AOR AR1000 User Guide

Guide to the AR1000

AOR

AR 1000

SCAN

DELAY

BANK

AUX

311.000 MHz

435 CH

WIDE RANGE MONITOR

LIGHT

PROG

LIMIT

AUX

INC

BANK

WFM

•

LOCKOUT DELAY

HOLD

CLEAR

ENT

SEARCH	SCAN
	MANUAL	KEYLOCK

Operations

Applications

Accessories

Reference

Howard Bornstein

Guide to the AR1000

A comprehensive guide to the AR1000 family of Wide Range Monitors.

Covers all models of the AR1000, plus the AR2000, the Fairmate HP100, HP200, HP2000, the Camnis HSC-010, and the Trident TR1000 and TR1200XLT.

Includes detailed sections on operations, applications, accessories and reference.

Howard Bornstein

Design EQ Press

P.O. Box 1144

Woodstock, NY 12498

Guide to the AR1000 PDF Edition 1.0.

This PDF version of the Guide to the AR1000 is made available for free download from www.designeq.com. Design EQ retains all distribution rights for this document and it may not be distributed in any collection of software, in printed form, or from any other source than the Design EQ website.

No part of this manual may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author.

Layout, design, and art by Howard Bornstein.

Disclaimer

There are many controversial legal issues revolving around scanning and communications monitoring, and there are varied and conflicting laws concerning the reception of different types of radio communications. In England, for example, it is illegal to monitor police communications while in the United States it is not. In the United States, it is illegal to monitor cellular phone conversations, while in Canada it is legal. In some states it is illegal to use a scanner in a car while in other states it is not. While we believe the airwaves belong to the public, we urge you to be aware of the laws in your community and to use your scanner responsibly. None of the examples or suggestions cited in this guide should be construed as recommendations to break the law.

Acknowledgements

This guide would not have been possible without the selfless help and support of the really great crew on CompuServe’s HAMNET—a scanning and shortwave special interest group. The conversations on HAMNET are full of interesting facts, vibrant opinions, and hilarious banter.

I especially want to thank my beta testers: Eldor Gemst, Jeff Goldman, Joe Laakso, Paul Miyashiro, Jason Reimer, Michael Schuster, and Bill Steinberg. They reviewed the manuscript and offered endless suggestions and corrections, as well as techniques and insights about the AR1000. While their help was invaluable, I must take responsibility for any errors in this guide.

Contents

Acknowledgements 4

Introduction 8

How this guide is organized 10

Operations 12

Introduction 13 Scanning 14

What you cannot pickup 14 The scan banks 14 Selecting a scan channel 15

Programming a scan channel 16 Entering sequential frequencies 17 Locking a scan channel 18 Caution using Lockout 18 Clearing a scan channel 19

Marking a sequential group of channels as “available” 19 Copying a frequency from one channel to another 20 Selecting and locking scan banks 20

Unlocking a scan bank 21

The difference between locking a channel and locking a bank 22 Limiting scan banks 22

Removing scan bank limits 23 Using Delay/Hold 24

Searching 25

Setting up search banks 25 Examining search bank parameters 26

Locking out frequencies within a search bank 27 Caution using Lockout 27

Locking out search banks 28 Unlocking a search bank 29

Unlocking a search bank where previous bank has locked frequencies 30 Limiting search banks 31

Removing search bank limits 32 Holding a frequency during a search 32

Copying a frequency to a scan channel 32 Using Delay/Hold 33

Manual Mode 33

Applications 34

Introduction 35

Quickly setting the starting scan or search bank 36

Finding a hidden frequency in a range 37

Setting up car radio-like buttons on the AR1000 38

Setting up radio buttons in Search mode 38

Setting up radio buttons in Scan mode 38

Switching between two frequencies 40

Using the Priority channel to switch between two channels 40 Using two adjacent channels 40

Copying a group of frequencies 41 Stepping through the scan banks 42

How to make the AR1000 come up in the mode you want 43 Listening to the AR1000 in your car 44

Optimizing scan and search banks 45 Scan banks 45

Search banks 45

Example bank allocations 47

Accessories 48

Introduction 49

The power supply 50

Nicads 50

Using the supplied charger 50 Using the supplied cigarette plug 50 Using other chargers 51

The strap/belt clip 52 Antennas 53

Rubber duckies 53 Shortwave antennas 53

Making a simple MW/SW antenna 53 Discone antennas 53

Other ways to customize the AR1000 55

Marking the squelch knob 55

Marking inside of battery compartment 55 Removing the plastic window in the carrying case 55 Extending the frequency coverage 56

