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20-422.fm Page 1 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM Cat. No. 20-422 OWNER’S MANUAL Please read before using this equipment. 200CH VHF/Air/UHF Home Scanner with Scanner Control Protocol and WX Alert...
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20-422.fm Page 2 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM FEATURES Your RadioShack 200Ch VHF/Air/UHF Ten Monitor Memories — let you tem- Home Scanner lets you in on all the ac- porarily save ten frequencies located tion! This scanner gives you direct ac-...
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20-422.fm Page 3 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM Key Confirmation Tones — the scan- This table shows the preset frequency ner sounds a tone when you perform an steps your scanner uses for each fre- operation correctly and sounds an error quency range.
20-422.fm Page 4 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM FCC NOTICE most every transmission your scanner can receive. However, there are some transmissions you should never inten- Your scanner might cause TV or radio tionally listen to. These include: interference even when it is operating properly.
20-422.fm Page 6 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM PREPARATION This scanner is designed for use in the ception of the transmissions you want to home as a base station. You can place it hear, adjust the antenna’s length. on any flat surface such as a desk, shelf, or table.
20-422.fm Page 7 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM adapter. Your local RadioShack store Cautions: carries a wide variety of coaxial antenna You must use a Class 2 cable and connectors. power source that supplies 10V AC and delivers 300 Once you choose an antenna, follow the mA.
20-422.fm Page 8 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM CONNECTING AN Insert the earphone’s or headphones’ plug into the jack on the back of EXT. SP. EXTERNAL SPEAKER the scanner. You can connect an optional external speaker with a -inch (3.5-mm) plug to the scanner.
20-422.fm Page 9 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM UNDERSTANDING YOUR SCANNER A LOOK AT THE FRONT PANEL Turns the scanner on or off and adjusts the volume. VOLUME Adjusts the scanner’s squelch. SQUELCH Sets the search direction. Searches a band you select. BAND Programs a 2-second delay for the selected channel;...
20-422.fm Page 10 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM Each key has a single-digit label, and the – keys 1–9, 0 also have a range of numbers. Use the digits on the keys to enter the numbers for a channel or a frequency. Use the range of numbers above the key ( , for example) to se- 61–80...
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20-422.fm Page 11 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM Appears when the priority feature is turned on. (lockout) Appears when you lock out channels or skip a frequency, or when you manually select a channel or frequency that is locked out or skipped .
20-422.fm Page 12 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM UNDERSTANDING BANKS AND BANDS You can store frequencies into either a MONITOR MEMORIES programmable memory location called a channel, or a temporary memory loca- Monitor memories are temporary stor- tion called a monitor memory. You can age areas where you can store up to ten store a frequency in each of the scan- frequencies during a search while you...
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20-422.fm Page 13 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM This table shows the frequency band ranges displayed by the scanner and the typical usage, frequency coverage, and step for each. Displayed Frequency Coverage Step Frequency Typical Usage (MHz) (kHz) Band Range 10-Meter Amateur Radio, VHF 29.000 to 54.000 29-54...
20-422.fm Page 14 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM OPERATION TURNING ON THE • if the scanner is dropped or sub- jected to an electrical shock SCANNER/SETTING VOLUME AND SQUELCH Caution: This procedure clears all the information you have programmed into 1.
20-422.fm Page 15 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM Follow these steps to manually store a SEARCHING FOR AND frequency into a channel. TEMPORARILY STORING 1. If the scanner is scanning, press ACTIVE FREQUENCIES MANUAL You can search for transmissions using 2.
20-422.fm Page 16 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM 2. To manually search the band, press the search. Press • to enter the dec- after the scanner starts auto- imal point. HOLD matically searching the frequen- 3. Press to search up or down cies.
20-422.fm Page 17 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM You can also select a monitor memory DELETING A FREQUENCY by repeatedly pressing until MONITOR FROM A CHANNEL the desired monitor memory appears. 1. If the scanner is scanning, press Note: To listen to the monitor memories, MANUAL the priority channel feature must be 2.
20-422.fm Page 18 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM Notes: • You can manually select any chan- nel in a bank, even if the bank is turned off. • You cannot turn off all ten banks. • The scanner skips channels that have been locked out (see “Skipping Frequencies/Channels”...
20-422.fm Page 19 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM SPECIAL FEATURES DELAY SKIPPING FREQUENCIES/ CHANNELS Many agencies use a two-way radio sys- tem that might have a pause of several You can scan channels faster by skip- seconds between a query and a reply. ping ones that have a continuous trans- To avoid missing a reply, you can pro- mission, such as a weather channel.
20-422.fm Page 20 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM Note: If you turned the key tone off (see scans, it checks the priority channels in “Turning the Key Tone On or Off” on each selected bank for activity every 2 Page 21), the scanner does not beep seconds.
20-422.fm Page 21 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM To turn off the priority feature, press 2. Press appears and the PRI- ALERT disappears. broadcast turns off. ORITY When a severe weather emergency sig- Note: If you are scanning more than one nal is broadcast, the scanner sounds a bank in which a priority channel has loud alarm (regardless of the volume...
20-422.fm Page 22 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM A GENERAL GUIDE TO SCANNING Your scanner’s reception is mainly “line-of-sight.” You usually cannot hear stations that are beyond the horizon. GUIDE TO FREQUENCIES Ham Radio Frequencies Ham radio operators often broadcast emergency information when other means of communication break down.
20-422.fm Page 23 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM GUIDE TO THE ACTION BANDS Typical Band Usage VHF Band (29.00-300.00 MHz) Low Range 29.00–50.00 MHz 6-Meter Amateur 50.00–54.00 MHz U.S. Government 137.00–144.00 MHz 2-Meter Amateur 144.00–148.00 MHz High Range 148.00–174.00 MHz UHF Band (300 MHz-3.0 GHz) U.S.
20-422.fm Page 24 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM BAND ALLOCATION Use the following listing of the typical services within your scanner’s frequency cover- age to assist you to decide which frequency ranges to scan. These frequencies are subject to change, and might vary from area to area. For a more complete listing, re- fer to the “Police Call Radio Guide including Fire and Emergency Services,”...
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20-422.fm Page 25 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM TSB ..........Trunked Systems TVn .
20-422.fm Page 28 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM TROUBLESHOOTING If your scanner is not working as it should, these suggestions might help you elimi- nate the problem. If the scanner still does not operate properly, take it to your local RadioShack store for assistance.
20-422.fm Page 29 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM CARE AND MAINTENANCE Your RadioShack 200Ch VHF/Air/UHF Home Scanner is an example of superior de- sign and craftsmanship. The following suggestions will help you care for your scan- ner so you can enjoy it for years.
20-422.fm Page 30 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM SPECIFICATIONS Frequency Coverage: VHF Lo ................. 29.7 50 MHz (in 5 kHz steps) – Amateur Radio ............. 29 29.7 MHz (in 5 kHz steps) – 54 MHz (in 5 kHz steps) –...
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20-422.fm Page 31 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM Antenna Impedance ..................50 Ohms Audio Power .................. 840 mW Maximum Built-In Speaker ......... 2 Inch (57 mm), 8-Ohm, Dynamic Type AC Adapter ....................10 Volts AC Dimensions (HWD) ......2 Inches (60 170 mm) Weight (without AC Adapter) ............
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20-422.fm Page 32 Friday, January 7, 2000 12:54 PM Limited One-Year Warranty This product is warranted by RadioShack against manufacturing defects in material and workman- ship under normal use for one (1) year from the date of purchase from RadioShack company-owned stores and authorized RadioShack franchisees and dealers.