Radio Shack 20-520 Owner'S Manual Download

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Owner’s Manual

Cat. No. 20-520

PRO-90 300-Channel

TrunkTracker Scanner

Please read before using this equipment.

20-520.fm Page 1 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 3:06 PM

Summary of Contents for 20-520

Page 1: ...Owner s Manual Cat No 20 520 PRO 90 300 Channel TrunkTracker Scanner Please read before using this equipment 20 520 fm Page 1 Wednesday August 4 1999 3 06 PM ...

Page 2: ...canner The PRO 90 lets you select and monitor the data channel frequency sent with a 2 way radio user s transmission so you can hear the call and re sponse for that 2 way radio user and easily follow the conversation The scanner also lets you scan conventional transmis sions and is preprogrammed with service search banks for convenience By pressing a single button you can quickly search those freq...

Page 3: ...search preset frequencies in separate police fire emergency aircraft marine and weather banks to make it easy to locate specific types of calls HyperSearch and HyperScan lets you set the scanner to search at up to 300 steps per second and scan at up to 100 frequencies per second in frequency bands with 5 kHz steps to help you quickly find interest ing broadcasts The normal search speed is 100 step...

Page 4: ...error Battery Low Alert warns you when battery power gets low Battery Save saves battery power when the scanner does not detect any transmissions for more than 1 minute when a channel is manually selected Your scanner can receive these bands Frequency Range Step Transmission 29 29 7 MHz 5 kHz 10 Meter Ham Band 29 7 50 MHz 5 kHz VHF Lo 50 54 MHz 5 kHz 6 Meter Ham Band 108 136 9875 MHz 12 5 kHz Airc...

Page 5: ... used by many different groups including police and fire departments ambulance services government agencies private companies am ateur radio services military operations pager services and wireline telephone and telegraph service providers It is legal to listen to almost every transmission your scan ner can receive However there are some transmissions you should never intentionally listen to These...

Page 6: ... Storage Banks 19 Service Banks 19 Understanding Trunking 19 Operation 20 Turning On the Scanner and Setting Squelch 20 Storing Known Frequencies into Channels 21 Limit Search 22 Scanning Service Banks 23 Scanning the Stored Channels 25 Manually Selecting a Channel 25 Deleting a Stored Frequency 25 Special Features 26 Delay 26 Turning Channel Storage Banks On and Off 27 Locking Out Channels and Fr...

Page 7: ...g IDs Into Scan Lists While Searching 42 Automatically Storing an ID in a Scan List Location 42 Deleting a Stored ID 43 Scanning the Scan Lists 43 Scanning Type I and Hybrid Trunked Systems 44 Selecting a Preset Fleet Map 48 Programming a Fleet Map 49 Programming a Hybrid System 50 A General Guide to Scanning 51 Guide to Frequencies 51 National Weather Frequencies 51 Canadian Weather Frequencies 5...

Page 8: ...g Standard AC Power on Page 9 or Using Vehicle Bat tery Power on Page 10 It takes about 14 16 hours to recharge a battery pack that is fully discharged You can operate the scanner while recharging the battery pack but charging takes longer Notes The scanner automatically stops charging the bat tery pack when it is fully charged even if the sup plied AC adapter charger or a DC cigarette lighter pow...

Page 9: ...e end of a rechargeable battery pack s useful life it must be recycled or disposed of properly Contact your local county or state hazardous waste management authorities for information on recycling or disposal programs in your area Some options that might be available are municipal curb side collection drop off boxes at retailers such as your local RadioShack store recycling collection centers and...

Page 10: ...ust be set to positive and its barrel plug must correctly fit the scanner s EXT PWR jack The recommended power cable meets these specifications Using a power cable that does not meet these specifications could damage the scanner or the power cable To protect your vehicle s electrical system always plug the power cable into the scanner before you plug it into your vehicle s cigarette lighter socket...

Page 11: ... lighter socket and clean the socket to remove ashes and other debris CONNECTING THE ANTENNA Follow these steps to attach the supplied flexible anten na to the connector on the top of your scanner 1 Align the slots around the antenna s connector with the tabs on the scanner s BNC connector 2 Slide the antenna s connector down over the scan ner s connector and rotate the antenna connector s outer r...

