RadioShack Pro 2049 Programmable Scanner Owners Manual

							11
UNDERSTANDING YOUR SCANNER
A LOOK AT THE FRONT PANEL
A quick glance at this section should help you understand each control’s function.
VO L U M ETurns the scanner on or off and adjusts the volume.
SQUELCHAdjusts the scanner’s squelch. See “Turning On the Scan-
ner/Setting Volume and Squelch” on Page 17.
/   Enters the search direction.
BANDSearches a band you select. See “Frequency Bands” on
Page 15.
DELAYPrograms a 2-second delay for the selected channel.
PRIORITYSets and turns on or off priority for a particular channel.
MONITORStores frequencies into and accesses the three monitor
memories. See “Monitor Memories” on Page 15.
S/S-LOCKOUTSkips a specified frequency during a band or direct search
(search/skip/lockout)  or locks out selected channels during scanning.
WEATHERScans the seven preprogrammed weather channels.
PROGRAMPrograms frequencies into channels.
SCANScans through the channels.
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MANUALStops scanning to let you listen to a monitor memory
or directly enter a channel number. 
1–9, HOLD/0Each key has a single-digit label, and the 1–3 keys
also have a range of numbers. Use the digits on the
keys to enter the numbers for a channel or a frequen-
cy. Use the range of numbers above the key (
61–90,
for example) to select the channels in a channel-stor-
age bank. See “Channel-Storage Banks” on Page 15.
Also, pressing 
HOLD (0) during a search pauses the
scanner.
CLEAR/.Clears an incorrect entry, or enters the decimal point
when you enter a frequency.
E (Enter)Stores frequencies into channels. See “Manually Stor-
ing Frequencies into Channels” on Page 18.
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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.
B  Appears with a number (1–3) to its right to show which
channel-storage banks are turned on for scanning. See
“Understanding Banks and Bands” on Page 15.
MAppears with a number (1–3) to its right to show which
monitor memory you are listening to.
Appears when you tune to a priority channel.
CHAppears with a number (1–90) to its left to show which
channel the scanner is tuned to.
SCANAppears when you scan channels.
MANAppears when you manually select a channel.
PGM  Appears when you program the scanner.
PRIAppears when the priority feature is turned on.
L/O (lockout) Appears when you skip a channel or frequency, when you
manually select a channel or frequency that is locked out or
skipped, or when a frequency is stored in search skip mem-
ory during a direct search or band search hold.
DLY  Appears when the scanner is scanning and stops at a
channel, or during a search when you have programmed
a 2-second delay.
SCAN MAN PGM PRI L/O DLY WX
BM123
CH
P
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WX (weather)  Appears when the scanner is searching the weather
band. 
/   Indicates the search direction during a search. 
bAppears instead of the channel number during a band
search.
d  Appears instead of the channel number during a direct
search.
H  Appears during a band search hold.
h  Appears during a direct search hold.
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UNDERSTANDING BANKS AND BANDS
You can store frequencies into either
a permanent memory location called a
channel, or a temporary memory loca-
tion called a monitor memory. You can
store up to 90 channels and up to 3
monitor memories. 
Your scanner also has eight frequency
bands, each covering a specific range
of frequencies you can search.
CHANNEL-STORAGE 
BANKS
To make it easier to identify and select
the frequencies you want to listen to,
the scanner’s channels are divided
into 3 channel-storage banks (1–3) of
30 channels each. You can use each
channel-storage bank to group fre-
quencies, such as those used by the
police department, fire department,
ambulance services, and amateur ra-
dio operators (see “Guide to the Ac-
tion Bands” on Page 28).
For example, there might be three or
four police departments in your area,
each using several different frequen-
cies. Additionally, there might be other
law enforcement agencies such as
state police, county sheriffs, or SWAT
teams that use their own frequencies.
You could program all law enforce-
ment frequencies starting with Chan-
nel 1 (the first channel in Bank 1), then
program the fire department, para-
medic, and other public safety fre-
quencies starting with Channel 31 (the
first channel in Bank 2).
