RadioShack Pro 96 Truking Scanner Owners Manual

							11 Increase the separation between
the equipment and receiver.
Connect the equipment into an
outlet on a circuit different from
that to which the receiver is
connected.
This device complies with Part 15
of theFCC Rules. Operation is
subject to the following two
conditions:
This device may not cause
harmful interference.
This device must accept any
interference received, including
interference that may cause
undesired operation.
SCANNING LEGALLY
Your scanner covers frequencies
used by many different groups
including police and fire
departments, ambulance services,
government agencies, private
companies, amateur radio
services, military operations,
pager services, and wireline
(telephone and telegraph) service
providers. It is legal to listen to
almost every transmission your
scanner can receive. However,
there are some transmissions you
should never intentionally listen to.
These include:
 Telephone conversations
(cellular, cordless, or other
private means of telephone
signal transmission)
 Pager transmissions
 Any scrambled or encrypted
transmissions 
						

							12According to the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act
(ECPA), you are subject to fines
and possible imprisonment for
intentionally listening to, using, or
divulging the contents of such a
transmission unless you have the
consent of a party to the
communication (unless such
activity is otherwise illegal).
This scanner has been designed
to prevent reception of illegal
transmissions. This is done to
comply with the legal requirement
that scanners be manufactured so
as to not be easily modifiable to
pick up those transmissions. Do
not open your scanners case to
make any modifications that could
allow it to pick up transmissions
that are illegal to monitor. Doing so
could subject you to legal
penalties.
In some areas, mobile use of this
scanner is unlawful or requires a
permit. Check the laws in your
area. It is also illegal in many
areas to interfere with the duties of
public safety officials by traveling
to the scene of an incident without
authorization.
We encourage responsible, safe
and legal scanner use.
GETTING 
FAMILIAR WITH 
YOUR SCANNER
Though you may be anxious to
begin using your new scanner
right away, we recommend that
you take the time to read this 
						

							13 manual thoroughly so that you
may fully understand the
advanced features and
capabilities of your PRO-96
scanning receiver.
Once you understand a few simple
terms used in this manual and
familiarize yourself with your
scanners features, you can put
the scanner to work for you. You
simply determine which
frequencies and trunking systems
you want to receive, and then
program the scanner to scan
them.
A frequency is the receiving signal
location (expressed in MHz). To
find active frequencies, you can
use frequency guides available
from your local RadioShack store,
frequency listings posted on the
Internet, or the built in search
function.
Your scanner’s SEARCH banks
contained preprogrammed
frequencies in the scanner’s
memory (see “Searching a
Preprogrammed Frequency
Range” on Page 52 for the
frequency list). You can even
change the frequency range on
one of the SEARCH banks (SR6)
to customize your own search
parameters.
Once you identify the frequencies
youwishtomonitor,youcanstore
them into programmable memory
locations called channels, which
are grouped in channel storage
banks. You can then scan the
channel-storage banks to see if
there is activity on the frequencies 
						

							14stored there. Each time the
scanner finds an active frequency,
it stops and monitors the radio
traffic on that channel until the
transmission ends, then resumes
scanning. For detailed
programming instructions, see
“Programming Your Scanner” on
Page 30.
ABOUT THE KEYPAD
Here is a brief overview of your
scanners keys and their functions.
SCAN— scans through the
programmed channels.
FUNC— lets you use various
functions by pressing this key in
combination with other keys.
When using the
FUNCkey, press
the
FUNCkey first, then release it,
then quickly press the next key in
the function key sequence.
MAN— stops scanning and lets
you directly enter a channel
number.
WX— scans through the seven
preprogrammed weather
channels.
TRUNK— stores the trunking ID
code or holds the trunking ID while
scanning.
PRI— sets and turns the priority
function on or off.
TEXT— lets you input text.
PAUSE— pauses search or tune
operation.
MODE— changes the receive
mode (AM, FM, CT, DC, MO, ED). 
						

							15 å/7— turns on/off the displays
backlight, or when used with
FUNC
locks/unlocks the keypad to
prevent accidental entries.
TUNE— allows you input a
frequency and tunes up or down
automatically or manually with the
SorTkeys.
ATT— turns attenuation on to
reduce the scanners sensitivity
and block extremely strong
signals, or turns it off to increase
sensitivity.
SorT— selects the scan or
search direction.
SRCH— lets you search the
seven search banks.
L/OUT— lets you lock out a
selected channel, skip a specified
frequency during search, or lock
out a selected ID code.
PGM— programs frequencies into
channels.
ENTER— completes the entry of
frequencies and text.
1— enters a 1, or inputs
characters 0 through 9 in text
mode.
2/ABC— enters a 2, or inputs
characters A, B, or C.
3/DEF— enters a 3, or inputs
characters D, E, or F.
4/GHI— enters a 4, or inputs
characters G, H, or I.
5/JKL— enters a 5, or inputs
characters J, K, or L. 
						