Page 12: ...tructions supplied with the an tenna route the antenna cable to the scanner then con nect it to the antenna jack Warning Use extreme caution when installing or re moving an outdoor antenna If the antenna starts to fall let it go It could contact overhead power lines If the an tenna touches a power line contact with the antenna mast cable or guy wires can cause electrocution and death Call the powe...

Page 13: ...in listening adjust the volume to a comfortable level Once you set the volume do not increase it Over time your ears adapt to the volume level so a vol ume level that does not cause discomfort might still damage your hearing Traffic Safety Do not use an earphone headphones with your scanner when operating a motor vehicle or riding a bicycle in or near traffic Doing so can create a traffic hazard a...

Page 14: ... cable s 1 8 inch mini plug into your scanner s jack ATTACHING THE BELT CLIP You can attach the supplied belt clip to make your scan ner easier to carry when you are on the go Use a Phil lips screwdriver and the two supplied screws to attach the belt clip to the scanner Then slide the belt clip over your belt or waistband Belt Clip 20 520 fm Page 14 Wednesday August 4 1999 3 06 PM ...

Page 15: ...earch banks which are preset groups of frequencies categorized by type of service When you find a frequency you can store it into a program mable memory location called a channel which is grouped with your other channels in a channel storage bank You can then scan the channel storage banks to see if there is activity on the frequencies stored there Each time the scanner finds an active frequency i...

Page 16: ...k enters a decimal point or clears an incorrect entry E enter enters frequencies into channels t LIMIT sets the search direction and holds the frequen cy search sets the frequency range DLY delay programs a 2 second delay for the selected channel a limit search or each service scan Also pro grams a 5 second delay in the trunk tracking mode SRCH searches a specified frequency range to find fre quen...

Page 17: ...ceived trunking frequency or a data frequency in the trunk tracking mode see Channel Activity Indicators on Page 40 P appears when a priority channel is selected blinks when the scanner s battery is low DATA appears when the data skip function is active POLICE appears when you search the police service bank FIRE EMG appears when you search the fire emer gency service bank AIR appears when you sear...

Page 18: ...turned on HOLD appears when you manually select a channel or when the scanner is in the hold mode during a search or service bank scan or during a limit search DLY appears when you program a delay L O appears when you manually select a channel or frequency you locked out appears when you lock the keypad Error appears when you make an entry error 20 520 fm Page 18 Wednesday August 4 1999 3 06 PM ...

Page 19: ...rough an entire band see Scanning Service Banks on Page 23 UNDERSTANDING TRUNKING In the past groups that broadcast frequently such as po lice departments were restricted to transmitting on just a few frequencies This resulted in heavy traffic and often required 2 way radio users to wait for a specific frequen cy to clear before transmitting Trunked systems allow more groups of 2 way radio users t...

Page 20: ...connected before you turn it on 1 Turn SQUELCH fully clockwise 2 Turn VOLUME OFF clockwise until it clicks and you hear a hissing sound 3 Press MANUAL and turn SQUELCH counterclockwise then leave it set to a point just after the hissing sound stops 20 520 fm Page 20 Wednesday August 4 1999 3 06 PM ...

Page 21: ...es for active frequencies are the Ra dioShack Police Call Guide including Fire and Emer gency Services Official Aeronautical Frequency Directory and Maritime Frequency Directory We up date these directories every year so be sure to get a current copy Note To store trunking system frequencies see Pro gramming Trunked Frequencies on Page 34 Follow these steps to store frequencies into channels 1 Pre...

Page 22: ... Delay on Page 26 The scanner also stores this setting in the channel 4 If you want to program the next channel in sequence press MANUAL and repeat Steps 2 and 3 LIMIT SEARCH If you do not know a frequency to store you can search for transmissions within a range of frequencies you se lect called the limit search range Then you can store any interesting frequencies you find into channels 1 Press MA...

Page 23: ...transmission HOLD appears To release hold and continue searching press SRCH Notes To step through the frequencies while HOLD appears press s or t If you tune to a search skip frequency L O appears See Locking Out Channels and Frequen cies on Page 27 To skip data signals such as modem signals press DATA See Skipping Data Signals on Page 31 SCANNING SERVICE BANKS You can scan for police fire emergen...

