RadioShack Pro 2056 Scanner Reciever Owners Manual

							11
USING THE SCANNER 
AS A BASE STATION
You can place this scanner on a desk,
shelf, or table to use it as a base sta-
tion.
Your scanner’s front feet fold up and
down. Adjust them to give you the
best view of the display.
Using the Supplied AC 
Adapter
Cautions:
• Use only the supplied AC adapter.
Using a different adapter can
damage your scanner and could
present a safety hazard.
• To prevent electric shock, the
plug’s blades are polarized and fit
only one way. If the plug does not
fit easily, turn it over and try again.
Do not force it into the AC outlet.
• When you finish using the AC
adapter, disconnect it from the AC
outlet first. Then disconnect it from
the scanner.Plug the adapter’s barrel plug into the
scanner’s 
DC 13.8V jack. Then plug
the adapter’s power module into a
standard AC outlet.
Warning:
 Do not use the AC adapt-
er’s polarized plug with an extension
cord, receptacle, or other outlet unless
the blades can be fully inserted to pre-
vent blade exposure.
MEMORY BACKUP
When you first power the scanner,
MEMO LOSS (memory loss) appears
until you program the scanner. The
memory backup circuit begins to func-
tion a few minutes after you supply
power to the scanner. How long the
scanner will maintain channels stored
in memory depends on how long pow-
er has been supplied to the scanner. 
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							12
If power is continuously supplied to
the scanner for at least 24 hours, the
memory backup circuit maintains the
channels stored in memory for up to 5
days. If power is disconnected and the
memory backup circuit becomes too
weak to save the scanner’s program-
ming, 
MEMO LOSS appears again
when power is reconnected until you
reprogram the scanner.
CONNECTING AN 
EXTERNAL SPEAKER 
OR HEADPHONES
In a noisy area, an extension speaker
or pair of monaural headphones (Cat.
No. 21-549 or 20-210) might provide
more comfortable listening. Use an 8-
ohm external speaker capable of han-
dling 3 watts of power.
Plug the speaker cable’s or head-
phones’ 
1/8-inch plug into the EXT SP
jack on the back of the scanner.Caution:
 Do not turn the scanner’s
volume all the way up while using
headphones. The headphones could
be damaged.
Note:
 Plugging in an external speaker
or headphones disconnects the scan-
ner’s internal speaker.
Listening Safely
To protect your hearing, follow these
guidelines when you use headphones.
• Do not listen at extremely high
volume levels. Extended high-vol-
ume listening can lead to perma-
nent hearing loss.
• Set the volume to the lowest set-
ting before you begin listening.
After you begin listening, adjust
the volume to a comfortable level.
• Once you set the 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.
(add corrected illus F13. Add
external speaker and callout
EXT SP and arrow to jack)
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							13
UNDERSTANDING YOUR SCANNER
Once you understand a few simple
terms we use in this manual and famil-
iarize yourself with your scanner’s fea-
tures, you can put the scanner to work
for you. You simply determine the com-
munications you want to hear, then set
the scanner to scan those frequencies.
A 
frequenc
y is the tuning location of a
station (expressed in kHz or MHz). To
find active frequencies, you can use
the 
search function to search 
search
bands, which are preset ranges of fre-
quencies. When you find a frequency,
you can store it into a permanent
memory location called a 
channel,
which is grouped with other channels
in your scanner’s 
service search
banks and
 PRIVATE bank.
 You can
then 
scan these channels. Each time
the scanner finds an active frequency,
it stays there until the transmission
ends.
BANKS
Service Search Banks
The FCC (Federal Communications
Commission) allocates frequency
ranges for the exclusive use of public
service agencies such as police de-
partments, fire departments, the U.S.
Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration (FAA), and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion (NOAA).
Many of the frequencies used by
these agencies are grouped into this
scanner’s service search banks, soyou can easily scan the frequencies
typically used by a particular agency.
Your scanner has the following ser-
vice search banks.
• POLICE (contains 739 preset fre-
quencies)
• FIRE/EMG (contains 197 preset
frequencies)
• MARINE (contains 90 preset fre-
quencies)
• AIR (contains 1,160 preset fre-
quencies)
Your scanner also has 7 preset
weather frequencies.
You can scan through any service
search bank simply by pressing that
bank’s button, or the weather frequen-
cies by pressing 
WX. For example, if
you want to scan frequencies where
you are likely to hear police calls,
press 
POLICE.
Notes:
• You cannot use the 
SEARCH key
to search for new frequencies in
the service search banks.
• You cannot change or clear any of
the preset frequencies in the ser-
vice search banks, but you can
store frequencies into channels in
the POLICE and FIRE/EMG ser-
vice search banks (see “Chan-
nels” on Page 14).
