RadioShack Pro 96 Truking Scanner Owners Manual

							81 working memory configuration. If
for any reason your scanner’s
working memory is accidentally
altered or lost, you can recall the
backup configuration data from the
V-Scanner folder.
There will be an approximately 13
second pause after you select the
desired V-Scanner and press the
ENTER key to confirm your choice
when saving or loading V-Scanner
data. During this period the
scanner is transferring V-Scanner
data to or from working memory. It
is important not to interrupt power
to the scanner while this is taking
place. Loss of power while
performing V-Scanner operations
may result in lost data. The
scanner will not allow you to
perform a V-Scanner operation
when a low battery condition
exists. If you attempt to perform a
V-Scanner operation with low
battery power, the scanner will
display:
USING THE DIGITAL AGC 
F
UNCTION
You may find that the audio level
varies greatly among different
users on digital systems that you
monitor. Many analog
conventional and trunked radio
systems include components with
automatic gain control to help
normalize the audio levels of
analog transmissions in the
system. Digital radio systems
typically do not include any
automatic gain control functionality
and tend to reproduce a user’s
voice audio signal more faithfully
with regard to audio levels. This
V-Scanner  
Battery Low 
Aborted   
CL-EXIT 
						

							82can result in a low level audio
signal if a user on the system is
not speaking close enough to their
radio microphone.
Your PRO-96 features Digital
AGC, which can compensate for
these low audio levels when they
occur. By default, Digital AGC is
turned on. If desired, you can
toggle the Digital AGC function on
or off by pressing
FUNC, and then
MANat any time. The display will
briefly show
DSP AGC Offor
DSP AGC Onaccordingly.Ô
CLONING THE 
P
ROGRAMMED DATA
You can transfer the contents of
the current scanner working
memory to and from another
PRO-96 scanner using an optional
connecting cable with
1/8-inch (3.5
mm) phone plugs on both ends
(use Radio Shack part number
42-2420 available at your local
RadioShack store), or to a
computer application designed to
work with this scanner using a PC
interface cable (use Radio Shack
part number 20-289, available at
your local RadioShack store).
Ô
Follow these steps to clone the
data.
1. Turn on both scanners.
2. Connect the connecting cable
to each scanner’s PC/IF jack.
CLONE MODE UP to send, remove 
cable to exit
appears in the
scanner’s display.
3. PressS.
Confirm send data? 
1=YES Press other key for NO. Ô
 NOTES Ô 
Using the Digital 
AGC Function
 Digital AGC has no
effect on analog
transmissions.
 You may notice more
background noise
with Digital AGC on.
Cloning the 
Programmed Data
CLONE MODE Incorrect 
Model
appears if the
scanner receives data
from another scanner
other than a PRO-96. 
						

							83 appears in the scanner’s
display.
4. Press
1to send the data to
the other unit or press any
other key to cancel the
operation.
5. The scanner sends the data.
Do not disconnect the PC/IF
cable or interrupt power to
either scanner while the
transfer is taking place.
6. To exit the clone mode,
remove the cable.
TRUNKING 
SPECIAL FEATURES
TRUNKING OPERATION
Your scanner tracks transmissions
from Motorola Type I, II and IIi
analog trunked systems, Motorola
digital trunked systems, and
APCO 25 digital trunked systems.
Your scanner also follows
transmissions on GE/Ericsson/M/
A-COM (EDACS) type systems.
Trunking systems allocate a few
frequencies to many different
users, and use a control channel
to send system activity data to all
of the mobile units operating on
the system. When a mobile unit
wishes to place a call, it sends a
call request signal to the trunking
system. The system chooses one
frequency from allocated system
channels in that trunking system
and announces the start of the call
on the control channel. Your
scanner uses the control channel 
						

