RadioShack Pro 92b Handheld Scanner Owners Manual

							41Special Features
LOCKING OUT CHANNELS OR 
FREQUENCIES 
You can scan existing channels or search frequencies
faster by locking out channels or frequencies that have a
continuous transmission, such as a weather channel.
Locking Out Channels
To lock out a channel while scanning, press L/OUT when
the scanner stops on the channel. To lock out a channel
manually, select the channel then press 
L/OUT until L
appears.
Notes:
• You can still manually select locked-out channels.
• If you lock out a channel that is set to a Motorola
trunking mode while using the subaudible decoding
mode, you can remove the lockout by removing
then reapplying power to the scanner. This makes it
easy to temporarily lock out trunking data channels.
To remove the lockout from a channel, manually select
the channel and press
 L/OUT until L disappears.
Reviewing the Lock-Out Channels
To review all channels that are locked out, press MANU-
AL
, then repeatedly press FUNC then L/OUT to view each
locked-out channel. When you finish reviewing locked-
out channels, press 
MANUAL.
Locking Out Frequencies
To lock out a frequency during a search, press L/OUT
when the scanner stops on the frequency. The scanner
locks out the frequency, then continues searching.
Notes:
• The scanner does not store locked out frequencies
during a search.
20-522b.fm  Page 41  Thursday, September 7, 2000  9:41 AM 
						

							42
Special Features
• You can lock out as many as 50 frequencies in each
bank. If you try to lock out more, 
Memory full!
appears.
• If you lock out all frequencies in one search bank
and only this search bank is activated, 
Search
up...
 All ranges locked out! appears and
the scanner does not search.
Reviewing Locked-Out Frequencies
Follow these steps to review the frequencies within a
search bank that you locked out.
1. Press 
SEARCH to start search.
2. Press 
FUNC then L/OUT. The locked-out frequency
appears. If the search bank has no locked-out fre-
quencies, 
L/O list is empty. appears.
3. Press 
FUNC then   to select a search bank and
begin the search for locked out channels within that
bank.
Each time you press  , the
scanner displays all locked-
out frequencies within a
bank.
Clearing a Locked-Out 
Frequency
To clear a locked-out frequency, select that frequency in
order to use the locked-out frequencies review function,
then press 
CL.
The frequency is unlocked and 
Unlocked appears for
about 2 seconds. Then the next locked-out frequency
appears. If all locked out frequencies are cleared within
a bank, 
L/O list is empty. appears.
Clearing All Lock Out Frequencies in a 
Search Bank
1. Press SEARCH.
2. Turn on only one search bank, the one in which you
want to clear all locked-out frequencies.
Locked-out
20-522b.fm  Page 42  Thursday, September 7, 2000  9:41 AM 
						

							43Special Features
3. Turn SQUELCH fully counterclockwise until the indi-
cator points to 
MIN.
4. Press 
FUNC then 4. Confirm list clear?
1=YES Press other key for NO.
appears. Press 1 to clear all lock-out frequencies
and 
List cleared appears for about 2 seconds.
Press any key other than 
1, to cancel clear.
Note:
 You cannot clear all lock-out frequencies if all
frequencies in the selected bank are locked out. 
5. Turn 
SQUELCH clockwise and leave it set to a point
just until the hissing sound stops.
PRIORITY
With the priority feature, you can scan through pro-
grammed channels and still not miss an important or in-
teresting call on a specific channel. When a channel is
selected as the priority channel and priority is turned on,
the scanner checks that channel every 2 seconds, and
stays on the channel if there is activity until the activity
stops.
The scanner is preset to select Channel 00 in Bank 8 as
the priority channel. You can program a different chan-
nel as the priority channel. Also, you can program a
weather channel as the priority channel.
Notes:
 
• The priority feature does not operate while the scan-
ner receives trunking frequencies.
• If you program a weather channel as the priority
channel, the scanner stays in the priority channel
only when the scanner detects the weather alert
tone.
Follow these steps to program a channel as the priority
channel.
1. Press 
MANUAL.
2. Use the number keys to enter the channel number
you want to program as the priority channel. Then
press 
MANUAL again.
20-522b.fm  Page 43  Thursday, September 7, 2000  9:41 AM 
						

							44
Special Features
3. Press FUNC then PRI. Pri appears to the right of
the frequency.
Note:
 This scanner cannot set a channel as the priority
channel if the channel’s receive mode is 
LTR, MOT, or
ED.
Follow these steps to program a weather channel as the
priority channel.
1. Press 
WX.
2. Select the weather channel you want to program as
the priority channel.
3. Press 
FUNC then PRI. Pri appears to the right of
the frequency.
To turn on the priority feature, press 
PRI while scanning.
Priority ON (or Priority WX if you set the priority
to a weather channel) appears for about 3 seconds, then
P appears. The scanner checks the priority channel ev-
ery 2 seconds. It stays on the channel if there is activity
(or if it detects a weather alert tone in Priority WX mode),
Pri appears and S or M changes to P.
Notes:
 