Adjusting a unit that is off frequency 58

Reference 60

Introduction 61

The Display 62

MANUAL/SCAN/SEARCH 62

Frequency 63

Mode (AM/FM/WFM) 63

BANK/CH 64

BATT 64

DELAY/HOLD 65

Up/Down Arrows 65

L.OUT 65

With scan channels and banks 65

With search banks 66

AUX 66

PROG 67

LIMIT 67

KHz 68

KEY LOCK 68

FR. ERR 68

The Keyboard 69

LIGHT 69

PROG 70 INC 70 AM/FM 71 W-FM 71 LOCKOUT 71 LIMIT/AUX 72 LIMIT 72

AUX (Priority) 72 BANK 74 DELAY/HOLD 74 SEARCH 75 SCAN 75 MANUAL 76 Down Arrow 76

Using the Down arrow while searching 76 Using the Down arrow while scanning 77 Using the Down arrow in Manual mode 77 KEYLOCK 78

CLEAR 78 ENT 79

Number key pad 79 Key mode chart 80

The Top Controls 81

Power switch/Volume knob 81 Squelch 81

Attenuation button 82 Tuning knob 82

Using the Tuning knob while searching 82 Using the Tuning knob while scanning 83 Using the Tuning knob in Manual mode 83 Earphone jack 84

Antenna jack 84

Appendix 85

Frequency Lists 86

Magazines/Newsletters 88

Equipment Sources 89

Frequency Guides and Books 89

On-Line Services 91

Introduction

Congratulations on purchasing your AR1000 wide range communications monitor. This unit is one of the most powerful scanner/receiver packages available as a handheld unit. It will provide countless hours of enjoyment, performance, and excitement.

One of the things you may have noticed is the lack of complete documentation for your AR1000. This is unfortunate, since the unit is robust in its capabilities and can be complex in its operations. Many users have figured out the operations of this scanner through much trial and error. The purpose of this guide is to keep you from having to spend hours and hours figuring out how to best utilize the AR1000. We have broken down all of the operations into easily-understood steps, described features you may not have been aware of, and have provided “alternate” methods of operation from those given by the factory. We also have an applications section which will help you to utilize the scanner to your best advantage. For users with earlier versions of this scanner, the Accessories section describes a technique that will enable you to extend the coverage of your AR1000.

The AR1000 comes in many variations and is known by a variety of different names and model numbers. In the United States, the unit was originally marketed simply as the AR1000. It’s frequency range covered 8 MHz to 600 MHz and 805 MHz to 1300 MHz. Later units extended the low end frequency range down to 500 KHz. Still later models included the 600-805 MHz gap. These additional models have been variously called the AR1000X, AR1000XC, and AR1000XLT. In the UK, the AR1000XLT is known as the AR2000.

It has been sold under other labels besides AOR. In England and Europe the scanner was originally sold under the Fairmate label as the HP100, HP200, HP200E, HP200 Mk II, and HP2000. It has more recently been sold as the Camnis HSC-010, and as the Trident TR1000XLT and TR1200XLT.

While the AR1000 and its variants are sold by several companies world-wide, the unit is actually designed by Nisei Corporation.

While this plethora of names is confusing, these units are essentially the same, the variations being those described above, relating to frequency range. In addition, some of the English units have their search banks pre-programmed to search standard bands, such as VHF Air, UHF Air, VHF Amateur, VHF Marine, etc., with the names of the pre-programmed bands printed directly on the keyboard.

AOR released a scanner following the AR1000 called the AR1500. It has the features of the AR1000 with the addition of a beat frequency oscillator (BFO) for decoding sideband transmissions, and a search-and-store feature. However, many of the tricks and tips in this book are based on certain “anomolies” in the AR1000’s operations. These “anomolies” were “fixed” in the AR1500 and, thus, many of the methods described in this guide will not work on the AR1500. We, therefore, generally don’t recommend this book to owners of the AR1500 (or the Trident TR1500XLT).

For the sake of simplicity, throughout this guide, the scanner will simply be referred to as the AR1000, except where specifically noted.

Because this is not an official guide produced by the manufacturer, it covers both the good and the bad aspects of the AR1000. The AR1000 has extraordinary capabilities, but it also has many quirks and idiosyncrasies. Its programming method is a bit complicated and some of the information that comes with the unit is incomplete. We’ll show you how to best take advantage of the features of the AR1000 and how to get around the problems you may encounter.

Along with this guide, we have included a handy quick-reference card and a set of templates for recording the frequencies stored in your scan channels and search banks.

Here’s wishing you many happy hours of scanning.

How this guide is organized

The Guide to the AR1000is written for both the beginner and the expert user alike. If you’re new to the AR1000, this guide will get you started and take you quite a ways along the path. If you’re an experienced scanner user, even with the AR1000, you will probably find some new tricks and information within.

The guide is divided into four sections: Operations, Applications, Accessories, and Reference. At the end you’ll find an Appendix containing useful source material. Because each section is meant to stand on its own, there is, by necessity, some redundancy of material.

The Operations section shows you how to perform all the AR1000 basic operations. You’ll learn how to program channels with frequencies, scan and lock banks, and set up search banks so you can search for frequencies within a specific range. This is where to turn to learn how to operate your scanner.

