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Radio Shack 20-522 Owner's Manual
Summary of 20-522
Page 1
Owner’s manual cat. No. 20-522 pro-92 500-channel portable trunking scanner please read before using this equipment. 20-522.Fm page 1 friday, september 17, 1999 12:46 pm.
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2 features your radioshack pro-92 500-channel portable trunk- ing scanner is one of a new generation of scanners de- signed to track 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 sys...
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3 your scanner includes these special features: simultaneous trunking operation — tracks three trunking systems, ltr, motorola, and edacs at the same time, as well as conventional systems. Text input — lets you input a text label for each channel, talk group id, bank, or other memory so you can easi...
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4 60 preprogrammed frequency ranges — let you search for transmissions within preset frequency ranges or within ranges you set, to reduce search time and select interesting frequencies more quickly. Scan delay — delays scanning for about 2 seconds be- fore moving to another channel in conventional m...
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5 three power options — let you power the scanner with internal batteries (non-rechargeable batteries or re- chargeable batteries). You can also use an ac adapter (not supplied) or power the scanner in a vehicle using a dc adapter (not supplied). Supplied police call trunking guide — provides a quic...
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6 if you cannot eliminate the interference, the fcc requires that you stop using your scanner. This device complies with part 15 of the fcc rules. Op- eration is subject to the following conditions: (1) this de- vice must not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interferen...
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7 contents preparation ................................................................ 10 power sources .................................................... 10 using batteries ............................................. 10 charging rechargeable batteries ................ 13 using ac power ..........
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8 storing a frequency while searching for a specified channel ........................................ 42 changing a search range with one of the 60 preprogrammed ranges ....... 43 manually changing a search range ........... 43 scanning the channels ....................................... 44 turnin...
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9 clearing talk group id’s .............................. 62 clearing all talk group id’s in one bank .................................................. 63 open and closed modes ..................................... 63 changing the open/closed mode ................ 64 a general guide to scanning ......
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10 preparation power sources you can power your scanner from any of three sources: • internal non-rechargeable batteries or rechargeable batteries (not supplied — see “using batteries”) • standard ac power (with an optional ac adapter — see “using ac power” on page 14) • vehicle power (with an optio...
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11 warning: never install non-rechargeable batteries in the rechargeable yellow battery holder. Non-rechargeable batteries can get hot or explode if you try to recharge them. Note: you must charge rechargeable batteries before you use them the first time. See “charging rechargeable batteries” on pag...
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12 3. Insert six aa batteries in the battery holder as indi- cated by the polarity symbols (+ and –) marked on the holder. Cautions: • use only fresh batteries of the required size and recommended type. • always remove old or weak batteries. Batteries can leak chemicals that destroy electronic circu...
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13 when battery power is low, low battery! Appears and the scanner beeps continuously. When battery pow- er is depleted, the scanner turns itself off. Replace all six non-rechargeable batteries, or recharge the rechargeable batteries. See “charging rechargeable batteries”. Warning: always dispose of...
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14 • rechargeable batteries last longer and deliver more power if you let them fully discharge once a month. To do this, use the scanner until low battery! Appears on the display. Then fully charge the rechargeable batteries. Important: this scanner can use nickel- cadmium rechargeable batteries. At...
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15 2. Plug the adapter’s barrel plug into the scanner’s pwr dc 9v jack. 3. Plug the adapter into a standard ac outlet. Using vehicle power you can power the scanner from a vehicle’s 12v power source (such as a cigarette-lighter socket) using a 9v, 300 ma dc adapter and a size h adaptaplug (neither s...
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16 3. Plug the adapter’s cigarette-lighter plug into your vehicle’s cigarette-lighter socket. Note: if the scanner does not operate properly when you connect a dc adapter, unplug the dc adapter from the cigarette-lighter socket and clean the socket to remove ashes and other debris. Connecting the an...