• Priority WX is only for receiving a weather alert.
• When the scanner detects a 1050 Hz tone, Priority
WX activates and you receive a weather alert.
To turn off the priority feature, press 
PRI. Priority
OFF
 appears and P disappears.
Notes:
 
• If you program a weather frequency into the priority
channel and the scanner detects a weather alert
tone on that frequency, the scanner sounds the alert
tone.
20-522b.fm  Page 44  Thursday, September 7, 2000  9:41 AM 
						

							45Special Features
• The scanner always monitors the priority channel
even if it is in a bank that is set to closed mode (see
“Changing the Open/Closed Mode” on Page 58).
CHANGING THE RECEIVE MODE
The scanner is preset to the most common AM or FM re-
ceive mode for each frequency range. The preset mode
is correct in most cases. However, some amateur radio
transmissions and trunked systems do not operate in the
preset mode. If you try to listen to a transmission when
the scanner is not set to the correct receive mode, the
transmission might sound weak or distorted.
If you want to listen to private line or trunking transmis-
sions in closed mode, you might have to change the re-
ceive mode.
To change the receive mode, repeatedly press MODE
.
The receive mode changes as follows:
CHANGING THE FREQUENCY STEP
The scanner searches at a preset frequency step for
each frequency range. Press 
STEP to change the step
increment when moving between frequencies of aDisplay Description
AM
AM Mode
FM
FM Mode
PL
FM Mode, Private Line (with 
67.0–254.1 Hz PL code)
DL
FM Mode, Digital Private Line 
(with 3-digit DPL code)
LT
FM Mode, LTR Trunking Sys-
tem (with 6-digit ID code)
MO
FM Mode, Motorola Trunking 
System (with a 4- or 5-digit ID 
code)
ED
FM Mode, EDACS Trunking 
System (with 4-digit ID code)
20-522b.fm  Page 45  Thursday, September 7, 2000  9:41 AM 
						

							46
Special Features
search band or follow these steps to change steps in a
specific bank.
1. Press 
SEARCH.
2. Press 
FUNC then repeatedly press   to select a
bank.
3. Turn 
SQUELCH fully counterclockwise until the indi-
cator points to 
MIN.
4. Press 
STEP continuously until you reach the desired
step.
5. Turn 
SQUELCH clockwise and leave it set to a point
just after the hissing sound stops.
These are the changeable frequency steps your scanner
uses for each frequency range.
USING THE ATTENUATOR
To reduce interference or noise caused by strong sig-
nals, you can reduce the scanner’s sensitivity to these
signals. Press 
AT T until A appears to reduce the scan-
ner’s sensitivity on the current channel.
Note:
 If you turn on this feature, the scanner might not
receive weak signals.
To turn off the attenuator, press 
AT T again. A disap-
pears.
This setting is stored for each channel.
Range (MHz) Search Step (kHz)
29.000-54.000 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 50, 100
108.000-136.9875 12.5, 25, 50, 100
137.000-174.000 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 50, 100
380.000-512.000 12.5, 25, 50, 100
806.000-823.9875 12.5, 25, 50, 100
849.000-868.9875 12.5, 25, 50, 100
894.000-960.000 12.5, 25, 50, 100
20-522b.fm  Page 46  Thursday, September 7, 2000  9:41 AM 
						

							47Special Features
USING THE DISPLAY BACKLIGHT
You can turn on the display’s backlight for easy viewing
in dimly lit areas. Press 
LIT to turn on the display light for
5 seconds. To turn off the light before it automatically
turns off, press 
LIT again.
TURNING THE KEY TONE ON AND OFF
Each time you press any of the scanner’s keys, the
scanner sounds a tone. Follow these steps to turn the
scanner’s key tone off or on.
1. If the scanner is on, turn 
VOLUME OFF/MAX 
counter-
clockwise until it clicks to turn the scanner off.
2. Turn 
VOLUME OFF/MAX clockwise to turn the scan-
ner on .  
Welcome To Multi-System Trunk-
ing
 appears.
3. While 
Welcome To Multi-System Trunk-
ing
 appears, press 1
 to turn on the key tone or 2
 to
turn it off.
USING THE KEYLOCK
Once you program your scanner, you can protect it from
accidental program changes by turning on the keylock
feature. When the keypad is locked, the only controls
that operate are 
FUNC, /LIT, SQUELCH, and VOL-
UME
.
Note:
 You cannot activate the keylock when in the mid-
dle of programming.
To turn on the keylock, press 
FUNC then  /LIT. Key-
board
 Locked appears for about 1 second. Key-
board Locked
 appears when you press any key after
locking the keypad.
To turn off the keylock, press 
FUNC then  /LIT. The
scanner beeps once and 
Keyboard Unlocked ap-
pears about 1 second.
CHANGING THE DISPLAY CONTRAST
1. Press MANUAL.
20-522b.fm  Page 47  Thursday, September 7, 2000  9:41 AM 
						