The Applications section provides higher-level tips and shows you how to take advantage of your scanner in special circumstances. You’ll learn tricks for finding hidden frequencies with the search feature, setting up car radio-like buttons for your favorite frequencies, copying groups of frequencies, using the AR1000 in your car, and optimizing the memory space in the scanner.

The Accessories section describes the accessories that come with the AR1000 as well as other readily-available accessories that will enhance your enjoyment of the scanner. We talk about using the power supply and nicad batteries with the AR1000, as well as how to remove the belt clip and shoulder strap hooks. This section also discusses antennas and has a special chapter on customizing the AR1000 that includes instructions for extending the frequency coverage of earlier models.

The Reference section is a complete description of every display indicator, button and control found on the AR1000. It tells you what each button and control does and what each display indicator means.

The Appendix contains resources that you will find useful in expanding your scanner horizons. We include a frequency list of useful frequencies and search ranges and we list frequency guides, scanner-related magazines, and other sources of information of interest to scanner enthusiasts.

We suggest that, rather than just reading about techniques, you actually go through the steps and try each technique on your scanner. While a technique may look confusing on paper, once you perform the operation, it will make much more sense and you will find that it will soon become second nature.

1 Operations

AOR

AR 1000

SCAN

DELAY

BANK

AUX

311.000 MHz

435 CH

WIDE RANGE MONITOR

LIGHT

PROG

LIMIT

AUX

INC

BANK

WFM

•

LOCKOUT DELAY

HOLD

CLEAR

ENT

SEARCH	SCAN
	MANUAL	KEYLOCK

Scanning

Searching

Manual Mode

AR1000 Operations

Introduction

This section will give you simple step-by-step procedures for performing the basic operations with the AR1000. In particular, it will show you how to use the scan and search features of the AR1000.

One thing to mention first, however, is a feature of the AR1000 that operates whenever you try to program a search or scan function. The AR1000 will prompt you for the next key press it expects by flashing an indicator in its LCD display. This “prompt” can be very useful if you forget the next step in an operation. We’ll refer to the AR1000 prompts in the “how-to” parts of this section and in the Reference section.

The AR1000 uses three operational modes: Manual, Scanning, and Search. Many of the operations of Manual mode are contained in the section on Scanning, since you use Manual mode primarily to program channels for scanning. There is also a short review of Manual mode at the end of AR1000 Operations.

Scanning

Although the AR1000 is a wide range receiver, it is primarily designed as a scanner. A scanner lets you plug in a group of frequencies and then it scans these frequencies for activity. If it finds an active channel, it stops, allowing you to monitor the activity. Once the channel becomes inactive, the AR1000 continues scanning. With the AR1000, you can scan up to 1,000 channels at one time, but this would be impractical since it would take quite a long time to scan all 1,000 channels. You want to balance the number of channels scanned with the speed of the scanner. The AR1000 scans at approximately 20 channels per second. Given this scanning speed, you may want to limit the number of channels you scan at any one time. For good success monitoring channels, you usually don’t want to have more than two or three seconds between checking any given channel. This means that you may want to limit the number of channels you scan at any one time to between 40 and 60. This limit is rather arbitrary since it depends on the level of activity of the scanned channels, how often you need to check each channel, and other individual factors. Use it as a guide.

If you’re new to scanning, you may wonder how to determine which frequencies to check. There are many guides of frequencies available for all kinds of activities. The most popular guides cover things like police, fire, emergency medical, marine, air, and military frequencies. The Appendix lists some frequency sources that you may find useful. The AR1000 is also capable of picking up shortwave transmissions from all over the world, when used with an appropriate antenna. Because the AR1000XC (and modified AR1000s) have continuous coverage of .5 MHz to 1300 MHz, there is very little that is not available to you with your scanner and a good antenna.

What you cannot pickup

The things you won’tbe able to pick up with the AR1000 are few. You will not be able to easily decode Single Side Band (SSB) transmissions, because there is no beat frequency oscillator (BFO) included with the AR1000. For the same reason, it will be difficult to pick up Continuous Wave (CW or Morse code) transmissions. In addition, you will not be able to decode any digital or otherwise encrypted transmissions. Finally, since the AR1000 is a voice monitor, you won’t be able to receive or decode RTTY, FAX, or satellite data transmissions. These limitations are trivial considering the vast range of transmissions you can receive.

The scan banks

The AR1000 comes with ten scan banks that hold 100 channels each. You can selectively turn on or off any or all of these ten scan banks. This means that, at the bank level, the smallest unit of selection is a group of 100 channels. This is a rather cumbersome chunk to deal with. If you want to put your local police

AR1000 Operations

To select an individual scan channel

department frequencies in one scan bank, you may only fill up six or eight channels. What do you do with the other 92 channels that are left over?

