RadioShack Pro 2052 Vhf Uhf Scanner Reciever Owners Manual

							11
Plug the speaker cable’s 1/8-inch (3.5-
mm) plug into your scanner’s   jack.
Note: 
Connecting an external speaker
disconnects the scanner’s internal
speaker.
CONNECTING AN 
EARPHONE/
HEADPHONES
For private listening, you can connect
an earphone or headphones with a 1/8-
inch (3.5-mm) plug to the   jack on
the front of the scanner. (Your local
RadioShack store carries a wide se-
lection of earphones and head-
phones). This automatically dis-
connects the internal speaker.
Listening Safely
To protect your hearing, follow these
guidelines when you use an earphone
or headphones.
• Do not listen at extremely high
volume levels. Extended high-
volume listening can lead to per-
manent hearing loss.
•Set 
VOLUME to the lowest setting
before you begin listening. After
you begin listening, adjust 
VOL-
UME
 to a comfortable level.
• Once you set 
VOLUME, do not
increase it. Over time, your ears
adapt to the volume level, so a
volume level that does not cause
discomfort might still damage your
hearing.
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							12
UNDERSTANDING YOUR SCANNER
Once you understand a few simple terms we use in this manual and familiarize
yourself with your scanner’s features, you can put the scanner to work for you. You
simply determine the type of communications you want to receive, then set the
scanner to scan them.
A frequency
 is the tuning location of a station (expressed in kHz or MHz). To find
active frequencies, you can use the search
 function. 
You can also search the service-search banks
, which are preset groups of fre-
quencies categorized by type of service.
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 channel-storage
bank
. You can then scan
 the channel-storage banks to see if there is activity on
the frequencies stored there. Each time the scanner finds an active frequency, it
stays on that channel until the transmission ends.
A LOOK AT THE FRONT PANEL
Your scanner’s keys might seem confusing at first, but this information should help
you understand each key’s function.
Note: 
Some of the scanner’s keys perform more than one function and are marked
with more than one label. The steps in this Owner’s Manual show only the label on
the key appropriate to the action being performed.
VOLUMETurns the scanner on or off and adjusts the volume. 
SQUELCHAdjusts the scanner’s squelch.
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SCANIn conventional scanning, scans through stored chan-
nels; in trunking mode, scans through the scan lists
and turns on/off the S-bit feature.
MANUALStops scanning and lets you directly enter a channel
number or frequency.
TRUNKSelects trunk scanning or conventional mode.
SVC (service) Selects a service bank; turns on/off the disconnect
tone detect feature.
PRIORITY/SPEEDSets and turns on and off the priority feature; turns the
HyperSearch mode on and off; in Trunking mode, pro-
grams the priority ID.
Number Keys Each key has single-digit (0 to 9) and double-digit (11
to 20) labels. Use single digits to enter a channel, fre-
quency, ID number, or bank numbers 1 to 10. Use
double-digits to enter bank numbers 11 to 20. 
CLEAR
/•Clears an entry; enters a decimal point; in trunk scan-
ning mode, sets the range between fleet and sub-fleet
for Motorola Type 1 IDs and sets the range between
agency and fleet for Ericsson EDACS IDs. 
E (enter) Enters frequencies into channels; enters IDs into scan
lists.
LIMIT/t
Sets the frequency range; sets the search direction
and holds a frequency search.
DELAYPrograms a 2-second delay for the selected channel,
a limit search, or each service scan. Also programs a
5-second delay in trunk scanning mode.
SEARCHSearches a specified frequency range to find frequen-
cies; searches for active IDs in the trunk scanning
mode.
L/O/SKIP (lock out/skip) Lets you lock out selected channels or frequencies;
lets you lock out a selected ID in the trunk scanning
mode.
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REMOTE/HOLD/s
Turns the remote function on or off; holds on the cur-
rent ID in trunk scanning mode; sets the search direc-
tion and holds the frequency search.
DATA/ALERTTurns the data signal skip feature and the SAME alert
features on or off, or checks the current trunking bank
in trunk scanning mode.
SHIFTPress with number keys to select banks 11 through
20.
A LOOK AT THE DISPLAY
The display has indicators that show the scanner’s current operating status. This
quick look at the display will help you understand how your scanner operates.
LISTAppears with a number (1–5) to indicate the list num-
ber.
BANK  Appears with numbers (1–20) to indicate the scan
bank.
PUBIndicates (along with the activity indicator) that the
scanner is searching the public safety service bank.
