Radio Shack 20-561 Owner'S Manual Download

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Cat. No.

20-561

OWNER’S MANUAL

PRO-63 100-Channel

Portable Event Scanner

Please read before using this equipment.

20-561.fm Page 1 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 3:48 PM

Summary of Contents for 20-561

Page 1: ...Cat No 20 561 OWNER S MANUAL PRO 63 100 Channel Portable Event Scanner Please read before using this equipment 20 561 fm Page 1 Wednesday August 4 1999 3 48 PM ...

Page 2: ...our scanner has all these special features Ten Preprogrammed Search Bands let you search for trans missions within preset frequency ranges so you can find interest ing frequencies more quickly Ten Preprogrammed Weather Frequencies keep you in formed about current weather conditions Ten Channel Storage Banks let you store 10 channels in each bank to group channels so calls are easier to identify Tw...

Page 3: ... or noise caused by these signals Liquid Crystal Display makes it easy to view and change pro gramming information Display Backlight makes the display easy to read in dimly lit areas Three Power Options let you power the scanner from alkaline or rechargeable nickel cadmium batteries or external AC or DC power Flexible Antenna with BNC Connector provides excellent re ception and is designed to help...

Page 4: ...eur Radio Stadiums Venues UHF Lo UHF T Band Your PRO 63 scanner contains the following preprogrammed search bands 29 50 MHz 10 Meter Amateur Radio VHF Lo 50 54 MHz 6 Meter Amateur Radio 108 136 975 MHz Aircraft Air Shows 137 144 MHz Aircraft Air Shows Government 144 148 MHz 2 Meter Amateur Radio 148 174 MHz Auto Racing Motion Picture Video Industry Pro Sports Teams Radio TV Remote Broadcast Pickup...

Page 5: ...t is operating properly To determine whether or not your scanner is causing the interference turn off your scanner If the interference goes away your scanner is causing it Try to eliminate the inter ference by Moving your scanner away from the receiver Connecting your scanner to an outlet that is on a different electrical circuit from the receiver Contacting your local Radio Shack store for help I...

Page 6: ... never intentionally listen to These in clude Telephone conversations either cellular cordless or other private means of telephone signal transmission Pager transmissions Any scrambled or encrypted transmissions According to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act ECPA you are subject to fines and possible imprisonment for intentional ly listening to using or divulging the contents of such a tra...

Page 7: ...ing On the Scanner and Setting Squelch 20 Searching For and Storing Active Frequencies 21 Limit Search 22 Manually Storing Frequencies 23 Scanning the Stored Channels 25 Scanning All Channels 25 Turning Channel Storage Banks On and Off 25 Scanning a Channel Storage Bank 26 Manually Selecting a Channel 26 Listening to the Weather Band 27 ADVANCED OPERATION 28 Delay 28 Skipping Channels 28 Priority ...

Page 8: ...eaker 38 A GENERAL GUIDE TO SCANNING 39 United States Broadcast Band 39 Typical Band Usage 39 VHF Band 30 00 300 0 MHz 39 UHF Band 300 00 MHz 3 0 GHz 40 Primary Usage 41 VHF Band 41 UHF Band 41 Specified Intervals 42 Band Allocation 42 Ham Radio Frequencies 47 National Weather Frequencies 47 Birdie Frequencies 48 Frequency Conversion 49 TROUBLESHOOTING 50 CARE AND MAINTENANCE 52 SPECIFICATIONS 53 ...

Page 9: ...information see Connecting a Mobile or Base Station An tenna on Page 35 INSTALLING BATTERIES You can power your scanner with six AA batteries For the longest operation and best performance we recommend alkaline batter ies such as Cat No 23 552 Or you can use rechargeable nick el cadmium batteries Cat No 23 125 Note You can also power your scanner from either standard AC power using an optional AC ...

Page 10: ...tom of the scanner slide the cover in the direction of the arrow to remove it 3 Remove the battery holder from the battery compartment 4 Remove any old batteries from the battery holder Cautions Always dispose of old non rechargeable batteries promptly and properly Do not bury or burn them Never leave dead or weak batteries in the battery holder OFF MAX MIN MAX VOLUME SQUELCH 20 561 fm Page 10 Wed...

Page 11: ...di ately replace all six non rechargeable batteries or recharge all six rechargeable batteries See Important Information About the PWR and CHG Jacks and Charging Nickel Cadmium Batteries on Page 12 Important This product is capable of using rechargeable nickel cadmium batteries At the end of the batteries useful life they must be recycled or disposed of properly Contact your local county or state ...