MONITOR MEMORIES
Monitor memories are temporary stor-
age areas where you can store up to
three frequencies during a search
while you decide whether to save
them into channels. You can manually
select and listen to monitor memories.
FREQUENCY BANDS
Your scanner has eight frequency
bands, each covering a specific range
of frequencies. You can search these
bands for specific broadcasts by re-
peatedly pressing 
BAND until the
scanner displays the band you want. 
For example, you can search through
all frequencies between 29.000 and
54.000 MHz for specific broadcasts by
repeatedly pressing 
BAND until 29-
54
 appears on the display. The scan-
ner then automatically searches the
frequencies in that band. 
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This table shows the frequency band ranges displayed by the scanner and the typ-
ical usage, frequency coverage, and step for each.
Notes:
• Your scanner searches at the preset frequency step rate (5 or 12.5 kHz) for
each frequency. You cannot change the frequency step rate.
• The scanner displays the nearest 1 kHz step. For example, if you tune to
406.1125, the scanner displays 
406.112.
• While searching through a frequency band, you might hear a frequency you
want to store. You can store any frequency into a monitor memory. 
• You cannot change or delete any of the frequencies in the frequency bands.
Displayed 
Frequency 
Band RangeTypical UsageFrequency Coverage 
(MHz)Step
(kHz)
29-5410-Meter Amateur Radio, VHF 
Lo, 6-Meter Amateur Radio29.000 to 54.000 5.0
108-137Aircraft 108.000 to 136.975 12.5
137-144Government 137.000 to 144.000 5.0
144-1482-Meter Amateur Radio 144.000 to 148.000 5.0
148-174VHF Hi 148.000 to 174.000 5.0
406-450Government, 70-Centimeter 
Amateur Radio406.000 to 450.000 12.5
450-470UHF Lo 450.000 to 470.000 12.5
470-512UHF “T” Band 470.000 to 512.000 12.5
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OPERATION
TURNING ON THE 
SCANNER/SETTING 
VOLUME AND SQUELCH
1. Turn OFF/VOLUME and SQUELCH
fully counterclockwise.
2. Turn 
VO L U M E clockwise until you
hear a hissing sound. Set it to the
desired volume level.
3. Turn 
SQUELCH clockwise, then
leave it set to a point just after the
hissing sound stops.
Notes: 
• If the scanner picks up unwanted,
par tial, or very weak transmis-
sions, turn 
SQUELCH clockwise to
decrease the scanner’s sensitivity
to these signals.
• If you want to listen to a weak or
distant station, turn 
SQUELCH
counterclockwise. 
• If the scanner will not scan, turn
SQUELCH further clockwise.
RESETTING THE 
SCANNER
You might need to reset the scanner
in any of the following conditions.
• before you use it for the first time
(to clear anything that might
already have been stored in mem-
ory)
• if the scanner’s display locks up
• if the scanner does not work prop-
erly after you connect power
• if the scanner is dropped or sub-
jected to a physical or electrical
shock
Caution: 
This procedure clears all the
information you have programmed
into the scanner. Use this procedure
only when you are sure your scanner
is not working properly.
1. Turn off the scanner.
2. While you hold down 
2 and 9, turn
on the scanner.
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MANUALLY STORING 
FREQUENCIES INTO 
CHANNELS
If you know a frequency you want to
store, you can store it manually into a
channel.
Good references for active frequen-
cies are RadioShack’s “Police Call
Radio Guide Including Fire and Emer-
gency Services,” “Aeronautical Fre-
quency Directory,” and “Maritime
Frequency Directory.” We update
these directories every year, so be
sure to get a current copy. See also
“Guide to the Action Bands” on
Page 28 in this manual.
Note:
 If you do not have a reference
to frequencies in your area, follow the
steps in “Searching For and Tempo-
rarily Storing Active Frequencies” on
Page 19 to search for transmissions.
Follow these steps to manually store a
frequency into a channel.