There are some ways to optimize the usage of this memory structure, although the real answer is that it is simply an inefficient layout and we, the users, have to work around it. We’ll address this issue again in the Applications section.

The AR1000 uses a somewhat confusing idea of banks and channels. It has ten banks with 100 channels per bank. You select an individual channel by pressing a bank number (0-9) and then a two-digit channel number (00-99). However, you only need to be concerned about “banks” when you want to deal with the channels as a group. When choosing an individual channel number, you don’t really have to be concerned with the idea of banks at all. A simpler way to think about it is that you simply select a three-digit channel number (000-999). Unfortunately, the button you use to select a channel is called the BANK button. Oh, well. Welcome to the first of many idiosyncrasies with the AR1000.

Selecting a scan channel

There are several ways to select and move from channel to channel. The most direct method is to enter the channel number from the keyboard. You use the BANK key to do this.

•Press MANUAL if not in Manual mode.

•Press BANK.

Bank flashes in the display.

• Enter a three-digit channel number.

When you enter the third digit, the channel is selected and its frequency is displayed. You must always enter three digits. So, to select channel 47, you must enter 047.

Example:

BANK 1 6 8

This selects channel 168 and shows you its frequency and mode.

You can also step sequentially forward from the current scan channel by pressing the MANUAL key. Each time you press it, you advance one channel, as long as that channel has a frequency in it (even if the channel is locked). If the channel is cleared, you will skip over that channel and any other cleared channels until you arrive at the next channel that contains a frequency. See page 19 for more information about cleared channels.

When you reach the end of one bank, the scanner moves to the first channel of the next bank. For example, when you are at channel 099 (the last channel in

bank 0) and press MANUAL, you will go to channel 100 (the first channel in
bank 1). This continues through all ten scan banks. When you reach channel
999, you will start over with channel 000.	15

Scanning

To enter a frequency into a scan channel

Use MANUAL to step through a scan bank to view the frequencies that have been entered into that bank. This is also a good way to determine which channels you have locked (see page 18 for details on locking out scan channels).

Note:

You cannot step backward through the scan channels with the MANUAL button, but there is a way to do something similar with the Tuning knob. See the Applications section for details.

Programming a scan channel

To program a scan channel to hold a specific frequency there are two methods you can use.

The Factory method:

•Press MANUAL.

•Select a mode (AM, FM, WFM).

(Note: Pressing the AM/FM key will toggle between these modes while pressing the WFM key will toggle between WFM (Wide FM) and FM).

• Enter a frequency from numeric keypad.

Use the CLEAR key if you make a mistake. Then start over by entering the frequency again.

•Press ENT.

•Press PROG.

•Press BANK.

•Enter a three-digit channel number.

We recommend, instead:

•Press MANUAL if not in Manual mode.

•Press BANK.

•Enter the three-digit channel number.

MHZ will flash in the display.

• Enter the frequency from the keypad, using the decimal point where appropriate.

Use the CLEAR key if you make a mistake. Then start over by entering the frequency again.

•Press the ENT key.

•Press one of the mode keys (AM, FM, or WFM).

(Note: Pressing the AM/FM key will toggle between these modes while pressing the WFM key will toggle between WFM (Wide FM) and FM).

If the mode you want is the mode that is already selected, toggle the mode (press the button twice). For example, if you want FM mode and FM is currently displayed, press the AM/FM key twice. This will switch the display to AM and then back to FM. The reason for doing this is when you changethe mode, this acts as a termination to your operation and stores the frequency into the channel.

AR1000 Operations

To enter sequential frequencies

If you don’t do this, even though it looks like you have entered the frequency into the channel, the next time you look at this channel, it will contain the frequency that was previously in it. While this may seem cumbersome, in actual practice this is a quite easy operation.

Entering sequential frequencies

If you are going to enter frequencies into a series of sequential channels, after entering the first channel, simply press MANUAL to step to the next channel and start again by entering in the new frequency.

In this case the repeating sequence will be:

•Enter frequency

•Press ENT

•Toggle a mode key

•Press MANUAL

Discussion

We recommend using our method for the following reasons:

♦ It is more consistent to start out indicating the channel you want to deal with rather than the frequency.

Using the factory method, you start entering a new frequency over an existing frequency in a channel different than the one you want to finally use. This is very confusing. Further, if you make a mistake, you may end up reprogramming the channel you are on rather than the channel you desire.

In addition, using our method, you’ll find that it will add consistency to many AR1000 operations. You will almost always first specify the channel you are interested in and second, act on it (i.e. change the frequency). By first going to the channel, you can see what is in it before you overwrite it. Using the factory method, when you press PROG, BANK, and the channel number, the frequency that is currently in the display overwrites whatever is in the channel number without letting you see it first.

♦ It is easier and more intuitive when entering frequencies in sequential channels.