Page 24: ...such as modem signals press DATA See Skipping Data Signals on Page 31 Because frequencies are not always assigned to the same services everywhere you might hear transmis sions from one service in another service group If necessary press SCAN to start scanning immediately or to continue scanning if you want to skip a frequency During service scan you can press HOLD to pause the scanning HOLD appear...

Page 25: ...ough there might be periods of silence or if you want to monitor a specific channel Follow these steps to manually select a channel 1 Press MANUAL 2 Enter the channel number 3 Press MANUAL again Or if your scanner is scanning and stops at the desired channel press MANUAL one time Pressing MANUAL ad ditional times causes your scanner to step through the channels To resume scanning press SCAN DELETI...

Page 26: ... storage banks and stops on an active channel where you want to store a delay quickly press DLY before it continues scanning again DLY appears If the desired channel is not selected manually select the channel then press DLY DLY appears If the scanner is scanning service banks press DLY while the scanner is scanning DLY appears and the scanner automatically adds a 2 second delay to every transmiss...

Page 27: ...an manually select any channel within a bank even if that bank is turned off You cannot turn off all banks One bank is always active LOCKING OUT CHANNELS AND FREQUENCIES You can scan existing channels or search frequencies faster by locking out channels or frequencies that have a continuous transmission such as a weather channel Note If you just want to skip over a lengthy transmission such as a m...

Page 28: ... You can lock out as many as 20 frequencies during a search If you try to lock out more than 20 frequen cies the first locked out frequency is automatically unlocked Follow these steps to remove the lockout from a fre quency 1 During a search select the frequency you want to remove the lockout from 2 Press L O L O disappears from the display To remove the lockout from all frequencies while searchi...

Page 29: ...nk you want to program as a priority channel To turn on the priority feature press PRI during scanning PRI appears Every 2 seconds the scanner checks the priority channel in each bank that is turned on starting from the lowest to the highest numbered priority chan nel To turn off the priority feature press PRI PRI disap pears Notes The priority feature must be turned off to use the data skip featu...

Page 30: ...on the keylock hold down LOCK until appears To turn it off hold down LOCK until disappears USING THE DISPLAY BACKLIGHT You can turn on the display backlight for easy viewing at night Press LOCK to turn on the display backlight for 15 seconds To turn off the backlight before 15 sec onds elapse press the button again CHANGING SEARCH SPEEDS The PRO 90 has two search speeds for a limit search Normal S...

Page 31: ...wer for 1 second then turns on the internal power for about 1 3 of a second to check for a transmis sion Note The scanner s battery save function does not work if the priority function is on even if a channel is manually selected SKIPPING DATA SIGNALS You can set the scanner so it skips nonmodulated or data signals such as modem transmissions during a search Note Since data signals are not general...

Page 32: ... I and Type II Instead of selecting a specific frequency to transmit on a trunked system chooses one of several frequencies in a 2 way radio us er s talk group when that user presses PTT push to talk Thus trunking systems allocate a few frequencies among many different users but the way Type I and Type II systems do this is slightly different One important distinction between these systems is the ...

Page 33: ... of data a Type II system radio sends Since the data capacity of Type I systems is limited and the amount of data increases with each user Type I sys tems usually accommodate fewer users than Type II systems Nevertheless Type I systems are still in use There are also hybrid systems which are a combination of both Type I and Type II Your scanner defaults to monitor Type II systems but you can chang...

Page 34: ...ROGRAMMING TRUNKED FREQUENCIES Before you program your scanner to track a trunked sys tem consider the following Valid trunked system frequencies range from 851 0125 868 9875 in 12 5 kHz steps You can use any of your scanner s banks as either a trunk tracking bank or conventional scanning bank but you cannot mix the two The scanner only scans one trunked system at a time Although you can store fre...

Page 35: ...he first channel in the bank when you select the bank 3 Use the number keys to enter the trunked system s frequencies then press E Note If you entered an invalid frequency in Step 3 the scanner beeps the channel number flashes and Error appears If this happens press to clear the frequency then repeat Step 3 4 Press either MANUAL or s to select the next channel in the bank 20 520 fm Page 35 Wednesd...