Page 12: ...r and also charges the internal batteries The CHG jack is covered by a plastic plug Use the CHG jack only when rechargeable nickel cadmium batteries are in stalled Warning Never use the CHG jack with non rechargeable batter ies installed If you try to recharge non rechargeable batteries they become very hot and could explode Charging Nickel Cadmium Batteries The scanner has a built in charging cir...

Page 13: ...elow 40 F Note Nickel cadmium batteries last longer and deliver more pow er if you occasionally let them fully discharge To do this simply use the scanner until BATT flashes on the scanner s display and the scanner beeps Then fully charge the batteries RESETTING THE SCANNER If the scanner s display locks up or does not work properly after you connect a power source you might need to reset the scan...

Page 14: ...d 0 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 Simply slide the belt clip over your belt or waistband 20 561 fm Page 14 Wednesday August 4 1999 3 48 PM ...

Page 15: ... channels that make up a channel storage bank In addition the keypad has different functions in the manual and scan modes M SCAN scans through the channels you have stored M BANK scans a channel storage bank you select BAND selects a preprogrammed search band or enters the decimal point when programming frequencies MANUAL stops scanning and lets you directly enter a channel number or frequency DEL...

Page 16: ...attenuation on to reduce the scanner s sensitivity or turns it off to increase it locks unlocks the keypad except LIGHT to prevent acci dental entries LOCK locks the stored channels to prevent accidental chang es ENTER enters frequencies into channels A LOOK AT THE DISPLAY A quick look at the display should help you understand what the scanner can do appears when you lock the keypad M BANK appears...

Page 17: ...the display show which fre quency the scanner is tuned to WX appears when you scan or search the 10 preprogrammed weather channels and indicate the search or scan direction SRCH appears during a frequency search SKIP appears when you manually select a channel you skipped while scanning MAN appears when you manually select a channel PRI appears when the priority feature is selected DLY appears when...

Page 18: ...cies you might want to store into the scanner s channels see Channel Storage Banks on Page 19 The scanner has the following search bands For example if you wanted to search for transmissions between pilots and the control tower at an air show you could search only the search bands where you are most likely to hear the transmis sions 2 3 and 6 Search Band SearchRange MHz 0 29 50 1 50 54 2 108 137 3...

Page 19: ...orage banks 0 9 Each channel storage bank contains ten channels You can use each channel storage bank to group frequencies of the same type such as those used by racing teams aircraft and the control tower the police department and ambulance services see A General Guide to Scanning on Page 39 For example you might want to listen to communications between the driver of Car 26 and his pit crew at a ...

Page 20: ...ssing sound 3 Turn SQUELCH MIN MAX clockwise then leave it set to a point just after the hissing sound stops The scanner automatically starts scanning channels Press MAN UAL to stop scanning Note If you have not stored frequencies into any channels see Searching For and Storing Active Frequencies on Page 21 the scanner does not scan OFF MAX MIN MAX VOLUME SQUELCH OFF MAX MIN MAX VOLUME SQUELCH 20 ...

Page 21: ...encies into your scanner s channels using either of the following methods Limit search within a range of preprogrammed frequencies Manual storage Good references for active frequencies are Radio Shack s Be yond Police Call Police Call Radio Guide Including Fire and Emergency Services Aeronautical Frequency Directory and Radio magazine We update these references often so be sure to get a current co...

Page 22: ...he next available channel flashes Notes If you do not press a number key within 2 seconds after you press BAND the number for the previously selected search band is displayed then the scanner displays the next avail able channel number or 00 if you have not stored frequen cies into any channels If this happens simply press the search band s number key again to select the band you want You can also...

Page 23: ...display for about 3 seconds and the channel number where the frequency was previously stored appears for about 3 seconds Select another fre quency or press ENTER again to store the frequency into the channel After you store a frequency into the last available channel the scanner displays Ch FULL when you press or If you press or again the scanner continues the search but flashes on the display To ...

Page 24: ...equency in Step 3 the scanner beeps three times and Error flashes on the display for about 4 seconds Simply repeat Steps 3 and 4 Your scanner automatically rounds the entered frequency down to the closest valid frequency For example if you try to enter a frequency of 151 4730 your scanner accepts it as 151 4700 If you entered a frequency that is already stored in another channel the scanner beeps ...