Once you set yourself up at the first of the sequential channels, you just follow these steps: frequency, ENT, mode key (twice if needed), MANUAL. It becomes very quick and intuitive to program a group of sequential channels.

Scanning

To change a frequency in a scan channel

To lock a scan channel

To remove the lock on a channel

♦ This is similar to the method used by other scanners.

If you also use or have used a Uniden Bearcat or Radio Shack scanner, you will find this method familiar and comfortable.

•Press MANUAL if not in Manual mode.

•Press BANK.

•Enter the three-digit channel number.

MHz will flash in the display.

• Enter the new frequency from the numeric keypad.

Use the CLEAR key if you make a mistake. Then start over by entering the frequency again.

•Press ENT.

•Press or toggle a mode key (AM, FM, WFM).

This will overwrite the current frequency in the channel. A more general way to explain this is that you can enter a new frequency when you are at any channel and make it permanent by toggling a mode key. This fact also means that you can “try out” frequencies in channels with existing frequencies in them. Plug in the new frequency and listen. As long as you don’t toggle a mode key, the old frequency will remain stored in the channel.

Locking a scan channel

You can temporarily lock a channel so that it is skipped during scanning. It’s frequency remains programmed into the channel, but the channel is not looked at during scanning.

•Press MANUAL if not in Manual mode.

•Press BANK.

•Enter the three-digit channel number.

•Press LOCKOUT.

L.OUT will flash in the display, indicating that the channel is now locked.

•Press MANUAL if not in Manual mode.

•Press BANK.

•Enter the three-digit channel number.

L.OUT will flash in the display, indicating that the channel is locked.

• Press LOCKOUT.

L.OUT disappears from the display.

Caution using Lockout

With the AR1000, the LOCKOUT key is always active. If you are scanning and press LOCKOUT by accident, the channel that you happen to be scanning when you press the key will be locked, even if the scanner has not stopped on that channel. You will probably not even notice that you have locked the channel.

AR1000 Operations

Therefore, it is a good idea to periodically go through your scan banks, using the MANUAL key, to review the status of your channels. If the L.OUT indicator is flashing while looking at any channel, that channel has been locked.

Clearing a scan channel

You may have noticed when you received your AR1000 that not every channel had something in it. Often the first ten or so channels of each bank come programmed with some test frequencies that are used during final testing at the factory. Many of the other channels are empty. There is a difference between a locked channel and cleared channel.

You can directly clear a channel by going to the channel and pressing CLEAR, ENT, and a mode key. A cleared channel will contain nothing in it (only the decimal point is displayed). When you press the MANUAL key to sequentially move through the channels, the AR1000 will skip overa cleared channel. In other words, if channels 127 through 134 are cleared and you start on channel 125, when you press MANUAL the first time, you will move to channel 126. The next time you press MANUAL, you will move immediately to channel 135. The only way to get to a cleared channel is with the BANK key.

If, on the other hand, channels 127 through 134 have frequencies programmed in them but are locked, each time you press MANUAL, you will move to each channel within the range 127 through 134. In both cases, while scanning, these channels will be skipped.

While it would be nice to take advantage of cleared channels, users have reported that if they clear out enough channels, the AR1000 will lock up completely, requiring a processor reset. This usually involves a trip to the factory, although we provide instructions for resetting and reprogramming the processor in this guide.

Because of this nasty tendency, we recommend that you do not clear channels in the AR1000. Instead, use a “placeholder” frequency to mark the channel as “available.” A frequency like 10 MHz works well as a placeholder.

Marking a sequential group of channels as “available”

If your scanner contains many no-longer-used channels or for some reason you want to get rid of a group of existing frequencies, the following technique will be helpful. You may wonder why you might want to get rid of existing frequencies when you can just lock them out. With so many channels to keep track of, it is sometimes easier to plug in a placeholder frequency. For example, let’s say you

Scanning

To “mark” a sequential group of channels

To copy a frequency from one channel to another

To lock a scan bank

were interested in monitoring the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). You might plug in 20 frequencies in your scanner to monitor them. At some point you decide you are no longer interested in them. If you leave the frequencies in the scanner, even if locked out, when you go searching around for “available” channels to plug something else in, you may not remember what these frequencies were for and whether or not you wanted to keep them. If, instead, they were filled with a “placeholder” frequency, like 10.000 MHz (or whatever you choose), you will immediately be able to recognize that these channels are available.

•Enter your placeholder value in the first channel of the sequential group.

•Lock the channel by pressing LOCKOUT.

•Press PROG.

•Enter the next three-digit channel number in the sequence.

The placeholder value will automatically be copied to this channel.

Continue with the last two steps, incrementing the channel number each time. Both the placeholder frequency and the Lockout status will be copied into each channel.

Copying a frequency from one channel to another

You may want to copy a frequency from one channel to another.

Assuming that you are in a channel that has the desired frequency,

•Press PROG.

•Enter a three-digit channel number.

