27
BIRDIE FREQUENCIES
Every scanner has birdie frequencies.
Birdies are signals created inside the
scanner’s receiver. These operating
frequencies might interfere with broad-
casts on the same frequencies. If you
program one of these frequencies, you
hear only noise on that frequency. If
the interference is not severe, you
might be able to turn
SQUELCH
clock-
wise to cut out the birdie.
The birdie frequency to watch for with
this scanner is 489.25 MHz.
To find the birdies in your scanner, be-
gin by disconnecting the antenna and
moving it away from the scanner.
Make sure that no other nearby radio
or TV sets are turned on near the scan-
ner. Use the search function and
search every frequency range from its
lowest frequency to the highest. Occa-
sionally, the searching will stop as if it
had found a signal, often without any
sound. That is a birdie. Make a list of all
the birdies in your scanner for future
reference.
UNITED STATES
BROADCAST BAND
In the United States, there are several
broadcast bands. The standard AM
and FM bands are probably the most
well known. There are also four televi-
sion audio broadcast bands — the low-
er three transmit on the VHF band and
the fourth transmits on the UHF band.
You can use your scanner to monitor
the 470
-
512 MHz range of the UHF
band.
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