RadioShack Pro 83 Compact Scanner Reciever Owners Manual

							21 The Basics
9 Enters a 9.
.
/CLR/:
.
/CLR Enters a decimal point or clears an 
incorrect entry.
FUNC +   Jumps directly to the last channel 
in memory (Ch#200) from any mode.
0/L/O:
0 Enters a 0.
FUNC + L/O Lets you lock out a selected channel 
or skip a specified frequency.
E/PGM:
E Enters frequencies into channels.
FUNC+ PGM Programs frequencies into 
channels.
20-501.fm  Page 21  Friday, July 9, 2004  3:23 PM 
						

							The Basics 22
A Look at the Display
The display has indicators that show the scanners 
current operating status. The display information 
helps you understand how your scanner operates.
BANK - appears with numbers (1-10).
P - appears when you select a priority channel.
SCN - appears when you scan channels.
SRCH - appears during search mode.
PRI - appears when the priority feature is turned on.
HOLD - appears during scan hold mode and search 
hold mode.
DLY - appears when you select a delay.
20-501.fm  Page 22  Friday, July 9, 2004  3:23 PM 
						

							23 The Basics
L/O - appears when you manually select a channel 
you locked out or a skip frequency.
 - appears when you lock the keypad.
 - alerts you when the battery power gets low.
 - appears while you store a frequency into a 
channel.
 or   - appears during search mode.
 - appears only when the function mode is on.
WX, POL FIRE, AIR, MRN, or HAM - appears along 
with an indicator that shows the current service 
bank during a service search.
ALT - appears during a WX alert or while the signal 
stalker function is on.
 - appears when the scanner is set to a signal 
stalker mode.
PGM
F
20-501.fm  Page 23  Friday, July 9, 2004  3:23 PM 
						

							The Basics 24
Understanding Banks
Service Banks
The scanner is preprogrammed with all the 
frequencies allocated to the weather, ham, marine, 
aircraft, and police (fire/emergency) services. 
Channel Storage Banks
To make it easier to identify and select the channels 
you want to listen to, the 200 channels are divided 
into 10 channel-storage banks. Each bank has 20 
channels. Use each channel-storage bank to group 
frequencies, such as those for the police 
department, fire department, ambulance services, 
or aircraft.
For example, the police department might use four 
frequencies in your town while the fire department 
uses an additional four. You could program the four 
police frequencies starting with Channel 1 (the first 
channel in bank 1), and program the fire department 
frequencies starting with Channel 21 (the first 
channel in bank 2).
20-501.fm  Page 24  Friday, July 9, 2004  3:23 PM 
						

							25  Beyond the Basics
operating your scanner
Turning On The Scanner and 
Setting Squelch
Your scanner is preprogrammed at the factory with 
150 of the most frequently used frequencies in 
Channels 1 to 150. You can scan these frequencies 
as soon as you turn on the scanner.
Note: Make sure the scanners antenna is connected 
before you turn it on.
X Tu r n  SQUELCH fully counterclockwise.
Y Press and hold   for about 2 seconds to turn 
the scanner on, then turn VOLUME clockwise 
until you hear a hissing sound.
Z Tu r n  SQUELCH clockwise until the hissing stops.
[ Press SCAN. See “Scanning the Stored Chan-
nels” on Page 30.
Storing Known Frequencies 
Into Channels
You can locate and store specific frequencies into 
channels for later use. To assist you in locating a 
desired frequency from the scanners wide range, 
consider using a frequency guide. 
20-501.fm  Page 25  Friday, July 9, 2004  3:23 PM 
						

							Beyond the Basics 26
Excellent references for active frequencies are the 
RadioShack Police Call Guide including Fire and 
Emergency Services, and Official Aeronautical 
Frequency Directory. We update these directories 
every year, so be sure to get a current copy.
Follow these steps to store frequencies into 
channels.
X Press HOLD. Then enter the channel number 
where you want to store a frequency, then press 
FUNC + PGM. The channel number appears.
Y Use the number keys and .
/CLR to enter the 
frequency (including the decimal point) you want 
to store.
Z  Press E to store the frequency into the channel.
Notes:
•If you entered an invalid frequency in Step 
Y, 
Error appears and the scanner beeps three 
times. Enter a valid frequency.
•The scanner automatically rounds the entered 
number to the nearest valid frequency. For 
example, if you enter 151.473 (MHz), your 
scanner accepts it as 151.475.
20-501.fm  Page 26  Friday, July 9, 2004  3:23 PM 
						