This is the destination channel that will receive the frequency. Both the frequency and the transmission mode will be copied to the destination channel.

This method works well for copying a single channel. To copy a group of channels to another area in the scanner, see page 41 in the Applications section.

Selecting and locking scan banks

Because you will probably organize your scan banks according to related groups of frequencies, it is useful to be able to selectively turn banks on and off for scanning.

To lock a scan bank you must first be in the bank you wish to lock.

•Press MANUAL if not in Manual mode.

•Press BANK.

•Enter a three-digit channel number that will put you in the bank you wish to lock.

This gets you to the bank you wish to lock. You can lock a bank from any channel in that bank. To lock bank 2, go to any channel from 200 to 299.

AR1000 Operations

To unlock a scan bank

•Press BANK.

•Press LOCKOUT.

Bank and L.OUT will flash in the display. This tells you that the current bank is locked.

Note:

There is one exception to this method of locking out a bank. If the channel you choose within the bank is, itself, individually locked, you will not be able to lock the entire bank. You must first unlock that channel (by pressing LOCKOUT) and then press BANK, LOCKOUT, or go to another channel in the bank that isn’t locked and press BANK, LOCKOUT.

Shortcut:

If you are scanning several banks at a time, you can quickly force the AR1000 to start scanning at the beginning of any bank by pressing the bank number on the keyboard. For example, if you have enabled banks 3, 5, 7, and 8 for scanning, and if each bank has all of its channels filled with frequencies, during normal scanning the AR1000 will start scanning with channel 300, move sequentially up to channel 399, then scan channel 500, scan sequentially through 599, and so on. By watching the display you can determine which channel (and thus which bank) is being scanned. If you see that you are currently scanning bank 3 (the channels being scanned are in the 300s), you can force the scanner to immediately begin scanning from the beginning of bank 7 simply by pressing the 7 on the keyboard. The scanner will jump to channel 700 and start scanning from there.

You can use this shortcut with the bank lockout feature by jumping to the bank you want to lockout, while in scan mode. Once you are in the bank you want to lock, press BANK (this will cause the scanning to stop) and LOCKOUT. This eliminates the need to switch to Manual mode and then press BANK and a three-digit bank number before you perform the lockout sequence.

Unlocking a scan bank

To unlocka scan bank you do have to be in Manual mode at a channel within that bank. If you are scanning, you must first switch to Manual mode and then choose any channel within the bank.

•Press MANUAL if not in Manual mode.

•Press BANK.

•Enter a three-digit channel number that will put you in the bank you wish to

unlock.

You can unlock a bank from any channel in that bank. To unlock bank 2, go to any channel from 200 to 299. Bank and L.OUT will flash in the display. This tells you that the current bank is locked.

• Press LOCKOUT.

Bank and L.OUT will stop flashing. The bank is now unlocked.

Scanning

To limit scan banks

Note:

If the channel you choose when you unlock a bank is, itself, individually locked, pressing LOCKOUT will still unlock the bank. In this case, however, the L.OUT indicator in the display will continue to flash, telling you that this channelis still locked. If you press LOCKOUT again, you will then unlock the individual channel.

The difference between locking a channel and locking a bank

When you lock an individual channel, that channel, and any others that are locked, will be skipped when the bank they are in is scanned. For example, if you lock channels 102, 105, and 167, when you scan bank 1, these three channels will be skipped, while all the other entered channels in bank 1 will be scanned.

When you lock a bank, the entire bank (i.e. every channel in it) is skipped. There is an easy way to distinguish when a channel is locked and when an entire bank is locked. If a channel is locked, when you go to that channel, the L.OUT indicator in the display will flash. When an entire bank is locked, if you go to any channel in that bank, both the L.OUT and the BANK indicators in the display flash.

Because of this, you won’t be able to tell, just from the display, if a channel in a locked bank is also locked. However, after unlocking the bank, if L.OUT continues to flash, then the channel is also locked.

Limiting scan banks

There is a method of limiting the banks that are scanned with the AR1000, but under normal circumstances, we do not recommended using it. The limited banks must be sequential, and, more seriously, once you limit a set of banks, you will not be able to access channels outside these banks in any mode, even in Manual mode.

The method is as follows:

•Press SCAN.

•Press BANK.

PROG flashes in the display.

• Press PROG.

BANK flashes in the display.

•Press the number of the lower scan bank limit.

BANK and LIMIT flash in the display.

•Press LIMIT.

BANK flashes in the display.

• Press the number of the upper scan bank limit.

BANK flashes in the display. If you want to limit scanning and all access to only one bank, make the lower and upper limit the same number.

• Press ENT.

AR1000 Operations

To remove scan bank limits

For example, to restrict access to only banks 4, 5, and 6, follow this sequence:

SCAN, BANK, PROG, 4, LIMIT, 6, ENT.