POLICEIndicates (along with the activity indicator) that the
scanner is searching the police service bank.
FIRE/EMGIndicates (along with the activity indicator) that the
scanner is searching the fire/emergency service bank.
AIRIndicates (along with the activity indicator) that the
scanner is searching the air service bank.
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WXIndicates (along with the activity indicator) that the
scanner is searching the weather service bank.
TRUNKAppears when the scanner is in trunk scanning
mode. 1–20 appears as the bank number or list
number.
 Shows which service bank is currently active. Shows
(activity indicator)
 which control/voice channels are currently ac-
tive.
SFTAppears when the scanner is in the shift mode;
flashes when the remote function is on.
MAppears when the trunking system type is Motor-
ola.
EAppears when the trunking system type is
EDACS.
ALERTAppears when the weather alert is on; flashes
when the scanner receives an ALERT signal or
SAME alert.
Appears when a priority channel is selected or the
priority ID is set.
SCANAppears when the scanner scans channels.
MANUALAppears when you set the scanner to its manual
mode.
PRIAppears when the priority feature is turned on.
HOLDAppears when the scanner is holding during a
search. 
DELAYAppears when the delay feature is turned on. 
DATAAppears when the data skip function is active; ap-
pears in the trunk scanning mode when the dis-
connect tone detect function is off.
P
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L/O (lockout) Appears when you manually select a channel, fre-
quency, or ID that is locked out.
t
SEARCHs
Lights steadily during a limit search, service search,
and ID search, and blinks while HyperSearch is active
and when you monitor IDs. The arrow indicates the
search direction.
ErrorAppears if you make an entry error.
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							17
UNDERSTANDING 
BANKS
Channel Storage Banks
To make it easier to identify and select
the channels you want to listen to,
channels are divided into 20 banks of
50 channels each. Use each channel-
storage bank to group frequencies,
such as those used by the police de-
partment, fire department, ambulance
services, or aircraft (see “Guide to the
Action Bands” on Page 56). 
For example, the police department
might use four frequencies, one for
each side of town. You could program
the police frequencies starting with
Channel 1 (the first channel in bank 1)
and program the fire department fre-
quencies starting with Channel 51 (the
first channel in bank 2).
Service Banks
The scanner is preprogrammed with
the frequencies allocated by public
safety, police, fire/emergency, aircraft,
and weather services. This is handy
for quickly finding active frequencies
instead of searching through an entire
band (see “Searching Service Banks”
on Page 19).
UNDERSTANDING 
TRUNKING
In the past, groups that broadcast fre-
quently, such as police departments,
were restricted to transmitting on just
a few frequencies. This resulted in
heavy traffic and often required 2-way
radio users to wait for a specific fre-
quency to clear before transmitting. 
Trunked systems allow more groups
of 2-way radio users to use fewer fre-
quencies. Instead of selecting a spe-
cific frequency to transmit on, a
trunked system chooses one of sever-
al frequencies when the 2-way radio
user presses PTT (push to talk). The
system automatically transmits the
call on that frequency, and also sends
a code that identifies that 2-way radio
user’s transmission on a data channel.
You can set this scanner to monitor
the data channel frequency, so you
can hear both the call and response
transmissions for that 2-way radio
user and therefore follow the conver-
sation. (You cannot listen to the data
channel itself in trunking mode.)
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OPERATION
TURNING ON THE 
SCANNER AND SETTING 
SQUELCH
1. Turn SQUELCH and VOLUME fully
counterclockwise.
2. Turn 
VOLUME back clockwise until
you hear a hissing sound.
3. Turn 
SQUELCH clockwise, then
leave it set to a point just after the
hissing sound stops.
Notes: 
• If the scanner does not scan, turn
SQUELCH further clockwise.
• If the scanner picks up unwanted,
partial, or very weak transmis-
sions, turn 
SQUELCH clockwise to
decrease the scanner’s sensitivity
to these signals. If you want to lis-
ten to a weak or distant station,
turn 
SQUELCH counterclockwise.
• If 
SQUELCH is adjusted so you
always hear a hissing sound, the
scanner will not scan properly.
STORING KNOWN 
FREQUENCIES INTO 
CHANNELS
Good references for active frequen-
cies are the RadioShack “Police Call
Guide including Fire and Emergency
Services,” “Official Aeronautical Fre-
quency Directory,” and “Maritime Fre-
quency Directory.” We update thesedirectories every year, so be sure to
get a current copy.
