RadioShack Pro 29 Programmable Scanner Reciever Owners Manual

							11
CONNECTING THE ANTENNA
Follow these steps to attach the supplied flexible antenna to the connec-
tor on the top of your scanner.
1. Align the slots around the antenna’s connector with the tabs on the
jack.
2. Press the antenna down over the jack and rotate the antenna’s
base clockwise until it locks into place.
Connecting an Optional Antenna
The antenna connector on your scanner makes it easy to use the scan-
ner with a variety of antennas. Instead of the supplied antenna, you can
attach a different one, such as an external mobile antenna or outdoor
base antenna. Your local Radio Shack store sells a variety of antennas.
Always use 50-ohm coaxial cable, such as RG-58 or RG-8, to connect
an outdoor antenna. For lengths over 50 feet, use RG-8 low-loss dielec-
tric coaxial cable. If your antenna’s cable does not have a BNC connec-
tor, you will also need a BNC adapter (available at your local Radio
Shack store).
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 anten-
na, mast, cable or guy wires can cause electrocution and death! Call the
power company to remove the antenna. Do not attempt to do so your-
self.
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CONNECTING AN EARPHONE/
HEADPHONES
For private listening, you can plug an earphone or mono headphones
(such as Radio Shack Cat. No. 33-175 or 20-210) into the  jack on top
of your scanner. This automatically disconnects the internal speaker.
Listening Safely
To protect your hearing, follow these guidelines when you use an ear-
phone or headphones:
• Do not listen at extremely high volume levels. Extended high-vol-
ume listening can lead to permanent hearing loss.
• Set the volume to the lowest setting 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.
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Traffic Safety
Do not wear an earphone or headphones while you drive a vehicle or
ride a bicycle. This can create a traffic hazard and is illegal in some ar-
eas.
Even though some earphones and headphones are designed to let you
hear some outside sounds when you listen at normal levels, they still
present a traffic hazard.
CONNECTING AN EXTENSION SPEAKER
In a noisy area, an extension speaker (such as Radio Shack Cat. No.
21-549) or an amplified speaker (such as Radio Shack Cat. No. 21-
541), positioned in the right place, might provide more comfortable lis-
tening. Plug the speaker cable’s 
1/8-inch mini-plug into your scanner’s
jack.
USING THE BELT CLIP
You can attach the supplied belt clip to make the scanner easier to use
when you are on the go. Use the two supplied screws to attach the belt
clip to the scanner. Then slide the belt clip over your belt or waistband.
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UNDERSTANDING YOUR SCANNER
A LOOK AT THE KEYPAD
Your scanner’s keys might seem confusing at first, but this information
should help you understand each key’s function.
SCAN — scans through the programmed channels.
MANUAL — stops scanning and lets you directly enter a channel num-
ber.
LOCKOUT/S/S — lets you lock out a selected channel. Skips a specified
frequency during limit or direct search.
PRIORITY — sets and turns on and off priority for a particular channel.
CLEAR/. 
— clears an incorrect entry or enters the decimal point neces-
sary when programming frequencies.
MONITOR/0 — accesses the six monitor memories. See “Moving a Fre-
quency from a Monitor Memory to a Channel.”
WX/E (enter) — scans through the preprogrammed weather channels or
enters frequencies into channels.
KEYLOCK/ — locks/unlocks the keypad to prevent accidental entries
or turns on the display light for 15 seconds. See “Using the Keylock” and
“Using the Display Backlight.”
PROGRAM 
— programs frequencies into channels.
t, LIMIT, and s 
— search for active frequencies. See “Searching For and
Temporarily Storing Active Frequencies.”
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Number Keys — each key has a single-digit label, and keys 1-6 have
a range of numbers printed above them. The single digits refer to the
number of a channel or frequency entered. The number range (21-30,
for example) show the channels that make up a memory bank. In addi-
tion, the keypad has different functions in manual mode, scan mode,
and program mode. See “Banks and Memories.”
A LOOK AT THE DISPLAY
The display has several indicators that show the scanner’s current op-
erating mode. A quick look at the display will help you understand how
to operate your scanner.
MON — appears when you listen to a monitor memory. A number (1-6)
appears to the right of 
MON indicating which monitor memory you are lis-
tening to.
BANK — shows which channel-storage banks are turned on for the scan
mode. See “Banks and Memories.”
KEYLOCK — appears when you lock the keypad.
BATT.Lo — appears when the batteries are low.
CH — digits that precede this indicator show which of the 60 channels
the scanner is tuned to.
P — appears when you listen to the priority channel.
MHz — digits that precede this indicator show which frequency the
scanner is tuned to.
SCAN — appears when you scan channels.
MONKEYLOCK
BATT.LoBANK
MHzCH
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MAN — appears when you manually select a channel.
PGM — appears while you program frequencies into the scanner’s chan-
nels.
PRI — appears when you select the priority feature.
L/O — appears when you manually select a locked-out channel, or dur-
ing a search hold when the frequency is stored in search skip memory.
WX — appears when you scan the preprogrammed weather channels.
t and s — indicate the search direction.
