RadioShack Pro 79 Vhf Uhf Handheld Scanner Reciever Owners Manual

11
Note:
 Ni-Cd batteries last longer and deliver more power if you
occasionally let them fully discharge. To do this, simply use the
scanner until 
B appears on the display. Then fully charge the
batteries.
Important:
 This radio can use Ni-Cd recharge-
able batteries. At the end of a Ni-Cd batterys
useful life, it must be recycled or disposed of
properly. Contact your local, county, or state haz-
ardous waste management authorities for infor-
mation on recycling or disposal programs in your
area or...

12
Connecting an Outdoor Antenna
Instead of the supplied antenna, you can connect an outdoor
base-station or mobile antenna (not supplied) to your scanner
using a BNC connector. Your local RadioShack store sells a va-
riety of antennas. Choose the one that best meets your needs.
When deciding on a mobile or base-station antenna and its loca-
tion, consider these points:
• The antenna should be as high as possible on the vehicle or
building.
• The antenna and its cable should be as far as possible from...

13
Warning: 
Use extreme caution when you install or remove 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 antenna, mast, cable, or guy wires can
cause electrocution and death. Call the power company to re-
move the antenna. DO NOT attempt to do so yourself.
CONNECTING AN EARPHONE/
HEADPHONES
For private listening, you can connect an earphone or head-
phones with a 1/8-inch (3.5-mm) plug to the...

14
Traffic Safety
• Do not use an earphone/headphones with your scanner
when operating a motor vehicle or riding a bicycle in or near
traffic. Doing so can create a traffic hazard and could be ille-
gal in some areas.
• If you use an earphone/headphones with your scanner while
riding a bicycle, be very careful. Do not listen to a continu-
ous transmission. Even though some earphones/head-
phones let you hear some outside sounds when listening at
normal volume levels, they still can present a traffic...

15
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 pre-
set groups of...

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BAND Lets you search the scanner’s preprogrammed
service-search banks.
PRI/ALERT Turns the priority feature on and off; turns the
WX alert mode on and off.
WX Scans the seven preprogrammed weather chan-
nels.
SCANScans any preprogrammed channels.
MAN Stops scanning and lets you directly enter a
channel number.
Number  
Each key has single-digit (0 to 9) and a range 
of
Keys 
 numbers. Use the range of numbers above the key
 (21–40 for example) to select the channel in a
 channel-storage bank. See...

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A LOOK AT THE DISPLAY
The display has indicators that show the scanner’s current oper-
ating status. This quick look at the display will help you under-
stand how your scanner operates.
Appears when you lock the keypad.
t
/s
Indicates the search or scan direction.
AIR Indicates that the scanner is searching the air
service bank.
ALErtAppears when the weather alert is on.
-b-Appears during a service bank frequency search.
BAppears when the batteries are low.
BANK Appears with numbers (1–10) to indicate...

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dEFAULt Appears when you remove all the lock-outs from
the service bank frequencies.
D-Err Appears when the scanner receives a data error
during wired programming.
DLYAppears when you program a 2-second delay.
End Appears when the scanner has finished wired
programming.
ErrorAppears when you make an entry error.
FD/PD Indicates that the scanner is searching the fire/
police service bank.
FLo ALL-CL Appears when you remove all the locked-out fre-
quencies during a service bank or direct search....

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on tonEAppears when you turn the key tone on. 
P Appears when the scanner is tuned to the priority
channel.
PGM Appears when you program frequencies into the
scanner’s channels.
PRIAppears when the priority feature is turned on.
SCANAppears when the scanner scans channels.
SRCH Appears during service bank and direct frequen-
cy searches.
StArt Appears when the scanner starts wired program-
ming.
WirEdAppears when you set the scanner to its wired
programming mode to program frequencies into
it.
WX...

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Service Banks
The scanner is preprogrammed with the frequencies allocated
by fire/police, aircraft, ham radio, and marine services. This is
handy for quickly finding active frequencies instead of searching
through an entire band (see “Searching the Service Banks” on
Page 28).
Note:
 The frequencies in the scanner’s service banks are pre-
set. You cannot change them.
Fire/Police
Group Frequency Range (MHz)Step 
(kHz)
1 33.420–33.980 20
37.020–37.420 20
39.020–39.980 20
42.020–42.940 20
44.620–45.860...