Page 36: ... frequencies for a trunked system in one or more of the 10 available banks and you are scanning non trunked frequencies follow these steps to begin trunk scanning 1 Press TRUNK The indicators for all banks flash 2 Use the number keys to enter the number for the trunked bank you want to scan then press SRCH The scanner searches for a data channel When the scanner finds it it begins trunk tracking I...

Page 37: ...io user Other IDs might take some time but determining who each ID represents is half the fun of trunk tracking Monitoring an Active ID When the scanner stops on a transmission you can hold the scanner on that transmission 1 Press HOLD HOLD appears the scanner stays on the current ID and the channel number changes 2 If you want to listen to a different ID use the number keys to enter the ID you wa...

Page 38: ...e next active ID appears Unlocking a Single ID 1 Hold down L O until you hear two short beeps 2 Repeatedly press t or s to select the ID you want to unlock 3 Press L O The ID is unlocked and the next locked ID or if there are no other locked IDs appears 4 Press SRCH to continue the scanner s previous func tion Unlocking All IDs Hold down L O until you hear two short beeps Then press E to unlock al...

Page 39: ...tracking scan delay set you might need to change the default system type or the fleet map you are using See Scanning Type I and Hybrid Trunked Systems on Page 44 Monitoring IDs You can use your scanner s display to monitor the fre quencies in a trunked system for activity You cannot hear conversations in this mode but this is an excellent way to determine which talk groups are the most active To s...

Page 40: ...ing has more than 20 channels The indicator that remains on steadily even when there are no current transmissions represents the frequency being used as the data channel The indicator that flashes when an ID appears rep resents the frequency being used by the radio you are currently hearing If an indicator turns on but you do not hear a conver sation the channel is probably being used for a tele p...

Page 41: ...IDs List 2 for fire department IDs List 3 for emergency medical service IDs and so on Once IDs are stored in lists you can scan them like you scan conventional channels You can program IDs into scan lists manually during a search or automatically Manually Storing IDs into Scan Lists 1 Select the trunking bank you want see Scanning a Trunked Bank on Page 36 2 After the scanner begins trunk tracking...

Page 42: ...elect a scan list location and store an ID during a search 1 When your scanner stops on an ID you want to store press PRI The currently selected scan list memory location flashes 2 Press E to store the ID in the selected scan list memory location Or repeatedly press s or t to select the scan list memory location you want then press E 3 Press SRCH to resume searching Automatically Storing an ID in ...

Page 43: ...ss 0 then E SCANNING THE SCAN LISTS Press SCAN to begin scanning the lists you have pro grammed Note If you haven t programmed any IDs SCAN scrolls on the display but your scanner does not stop on an ac tive conversation To remove a scan list from active scanning use the number keys to enter the scan list s number The scan 20 520 fm Page 43 Wednesday August 4 1999 3 06 PM ...

Page 44: ...e I ID appears as a three or four digit number followed by a hyphen followed by a one or two digit number such as 200 14 If you notice a mix of odd and even user IDs such as 6477 2160 6481 6144 and 1167 then you are probably monitor ing either a Type I or hybrid a combination of Type I and Type 2 user IDs system see Types of Trunked Sys tems on Page 32 You might also notice that you are missing re...

Page 45: ... unique The left most digit is the block number in the ID The next two digits identify which fleet is active and the last digit s after the hyphen identifies the subfleet The size codes selected by a Type I system designer de pend on the specific needs of the system s users Some organizations might want many subfleets with only a few radios each while another organization might want only a few sub...

Page 46: ...re receiv ing most of the replies to the conversations with IDs assigned to the block you just programmed then you have probably selected the right size code and can work on the next block of the map There are 16 preset fleet maps to choose from and it is best to start with these when setting up a Type I or hy brid trunk tracking bank If none of the following preset fleet maps allow you to follow ...

