Searches a band you select. 
DELAY Programs a 2-second delay for the selected channel; sets a
delay for all active frequencies during a search.
ALERT/PRIORITY Sets the scanner to the weather alert mode; turns priority on
or off for a particular channel.
MONITOR Stores frequencies into, and accesses, the ten monitor
memories.
S/S-LOCKOUT Skips a specified frequency during a band or direct search
(search/skip/lockout)  or locks out selected channels during scanning.
HOLD Pauses the scanner during a search.
PROGRAM Programs frequencies into channels.
SCAN Scans through the channels.
MANUAL Stops scanning to let you listen to a monitor memory or di-
rectly enter a channel number.
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1–9, 0 Each key has a single-digit label, and the 1–9 and 0 keys
also have a range of numbers. Use the 
digits on the keys to
enter the numbers for a channel or a frequency. Use the
range of numbers above the key (
61–80, for example) to se-
lect or deselect the channels in a channel-storage bank. 
CLEAR/.
 Clears an incorrect entry, or enters the decimal point when
you enter a frequency.
WX/E Scans the seven preprogrammed weather channels; stores
frequencies into channels.
A LOOK AT THE DISPLAY
The display has indicators that show the scanner’s current operating mode. A good
look at the display will help you understand your scanner.
BANK  Appears with a number (1–10) to its right to show which
channel-storage banks are turned on for scanning. 
MON Appears with a number (1–10) to its right to show which
monitor memory you are listening to.
  Appears when you tune to a priority channel.
CH Appears with a number (1–200) to its left to show which
channel the scanner is tuned to.
SCAN Appears when you scan channels.
MAN Appears when you manually select a channel.
PGM  Appears when you program the scanner.
P
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