							27  Beyond the Basics
•When you enter a frequency into a channel, the 
scanner automatically turns on the delay 
function and DLY appears. When delay is turned 
on, the scanner automatically pauses scanning 2 
seconds after the end of a transmission before 
scanning proceeds to the next channel. To turn 
the function off or on, press FUNC + DLY.
•If you enter a frequency that has already been 
entered elsewhere, the scanner sounds an error 
tone and displays the channel that was 
duplicated. If you entered the frequency by 
mistake, press .
/CLR then enter the correct 
frequency. To enter the frequency anyway, press 
E to accept.
[ To program the next channel in sequence, press 
FUNC + PGM or E and repeat Steps 
Y and Z.
\ To program the scanner with your local Skywarn 
frequency, repeat Steps 
X-Z to program Chan-
nel 200 with that frequency. For more informa-
tion, see “Skywarn” on Page 36.
20-501.fm  Page 27  Friday, July 9, 2004  3:23 PM 
						

							Beyond the Basics 28
Searching For and 
Temporarily Storing 
Active Frequencies
If you do not have a reference to frequencies in your 
area, use a search (except weather service search) 
to find a transmission. 
Note: When the scanner starts searching, it 
automatically turns on the delay function. To turn 
delay on or off, press FUNC + DLY.
Service Search
You can search for weather, ham, marine, aircraft, or 
police (fire/emergency) transmissions without 
knowing the specific frequencies used in your area. 
The scanner is preprogrammed with all the 
frequencies allocated to these services. To use this 
feature, press FUNC + SVC. SRCH appears and the 
scanner searches starting with the weather 
service bank. To select a different service bank, 
repeatedly press FUNC + SVC. Service mode 
appears on the display.
When the scanner stops on a transmission, quickly 
press HOLD to stop searching and listen to the 
transmission. HOLD appears. In this mode, you can 
press FUNC +   or FUNC +   to step through 
the frequencies.
20-501.fm  Page 28  Friday, July 9, 2004  3:23 PM 
						

							29  Beyond the Basics
To release the hold and continue searching, press 
HOLD. Or, if you did not press HOLD, simply press 
FUNC +   or FUNC +   to continue searching.
Note: Because there are many different frequencies 
allocated to fire and police departments, it can take 
several minutes to search all the service 
frequencies.
Storing Frequencies into Channels 
During Service Search
You can store frequencies you found during service 
search or service search hold mode into channels.
X Press FUNC + PGM during service search or 
service search hold mode. The frequency and the 
lowest blank channel alternately appear.
Y Press E to store the frequency into the blank 
channel. If you want to select another channel, 
press FUNC +   or   before you press E. 
To enter the frequency, press FUNC.
   disappears. Then press E. You can also use
the 0-9 keys to select the bank. To continue 
searching, press FUNC + SVC.
If you entered a frequency that has already been 
entered elsewhere, the scanner sounds an error 
tone and displays the channel that was duplicated. 
If you entered the frequency by mistake, press .
/CLR 
then enter the correct frequency. To enter the 
frequency anyway, press E to accept.
F
20-501.fm  Page 29  Friday, July 9, 2004  3:23 PM 
						

							Beyond the Basics 30
Scanning the Stored Channels
To begin scanning channels, press SCAN. The 
scanner scans through all non-locked channels in 
the activated banks. (See “Locking Out Channels” on 
Page 48 and “Turning Channel-Storage Banks On 
and Off ” on Page 48). When the scanner finds a 
transmission, it stops on it. When the transmission 
ends, the scanner resumes scanning.
Notes:
• If you have not stored frequencies into any 
channels, the scanner does not scan.
• If the scanner picks up unwanted partial, or very 
weak transmissions, turn SQUELCH clockwise 
to decrease the scanners sensitivity to these 
signals. To listen to a weak or distant station, 
turn SQUELCH counterclockwise.
• To ensure proper scanning, adjust SQUELCH 
until the audio mutes.
Manually Selecting a Channel
You can continuously monitor a single channel 
without scanning. This is useful if you hear an 
emergency broadcast on a channel and do not want 
to miss any details - even though there might be 
periods of silence - or if you want to monitor a 
specific channel.
20-501.fm  Page 30  Friday, July 9, 2004  3:23 PM