Once you do this you will only be able to scan, view, or modify channels 400 through 699. All other channels will be unavailable. The one exception to this is if the Priority channel is in a bank that is not within the bank limits, when you press AUX, you will still switch to that channel if there is activity on it (see page 72 for more information on the Priority channel).

There may be some circumstances where this method of bank limiting is preferred. For example, if you routinely want to enable three or four contiguous scan banks, this method may be quicker than locking out the rest of the banks individually. Another reason you may want to use bank limiting is if you have sensitive frequencies in banks that you don’t want anyone to get access to. Bank limiting will add a layer of protection. Unless someone is very familiar with the operations of the AR1000, they won’t be able to display or change any of the frequencies outside the limited banks.

If you find yourself unable to access a particular channel, you may have unintentionally limited your scan banks. For example, if you try to access channel 450 by pressing BANK, 450, but the display shows channel 700, you may have limited (by accident) the scanner to only using banks 7 to 10. In a case like this, you will want to remove all bank limits.

•Press SCAN.

•Press BANK.

PROG flashes in the display.

• Press PROG.

BANK flashes in the display.

• Press 0.

BANK and LIMIT flash in the display.

• Press LIMIT.

BANK flashes in the display.

• Press 9.

BANK flashes in the display.

• Press ENT.

In general, however, we recommend you lock, not limit, individual banks. This gives you individual access to any bank, in any order. When you lock individual scan banks, you may still manually view and monitor channels in a locked bank.

Scanning

Using Delay/Hold

When the AR1000 stops on an active channel while scanning, it pauses for two or three seconds after a transmission ends before it continues scanning. This is to provide time to hear a response before it resumes scanning.

You may alternately instruct the AR1000 to permanently stop scanning instead of pausing as soon as it hears a transmission. You do this by toggling the Delay and Hold modes. Delay waits a few seconds and then starts scanning while Hold stops on a transmission and won’t resume until you manually press SCAN again.

You can tell which mode you are in by looking at the display. It will indicate either Delay or Hold. This mode applies to all channels in the scanner. You can’t set Delay or Hold independently for separate channels.

Unfortunately, you can not defeat the delay feature of the AR1000. This becomes a problem if you are trying to monitor trunked systems, because in a trunked system, the response may come on a channel that is different from that of the original transmission. On a trunked system you want the scanner to immediately resume scanning after a transmission ends. Since the AR1000 is waiting to hear the response on the same channel, you may miss the response on a different channel by the time the scanner starts scanning again. There is currently no way around this problem and the AR1000 may not be able to meet your needs for monitoring trunked systems.

The AR1000 always defaults to Delay mode after powerup.

Note:

When you have enabled Priority mode (AUX is in the display), the scanner will no longer hold, even if HOLD is selected. After stopping on an active channel, the scanner will resume scanning after the usual two to three second delay. This is a bug in the AR1000.

AR1000 Operations

To set up a search bank

Searching

While you may obtain many of the frequencies you’ll scan from frequency guides or from other scanner enthusiasts, one of the most interesting and exciting aspects of scanning is to discover these transmissions and frequencies on your own. This is done by searching through specific frequency bands. The AR1000 will let you specify a lower and upper frequency limit, a step increment, and a transmission mode, and then will search through the frequencies, using these limits, for any activity. Once you find an active frequency that you are interested in, you can easily copy it to a scan channel.

Where should you look, in the vast electromagnetic spectrum for a frequency you are interested in? Fortunately, most kinds of communications activity are grouped in frequency bands, so if you search the appropriate band, you will have a good chance of finding what you are looking for. Check the Applications section of this guide for more specific tips on how to search for frequencies.

Setting up search banks

There are ten individual search banks in the AR1000. Each bank holds a set of limits, a step increment, and a transmission mode. These banks come in very handy if there are several parts of the radio spectrum that you regularly search through. Just select a search bank you have previously set up and start searching.

Normally, when you press the SEARCH button, the AR1000 will start searching through the range specified in bank 0 and when it hits the upper limit of the range, it will then start with the range specified in bank 1. It will continue in this manner until it hits the upper limit of bank 9 and then start over with the range specified in bank 0 again. As with the scan banks, you can lock and limit the search banks that you use. Working with search banks, however, is a bit more complicated than working with scan banks.

• Press SEARCH.

SEARCH will appear in the display. You can’t set up a search bank while in Scan or Manual mode. You must be in Search mode.

• Press PROG.

PROG will appear in the display. MHz will flash in the display.

• Enter the lower frequency limit.

LIMIT will flash in the display. Use the CLEAR key if you make a mistake.

• Press LIMIT.

MHz will flash in the display.

•Enter the upper frequency limit.

•Press ENT.

KHz will flash in the display.

•Enter the step increment.

•Press ENT.

The current mode will flash in the display (AM, FM, WFM).

Searching

To see the lower search limit

To see the upper search limit

•Press the mode keys until the mode you want is selected.

