Radio Shack 20-405 User Manual
20-405 / PRO-405
User’s Guide
Desktop Radio Scanner
Thank you for purchasing your Desktop
Radio Scanner from RadioShack. Please
read this user’s guide before installing,
setting up, and using your new scanner
2
Contents
Contents
Package Contents .............................................................................................. 4
Features ..............................................................................................................4
Understanding Your Scanner .........................................................................................6
Channel Storage Banks
.............................................................................................6
Service Banks ............................................................................................................ 6
Preprogrammed Service Bank Frequencies ..................................................................7
Marine ....................................................................................................................... 7
Fire/Police ................................................................................................................. 8
Aircraft ......................................................................................................................9
Ham Amateur Radio .................................................................................................. 9
FM Broadcast ............................................................................................................9
Weather Channels ..................................................................................................... 9
Understanding the Keypad ......................................................................................... 10
Understanding the Display .......................................................................................... 12
Additional Display Messages .................................................................................. 13
Sub Bank Messages ................................................................................................ 13
Setup ................................................................................................................14
Powering Your Scanner ............................................................................................... 14
AC Power ................................................................................................................ 14
Vehicle Power .......................................................................................................... 14
Connecting the Antenna ............................................................................................. 15
Connecting an Outdoor Antenna ........................................................................... 15
Connecting Headphones ............................................................................................15
Connecting an Extension Speaker .......................................................................... 15
Basic Operation ................................................................................................ 16
Turning on the Scanner and Setting Squelch .............................................................. 16
Programming Known Frequencies into Channels ....................................................... 16
Searching for Active Frequencies ................................................................................ 17
Tune Search ............................................................................................................. 17
Service Bank Search ................................................................................................ 17
Storing Found Frequencies into Channels .................................................................. 18
Scanning the Stored Channels .................................................................................... 18
Turning Channel-Storage Banks On and Off ..........................................................19
Monitoring a Stored Channel ...................................................................................... 19
Clearing a Stored Channel ...................................................................................... 19
Listening to the Marine Bank ...................................................................................... 20
Weather Features .............................................................................................20
Listening to a Weather Channel .................................................................................. 20
Weather Alerts............................................................................................................. 21
Receiving All Weather Alerts .................................................................................. 21
3
Contents
Receiving Alerts for Specific Areas ......................................................................... 21
Testing the Weather Alert and Beep Tone
.............................................................. 22
Skywarn
................................................................................................................... 22
Setting Delay ............................................................................................................... 23
Locking Out Channels and Frequencies .....................................................................23
Reviewing and Removing Lock-outs
.......................................................................24
Using Priority ............................................................................................................... 25
Turning the Key Tone On and Off ............................................................................... 25
Advanced Operation ........................................................................................ 25
Cloning the Programmed Data ................................................................................... 25
Programming with a Personal Computer .................................................................... 26
Initializing the Scanner ................................................................................................26
Preprogrammed Frequencies ......................................................................................26
Preprogrammed Frequency Banks .............................................................................. 27
Additional Information .....................................................................................31
Troubleshooting .......................................................................................................... 31
Birdie Frequencies ....................................................................................................... 31
Scanning Legally .......................................................................................................... 32
Care ............................................................................................................................. 32
Specifications............................................................................................................... 32
Service and Repair ....................................................................................................... 34
FCC Notice .................................................................................................................. 34
Limited Warranty ......................................................................................................... 34
4
Features
Package Contents
• Scanner
• Antenna
• AC Adapter
• User’s Guide
• Quick Start Guide
Features
Your new PRO-405 Desktop Scanner lets you scan conventional transmissions
and is preprogrammed with search banks of the most common frequencies
used by public service agencies. Service Banks are accessed by pressing a onetouch search key—no complicated programming required.
Your new scanner gives you direct access to over 26,000 frequencies, including
those used by police and fire departments, FM broadcast, ambulance services,
aircraft, and amateur radio services.
Your PRO-405 scanner also has these special features:
Service Banks –
easily locate types of calls by searching preprogrammed
frequencies in separate marine, fire/police, aircraft, ham, FM broadcast, and
weather banks.
Display Backlight – makes the display easy to read in low-light situations.
Lock-out Function – skip over specified channels or frequencies when
scanning or searching.
Ten Channel-Storage Banks – group and store 20 channels in each bank (200
total channels).
Tune – tune to new and unlisted frequencies starting from a specified
frequency.
SAME/FIPS Weather Alert –
displays the weather event and sounds an alert
for the specific cities or counties you choose.
Memory Backup – frequencies remain stored in memory for an extended time
even without power.
Scan Delay – delays scanning for two seconds before moving to another
channel in order to hear replies.
Priority Channel – set the scanner to check one channel every two seconds
while scanning.
5
Features
Data Cloning – transfer the programmed data to another PRO-405 scanner.
Real-time Signal Strength Indicator – shows relative strength of received
signals.
Liquid-Crystal Display (LCD) –
easy to view and change programming
information.
Telescopic Antenna –
provides good reception of strong local signals. You can
also connect an external antenna for improved reception of distant or weak
signals.
Your PRO-405 scanner can receive these bands:
Frequency Range Types of Transmissions
29–54 MHz 10-Meter Ham, VHF Lo, 6-Meter Ham
87.3–107.9 MHz FM Broadcast
108–136.99166 MHz Aircraft
137–174 MHz Military Land Mobile, 2-Meter Ham, VHF Hi
380–512 MHz UHF Aircraft, Federal Government, 70-cm Ham, UHF
Standard, UHF “T”
n Note: See “Specifications” on page 32 for more information about frequency
steps.