							166/MNO— enters a 6, or inputs
characters M, N, or O.
7/PQRS— enters a 7, or inputs
characters P, Q, R, or S.
8/TUV— enters an 8, or inputs
characters T, U, or V.
9/WXYZ— enters a 9, or inputs
characters W, X, Y, or Z.
0— enters a zero, or inputs
characters . - # _ @ + * & / , $ % ! ^
()? ’.
./DELAY— enters a decimal point
(necessary when programming
frequencies), space, or programs
delay time for the selected
channel/search bank, or hyphen
(in trunking ID setting).
CLR— clears an incorrect entry.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR 
S
CANNER’S MEMORY 
O
RGANIZATION
V-Scanners
A V-Scanner folder contains a
complete, stored configuration
profile of your scanner’s
programming. Certain current
scanner models allow the user to
load, save and edit different
scanner configurations using an
interface cable, software and a
personal computer. The PRO-96
V-Scanner feature extends this
functionality by allowing you to
store or recall up to eleven
scanner configurations in V-
Scanner folders on your scanner,
without using a personal
computer. You can use the V- 
						

							17 Scanner feature to build and store
configurations for different areas
or different scanner applications.
Using the cloning feature it is
possible to exchange scanner
configurations with your friends
without losing your existing data.
V-Scanners also provide a way for
you to easily back up your
programmed data without
connecting your scanner to a
personal computer.
Each V-Scanner folder stores all
channel storage banks, channels,
trunking Ids, search settings, and
other parameters associated with
the operation of the scanner.
CHANNEL STORAGE 
B
ANKS
A channel storage bank is a
storage area for a group of
channels. Channels are storage
locations for frequencies.
Whereas a channel can only
contain one frequency, a channel
storage bank can hold 50
channels.
To make it easier to identify and
select the channels you want to
listen to, your scanner divides the
channels into 10 banks (0 to 9) of
50 (00 to 49) channels each, a
total of 500 channels. You can use
each channel-storage bank to
group frequencies, such as those
used by different public safety
agencies and jurisdictions in your
area. Channel storage banks can
be easily enabled or disabled
while scanning by pressing the
number key that corresponds with
the desired channel storage bank. 
						

							18For example, a particular city
might use four frequencies for
police communications, and four
frequencies for fire
communications. You could
program the police frequencies
starting with 000 (the first channel
in bank 0) and program the fire
department frequencies starting
with 100 (the first channel in bank
1). This gives you the ability to
quickly select what you wish to
monitor by activating or
deactivating the appropriate
channel storage bank. When
looking at channel numbers, the
first digit identifies the bank (0 to
9). The second and third digits
identify the channel within the
bank (00 to 49).
CHANNELS
Channels are storage locations for
the actual frequencies you wish to
monitor. Each channel can be
configured with a radio frequency,
the desired mode for that
frequency, and settings to allow a
short delay after a transmission or
lock the channel out from
scanning operation. A channel can
contain a conventional, non-
trunked frequency, or a frequency
used in a trunking system.
SEARCH BANKS
Your scanner has six
preprogrammed search banks
configured to search various radio
services, and one limit search
bank that you can configure. You
can set the lower and higher
frequency limit in the limit search
bank.
Ó 
						

							19
UNDERSTANDING YOUR 
S
CANNER’S CHANNEL 
R
ECEIVE MODES
You can program each channel
with any one of six receive modes
(AM, FM/Digital, CTCSS, DCS,
Motorola, and EDACS).
Each receive mode affects how
your scanner operates when
scanning and receiving
transmissions.
Ô
AM Mode (AM)
The AM mode sets the scanner to
receive transmissions using
amplitude modulation (AM),
primarily used for aircraft, military,
27 MHz citizen’s band, some
amateur radio, and some
government transmissions. (Refer
to “Specifications” on Page 110 for
a list of the frequencies covered.)
When the scanner receives a
transmission on a channel set to
the AM mode, it always stops on
the transmission.
FM/Digital Mode (FM)
The FM/Digital (FM) mode sets
the scanner to receive
transmissions using frequency
modulation (FM) and APCO-25
digital modulation. FM is used for
most public safety transmissions,
as well as broadcast, business,
and amateur radio transmissions.
APCO-25 digital modulation is
used in many newer conventional
and trunked public safety radio
systems. When the scanner
receives a transmission on a
channel set to the FM/Digital
Ó HINT Ó 
For example, if you
wanted to find active
frequencies between a
range of 150.1000 and
150.5000, you would put
both of those
frequencies in the limit
search bank.
Ô NOTES Ô 
 Trunked modes
(ED and MOT) can
only be selected
for frequencies
above 137 MHz.
 Your scanner’s
Closed Mode lets
you hear
transmissions
from only those
trunking
talkgroups you
specify. For more
information, see
“Open and Closed
Mode Operation”
on Page 87. 
						

							20mode, it always stops on the
transmission.
CTCSS Mode (CT)
CTCSS mode sets the scanner to
receive transmissions using
frequency modulation (FM) with
Continuous Tone Coded Squelch
System (CTCSS) subaudible tone
codes. CTCSS allows multiple
users to share a single radio
frequency without hearing each
other’s transmissions. In your
PRO-96 scanner, the CTCSS
feature can be used to block the
reception of transmissions on
shared channel to only those that
use the CTCSS tone that you have
specified. CTCSS mode also
features a Code Search setting
that allows you to instantly display
and store unknown codes into the
channel memory. CTCSS tones
can sometimes be heard as a low
“hum” in the background of a voice
transmission. Many systems that
use CTCSS transmit a special
“turn off code” at the end of each
transmission. The turn off code
causes a properly equipped
receiver to mute before the
transmission ends, eliminating the
“squelch tail” burst of noise the
commonly occurs when the signal
is lost. CTCSS turn off code
performance can be affected by
weak signals.
DCS Mode (DC)
DCS mode sets the scanner to
receive transmissions using
frequency modulation (FM) with
Digital Coded Squelch (DCS)
subaudible data signaling. DCS is
very similar to CTCSS, except that