RadioShack HTX-212 Owners Manual

Cat. No. 19-1125

OWNER’S MANUAL

HTX-212 Tw o-Meter Mobile Transceiver

Please read befor e using this transceiver.

INTRODUCTION

!

FEA TURES

Your HTX-212 Two-Meter Mobile Transceiver is an exciting addition to
Radio Shack’s growing line of high-qual it y am ateur radio equipment . It
offers some o f the m ost a dvanc ed, and mos t reque ste d, feat ures av ai lable
in a mobile transceiver. Be sure to read this entire manual to understand
how to use all the radio’ s features.

You must have a T echnician Class or higher Amateur Radio Operator’s
License and a call sign issued by the FCC to legally transmit using this
transceiver. Transmitting without a license carries heavy penalties. Get­ting a license is easier than ever.

High (45 Watts) and Low (10 Watts) Power Sett ings—let you select the
best power setting for effective communications.

True FM Modulation—provides a clear, natural-sounding signal.
31 Memory Channels—hold one calling frequency and 30 standard fre-

quencies.
Priority Memory Channel 1— lets you set the HTX-212 to periodically

check the frequency stored in Memory Channel 1 and alert you if there is
activity on it.

Individually Programmable Repeater Offsets—let you program different
repeater of fset frequenci es for each m em ory, and a default repeater offset
for manually-tuned frequencies.

Subaudible Tone Transmit and Recei ve (CTCSS)—transmits the subaudi­ble tones required to use some r epeaters, and also lets you set a subaudi­ble tone that your transceiver must receive to open squelch.

DTMF Page with Group Calling— lets you set a sequence of up to seven
DTMF tones that your transceiver must receive to sound an alert tone and
open squelch.

DTMF Transmit and M em ory—lets you manually send DTMF tones or
send DTMF sequences of up to 15 digi ts each from one of six DTMF
memories to quickly access DTMF-access repeaters, autopatches, or
other stations equipped with a DTMF page feature.

Programmable Frequency Step—lets you set the frequency step for tun­ing or scanning to 5, 10, 12. 5, 20, 25, 50, or 100 kHz.

„ 1995 Tandy Corporation.

All Rights Reserved.

Radio Shack is a registered trademark used by Tandy Corporation.

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Extended Band Cover age—receives from 136 to 174 MHz and lets you
extend transmit coverage to include 2-Mete r ham, MARS (Military Ama­teur Radio Service), and CAP (Civ il Air Patrol).

Dual VF O (Variable-Freque n c y Oscillato r) a n d Du pl e x Mo d es—two i n de­pendent VFOs let you quick ly select between two direct ly-entered fre­quencies. You can also use one of t he VFO s as a r epeater i nput freque ncy
and the other as a repeater output frequency for odd-split repeaters.

USING THIS MANUAL

To make this manual as easy to use as possibl e, we giv e you several
ways to find informati on.

Contents—lists all sections in the order they appear in the manual.
Understanding th e Displ ay—lists all display indicators and gives a brief

explaination and the sections where the indicator is fully explained.
Using the Menu—lists the options in the c onfigur atio n menu and gi ves th e

page numbers where the opti ons are discussed.
Quick Reference Card—gives brief instruct ions for most functi ons.
Type Conventions—make the references to keys and displays eas ier to

find in the text:

• Keys are bold. For example, VFO.

• When a key has more than one marking (for example, DTMF and
ALM refer to th e sam e key), we refer to the key by the name appro­priate to the task.

• Where you are instructed to press two keys at once, the keys are
separated by a + symbol. For example, F+DTMF.

• Text and symbols that appear on the tr anscei ver’s di splay appe ar in
a special typeface. For example, 144.940.

Important notes in this m anual have a large exclamation m ark (!) in the
margin. W arni ngs and cautions you should f oll ow to prevent injury to a
person or damage to t he transceiver have a large lightning bolt ( ) in the
margin.

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CONTENTS

INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Unpacking the Transceiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Connecting the Microphone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Mounting the HTX-212 in a Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Connecting an Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Connecting to Your Vehicle’s Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Using the HTX-212 as a Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Using the HTX-212 with Packet Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Connecting an Extern al Speaker (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

UNDERST ANDING THE HTX-212 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Dual VFO Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

DTMF (Touch-Tone) Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Subaudible Tone (CTCSS) Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Repeater Operatio n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Memory Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Understanding th e Displ ay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

BASIC OPERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Turning On/Off Your HTX-212 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Resetting the HTX-212 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Extending the Transmit Frequency Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Setting Volume and Squelch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Using the Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Setting the Power Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Locking the Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Selecting a Frequen cy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Directly Entering a Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Tuning to a Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Scanning for a Frequenc y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Setting the Frequency Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Setting the Scan Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Storing Scan Skip Frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Setting the Scan Resume Condi ti on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Setting the Scan Resume Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Setting the Scanning Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Receiving Transmissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Transmitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Transmitting DTMF Tones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Limiting Transmit Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Turning the Keytone Beep On and Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