							84data to follow activity on the
talkgroups you wish to monitor.
Traditional conventional radio
systems operate using a single
radio frequency for each group of
radio users, and in some cases,
multiple groups sharing the same
radio channel in the same
geographical area. This frequently
results in heavy traffic and often
requires that radio users wait long
periods for the frequency to clear
before they can place their calls.
Trunked systems allow large
groups of radio users to use radio
frequencies more efficiently.
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.
Ô
Your scanner lets you easily hear
both the call and response
transmissions for that 2-way radio
user and therefore follow the
entire conversation. For Motorola,
APCO-25 and EDACS trunking
systems, the scanner monitors the
control channel between each
transmission to determine active
talkgroups.
Your PRO-96 automatically
calculates Motorola and APCO-25
trunking system voice channel
frequencies while decoding the
control channel. This eliminates
the need to enter all the Motorola
system frequencies.
Ô NOTES Ô 
To receive trunking
signals from a trunked
radio system, you must:
 Store all the trunking
controlfrequencies
for Motorola or
APCO-25 systems in
one channel storage
bank,or
 Store all the trunking
systemfrequencies
for EDACS in one
channel storage
bank,and
 Configure the
channel storage bank
ID list for the type of
trunking system
being monitored,and
 Enter ID codes into
the ID memory for
the bank
 For detailed trunked
system programming
instructions, see
“Programming
Trunked Systems” on
Page 32 and “Storing
Talkgroup IDs” on
Page 38. 
						

							85 The control channels for some
Motorola trunked radio systems
may change on a day-to-day
basis. To ensure that you will not
miss traffic when the control
channel changes, enter all the
known control channel
frequencies into the channel
storage bank. If the control
channel changes, your scanner
will automatically lock on to the
new control channel. If you do not
know which system channels are
used for the control channel
operation, we recommend that you
enter all the system frequencies
into the same bank.
Ô
When the scanner decodes the
Motorola control channel and finds
talkgroup activation on a voice
channel, the scanner displays the
control channel memory location
on the top line, the received
frequency with VC (voice channel)
on the second line, the bank and
control channel memory location
number on the third line and the
Motorola talkgroup ID number on
the bottom line.
!
Setting Squelch for 
Trunking
For optimal receiver performance
when scanning both trunked and
conventional systems, we
recommend that you set the
squelch close to threshold.
Navigate to a programmed
channel in manual mode. While
the channel is idle, turn the
squelch control fully
counterclockwise. You will hear a
loud rushing noise from the
speaker. Turn the squelch control
Ô NOTEÔ 
Frequency fleet map and
talkgroup information are
also widely available on
the Internet.
For example, at
www.trunkscanner.com.
! IMPORTANT 
!
To listen to the
transmission, the mode
setting of the trunking
control or system
channels must match
the mode setting of the
associated ID list (MOT
for Motorola and APCO-
25, or ED for EDACS).
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 in the scanner’s
display. If not found,
scanning resumes
immediately unless the
bank is in open trunking
mode. 
						

							86clockwise until the noise stops.
You may find it necessary to set
the control a bit further in the
clockwise direction to prevent very
weak signals or interference from
stopping the scan operation.
Talkgroup ID Hold
You can set your scanner to follow
a trunking signal that you want to
track during scanning.
While the scanner is stopped on a
voice channel (
VCappears next to
the frequency in the display), hold
down
TRUNKuntilID hold ON
appears in the scanner’s display.
To manually activate ID hold mode
on a selected ID, enter the ID list,
scroll to the desired ID, then press
FUNC TRUNK. The scanner will
initiate ID hold operation on the
selected talkgroup.
When ID hold is activated and the
scanner receives a voice channel,
the scan indication S at the first
digit in the top line changes to H to
indicate that the call is being
monitored while the scanner is in
ID hold.
To release ID hold, press
SCANor
TRUNK.
Turning an ID Sub-Bank 
On or Off
Follow these steps to turn the ID
sub-bank on or off during the
program mode:
1. Press
TRUNKrepeatedly to
select the desired sub-bank.
2. Press
FUNCthen1to toggle
the sub-bank on or off. The 
						

