RadioShack Pro 72 Portable Scanner Reciever Owners Manual

							OWNER’S MANUAL
PRO-72
50-Channel Portable Scanner
Please read before using this equipment.
Cat. No. 20-566
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FEATURES
Your new RadioShack PRO-72 50-Channel Portable
Scanner gives you direct access to over 32,000 exciting
frequencies, including police and fire departments, ambu-
lance services, and amateur radio services. You can se-
lect up to 50 channels to scan, and you can change your
selection at any time.
The secret to your scanner’s ability to scan so many fre-
quencies is its custom-designed microprocessor — a tiny,
built-in computer.
Your scanner has these special features:
Ten Preprogrammed Search Bands
 — let you search
for transmissions within preset frequency ranges, so you
can find interesting frequencies more quickly.
Ten Preprogrammed Weather Frequencies
 — keep
you informed about current weather conditions.
HyperScan
™ and HyperSearch™ — so you can scan up
to 25 channels per second and search up to 50 steps per
second.
Fifty Channels
 — let you store up to 50 of your favorite
frequencies for easy recall and scanning.
Duplicate Frequency Check 
— automatically warns you
if you try to store a frequency you’ve already stored, to
help you use the scanner’s memory more efficiently.
Monitor Memory
 — lets you temporarily save a frequen-
cy located during a direct search, so you can move it to
channel storage later.
© 1997 Tandy Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.
RadioShack, HyperScan, and HyperSearch are trademarks
used by Tandy Corporation.
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Channel Lockout — keeps channels you select from be-
ing scanned.
Memory Backup — keeps the channel frequencies
stored in memory for about 1 hour during a power loss.
Two-Second Scan Delay — delays scanning for 2 sec-
onds before moving to another channel, so you can hear
more replies.
Key Lock — lets you lock the keys to help prevent acci-
dentally changing the scanner’s programming.
Flexible Antenna with BNC Connector — provides ex-
cellent reception. The BNC connector makes it easy to at-
tach and remove the antenna or a variety of optional
antennas.
Liquid Crystal Display — clearly displays how the scan-
ner is set and makes it easy to change those settings.
Display Backlight — makes the scanner’s display easy
to read in low-light situations.
Three Power Options — you can power the scanner
from internal batteries (not supplied – including non-
rechargeable batteries, rechargeable batteries, or a re-
chargeable scanner battery pack) or external AC or DC
power (using optional adapters).
We recommend you record your scanner’s serial number
here. This number is on the scanner’s back panel.
Serial Number: 
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Your PRO-72 scanner can receive all of these frequen-
cies:
• 29–54 MHz (10-Meter Amateur Radio, VHF Lo, 6-
Meter Amateur Radio)
• 137–174 MHz (Aircraft/Air Shows, Government, 2-
Meter Amateur Radio, VHF Hi)
• 380–512 MHz (Military Aircraft, UHF Lo, 70-Centime-
ter Amateur Radio, UHF “T” Band, Government)
• 806–824 MHz (UHF Public Service, Trunked Ser-
vices)
• 849–869 MHz (UHF Hi, Trunked Services)
• 894–960 MHz (UHF Hi, 33-Centimeter Amateur
Radio, Trunked Services)
For a list of the frequency ranges in the ten prepro-
grammed search bands, see “Search Bands” on Page 24.
In addition, your scanner is preprogrammed with the fol-
lowing weather service frequencies:
• 161.6500 MHz
• 161.7750 MHz
• 162.4000 MHz
• 162.4250 MHz
• 162.4500 MHz
• 162.4750 MHz
• 162.5000 MHz
• 162.5250 MHz
• 162.5500 MHz
• 163.2750 MHz
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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
the interference. Try to eliminate the interference by:
• Moving your scanner away from the TV or radio
• Connecting your scanner to an outlet that is on a dif-
ferent electrical circuit from the TV or radio
• Contacting your local RadioShack store for help
This device complies with Part 15 of the 
FCC Rules. Op-
eration is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This
device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this
device must accept any interference received, including
interference that may cause undesired operation.
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SCANNING LEGALLY
Your scanner covers frequencies used by many different
groups including police and fire departments, ambulance
services, government agencies, private companies, ama-
teur radio services, military operations, pager services,
and wireline (telephone and telegraph) service providers.
It is legal to listen to almost every transmission your scan-
ner can receive. However, there are some transmissions
you should never intentionally listen to. These include: 
• Telephone conversations (either cellular, cordless, or
other private means of telephone signal transmission)
• Pager transmissions
• Any scrambled or encrypted transmissions
According to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act
(ECPA), you are subject to fines and possible imprison-
ment for intentionally listening to, using, or divulging the
contents of such a transmission unless you have the con-
sent of a party to the communication (unless such activity
is otherwise illegal). We encourage responsible, legal
scanner use.