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17 connecting an optional antenna the antenna connector on your scanner makes it easy to use the scanner with a variety of antennas, such as an external mobile antenna or outdoor base station antenna. Your local radioshack store sells a variety of antennas. Always use 50-ohm coaxial cable, such as r...
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18 listening safely to protect your hearing, follow these guidelines when you use an earphone or headphones: • do not listen at extremely high volume levels. Extended high-volume listening can lead to perma- nent hearing loss. • set the volume to the lowest setting before you begin listening. After ...
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19 using the belt clip you can use the belt clip attached to the back of the scanner for hands-free carrying when you are on the go. Slide the belt clip over your belt or waistband. Connecting the clone cable you can transfer the programmed data to and from an- other pro-92 using the supplied clone ...
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20 about your scanner once you understand a few simple terms used in this manual and familiarize yourself with your scanner’s fea- tures, you can put the scanner to work for you. You sim- ply determine the type of communications you want to receive, then set the scanner to scan them. A frequency is ...
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21 func (function) — lets you use various functions by pressing this key along with other keys. Scan — scans through the programmed channels. Manual — stops scanning and lets you directly enter a channel number. Trunk — stores the trunking id code or holds the trunk- ing id while scanning. Wx — scan...
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22 pgm — programs frequencies into channels. Enter — lets you complete the entry of frequencies and text. 1 / delay — enters a 1, or programs a 2-second delay for the selected channel/search bank, or inputs characters 0 through 9. 2/abc — enters a 2, or inputs characters a, b, or c. 3/def — enters a...
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23 a look at the display manual mode current manual mode (am or fm) channel stored text current frequency current bank mode is fm receiving a signal ( • no signal) priority freq. (t)runked attenuate ( • no attenuation) delay ( • no delay) locked ( out ( scanning up) scanning down) bank 0–(9) out cha...
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24 search mode 6 and 7 are turned off search mode upper limit stepping am delay scanning up searching frequency for range in bank 3 search mode motorola search bank 5 20-522.Fm page 24 friday, september 17, 1999 12:46 pm.
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25 understanding banks channel storage banks to make it easier to identify and select the channels you want to listen to, channels are divided into 10 banks (0–9) of 50 (00 to 49) channels each. Use each channel-stor- age bank to group frequencies, such as those used by the police department, fire d...
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26 450.9250 452.1875 25 business 453.9875 454.9875 25 business 460.9750 462.5500 25 business 463.1750 465.0000 25 business 851.0000 866.0000 12.5 business 935.0000 944.0000 12.5 business 33.0400 33.9800 20 fire 29.7000 33.0400 5 fixed/mobile 33.9800 42.0200 20 fixed/mobile 46.6000 50.0000 20 fixed/m...
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27 144.0000 148.0000 20 ham 2 m 420.0000 450.0000 25 ham 70 cm 902.0000 928.0000 12.5 ham/ism 33cm 150.9650 151.9850 5 highways 462.9250 463.1750 25 medical 156.2500 157.4250 25 marine band 161.7600 161.9150 25 marine band 380.0000 400.0000 50 military 806.0000 823.9875 12.5 mobile units 894.0000 90...
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28 note: the steps shown above are default values. You can select any desired step setting. Understanding your pro-92’s modes you can program each channel with any of seven receive modes. Each mode affects how your scanner operates when scanning and receiving transmissions, and also af- fects what t...
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29 with few exceptions, such as the vhf aircraft and ma- rine bands, almost every other vhf or uhf radio system uses some form of coded squelch. By far, pl is the most popular mode among non-trunked systems. For most scanning use, try setting pl mode for all non-trunked channels. If you operate the ...
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30 when the scanner receives a transmission on a channel set to the pl mode, it first decodes the pl tone included with the transmission. In the open mode, the scanner stops on the transmission and displays the pl tone on the bottom line of the display (or displays none if no tone is included). In t...