6
Features
Understanding Your Scanner
Once you understand a few simple terms used in this manual and familiarize
yourself with your scanner’s features, you can put the scanner to work for you.
Simply determine the type of communications you want to receive, then set the
scanner to scan them.
A frequency is the receiving signal location (expressed in kHz or MHz). To find
active frequencies, use the search function or consult an online resource such
as www.radioreference.com.
When you find a frequency, you can store it into a programmable memory
location called a channel, which is grouped with 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, it stays on that channel until the transmission ends.
Channel Storage Banks
To make it easier to identify and select the channels you want to listen to, your
scanner divides the channels into 10 banks (1 to 10) with 20 channels each,
for a total of 200 channels. You can use each channel-storage bank to group
frequencies, such as those used by the police department, fire department,
ambulance services, or aircraft.
For example, you could program the frequencies used by your local police
department starting with Channel 1 (the first channel in bank 1) and program
the fire department frequencies starting with Channel 21 (the first channel in
bank 2).
Service Banks
The scanner is preprogrammed with the frequencies allocated to marine, fire/
police, aircraft, ham radio, FM broadcast and weather services. This is handy for
quickly finding active frequencies instead of searching through an entire bank
(see “Service Bank Search” on page 17).
7
Features
Preprogrammed Service Bank Frequencies
Marine
Channel Frequency (MHz) Channel Frequency (MHz)
01 156.0500 63 156.1750
05 156.2500 64
156.2250 / 160.8250
06 156.3000 65 156.2750
07 156.3500 66 156.3250
08 156.4000 67 156.3750
09 156.4500 68 156.4250
10 156.5000 69 156.4750
11 156.5500 70 156.5250
12 156.6000 71 156.5750
13 156.6500 72 156.6250
14 156.7000 73 156.6750
15 156.7500 74 156.7250
16 156.8000 77 156.8750
17 156.8500 78 156.9250
18 156.9000 79 156.9750
19 156.9500 80 157.0250
20
157.0000 / 161.6000 81 157.0750
21 157.0500 82 157.1250
22 157.1000 83 157.1750
23 157.1500 84
157.2250 / 161.8250
24 157.2000 / 161.8000 85 157.2750 / 161.8750
25 157.2500 / 161.8500 86 157.3250 / 161.9250
26 157.3000 / 161.9000 87 157.3750 / 161.9750
27 157.3500 / 161.9500 88 157.4250
28
157.4000 / 162.0000
n Note: Both frequencies (transmission and reception) are shown for marine
channels used for duplex transmission.
8
Features
Fire/Police
Group Frequency Range (MHz) Step (kHz)
1 33.420-33.980 20
37.020-37.420 20
39.020-39.980 20
42.020-42.940 20
44.620-45.860 40
45.880 -
45.900-46.060 40
46.080-46.500 20
2 153.770-154.130 60
154.145-154.445 15
154.650-154.950 15
155.010-155.370 60
155.415-155.700 15
155.730-156.210 60
158.730-159.210 60
166.250 -
170.150 -
3 453.0375-453.9625 12.5
458.0375-458.9625 12.5
460.0125-460.6375 12.5
465.0125-465.6375 12.5
9
Features
Aircraft
Group Frequency Range (MHz) Step (kHz)
1 108.000-118.000 8.33
2 118.00833-136.99166 8.33
Ham Amateur Radio
Group Frequency Range (MHz) Step (kHz)
1 29.000-29.700 5
2 50.000-54.000 5
3 144.000-148.000 5
4 420.000-450.000 12.5
FM Broadcast
Frequency Range (MHz) Step (kHz)
87.3–107.9 100
Weather Channels
Channel Frequency (MHz)
1 162.400
2 162.425
3 162.450
4 162.475
5 162.500
6 162.525
7 162.550
10
Features
MAR (Marine)
Search the preprogrammed marine bank.
FD/PD (Fire Dept/Police Dept)
Search the preprogrammed fire/police bank.
/ (Weather / Skywarn)
-
Search the seven preprogrammed weather
channels.
-
Press and hold to jump to the Skywarn
channel (channel 200). You must first
program your local Skywarn frequency into
channel 200 (see page 22).
HAM
Search the preprogrammed amateur radio
bank.
AIR (Aircraft)
Search the preprogrammed aircraft bank.
FM Broadcast
Search FM radio stations.
Understanding the Keypad
POWER
Turn scanner on and off.
VOLUME
Adjust volume.
SQUELCH
-
Turn counterclockwise
to listen to a weak or
distant station.
- Turn clockwise
to cut out weak
transmissions.
11
Features
0–9
- Input a number when
entering frequencies and
selecting banks (0 selects
bank 10).
- The number range above
the keys (1–20, 21–40, 41-60,
etc.) indicates the channels
stored in that bank.
SCAN / MAN (Manual)
-
Enter Scan mode to scan
programmed channels.
- Enter Manual mode to stop
scanning, directly enter a
channel number, or monitor a
single channel.
e d
Select the direction for
searching and scanning.
PRI / ALERT
-
Enable and disable the
priority feature.
- Enable and disable SAME
standby mode when
monitoring a weather
channel.
PSE (Pause)
Stop and restart a search or
tune.
• / DELAY
- Input a decimal point when
entering frequencies.
- Program a two-second
delay for the selected
channel.
ENT (Enter)
Complete the entry of
frequencies.
L/O
/
L/O RVW
-
Lock-out selected channels
or frequencies.
- Review locked-out
frequencies.
TUNE / CLEAR
-
Enter Tune search.
- Clear an incorrect entry.
PGM
Program frequencies into
channels.
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