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CONTENTS
Preparation  ..................................................................  9
Power Sources  ......................................................  9
Using Batteries  ...............................................  9
Using Standard AC Power  ............................  12
Using Vehicle Battery Power  ........................  13
Charging a Rechargeable Battery Pack  .......  14
Connecting the Antenna  ......................................  15
Connecting an Optional Antenna  ..................  16
Connecting an Earphone/Headphones ................  16
Listening Safely  ............................................  17
Traffic Safety .................................................  17
Connecting an Extension Speaker  ......................  18
Using the Belt Clip  ...............................................  18
Your Scanner  .............................................................  19
A Look at the Keypad  ..........................................  20
A Look at the Display  ...........................................  22
Understanding Bands/Monitor Memory  ...............  24
Search Bands  ...............................................  24
Monitor Memory ............................................  25
Operation  ...................................................................  26
Turning On the Scanner/
Setting Volume and Squelch ................................  26
Storing Active Frequencies  ..................................  27
Manually Storing Frequencies  ......................  27
Band Search  .................................................  29
Direct Search  ................................................  31
Moving a Frequency from the Monitor Memory 
to a Channel  ........................................................  32
Monitoring a Stored Channel  ...............................  32
Scanning the Channels ........................................  33
Listening to the Monitor Memory  .........................  34
Clearing a Channel  ............................................... 34
Listening to a Weather Band  ...............................  35
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Special Features  .......................................................  36
Delay  ...................................................................  36
Locking Out a Channel  ........................................  36
Using the Display Backlight  .................................  37
Turning the Key Tone On and Off  ........................  38
Using the Keylock  ................................................  38
A General Guide to Scanning  ................................... 39
Guide to Frequencies  ..........................................  39
US Weather Frequencies  .............................  39
Other Weather Frequencies  .........................  39
Ham Radio Frequencies ...............................  39
Birdie Frequencies  .......................................  40
Guide to the Action Bands  ...................................  41
United States Broadcast Bands  ...................  41
Typical Band Usage  ...................................... 41
Primary Usage ..............................................  42
Specified Intervals  ...............................................  43
Band Allocation  ....................................................  43
Frequency Conversion  ........................................  47
Troubleshooting ........................................................  48
Resetting/Initializing the Scanner  ........................  50
Resetting the Scanner  ..................................  50
Initializing the Scanner  .................................  51
Care and Maintenance  ..............................................  52
Specifications  ...........................................................  54
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PREPARATION
POWER SOURCES
You can power your scanner from any of four sources:
• Internal batteries (not supplied) with the provided
battery holder
• A rechargeable scanner battery pack (not supplied)
• Standard AC power (using an optional AC adapter)
• Vehicle battery power (using an optional DC cigarette-
lighter adapter)
Notes:
• Connecting an AC or DC adapter to the scanner dis-
connects any internal batteries, but it does not dis-
connect a rechargeable battery pack. If you install a
rechargeable battery pack, you can operate the
scanner and recharge the battery pack at the same
time. See “Using Batteries” below and “Charging a
Rechargeable Battery Pack” on Page 14.
• If the scanner stops working properly after you con-
nect it to power, try resetting it. See “Resetting/Initial-
izing the Scanner” on Page 50.
Using Batteries
You can power your scanner from six AA batteries. For the
longest operation and best performance, we recommend
alkaline batteries, such as RadioShack Cat. No. 23-552.
You can also power the scanner using a rechargeable
scanner battery pack, such as Cat. No. 23-288, and re-
charge it as you use the scanner.
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							10 You can also use six rechargeable nickel-cadmium batter-
ies (such as Cat. No. 23-125) to power the scanner. To
charge or recharge nickel-cadmium batteries, however,
you must remove them from the scanner and use an ex-
ternal charger (such as Cat. No. 23-134).
Note: If you are using a rechargeable scanner battery
pack, you must charge it before you can use your scanner
(see “Charging a Rechargeable Battery Pack” on
Page 14).
Caution: Do not mix old and new batteries, different types
of batteries (standard, alkaline, or rechargeable), or re-
chargeable batteries of different capacities.
Follow these steps to install batteries or a battery pack.
1. Press down on the battery compartment cover on the
bottom of the scanner and slide the cover in the
direction of the arrow to remove it.
2. Slide the battery holder out of the battery compart-
ment.
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