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ADVANCED OPERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Frequency Offset Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Changing the Default Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Reversing the Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Overriding the Duplex Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Using the Dual VFOs for Duplex Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

USING MEMORY CHANNELS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Using the Calling-Fr equency Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Using the Standard Memory Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Storing a Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Changing Stored Settin gs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Tuning to a Memory Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Checking Priority Channel 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Scanning Memory Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Clearing a Memory Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

USING DTMF AND SUBAUDIBLE TONES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Storing a DTMF Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Transmitting a DTMF Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Using DTMF Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Using Group Calling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Using Auto-Reply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Using Subaudible Tones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Valid Subaudible Tones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Setting the Subaudible Tones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Activating Subaudible Tone Transmit and Squelch . . . . . . . . .34

Setting the DTMF Page and Subaudible Tone Alert . . . . . . . . . . . .34

USING THE MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

TROUBLESHOOTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Error Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Common Problems and Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Replacing the Fuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

SPECIFICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Receiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

SCHEMATIC(S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

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INSTALLATION

UNPACKING THE TRANSCEIVER

As you unpack the transceiver, check to be sure you have all the items
shown in th is illu s tr at io n.

CONNECTING THE MICROPHONE

Plug the microphone’s connector into the microphone jack and clip the
microphone to the hol der.

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MOUNTING THE HTX-212 IN A VEHICLE

When you select a mounting location for the HTX-212, be sure:

• You can easily reach it

• No wires or cables will int erfere with the vehicle’s operation

• It is not direct ly i n front of heating vents

• All wires will reach their connection point s

Cautions:

• Install t he transceiver only in a ve hicle that has a 12-volt, nega­tive-ground electrical system.

• To avoid damaging your vehicle’s electronic systems, contact
your vehicle ’s manuf act urer bef ore you i nstal l the HTX-2 12 to fi nd
out about the proper transceiver mounti ng locations, antenna
locations, and power and antenna cable routing guidelines.

• Do not apply power to the transceiver until aft er you properly
mount and connect an antenna.

Use the supplied screws, metal washers, bracket, rubber washers, and
mounting knobs, as shown, to mount the transceiver.

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CONNECTING AN ANTENNA

You can connect a variety of antennas for both mobile and base-station
use (see “Using the HTX-212 as a Base Station” on Page 10). Each type
of antenna has its benefits. Choose the one that best meets your needs.

When deciding on a mobile or bas e-station antenna and its l ocation, con­sider the following:

• The antenna should be as high as possible on your vehicle or
house.

• The antenna and antenna cable should be as far away as possible
from source s of el ectrical noise (ignition systems, power cables,
and so on).

• The antenna should be vertical.

• The antenna should have an SWR of less than 1.5:1. SWRs of

1.8:1 or greater can prevent the HTX-212 from per for m ing to its
specified ratings.

After you select an antenna, follow its mounting instructions. Then route
the antenna cable from the antenna to the HTX-212 and connect it to the
antenna connector.

Connect the antenna t o your HTX-212 us ing RG-8U coaxi al cabl e or other
50-ohm cable. The cable should end in a PL-239 connector.

Cautions:

• To prevent damage to your HTX-212, you must connect an

antenna to it before you operate it.

• Do not run the cabl e over sharp edges or moving parts t hat might

damage the cable.

• Do not run the cabl e through the engine compartment or other

areas that produce extreme heat.

• Check with your vehicle manufacturer for antenna cable routing

guidelines.

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CONNECTING TO YOUR VEHICLE’S POWER

Follow these steps to power the HTX-212 in your vehicle.

1. Connect the black wi re t o your vehicle battery’s negative (–) termi­nal or to a metal part of the vehicle’s frame. Be sure the metal part
is not insulated from the vehicle’s frame by a plastic par t.

2. Connect the r ed wire to a source of voltage that turns on and off
with the igniti on and that can handle the t ransceiver’s 10-amp max­imum power draw.

Or , if you do not want the HTX-212 to turn on and off wit h your vehi­cle’s ign it ion, connect the red wire dir ectly to the battery’s positive
(+) term inal.

Note: You might need to connect the red wire directly to the battery
if you experience ignition noise.

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USING THE HTX-212 AS A BASE STATION

Although we designed the HTX-212 primarily for use as a mobile trans­ceiver, you can also use it as a base stati on. To do so, you need these
items:

• 13.8-Volt DC regulated power supply that can supply at l east 10
amps continuous power

• Base station antenna

• 50-ohm coaxial antenna cabl e and connectors

Follow these steps to connect the HTX- 212 as a base station.

1. Mount the base stati on antenna according to its instructions.

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Warning: For your safety, follow all cautions and warnings included with
the base station antenna.

2. Connect the antenna cable to the antenna jack on the back of the
HTX-212.

3. Connect the black power wire to the power supply’s negative (–)
terminal.

4. Connect the red power wire to the power supply’s positive (+) termi­nal.

5. Connect the power suppl y to a source of power.

USING THE HTX-212 WITH PACKET RADI O

You can connect your HTX-212 directly to a packet radio terminal node
controller, as shown below.