SRCH — appears during a limit search, a direct search, and a weather
band search. See “Searching For and Temporarily Storing Active Fre-
quencies.”
-L- — appears instead of the channel number during a limit search.
-d- — appears instead of the channel number during a direct search.
Hi — appears with a frequency to show the upper limit of the frequency
range to search.
Lo — appears with a frequency to show the lower limit of the frequency
range to search.
-H- — appears during a limit search hold.
-h- — appears during a direct search hold.
Error — appears when you make an entry error.
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BANKS AND MEMORIES
Your scanner can store up to 66 frequencies. You store each frequency
in either a memory called a channel, or a temporary memory called a
monitor. This scanner has 60 channels and six monitor memories.
CHANNEL-STORAGE BANKS
To make it easier to identify and select the channels you want to listen
to, channels are divided into six channel-storage banks of 10 channels
each. Use each channel-storage bank to group frequencies, such as the
police department, fire department, ambulance services, or aircraft
band (see “Guide to the Action Bands”).
For example, the police might use four frequencies, one for each area
of town. You could program the police frequencies starting with Channel
1 (Bank 1) and then program the fire department frequencies starting
with Channel 11 (the first channel in Bank 2).
MONITOR MEMORIES
The scanner also has six monitor memories. Use these memories to
temporarily store frequencies while you decide whether or not to save
them into channels. This is handy for quickly storing an active frequency
when you are searching through an entire band. 
When you are in the search mode, 
MON appears and the flashing num-
ber at the top of the display indicates the currently selected monitor
memory. Once you have stored a frequency into that monitor memory,
press 
t or s. The scanner shifts to the next monitor memory and restarts
the search mode.
Note:
 To store frequencies into a monitor memory, you must first per-
form a limit or direct search. See “Searching For and Temporarily Stor-
ing Active Frequencies.”
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OPERATION 
TURNING ON THE SCANNER AND SETTING 
SQUELCH
1. Make sure that SQUELCH is turned fully counterclockwise before
you turn on the scanner.
2. Turn 
VOLUME clockwise until you hear a hissing sound.
3. Turn 
SQUELCH clockwise, just until the hissing sound stops.
Note:
 If you want to listen to a weak or distant station, turn 
SQUELCH
counterclockwise. If reception is poor, turn SQUELCH clockwise.
STORING FREQUENCIES
Follow these steps to store frequencies into channels.
1. Press 
MANUAL. Enter the channel number where you want to
store a frequency.
2. Press 
PROGRAM. PGM appears on the display to indicate the
scanner is in the programming mode.
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3. Use the number keys and CLEAR/. to enter the frequency (includ-
ing the decimal point) you want to store.
4. Press 
WX/E to store the frequency.
Notes:
• If you made a mistake in Step 3, 
Error appears on the display
and the scanner sounds three beeps. Simply start again from
Step 3.
• Your scanner automatically rounds the entered frequency to the
nearest valid frequency. For example, if you try to enter a fre-
quency of 151.473, your scanner accepts it as 151.475.
5. Repeat Steps 1-4 to program more channels. Or, if you want to
program the next channel in sequence, repeat Steps 2-4.
To listen to a frequency you have stored, press 
MANUAL, the channel
number, then 
MANUAL again.
SEARCHING FOR AND TEMPORARILY 
STORING ACTIVE FREQUENCIES
Good references for active frequencies are Radio Shack’s “Police Call
Radio Guide Including Fire and Emergency Services,” “Aeronautical
Frequency Directory,” and “Maritime Frequency Directory.” We update
these directories every year, so be sure to get a current copy.
If you do not have a reference to frequencies in your area, or if you want
to search for unlisted frequencies, use a limit search or direct search.
See also “Guide to the Action Bands” in this manual.
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Limit Search
A limit search lets you search for active frequencies between upper and
lower limits that you set. 
-L- appears on the display during a limit
search.
1. Press 
PROGRAM, then LIMIT. Lo appears on the display.
2. Enter the lower limit of the frequency range you want to search.
3. Press 
WX/E, then LIMIT. Hi appears on the display.
Note:
 If the frequency you entered is not a valid frequency,
Error appears. To enter a different frequency, start again from
Step 2.
4. Enter the upper limit of the frequency range.
5. Press 
WX/E, then LIMIT. Lo and the lower limit frequency appear
on the display.
6. Press 
t to search from the upper to the lower limit, or s to search
from the lower to the upper limit. The current monitor memory
number starts flashing at the top of the display.
7. When the scanner stops on a transmission you want to save,
press 
MONITOR to store the frequency in the current monitor mem-
ory. The monitor number then stops flashing.
8. Press either 
t or s to continue the search. If you saved a frequency
in a monitor memory, then the monitor memory number on the dis-
play advances by one and starts flashing again. (If the last monitor
memory was 6, the scanner returns to monitor memory 1.)
9. To hold the frequency, press
 LIMIT. -H- appears on the display.
To exit the hold mode and resume the limit search, press 
LIMIT
again. 
Notes:
• You can press 
t or s during the hold mode to step through the
frequencies toward the upper or lower limits.
• If you tune to a search skip frequency, the display shows 
L/O
(see “Search Skip Memory”).
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