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31 ltr (e. F. Johnson) mode this sets the scanner to decode the talk group id’s used with an ltr system. This is a trunking system used pri- marily by business or private communications service providers, such as taxi cabs, delivery trucks, and repair services. Ltr systems encode all trunking inform...
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32 motorola mode this sets the scanner to decode the talk group id’s used with motorola trunking systems. These systems are used by business and public safety groups to efficiently allo- cate a small number of frequencies (as few as 5) to many groups of users (as many as several thousand). To do thi...
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33 for example, police east patrol might be assigned to group 12, making the full fleet, subfleet id be 000-12. To properly map the raw type i data to the correct fleet-sub- fleet format, you must program the correct fleet map into the scanner. Fleet map information is widely available on the intern...
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34 when there is activity on an edacs system, that infor- mation is sent out on the control channel. The scanner decodes the id for the active talk group. In the open mode, the scanner then goes to the transmission and dis- plays the talk group id on the bottom line of the display. In the closed mod...
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35 operation turning on the scanner and setting squelch 1. Turn squelch fully counterclockwise until the indi- cator points to min before you turn on the scanner. 2. To turn on the scanner, turn volume clockwise. Welcome to multi-system trunking appears on the display. After about 3 seconds, you hea...
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36 storing known frequencies into channels good references for active frequencies are the ra- dioshack police call, aeronautical frequency directory, and maritime frequency directory. We update these di- rectories every year, so be sure to get a current copy. Also see the supplied police call trunki...
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37 • your scanner automatically rounds the entered frequency to the nearest valid frequency. For example, if you enter a frequency of 151.473, your scanner accepts it as 151.470. • press func then press delay/1 to turn the delay function on or off. If you want the scanner to pause 2 seconds on this ...
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38 3. Press text . The cursor appears at the 3rd line on the display. 4. Enter the text using the numeral keys (see “text input chart” on page 39). Note: if you make a mistake, press or to move to the character you want to change. For example input “ham 6m” as follows: • “h” is the second letter ass...
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39 note: if the channel is programmed for p/l, dpl, ltr, mot or ed mode, the scanner displays the mode infor- mation on the 4th line. Text input chart notes: • to access the numbers, after you press func and 6 , press 1 , then press the desired number you want to enter. • to enter a lowercase charac...
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40 finding and storing active frequencies you can search for transmissions within ten ranges of fre- quencies, called a search bank. The search bank is divid- ed into 10 search bands. You can change the bands with the 60 preprogrammed search bands in the scanner (see “search banks” on page 25). You ...
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41 searching a preprogrammed frequency range the scanner contains these preprogrammed search ranges, stored in search banks (0–9). Follow these steps to select preprogrammed search ranges and search them for active frequencies. 1. Press search . The scanner searches active search bank. Note: to reve...
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42 3. When the scanner finds an active frequency, it stops searching. To save the frequency into a channel in the channel storage bank (bank 9 only), press func then press enter . Stored @ 9xx appears on the display (xx: channel number). Press or to con- tinue searching for additional active frequen...
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43 changing a search range with one of the 60 preprogrammed ranges you can replace the search range with one of the 60 pre- programmed ranges. 1. Press func then press search to enter search pro- gram mode. Psr and the search bank number of the current range appear at the display’s upper left cor- n...
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44 3. Use the number keys to enter the lower range you want to search and store, then press enter to store the frequency. 4. Use the number keys to enter the higher range you want to search and store, then press enter again to store the frequency. Notes: • if you enter a higher frequency first then ...
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45 notes: • you cannot turn off all banks. There must be at least one active bank. • you can manually select any channel in a bank, even if the bank is turned off. To turn on banks while scanning, press the number key until the bank’s number appears. Manually tuning a frequency if desired, you can l...
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46 deleting frequencies from channels 1. Press manual . 2. Use the number keys to enter the channel which has the frequency you want to delete. 3. Press manual again. 4. Press pgm to enter the program mode. M changes to p on the display. 5. Press func . 6. Press cl . The frequency number changes and...