If the mode you want is already selected, just go on to the next step.

•Press ENT.

BANK will flash in the display.

•Enter the bank number you want to set (0-9).

•Press ENT.

The bank is now set up with the limits you have entered. Any previous parameters that were set up in that search bank will be overwritten by the information you just entered.

Note:

You can change a couple of the parameters in a search bank without reprogramming the entire bank. You can change the mode that your search bank uses at any time. If, for example, you are searching the range 230 to 240 MHz in AM mode and want to see if there is any activity in FM mode, just press the FM mode key. The mode will switch and be recorded into the search bank parameters.

You can also change the increment value without affecting any of the other parameters. While searching, press INC, a new increment value, ENT, SEARCH. You will begin searching with the new increment value and it will be permanently recorded into the search bank parameters.

Examining search bank parameters

Once you’ve set up your search banks, you can later examine the search bank parameters. These techniques are for examining unlockedsearch banks.

•Open squelch so you can hear the hiss.

•Press SEARCH

•Press the number of the search bank to go to it.

For example, press 6 to go to the beginning of search bank 6.

The scanner will stop at the first frequency of the search bank because of the open squelch. This is the lower frequency limit. You may want to turn down the volume to eliminate the hiss.

•Open the squelch so you can hear the hiss.

•Press SEARCH

•Press the number of the next higher unlocked search bank.

•Turn the Tuning knob one click counter-clockwise.

Example:

Search banks 1, 2, and 5 are unlocked. To see the upper limit of search bank 2, open the squelch, press SEARCH, press 5, and rotate the knob a click to the left.

AR1000 Operations

To see the search increment

To see the search mode

To lock a frequency

To unlock or view a locked frequency

•Close the squelch so the scanner starts searching.

•Turn the tuning knob one click in either direction.

The scanner will stop searching but stay in search mode. Turn the knob again one click. Each time you click the tuning knob you will increment or decrement the displayed frequency by the increment value. You can determine the increment value by watching the frequency change.

You can also determine the mode of the current search bank by simply looking at the mode indicator in the display.

Locking out frequencies within a search bank

One of the unique features of the AR1000 is the ability to lock individual frequencies in a search range. Sometimes the scanner will stop on a frequency or a group of sequential frequencies during a search, but these frequencies have no useful activity. You may hear static, data transmissions, or no sound at all. It makes the search feature much less powerful if the scanner stops on frequencies that have no useful activity. With the search frequency lockout feature, you simply lock out any unwanted frequencies during a search and the scanner ignores them.

You can lock 100 frequencies per search bank in the AR1000. When you lock the 101st frequency, it unlocks the first frequency you locked in that bank.

• When the scanner stops on a frequency that you want to lock, press LOCKOUT.

The frequency will be locked and the scanner will continue searching.

Caution using Lockout

When you are searching, the LOCKOUT key is always active. If you press LOCKOUT by accident, the frequency that you happen to be on when you press the key will be locked, even if the scanner has not stopped on that channel. You will probably not even notice that you have locked the frequency. Therefore, it is a good idea to periodically go through your search banks, using the method below, to see if you have inadvertently locked any frequencies you didn’t intend to lock.

•Press BANK.

•Press PROG.

•Press LOCKOUT.

If you are not in the search bank with the frequencies you want to unlock, press ENT. Continue pressing ENT until you enter the search bank you want.

Searching

When you enter that search bank (you’ll see the bank number below the BANK indicator), the first frequency you’ll see will be the first locked frequency. If you want to unlock it, press LOCKOUT. If you want to leave it locked, press ENT. In either case, you’ll be shown the next locked frequency. Continue this process until you have viewed or unlocked all the locked frequencies in this bank. You can continue this process for all the locked banks in the scanner if you wish. When all locked frequencies are unlocked, the scanner will resume searching.

Example:

Assume you have four frequencies locked in search bank 0: 154.25, 154.75, 155.825, and 158.5, and you want to unlock all but the last.

Press:

BANK

PROG

LOCKOUT

The scanner shows 154.25—the first locked frequency.

To unlock it, press LOCKOUT.

The scanner then displays 154.75.

Press LOCKOUT to unlock it.

The scanner now displays 155.825.

Press LOCKOUT once again to unlock this frequency.

The scanner displays the final locked frequency: 158.5.

Press ENT to keep it locked.

If you have quite a few frequencies locked within a search bank, a much quicker way to unlock them is to simply reprogram the old search bank parameters again. By entering the same lower and upper limits, you’ll start all over using the same search range, but with no locked frequencies.

Locking search banks

As with scan banks, you can lock an entire search bank. You can also limit search banks, which has a different effect than locking them out.

There are advantages and disadvantages to these two methods of managing search banks. Fortunately, you can use them together very effectively. You may want to use bank limiting to limit the range of search banks as an organizational tool.

Then you can still lock individual banks within the limited range for even more control.

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