Page 47: ...1P8 E1P9 Block Size Code Block Size Code Block Size Code 0 S10 0 S1 0 S4 1 S10 1 S1 1 S4 2 S11 2 S2 2 S0 3 S4 3 S2 3 S0 4 S4 4 S3 4 S0 5 S4 5 S3 5 S0 6 S4 6 S4 6 S0 7 S4 7 S4 7 S0 E1P10 E1P11 E1P12 Block Size Code Block Size Code Block Size Code 0 S0 0 S4 0 S0 1 S0 1 S0 1 S0 2 S0 2 S0 2 S0 3 S0 3 S0 3 S0 4 S0 4 S0 4 S0 20 520 fm Page 47 Wednesday August 4 1999 3 06 PM ...

Page 48: ... S0 6 S4 6 S0 6 S0 7 S4 7 S0 7 S4 E1P13 E1P14 E1P15 Block Size Code Block Size Code Block Size Code 0 S3 0 S4 0 S4 1 S3 1 S3 1 S4 2 S11 2 S10 2 S4 3 S4 3 S4 3 S11 4 S4 4 S4 4 S11 5 S0 5 S4 5 S0 6 S0 6 S12 6 S12 7 S0 7 7 E1P16 Block Size Code 0 S3 1 S10 2 S10 3 S11 4 S0 5 S0 6 S12 7 20 520 fm Page 48 Wednesday August 4 1999 3 06 PM ...

Page 49: ...Type I fleet and subfleet IDs such as 100 12 100 9 000 12 or 400 8 How do you know if the preset map you selected is cor rect Listen to see if you are following complete conver sations If not try another preset map Programming a Fleet Map 1 Select the bank where you want to program the fleet map by pressing a number key 2 Press DATA 3 Repeatedly press s or t until E1 appears then press DATA 4 Repe...

Page 50: ...can only be assigned to Block 0 Since these size codes require multiple blocks you will be prompted for the next available block when program ming a fleet map For example if you assign Block 0 as an S 12 the scanner prompts you for b2 the next block available instead of b1 And if you assign Block 0 as an S 14 you would not see another prompt because it uses all available blocks Programming a Hybri...

Page 51: ...r These oper ating frequencies might interfere with broadcasts on the same frequencies If you program one of these frequen cies you hear only noise on that frequency If the inter ference is not severe you might be able to turn SQUELCH clockwise to cut out the birdie This scanner s birdie fre quencies in MHz are 162 400 162 475 162 525 162 425 162 500 162 550 162 450 161 650 161 775 163 275 41 6000...

Page 52: ... Service 806 00 823 93 MHz Conventional Systems 851 00 856 00 MHz Conventional Trunked Sys tems 856 00 861 00 MHz Trunked Systems 861 00 866 00 MHz Public Safety 866 00 868 93 MHz High Range 896 11 902 00 MHz 33 Centimeter Amateur 902 00 928 00 MHz Private Trunked 935 00 940 00 MHz General Trunked 940 00 941 00 MHz Fixed Services 941 00 944 00 MHz Studio to Transmitter Broad cast Links 944 00 952 ...

Page 53: ...nked Systems FIRE Fire Department HAM Amateur Ham Radio GOVT Federal Government GMR General Mobile Radio GTR General Trunked IND Industrial Services Manufacturing Construction Farming Forest Products MAR Military Amateur Radio MARI Maritime Limited Coast Coast Guard Marine Telephone Shipboard Radio Private Stations MARS Military Affiliate Radio System MED Emergency Medical Services MIL U S Militar...

Page 54: ...MIL 35 020 35 980 BUS PUB IND TELM 36 000 36 230 GOVT MIL 36 250 Oil Spill Cleanup 36 270 36 990 GOVT MIL 37 020 37 980 PUB IND 38 000 39 000 GOVT MIL 39 020 39 980 PUB 40 000 42 000 GOVT MIL MARI 42 020 42 940 POL 42 960 43 180 IND 43 220 43 680 TELM IND PUB 43 700 44 600 TRAN 44 620 46 580 POL PUB 46 600 46 990 GOVT TELC 47 020 47 400 PUB 47 420 American Red Cross 47 440 49 580 IND PUB 49 610 49...