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							14
PRIVATE Bank
Your scanner has one PRIVATE bank.
This bank contains 20 channels. You
can store frequencies from any search
band (see “Search Bands” on
Page 15), service search bank, or any
weather frequency into these chan-
nels, then scan the channels by press-
ing 
PRIVATE.
Notes:
• You cannot use the 
SEARCH key
to search for new frequencies in
the PRIVATE bank.
• You cannot scan the PRIVATE
bank until you have stored fre-
quencies in its channels (see
“Storing Frequencies into Chan-
nels” on Page 21).
CHANNELS
The scanner has 50 empty channels
where you can store frequencies you
find while scanning the banks or
searching through the search bands
— 20 in the POLICE bank, 10 in the
FIRE/EMG bank, and 20 in the PRI-
VATE bank. 
• Frequencies you assign to
POLICE channels become part of
the POLICE service search bank.
For example, the police depart-
ment might use four temporary
frequencies while providing secu-
rity for a parade. If these frequen-cies are included in any search
band (or even another service
search bank), you could store
them in Channels 1
–4 of the
POLICE service search bank.
• Frequencies you assign to FIRE/
EMG channels become part of the
FIRE/EMG service search bank.
For example, the fire department
might use three frequencies to
communicate with paramedic
units only during disaster drills. If
these frequencies are included in
any search band (or even another
service search bank), you could
store them in Channels 1
–3 of the
FIRE/EMG service search bank.
• The MARINE and AIR service
search banks contain no chan-
nels.
You can also replace frequencies
you stored in these channels with
different frequencies, or you can
clear stored frequencies from the
channels.
Good references for active frequen-
cies are the RadioShack 
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.
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							15
SEARCH BANDS
Your scanner has 11 preprogrammed search bands. Each band covers a specific
range of frequencies which you can search for specific broadcasts by using the
SEARCH and BAND keys. For example, you can search through all frequencies be-
tween 29.000 and 30.000 MHz for specific broadcasts.
This table shows the search band range displayed by the scanner and the typical
usage, frequency coverage, and step rate for each search band range.
Notes:
• Your scanner searches at the preset frequency step rate (5, 12.5, or 25 kHz) for
each search band.
• You cannot change the frequency step rate.
Search 
Band 
RangeTypical UsageFrequency Coverage 
(MHz)Step 
Rate 
(kHz)
29–3010-Meter Amateur Radio 29.0000–30.0000 5.0
30–50VHF Lo 30.0000–50.0000 5.0
50–546-Meter Amateur Radio 50.0000–54.0000 5.0
108–137Aircraft 108.0000–136.9750 25.0
137–144Government 137.0000–144.0000 5.0
144–1482-Meter Amateur Radio 144.0000–148.0000 5.0
148–174VHF Hi 148.0000–174.0000 5.0
406–420Government 406.0000–420.0000 12.5
420–45070-Centimeter Amateur Radio 420.0000–450.0000 12.5
450–470UHF Lo 450.0000–470.0000 12.5
470–512UHF “T” Band 470.0000–512.0000 12.5
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							16
While searching through a search
band, you might hear a frequency
that you want to store with other fre-
quencies of the same type, so you
can scan them all together. You can
store any frequency into a channel in
the POLICE or FIRE/EMG service
search banks or the PRIVATE bank.
See “Storing Frequencies into Chan-
nels” on Page 21.
Notes:
• Some of the frequencies in the
search bands are also included in
the scanner’s service search
banks.
• When you store a frequency in a
channel, that frequency also
remains in the search band.
• You cannot change or clear any of
the frequencies in the search
bands.
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							17
A LOOK AT THE FRONT PANEL
A quick glance at this section will help you better understand each key’s function.
HOLD — stops scanning or searching.
s and t — moves up or down through
frequencies and channels or changes
the search direction.
FIRE/EMG, AIR, POLICE, MARINE —
scans the preset frequencies in the
named  service search bank. See
“Service Search Banks” on Page 13.
PRIVATE — scans the frequencies you
stored in the PRIVATE bank’s chan-
nels. See “PRIVATE Bank” on
Page 14.
WX — scans through the prepro-
grammed weather frequencies.
SEARCH — searches for active fre-
quencies within a selected band
range, starting from the lowest fre-
quency. See “Using Band Search” on
Page 20.
L/OUT — locks out selected frequen-
cies or channels.
BAND — selects any of the 11 search
bands to search.
PROG — programs frequencies into
channels.
SQ — adjusts the scanner’s squelch.
OFF/VOLUME — turns the scanner on
or off and adjusts the volume.
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							18
PRIVATE — appears when you scan
the frequencies you stored in the PRI-
VATE bank’s channels.
POLICE, FIRE/EMG, AIR, MRN
— appear when you scan the preset
frequencies in the named service
search bank.