Page 25: ... 30 SCANNING THE STORED CHANNELS Scanning All Channels To begin scanning all the stored channels in your scanner press M SCAN The scanner scans through all channels in the activated banks which are not skipped see Skipping Channels on Page 28 Note Press or to change the scan direction Turning Channel Storage Banks On and Off You can turn each channel storage bank on and off When you turn off a ban...

Page 26: ...starts scanning channels in the selected bank that are not skipped To select and scan another bank repeatedly press M BANK to move the bar on the top of the display under the bank you want To select a channel within the bank enter the channel number MANUALLY SELECTING A CHANNEL You can continuously monitor a specific channel without scan ning This is useful if you want to hear a broadcast on a cha...

Page 27: ... channels for use by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad ministration NOAA NOAA broadcasts your local forecast and re gional weather information on one or more of these channels We have preprogrammed your scanner with 10 of the U S frequen cies available to NOAA To scan the preprogrammed weather channels press WX To manually tune through the preprogrammed weather channels repeatedly press WX u...

Page 28: ...uency is selected DLY appears When your scanner stops on the channel or frequency while scanning or searching it waits for 2 seconds after each transmission on that channel or frequency before it resumes scanning or searching SKIPPING CHANNELS You can increase the scanner s effective scanning speed by skip ping those channels that have a continuous transmission such as a weather channel To skip a ...

Page 29: ... the scanner checks Chan nel 00 every 2 seconds and stays on the channel if there is activ ity If there is no activity P flashes on the display every 2 seconds To turn on the priority feature press PRI PRI appears on the dis play To turn off the priority feature press PRI again PRI disap pears from the display Notes Channel 00 is preset as the priority channel You cannot change it The scanner auto...

Page 30: ...nnels 1 Press MANUAL 2 While pressing and holding down ENTER press and hold down LOCK until the scanner beeps three times To manually lock a channel select the channel then press LOCK L appears to the left of the channel number USING THE DISPLAY BACKLIGHT You can turn on the display s backlight for easy viewing in dimly lit areas Press LIGHT to turn on the display light for 5 seconds To turn off t...

Page 31: ...weak signals To turn off the attenuator press ATT again ATT disappears from the display TURNING THE KEY TONE ON AND OFF Each time you press any of the scanner s keys except and LIGHT the scanner sounds a tone Follow these steps to turn the scanner s key tone on or off 1 If the scanner is on turn VOLUME OFF MAX counterclockwise until it clicks to turn it off 2 While you press and hold down the 2 an...

Page 32: ...ntrols that operate are LIGHT VOL UME OFF MAX and SQUELCH MIN MAX However the scanner continues to scan channels To turn on the keylock press and hold down for about 3 sec onds until the scanner beeps three times and appears on the display To turn it off press and hold down for about 3 sec onds until the scanner beeps three times and disappears from the display 20 561 fm Page 32 Wednesday August 4...

Page 33: ...set to nega tive and its plug must correctly fit the scanner s PWR and CHG jacks The recommended adapter meets these specifi cations Using an adapter that does not meet these specifi cations could seriously damage the scanner or the adapter Always plug the AC adapter s barrel plug into the scanner before you plug the adapter s power module into the AC out let Always unplug the adapter s power modu...

Page 34: ...e set to negative and its plug must correctly fit the scan ner s PWR and CHG jacks The recommended adapter meets these specifications Using an adapter that does not meet these specifications could seriously damage the scanner or the adapter To protect your vehicle s electrical system always plug the adapter into the scanner before you plug it into your vehicle s cigarette lighter socket Always unp...

Page 35: ...ries at the same time See Charging Nickel Cadmium Batteries on Page 12 If the scanner does not operate properly when you use a DC cigarette lighter adapter unplug the adapter from the lighter socket and clean the socket to remove ashes and other debris CONNECTING A MOBILE OR BASE STATION ANTENNA Instead of the supplied flexible antenna you can connect a mobile or base station antenna not supplied ...

Page 36: ...s dielectric coaxial cable Cat No 278 1312 If the coaxial cable s connector does not fit in the scanner s ANT jack you might also need a PL 259 to BNC antenna plug adapter such as Cat No 278 120 Your local Radio Shack store carries a wide variety of coaxial an tenna cable and connectors Follow the mounting instructions supplied with the antenna Then route the antenna cable to the scanner and conne...

Page 37: ...ug an optional earphone or mon aural headphones such as Cat No 33 175 or Cat No 20 210 not supplied into the jack on top of your scanner This auto matically disconnects the internal speaker Your local Radio Shack store has a wide selection of earphones Note In a noisy area monaural headphones might provide more comfortable listening Listening Safely To protect your hearing follow these guidelines ...