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47 weather alert feature this scanner can detect both the weather alert tone and can decode the digital same message that precedes each alert. If you are monitoring a weather channel when an alert is broadcast, the scanner sounds an alert and displays the type of alert being broadcast. The weather s...
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48 special features using the delay function note: the delay function turns on automatically when you turn on the scanner. Many conversations might have a pause of several sec- onds between a query and a reply. To avoid missing a re- ply, you can program a 2-second delay into any of your scanner’s c...
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49 notes: • you can still manually select locked-out channels. • if you lock out a channel that is set to a trunking mode, lockout is removed when you cycle power. This lets you easily temporarily lockout trunking data channels. To remove the lockout from a channel, manually select the channel and p...
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50 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 press l/out . The locked-out fre- quency appear on the display. If the search bank has no locked-out frequency, l/o list is e...
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51 3. Press func , then press 4 . Confirm list clear? 1=yes press other key for no. Appears on the display. Press 1 to clear all lock-out frequencies and list cleared appears on the display for about 2 seconds. Press any key other than 1 , to cancel clear. Priority with the priority feature, you can...
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52 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...
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53 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 wh...
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54 changing the frequency step the scanner searches at a preset frequency step for each frequency range. Press step to change the step in- crement when moving between frequencies of a search band or follow these steps to change steps in a specific bank. 1. Press search . 2. Select a bank. 3. Press f...
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55 note: if you turn on this feature, the scanner might not re- ceive weak signals. To turn off the attenuator, press att again. A disappears from the display. This setting is stored for each channel. Using the display backlight you can turn on the display’s backlight for easy viewing in dimly lit a...
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56 note: you cannot activate the keylock when in the middle of programming. To turn on the keylock, press func then press / lit . Keyboard locked appears on the display for about 1 second. Keyboard locked appears when you press any key after locking the keypad. To turn off the keylock, press func th...
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57 trunking operation the pro-92 scanner tracks transmissions that use the motorola ® type i and type ii (such as smartnet and pri- vacy plus) and hybrid analog trunking systems, plus ge/ ericsson (edacs) and ef johnson (ltr) type systems, which are extensively used in many communication sys- tems. ...
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58 programming trunking frequencies program trunking frequencies just as you program nor- mal, non-trunked frequencies, but store the appropriate mode (mo, ed, or lt) with each frequency. Notes: • edacs systems must be stored in banks by them- selves. You can, however, mix motorola, or ltr and conve...
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59 5. Press 8 and the display below appears. 6. Enter the size code information supplied with the type i system information, referring to the instruction that appears on the display. If the information was not supplied, try these common fleet maps. B l o c k size code 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 s11 s4 s4 s12...
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60 7. Enter the size code and press enter for each entry. If you make a mistake, press cl and enter the cor- rect size code. Note: the default setting of the bank is for motorola type ii. However, after you set type i and if you want to return to type ii, press 15 at step 5. 8. To confirm the input,...
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61 note: when you try to store more than 100 talk group id’s in a bank, memory full! Appears. Clear some talk group id’s in order to store new ones (see “clearing talk group id’s” on page 62). Follow these steps to manually store talk group id’s or to edit a stored id. 1. Press pgm . 2. Press trunk ...
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62 locking out talk groups id note: you can only lock out talk group id’s when the scanner is in the closed mode (see “open and closed modes” on page 63). To lock out a talk group id, follow these steps: 1. Press pgm . 2. Press trunk . 3. Press func , or to move the desired bank. 4. Press or to sele...
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63 clearing all talk group id’s in one bank you can clear all talk group id’s within a bank. This lets you quickly delete all talk group id’s from a bank if, for ex- ample, you want to use the bank to store a different set of talk group id’s. 1. Press pgm . 2. Press trunk to enter a talk group id me...