WX — appears when you scan the pre-
set weather frequencies.
HOLD — appears when you press
HOLD to stop scanning or searching.
SCAN — appears when you scan
channels until a frequency appears.
SRCH s or t — appears during a
search to show the search direction.
Search Band Ran
ge Numbers — ap-
pear instead of a frequency to show
which of the scanner’s 11 search
bands you selected.
L/O — appears when you lock out a
channel or frequency or manually se-
lect a locked-out channel or frequency
(see “Locking Out Channels and Fre-
quencies” on Page 23).
MEMO LOSS — appears when you first
turn on the scanner until you program
the scanner, and when you turn on the
scanner after a power loss when the
scanner’s memory backup circuit is
too weak to save the scanner’s pro-
gramming.
Error — appears when you make an
incorrect entry.
Prg-Loc — appears when you try to
program the scanner while
MEMOLOCK OFF/ON is set to ON (see
“Using Memolock” on Page 23).
CH — flashes when you program the
scanner.
Channel Number — appears on the
left side of the display to show which of
the scan bank channels the scanner is
tuned to. The display has indicators that show the scanner’s operating mode. A good look at
the display will help you understand your scanner’s operation.
A LOOK AT THE DISPLAY
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							19
OPERATION
TURNING ON THE 
SCANNER/SETTING 
VOLUME AND SQUELCH
Note: Make sure the scanner’s anten-
na is connected before you turn it on.
1. Turn 
SQ fully clockwise.
2. Turn 
OFF/VOLUME clockwise until
it clicks and you hear a hissing
sound.
3. Turn 
SQ counterclockwise until
the hissing sound stops.
Notes:
• If the scanner picks up unwanted,
partial, or very weak transmis-
sions, turn 
SQ counterclockwise to
decrease the scanner ’s sensitivity
to these signals. If you want to lis-
ten to a weak or distant station,
turn 
SQ clockwise.
•If 
SQ is adjusted so you always
hear a hissing sound, the scanner
does not scan properly.
•
OFF/VOLUME adjusts both the
broadcast volume and the volumeof the beep you hear when you
press the scanner ’s keys.
USING SERVICE 
SEARCH
To scan a service search bank, press
any of these buttons:
•POLICE
•FIRE/EMG 
•AIR
• MARINE
To scan the PRIVATE bank, press
PRIVATE.
Note: You cannot scan the PRIVATE
bank until you have stored frequen-
cies in it. See “Storing Frequencies
into Channels” on Page 21.
The scanner scans through all non-
locked channels (see “Locking Out
Channels and Frequencies” on
Page 23) in the bank you selected,
SCAN scrolls, and the bank’s name
appears at the top of the display.
The scanner scans the channels with-
in the bank from the lowest to the
highest channel number. If the scan-
ner detects a broadcast, it stops on
the channel. When the broadcast
ends, the scanner continues to scan
higher channels in the bank. When the
scanner finishes scanning all chan-
nels in the bank, it returns to the low-
est channel in the bank and starts
scanning again.
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							20
USING BAND SEARCH
Follow these steps to search for trans-
missions within any of the scanner’s
11 search bands.
1. Be sure 
MEMOLOCK OFF/ON is
set to 
OFF (see “Using Memolock”
on Page 23).
2. Press 
SEARCH.
3. Repeatedly press 
BAND until you
see the search band you want to
search.
SRCH and the range for each
search band appears. Then, after
about 3 seconds, 
SRCH s or
SRCH t appears, and the scanner
starts to automatically search the
frequencies in the band. When the
scanner finds a transmission, it
stops on that frequency and the
frequency’s number appears until
the transmission stops, then the
scanner starts searching again.
You can change the direction of either
an automatic or manual search by
pressing the opposite arrow key (s or
t) once.
To manually search the search band,
press 
HOLD after the scanner starts
automatically searching the frequen-
cies. 
HOLD, SRCH s or SRCH t, and a
frequency within the band you select-
ed appear.
Repeatedly press s to search from the
lower to the upper range, or t to
search from the upper to the lowerrange. Hold down s or t to quickly step
through the frequencies. Press
SEARCH to return to automatic search.
MONITORING A 
FREQUENCY
When the scanner displays a specific
frequency while scanning the banks or
searching the search bands, you can
continuously monitor that frequency.
This is useful if you hear an emergen-
cy broadcast on a frequency and do
not want to miss any details (even
though there might be periods of si-
lence).
To monitor a frequency while it ap-
pears during scanning or searching,
press 
HOLD until HOLD appears. The
scanner stays on the frequency.
To continue scanning a bank, press
a service search bank button, 
WX,
or PRIVATE. To continue automatically
searching a search band, press
SEARCH. To continue manually
searching a search band, press s or t.
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