Page 38: ... riding a bicycle This can create a traffic hazard and is illegal in some areas Even though some earphones and headphones are designed to let you hear some outside sounds when listening at normal vol ume levels they still present a traffic hazard CONNECTING AN EXTENSION SPEAKER In a noisy area an extension speaker such as Cat No 21 549 or an amplified speaker such as Cat No 21 541 positioned in th...

Page 39: ...t on the VHF band and the fourth transmits on the UHF band You can use your scanner to monitor the 470 512 MHz por tion of the UHF band TYPICAL BAND USAGE The following charts show the types of broadcasts you can hear in each band the number of the search band where you can search for them and the frequency range of the broadcasts VHF Band 30 00 300 0 MHz Broadcast Type Search Band Frequency Range...

Page 40: ...t Pick up Stadiums Venues 5 148 00 174 00 Broadcast Type Search Band Frequency Range MHz Military Aircraft Air Shows 6 380 00 384 00 US Government 6 7 406 00 450 00 70 Centimeter Amateur 7 420 00 450 00 Auto Racing Pro Sports Teams Radio TV Re mote Broadcast Pickup Stadiums Venues 8 450 00 470 00 FM TV Audio Broad cast Wideband 9 470 00 512 00 20 561 fm Page 40 Wednesday August 4 1999 3 48 PM ...

Page 41: ...ts Broadcast Type Search Band Frequency Range MHz Government Police and Fire 5 153 785 155 980 Emergency Services 5 158 730 159 460 Railroad 5 160 000 161 900 Broadcast Type Search Band Frequency Range MHz Land Mobile Paired Fre quencies 8 450 000 470 000 Base Stations 8 451 025 454 950 Mobile Units 8 456 025 459 950 Relay Repeater Units 8 460 025 464 975 Remote Control Stations 8 465 025 469 975 ...

Page 42: ...llowing listing of the typical services that use the frequencies your scanner receives These frequencies are subject to change and might vary from area to area For a more complete listing refer to Be yond Police Call Police Call Radio Guide Including Fire and Emergency Services and Radio magazine available at your local Radio Shack store Abbreviations AIR Aircraft Air Show AUTO Auto Racing CAP Civ...

Page 43: ...adio TV Remote Broadcast Pickup SPORT Pro Sports Teams STAD Stadiums Venues TELB Mobile Telephone Aircraft Radio Common Carrier Landline companies TVn FM TV Audio Broadcast WTHR Weather High Frequency HF 29 MHz 30 MHz 10 Meter Amateur Band 28 0 29 7 MHz 29 000 29 700 HAM Very High Frequency VHF 30 MHz 300 MHz Low Band 30 50 MHz in 5 kHz steps 29 900 30 550 GOVT MIL 30 580 31 980 PUB 32 000 32 990 ...

Page 44: ...raft Band 108 136 MHz 108 000 121 490 AIR 121 500 AIR Emergency 121 510 136 975 AIR U S Government Band 137 144 MHz 137 000 144 000 AIR GOVT MIL 2 Meter Amateur Band 144 148 MHz 144 000 148 000 HAM VHF Hi Band 148 174 MHz 148 050 150 345 CAP MIL 150 775 150 790 MED 151 145 151 475 POL 151 625 151 955 AUTO SPORT STAD 152 0075 MED 152 030 152 240 TELB 152 510 152 840 TELB 152 870 153 020 MOV 153 740...

Page 45: ... 6625 MED 162 6875 163 225 GOVT MIL 163 250 MED 163 275 166 225 GOVT MIL 166 250 FIRE GOVT RTV 166 275 169 400 GOVT 169 445 Wireless Mikes 169 500 GOVT 169 505 Wireless Mikes 169 55 169 9875 GOVT MIL 170 025 170 150 FIRE GOVT RTV 170 175 170 225 GOVT 170 245 170 305 Wireless Mikes 170 350 170 400 GOVT MIL 170 475 PUB 170 4875 173 175 GOVT PUB Wireless Mikes 173 225 173 375 MOV NEWS 173 3875 173 53...

Page 46: ...NEWS 453 0125 453 9875 PUB STAD 454 025 454 975 TELB 455 050 455 925 RTV 457 550 457 600 AUTO 458 025 458 175 MED 460 0125 460 6375 FIRE POL PUB 460 6400 462 9350 AUTO STAD 462 9375 463 1875 MED 463 2000 470 00 AUTO NET SPORT STAD FM TV Audio Broadcast UHF Wide Band 470 512 MHz Channel 14 through 69 in 6 MHz steps 475 750 Channel 14 481 750 Channel 15 487 750 Channel 16 493 750 Channel 17 499 750 ...