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CONNECTING AN EXTERNAL SPEAKER (OPTIONAL)

You can connect an exter nal speaker to your HTX-212.
Use an 8-Ohm communicati ons or PA speaker that can handle 5 or more

watts of power (such as Radio Shack Cat. No. 21-549). The speaker’s
cable must end in a 1/8-inch plug. Simply plug the speaker cable into the
HTX-212’s EXT. SP jack.

If your vehicle has a cassette player, you can easily connect your trans­ceiver to your vehicle’s audio system using a CD-to-cassette adapter and
a mono-to-stereo audio plug. Simply connect the adapter as shown.

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UNDERSTANDING THE HTX-212

This section explains some of the HTX-212’s f eatures. See “Basic Opera­tion” which st arts on Page 17 for instructi ons about how to use these fea­tures.

DUAL VFO MODES

The VFO (Variable-Frequency Oscillator) mo des let you directly selec t a
frequency anywhere within t he HTX-212’ s operat ing rang e. Your HTX-212
has two VFOs: VFO-A and VFO-B. You typically use the VFOs to tune to
frequencies you have not stored into one of the HTX-212’s memory chan­nels (see “Memory Channels” on Page 14).

A related feature of the HTX-212 lets you transmit on the frequency
selected with one VFO and receive on the frequency sele cted with the
other VFO. (See “Using the Dual VFOs for Duplex Operation ” on Page

27.)

DTMF (TOUCH-TONE) FEATURES

DTMF (Dual-Tone, Multiple Frequency) is another term for touch-tones
(the tones a telephone produces when you press a digit). This standard
set of tones is used by many different amateur radio systems for access­ing programmable features and dialing thr ough autopatches.

Your HTX-212 produces all 16 standard DTMF tones (0-9, Q, #, A, B, C,
and D). It has six DTM F m em ori es which can each hold up to 15 digits for
quick transmiss ion. Y ou can also set the HTX-212 to listen for a specific
set of DTMF tones, and alert you when i t detects them (this feature is
called DTMF Paging). Until it hears the sequence, the HTX-21 2 does not
pass any transmissions to the speaker.

Group Calling lets you DTMF page a single person or an entire group of
people. To use group calling, ever y person in the group select s the same
first three di gits as thei r DTMF pa ge sequence. The y then sel ect up t o four
additional digits unique to each per son. To page an individual, you trans­mit their entire DTMF page sequence. To page the entire group, y ou trans­mit at least the first three digits of the sequence, followed by the DTMF
tones for A, B, and C.

Note: Group Calling only works with the HTX- 212 and other transceivers
that support this fe ature.

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SUBAUDIBLE TONE (CTCSS) FEATURES

Subaudible tones, als o known as CTCSS (Continuous Tone-Coded
Squelch System) are lo w-f requency tones that are mix ed wit h a tra nsm is­sion. They are used by many repe aters to limit interference from other
nearby radio transm it ters. When a repeater uses a subaudible tone, it
does not react to any transmission that does not include that tone.

Y our HTX- 212 inclu des all 38 sta ndard su baudi ble t ones. You can set y our
HTX-212 to include any of these tones with your transmissions. You can
also set the your HTX-212 to lim it reception to only thos e transmissions
that include the selected tone.

REPEATER OPERATION

Operation through a repeater, where you transmit on one frequency and
receive on anot her, is called duplex operation. Operation direct to another
station where you transmit and receive on the same frequency is called
simplex operation.

A repeater is a station that receives a signal on one frequency (the input
frequency) and then retransmits that signal on a different frequency (the
output frequency). Repeater antennas are typically located at the tops of
tall buildings or on antenna towers, so a relativ ely low-power signal can
reach the repeater. The repeater retransmits the signal at a higher power.
This gives us ers of low- power trans ceiver s the abi lity t o c ommuni cate ov er
a much greater range.

To use a repeater , you must know th e repeater’s input and output frequen­cies. Repeaters are usually identified by their output frequency. Thus, a
repeater that has an output frequency of 146.94 is referred to as the

146.94 repeater. To determine the input frequency you must know the fre­quency offset (600 kHz for the 2-meter band) and the o ffset direction (+ if
you add 600 kHz to the output or – if you subt ract 600 kHz from the out­put).

Your HTX-212 is programmed with the default 600 kHz frequency offset
and direction for th e 2-meter band. When you tune to a frequen cy that is
normally assi gned for repeat er use, t he HTX-212 a utomat ical ly sel ects the
correct input frequency. See “Frequency Offset Defaults” on Page 26.

MEMORY CHANNELS

Your HTX-212 has 31 memory channels (30 standard memory channels
and one calling-frequency memory channel ). Each me mo ry channel can
hold a transmit and receive frequency, subaudible transmit and receive
tones, the transm it power level , and wheth er subaudi ble ton e transm it an d
squelch are on or off. You cannot store non-amateur frequencies in mem­ory.

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