1. If the scanner is scanning, press
MANUAL.
2. Using the number keys, enter the
channel number where you want
to store a frequency.
3. Press 
PROGRAM. B and the bank
number, the selected channel
number and 
CH, PGM, L/O (if the
selected channel number is
empty), and 
000.000 (or the
previously programmed fre-
quency) appear on the display.4. Using the number keys, enter the
frequency you want to store into
that channel, including the deci-
mal point.
Note:
 Your scanner automatically
rounds the entered frequency up
to the closest valid frequency. For
example, if you try to enter a fre-
quency of 151.473, your scanner
accepts it as 151.475.
5. Press 
E to store the frequency. If
the channel was locked out, the
lockout is removed.
Note:
 If you entered an invalid fre-
quency in Step 4, the scanner dis-
plays 
Error. Press CLEAR, then
repeat Steps 4 and 5.
6. To program the next channel in
sequence, repeat Steps 3–5. To
program another channel (not in
sequence), repeat Steps 2–5.
C
H
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SEARCHING FOR AND 
TEMPORARILY STORING 
ACTIVE FREQUENCIES
You can search for transmissions us-
ing either a band or direct search, then
temporarily store the frequencies for
those transmissions into monitor
memories.
Notes:
• If you manually tune to a search
skip frequency, the display shows
L/O (see “Skipping Frequencies/
Channels” on Page 23).
• You can use the scanner’s delay
feature while using band or direct
search. See “Delay” on Page 23.
Band Search
Using band search, you can select a
frequency band and search for trans-
missions within only that band.
1. Repeatedly press 
BAND until you
see the frequency band you want
to search.
The scanner displays   or  ,
the range for each frequency
band, and the number of the cur-
rent monitor memory blinks on the
display. Then the scanner starts to
search the frequencies in theband. When the scanner finds a
transmission, it stops and displays
the frequency’s number until the
transmission stops, then it starts
searching again.
2. To manually search the band,
press 
HOLD after the scanner
star ts automatically searching the
frequencies. The scanner displays
H (hold),   or  , and a frequency
within the band you selected.
3. Repeatedly press   to step from
the lower to the upper range, or 
to step from the upper to the lower
range. 
Hold down   or   or press
HOLD to return to automatic
search.
4. When the scanner finds an active
frequency, you can do any of the
following:
• save the frequency into the cur-
rent monitor memory by press-
ing 
MONITOR.
• continue searching by pressing
 or  .
• stop searching and listen to
the frequency by pressing
HOLD. H (hold) appears.
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Note: 
You can change the direction of
either an automatic or manual search
by pressing   or   once.
Direct Search
Using direct search, you can enter a
frequency, then search for transmis-
sions above or below that frequency
within all of the frequency bands.
1. Press
 MANUAL.
2. Use the number keys to enter the
frequency where you want to start
the search. Press • to enter the
decimal point.
3. Press   or   to search up or
down from the selected frequency.
d (direct) and   or   appear,
and the next available monitor
memory number flashes.
Note: 
If you entered an invalid
frequency in Step 2, the scanner
displays 
Error. Press CLEAR,
then repeat Steps 2 and 3.4. When the scanner finds an active
frequency, you can do any of the
following:
• save the frequency into the cur-
rent monitor memory by press-
ing 
MONITOR.
• continue searching or change
the search direction by pressing
 or  .
• stop searching and listen to
the frequency by pressing
HOLD. H (hold) appears.
To manually step through fre-
quencies one at a time after you
stop a search, repeatedly press
 or  . To continue search-
ing, either press 
HOLD or press
and hold down   or   for
about 1 second.
LISTENING TO MONITOR 
MEMORIES
After you store frequencies into the
scanner’s monitor memories, you can
listen to them by pressing 
MANUAL,
MONITOR then the number for the de-
sired monitor memory.
Note: 
To listen to the monitor memo-
ries, the priority channel feature must
be turned off (see “Priority” on
Page 24).
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