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64 the open or closed mode is set in each channel storage bank. + or – is displayed under the channel storage bank’s number while scanning. Or, the status display shows the open/closed mode at the top line while the scanner is in manual mode or while the scanner is receiv- ing a signal during scanni...
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65 a general guide to scanning reception of the frequencies covered by your scanner is mainly “line-of-sight.” that means you usually cannot hear stations that are beyond the horizon. Guide to frequencies us weather frequencies ham radio frequencies ham radio operators often transmit emergency infor...
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66 this scanner’s birdie frequencies (in mhz) are: to find the birdies in your scanner, begin by disconnect- ing the antenna and moving it away from the scanner. Make sure that no other nearby radio or tv sets are turned on near the scanner. Use the search function and scan every frequency range fro...
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67 guide to the action bands typical band usage primary usage as a general rule, most of the radio activity is concentrat- ed on the following frequencies: vhf band uhf band vhf band 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 144.000–1...
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68 note: remote control stations and mobile units operate at 5 mhz higher than their associated base stations and relay repeater units. Band allocation to help decide which frequency ranges to scan, use the following listing of the typical services that use the fre- quencies your scanner receives. T...
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69 tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tow trucks tran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transportation services . . . . . . . . . . . . . (trucks, tow trucks, buses, railroad, other) tsb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...
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70 vhf high band (148–174 mhz) 148.050–150.345 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cap, mar, mil 150.775–150.790 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Med 150.815–150.980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tow, oil spill cleanup 150.995–151.475 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...
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71 ultra high frequency (uhf) u. S. Government band (406–420 mhz) 406.125–419.975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Govt, usxx 70-cm amateur band (420–450 mhz) 420.000–450.000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ham low band (450–470 mhz) 450.050–450.925 . . ....
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72 private trunked band 935.0125–939.9875 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ptr general trunked band 940.0125–940.9875 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gtr frequency conversion the tuning location of a station can be expressed in fre- quency (khz or mhz)...
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73 troubleshooting if you have problems with your scanner, here are some suggestions that might help you eliminate the problem. If they do not, take your scanner to your local ra- dioshack store for assistance. Problem possible cause remedy scanner is on but will not scan. Squelch is not adjusted co...
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74 in the scan mode, the scanner locks on frequen- cies that have an unclear transmission. Stored frequen- cies are the same as “birdie” frequencies. Avoid storing birdie fre- quencies or only select them manually. See “birdie frequencies” on page 65. Keys do not work or dis- play changes. Undetermi...
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75 resetting/initializing the scanner if the scanner’s display locks up or does not work proper- ly after you connect a power source, you might need to reset or initialize it. Important: if you have problems with the scanner, first try to reset it to retain all memory. If that does not work, you can...
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76 2. Press 0 then 1 while the display shows welcome to multi-system trunking . Initializ- ing please wait . Appears on the display about 25 seconds. Note: do not turn off the scanner until the initializa- tion is complete and welcome to multi-sys- tem trunking appears again. 20-522.Fm page 76 frida...
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77 care and maintenance your radioshack pro-92 500-channel portable trunk- ing scanner is an example of superior design and crafts- manship. The following suggestions will help you care for your scanner so you can enjoy it for years. Keep the scanner dry. If it gets wet, wipe it dry immediately. Liq...
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78 specifications frequency coverage: ham .................................... 29–30 mhz (in 5 khz steps) vhf lo ............................... 30–50 mhz (in 5 khz steps) ham .................................... 50–54 mhz (in 5 khz steps) aircraft ............... 108–136.9875 mhz (in 12.5 khz steps...
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79 search rate ......................... Up to 50 steps per second delay time ...................................................... 2 seconds intermediate frequencies (if): 1st ............................................................ 257.5 mhz 2nd ..................................................
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Radioshack a division of tandy corporation fort worth, texas 76102 ge-99d-3314 09a99 printed in japan limited one-year warranty this product is warranted by radioshack against manufacturing defects in material and workmanship under normal use for one (1) year from the date of purchase from radioshac...