Note: 
To store trunking system fre-
quencies, see “Programming Trunked
Frequencies” on Page 32.
Follow these steps to store frequen-
cies into channels.
1. Press 
MANUAL, enter the chan-
nel number (1–1000) where you
want to store a frequency, then
press 
MANUAL again. The chan-
nel number appears. 
2. Use the number keys and 
• to
enter the frequency (including the
decimal point) you want to store.
3. Press 
E to store the frequency into
the channel.
Notes:
• If you made a mistake in Step
2, 
Error appears and the
scanner beeps when you press
E. Simply start again from Step
2.
• Your scanner automatically
rounds the entered frequency to
the nearest valid frequency. For
example, if you enter a fre-
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							19
quency of 151.473, your scan-
ner accepts it as 151.475.
• If you entered a frequency that
is already stored in another
channel, the scanner beeps
three times and displays the
lowest channel number where
the frequency is already stored.
If you want to store the fre-
quency anyway, press 
E again.
•Press 
DELAY if you want the
scanner to pause 2 seconds on
this channel after a transmis-
sion ends before it proceeds to
the next channel (see “Delay”
on Page 23). The scanner also
stores this setting in the chan-
nel.
4. To program the next channel in
sequence, press 
MANUAL and
repeat Steps 2 and 3.
 
SEARCHING SERVICE 
BANKS
You can search for public service, po-
lice, fire/emergency, aircraft, and
weather transmissions even if you do
not know the specific frequencies that
are used in your area. You can also
store any of the frequencies you find
into channels.
Your scanner has the following pre-
programmed service banks.
• PUB — contains 140 public ser-
vice frequencies• POLICE — contains 2,392 police
frequencies
• FIRE/EMG — contains 197 fire
and emergency service frequen-
cies
• AIR — contains 2,319 aircraft and
air service frequencies
• WX — contains 7 weather fre-
quencies
To select a service bank, press 
SVC.
 (activity indicator) appears above
the service bank’s name 
(
PUB, PO-
LICE
, FIRE/EMG, AIR, and WX),
and one of the preset public service
frequencies appear. After a 2-second
delay, scanning begins in the selected
bank. 
To select another service bank, re-
peatedly press 
SVC until   appears
above the name of the bank you want
to use.
Notes:
 
• To skip data signals (such as
modem signals), press 
DATA. See
“Skipping Data Signals” on
Page 25.
• Because frequencies are not
always assigned to the same ser-
vices everywhere, you might hear
transmissions from one service in
another service bank.
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Press SEARCH to start searching im-
mediately or to continue searching if
you want to skip a frequency.
During service-search, you can press
HOLD to pause the searching. HOLD
appears. Press s
 or t
 to move up or
down one step, or press 
SEARCH to
resume searching.
Follow these steps to store service
bank frequencies into channels.
1. Press 
MANUAL. 
2. Use the number keys to enter the
channel number (1–1000) where
you want to store the frequency,
then press 
MANUAL.
3. Press 
SVC then SEARCH to select
a service bank and begin search-
ing.
4. When the scanner stops on a
transmission, press 
HOLD. The
frequency appears.
5. Press 
E to store the frequency into
the channel.
LIMIT SEARCH
If you do not know a frequency to
store, you can search for transmis-
sions within a range of frequencies
you select, called the 
limit search
range
. Then you can store any inter-
esting frequencies you find into chan-
nels.
1. Press 
MANUAL, enter the chan-
nel number where you want tostore a frequency, then press
MANUAL again. The channel num-
ber appears. 
2. Use the number keys and 
• to
enter the frequency that is the
lower limit of the range you want
to search.
3. Press
 LIMIT.
4. Use the number keys and • to
enter the frequency that is the
upper limit of the range you want
to search.
5. Press 
LIMIT then SEARCH. The
scanner begins to search from the
lower limit to the upper limit.
6. When the scanner stops on a
transmission, quickly press either:
•
E to store the displayed fre-
quency into the channel. The
scanner stores the frequency.
•s
 or t
 to stop searching so
you can listen to the transmis-
sion. 
HOLD appears.
To release hold and continue
searching, press 
SEARCH.
Notes:
• To step through the frequencies
while 
HOLD appears, press s
 or
t
.
•Press s
 then 
SEARCH to search
from lowest to highest frequency,
or press t
 then 
SEARCH to
search from highest to lowest fre-
quency.
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