							48
Trunking Operation
2. Press FUNC then 9. Use Up/Down keys to set
contrast.
 appears.
3. Press   or   to select the contrast.
4. Press 
ENTER to set the display contrast.
CLONING THE PROGRAMMED DATA 
FROM SCANNER TO SCANNER
You can transfer the programmed data to and from an-
other RadioShack Cat. No. 20-522A or Cat. No. 20-196
scanner using the supplied clone cable. To clone the da-
ta, follow these steps.
1. Turn on both scanners.
2. Connect the supplied clone cable to each scanner’s
PC/IF jack. CLONE MODE UP to send, remove
cable
 to exit appears.
3. Press . 
Confirm send data? 1=Yes Press
other
 key for No. appears.
4. Press 1
 to send the data to the other unit or press
any other key to cancel the operation.
The scanner sends the data. To exit the clone mode, re-
move the cable.
ˆTrunking Operation
The scanner tracks transmissions that use the Motorola®
Type I and Type II (such as Smartnet and Privacy Plus)
and hybrid analog trunking systems, plus GE/Ericsson
(EDACS) and EF Johnson (LTR) type systems, which
are extensively used in many communication systems. 
Trunking systems allocate a few frequencies to many dif-
ferent users. When the mobile unit transmits a signal,
one frequency is chosen from among the allocated fre-
quencies in that trunking system. The user’s ID talk
group
 is sent with the signal.
To receive trunking signals, you must store all the trunk-
ing group frequencies in one bank (see “Storing Known
Frequencies into Channels” on Page 30) and input ID
20-522b.fm  Page 48  Thursday, September 7, 2000  9:41 AM 
						

							49Trunking Operation
codes in the ID memory (see “Storing Talk Group IDs”
on Page 55). To listen to the transmission, the mode of
the programmed channel must be the same as that of
the trunking channel (LT, MO, or ED).
When an ID code is received, the ID list for the bank is
searched, and if found, the text name stored for the ID
appears. If not found, scanning resumes immediately
unless the bank is in open trunking mode. 
Note:
 There might be more than one talk group transmit-
ting at a time in some Motorola trunking systems. If you
set the scanner to manually tune in Motorola trunking
mode, you will hear the talk group on that channel, but
the display will alternate between all active IDs.
Trunking group frequencies are included in the supplied
Police Call Trunking Guide. Frequency fleet map and
talk group information is also widely available on the In-
ternet, at 
www.trunkscanner.com for example.
UNDERSTANDING TRUNKING
In the past, groups that transmit frequently, such as po-
lice departments, could transmit on only a few frequen-
cies. This resulted in heavy traffic and often required 2-
way radio users to wait for a specific frequency to clear
before transmitting. Trunked systems allow more groups
of 2-way radio users to use fewer frequencies. Instead of
selecting a specific frequency to transmit on, a trunked
system chooses one of several frequencies when the 2-
way radio user transmits. The system automatically
transmits the call on that frequency, and also sends a
code that identifies that 2-way radio user’s transmission
on a control channel.
This scanner lets you easily hear both the call and re-
sponse transmissions for that 2-way radio user and
therefore follow the conversation. For EDACS and Motor-
ola (above 806 MHz range), the scanner monitors the
control channel between each transmission to identify talk
groups. For some Motorola (under 512 MHz range) and
LTR systems, the scanner uses the subaudible data sent
with each transmission to identify talk groups.
20-522b.fm  Page 49  Thursday, September 7, 2000  9:41 AM 
						

							50
Trunking Operation
SETTING SQUELCH FOR THE 
TRUNKING MODE
Your scanner automatically mutes the audio during trunk
scanning when it decodes control channel data. Howev-
er, we recommend you turn 
SQUELCH clockwise and
leave it set to a point just after the hissing sound stops.
This lets the scanner quickly acquire the data channel.
PROGRAMMING TRUNKING 
FREQUENCIES
You program trunking frequencies just like non-trunked
frequencies, except that you must store the appropriate
mode (MO, ED, or LT) with each frequency.
Notes:
• You can store only one trunked EDACs and Motor-
ola channel in a bank. You can, however, mix LTR
and conventional channels in a bank.
• If you are scanning UHF trunking frequencies under
the 512 MHz range using subaudible data and are
not using a base frequency and offset, lock out all
data channels. See “Programming Motorola Trunk-
ing Systems (UHF-Lo)” on Page 51 and “Locking
Out Channels or Frequencies” on Page 41. Turn off
the scanner to remove the lockouts.
• If you are programming trunked frequencies for
Motorola Type I and hybrid systems, you must first
program the fleet map (see “Programming Fleet
Maps” on Page 53).
• You must store frequencies using the subaudible
trunking method in banks, mode by mode.
Follow these steps to program trunked frequencies.
1. Press 
PGM and select the bank, then press TRUNK
to enter the ID program mode.
2. Repeatedly press 
MODE to select LT for EF
Johnson, 
MO for Motorola, or ED for the EDACS
(GE/Ericsson) system to scan. This sets the talk
group ID decoding method to be used for the bank.
20-522b.fm  Page 50  Thursday, September 7, 2000  9:41 AM