Page 47: ...uencies except 162 440 are programmed into your scanner s weather band Note You can still manually tune to 162 440 see Searching For and Storing Active Frequencies on Page 21 Wavelength meters Search Band Frequency Range MHz 10 meters 0 29 000 29 700 6 meters 1 50 100 54 000 2 meters 4 144 100 148 000 70 centimeters 7 420 000 450 000 161 650 MHz 162 425 MHz 162 475 MHz 162 550 MHz 161 775 MHz 162 ...

Page 48: ...casionally the scanner will stop as if it had found a signal often without any sound That is a birdie Make a note of that frequency then con tinue Make a list of all the birdies in your scanner for future refer ence 29 800 MHz 32 000 MHz 38 400 MHz 46 370 MHz 51 200 MHz 112 375 MHz 115 200 MHz 121 600 MHz 128 000 MHz 131 025 MHz 134 400 MHz 136 675 MHz 140 175 MHz 140 800 MHz 144 625 MHz 148 525 M...

Page 49: ...an help you make the necessary conversions 1 MHz million 1 000 kHz thousand To convert MHz to kHz multiply by 1 000 30 62 MHz x 1000 30620 kHz To convert from kHz to MHz divide by 1 000 127 8 MHz To convert MHz to meters divide 300 by the number of mega hertz 1 75 meters 127 800 1000 KHz 300 171 MHz 20 561 fm Page 49 Wednesday August 4 1999 3 48 PM ...

Page 50: ... adjusted prop erly See Turning On the Scanner and Setting Squelch on Page 20 Be sure scanner is set to the scan mode MAN UAL is not displayed See Scanning the Stored Chan nels on Page 25 Be sure you have stored frequencies into the scan ner s channels See Searching For and Storing Active Frequencies on Page 21 Scanner does not work at all Replace the batteries with fresh ones or recharge them Be ...

Page 51: ...building Change the scan ner s location and try again Scanner s keys or display work poorly or not at all The scanner s keys are locked Unlock the scan ner s keys See Using the Keylock on Page 32 Reset the scanner See Resetting the Scanner on Page 13 Scanner locks on frequencies that have an unclear transmis sion You might have tuned to a birdie frequency Avoid programming frequencies listed under...

Page 52: ...he scanner only in normal temper ature environments Temperature extremes can shorten the life of electronic devices 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 occasionally to keep it looking new Do not use harsh chemi cals cleaning solvents or strong detergents to clean it Modifying or tamper...

Page 53: ...5 kHz steps VHF Hi 148 174 MHz in 5 kHz steps UHF T 470 512 MHz in 12 5 kHz steps Channels of Operation 100 Channels in Any Band Combinations 10 channels per bank x 10 banks Sensitivity 20 dB S N 0 7 mV Selectivity 10 kHz 6 dB 18 kHz 50 dB Spurious Rejection 30 54 MHz 50 dB at 40 MHz 108 136 975 MHz 50 dB at 124 MHz 137 174 MHz 50 dB at 154 MHz 380 512 MHz 40 dB at 450 MHz Scanning Rate Up to 25 c...

Page 54: ... Audio Output Power 10 THD 240 mW Nominal Power Requirements 9 VDC 6 AA alkaline batteries 6 AA rechargeable nickel cadmium batteries AC adapter Cat No 273 1665 or DC cigarette lighter adapter Cat No 270 1560 Current Drain Squelched 65 mA Dimensions 57 8 21 2 13 4 Inches HWD 149 64 45 mm Weight 8 8 Oz 250 g Specifications are typical individual units might vary Specifica tions are subject to chang...

Page 55: ...55 NOTES U S PATENT NOS 3 794 925 3 801 914 3 961 261 3 962 644 4 027 251 4 092 594 4 123 715 4 245 348 20 561 fm Page 55 Wednesday August 4 1999 3 48 PM ...

Page 56: ...ack store Warranty does not cover transportation costs Nor does it cover a product subjected to misuse or accidental damage EXCEPT AS PROVIDED HEREIN RADIO SHACK MAKES NO EXPRESS WARRANTIES AND ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES ARE LIMITED IN DURATION TO THE DURATION OF THE WRIT TEN LIMITED WARRANTIES CONTAINED HEREIN Some states do not permit limitation or exclusion of implied warranties there fore the afor...

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