Page 55: ... USXX 162 6625 MED 162 6875 163 225 GOVT MIL USXX 163 250 MED 163 275 166 225 GOVT MIL USXX 166 250 GOVT RTV FIRE 166 275 169 400 GOVT BIFC 169 445 169 505 Wireless Mikes GOVT 169 55 169 9875 GOVT MIL USXX 170 000 170 150 BIFC GOVT RTV FIRE 170 175 170 225 GOVT 170 245 170 305 Wireless Mikes 170 350 170 400 GOVT MIL 170 425 170 450 BIFC 170 475 PUB 170 4875 173 175 GOVT PUB Wireless Mikes 173 225 ...

Page 56: ...nnel 16 511 750 Channel 20 Note Some cities use the 470 512 MHz band for land mobile service Conventional Systems Band Locally Assigned 851 0125 855 9875 CSB Conventional Trunked Systems Band Locally Assigned 856 0125 860 9875 CTSB Trunked Systems Band Locally Assigned 861 0125 865 9875 TSB Public Safety Band Locally Assigned 866 0125 868 9875 PSB 33 Centimeter Amateur Band 902 928 MHz 902 0000 92...

Page 57: ...necessary conversions 1 MHz million 1 000 kHz thousand To convert MHz to kHz multiply the number of mega hertz by 1 000 9 62 MHz x 1000 9620 kHz To convert from kHz to MHz divide the number of kilo hertz by 1 000 2780 kHz 1000 2 780 MHz To convert MHz to meters divide 300 by the number of megahertz 300 7 1 MHz 42 25 meters 20 520 fm Page 57 Wednesday August 4 1999 3 06 PM ...

Page 58: ...he AC adapter charger or DC adapter is not connected Be sure the adapter s barrel plug is fully plugged into the EXT PWR jack The scanner s display dims or the scanner sounds a tone every 15 30 seconds The battery pack is not correctly installed Make sure the bat tery pack is installed properly The battery pack is weak Recharge the bat tery pack Keypad does not work The keylock function is acti va...

Page 59: ...manu ally Scanner will not track a trunked system Thetransmission might not use a system that can be tracked by your scanner Scan another trans mission The data fre quency is miss ing Find the data fre quency see Pro gramming Trunked Frequencies on Page 34 The system you are trying to track is a Type I system and the scanner is set to scan Type II sys tems Set the scanner to receive Type I trunked...

Page 60: ...ms Set the scanner to receive Type I trunked frequen cies See Scan ning Type I and Hybrid Trunked Sys tems on Page 44 The selected fleet map is incorrect Try another preset fleet map or pro gram your own fleet map see Scan ning Type I and Hybrid Trunked Sys tems on Page 44 Not all of the trunk s frequen cies have been entered Enter all of the trunk s frequencies Channel activity indicators are fla...

Page 61: ... and cases and can cause the scanner to work improperly Use and store the scanner only in normal temperature environments Temperature extremes can shorten the life of electronic devices damage batteries and distort or melt plastic parts Keep the scanner away from dust and dirt which can cause premature wear of parts Wipe the scanner with a damp cloth occa sionally to keep it looking new Do not use...

Page 62: ...tion 108 136 9875 MHz 1 5 µV Spurious Rejection at 40 84 MHz 50 dB Selectivity 10 kHz 6 dB 15 kHz 50 dB IF Rejection at 162 4 MHz 80 dB Operating Temperature 4 to 140 F 20 to 60 C Scan Speed Normal 100 Channels Second Service 100 Frequencies Second Search Speed Normal 100 Steps Second Hypersearch 300 Steps Second Priority Sampling 2 Seconds Delay Time 2 Seconds IF Frequencies 380 7 MHz 10 85 MHz a...

Page 63: ...2 VDC 200 mA Current Drain Squelched 70 mA Full Output 180 mA Dimensions HWD 6 21 3 111 16 Inches 153 63 5 43 mm Weight 11 oz 310 g Specifications are typical individual units might vary Specifications are subject to change and improvement without notice 20 520 fm Page 63 Wednesday August 4 1999 3 06 PM ...

Page 64: ...ng the warranty period take the product and the RadioShack sales receipt as proof of purchase date to any RadioShack store RadioShack will at its option unless other wise provided by law a correct the defect by product repair without charge for parts and labor b replace the product with one of the same or similar design or c refund the purchase price All replaced parts and products and products on...

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