							87 on/off state of the sub-bank
will appear in the scanner’s
display.
Follow these steps to turn the ID
sub-bank on or off during the scan
mode:
1. The channel storage bank
must be set to Closed Mode
to change the state of a sub-
bank while scanning.
2. Press
FUNCand thenTRUNK
while the scanner is stopped
on a voice channel
transmission. The bank text
display is replaced with a sub-
bank status display,
T IDbk 
01234
.The flashing cursor will
indicate the current active
sub-bank.
3. Press
FUNCand the number
of the sub-bank you wish to
turn on or off (0-4). For
example, to toggle sub-bank 4
on or off, press
FUNC, then4.
Open and Closed Mode 
Operation
You can set your scanner to
change the way it receives
transmissions on Motorola,
APCO-25 and EDACS trunked
radio systems. These settings,
called Open Mode and Closed
Mode, control whether the scanner
monitors all traffic from a trunked
radio system, or only traffic from
talkgroups you specify. Unlike the
channel mode settings described
above, Open/Close mode settings
apply to a trunking system
programmed into a single bank.
ÔÔ
 NOTE Ô 
In Open Mode, you hear
all active talkgroups
except those you
specifically exclude,
making it easy to hear
everything going on. In
Closed Mode, you hear
only those talkgroups
you specify. This makes
it easy to listen only to
talkgroups you are
interested in and exclude
others 
						

							88Each scanner bank can be
programmed with one trunked
system. You can set each of the
scanner’s channel storage banks
to Open or Closed Mode.
Conventional modes (AM, FM/
Digital, CT and DC) are not
affected by the Open/Closed
Mode setting of a bank.
When you set a channel storage
bank to Open Mode, + appears
under the bank’s number while
scanning. When you set a channel
storage bank to Closed Mode, -
appears under the channel
storage bank’s number while
scanning.
Traffic on locked out talkgroup IDs
is ignored when the scanner is
operating in Open and Closed
Modes.
In Open Mode, the scanner will
stop on all talkgroup traffic, except
for traffic on talkgroups that are
entered in the ID list and locked
out. In Closed Mode, the scanner
will only stop on talkgroup traffic if
the ID is entered in the ID list and
not locked out.
Open Mode scanning is useful in
cases where you wish to monitor
all traffic on the trunked system,
except for certain talkgroups which
you specify by entering them into
the ID list and locking them out.
Open Mode scanning allows you
to search the trunking system for
new or previously unknown
talkgroup activity while ignoring
traffic on undesired talkgroups. 
						

							89 Closed Mode scanning is useful in
cases where you wish to restrict
the traffic you monitor to a certain
set of talkgroups only these
talkgroups are specified in the ID
list and not locked out.
Toggling Open and Closed 
Modes
To toggle Open or Closed Mode
state for a bank, press
FUNC,5
while stopped on a channel in the
bank in SCAN, MAN or PGM
modes. The scanner will briefly
display 
Bank OPENor
Bank CLOSEDto indicate the new
Open or Closed state for the bank.
Manual ID Lockout 
Toggle
1. PressPGM.
2. Press T
RUNK.
3. Press
FUNC, and thenSorT
to move to the desired bank.
4. PressSorTto select the ID
memory.
5. Press
L/OUTto toggle the lock
out status of the selected ID.
ACTIVATING ID 
L
OCKOUT WHILE 
S
CANNING
When scanning a trunked radio
system in Open Mode, you can
lock out a trunked ID by pressing
L/OUTwhile the scanner is
stopped on a voice call. If the ID
has not been previously entered
into the ID list for that bank, it will
be added and locked out
automatically. 
						

							90When scanning a trunked radio
system in Closed Mode, it is
possible to lock out an ID by
pressing
L/OUTwhile the ID is
active with a voice call.
Reviewing Locked-Out 
Talkgroup IDs
You can easily review and clear
locked talkgroup IDs in the ID list.
This process is similar to finding
and clearing locked out
conventional channels, except it is
performed while in a trunked ID
list.
1. Press
PGMand thenTRUNK.
2. Press
FUNC, and thenL/OUT.
The first locked out ID in the
ID list is displayed.
3. Press
L/OUTto unlock the
selected ID, or press
FUNC,
and then
L/OUTagain to
continue reviewing locked
IDs.
Changing from ID Text 
Tag Display to ID Code 
Display
By default, your scanner displays
the stored alphanumeric text tag
when receiving a trunked voice
call. You can toggle the display to
show the text tag or the talkgroup
ID code by pressing
TEXTwhile
the scanner is stopped on a
trunked talkgroup call.
TRUNKED DELAY 
F
UNCTION
The trunking ID delay is set
separately from the channel delay
on a per channel storage bank