RadioShack PRO-160 Owners Manual

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RadioShack PRO-160 Owners Manual

USER MANAUL - DRAFT

20-160

PRO-160 1,000 ch Trunking Desktop/Mobile Scanner

Thank you for purchasing your PRO-160 1,000 Channel Trunking Desktop/Mobile Scanner from RadioShack. Your scanner is one of a new generation of scanners designed to track Motorola® Type I, Type II, hybrid analog, and many other systems.

what’s included

Scanner AC adapter

DC cable with fuse Antenna

DIN sleeve Removal keys (2) Mounting bracket Knobs (2)

Lock washers (2) Screws (2) Rubber feet (4) User’s guide

Preprogrammed frequency sheet

Note: Wording required for FCC PART 15.21 is shown in page 35/36.

Quick Start

step 1: installing your scanner

You can mount your scanner as a base station or in your vehicle. If you are unsure how to install our scanner in your vehicle, consult your automobile manufacturer, dealer, or a qualified installer.

base station

Attach the four protective rubber feet to the mounting bracket when you use the scanner as a base station on a flat surface such as a desk, shelf, or table. Because the speaker is on the bottom of the scanner, you can use the mounting bracket to elevate your scanner off the surface for better sound.

vehicle mounting

To mount your scanner under or over the dashboard, use the mounting bracket. Before installing, confirm that your scanner fits in the desired mounting area and you have all the necessary materials to complete the task.

IMPORTANT: AVOID AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT ZONES. This can prevent the airbag from performing properly and result in injury.

1. Use the supplied mounting bracket as a template to mark positions for the two mounting screws. 2. At the marked positions, drill holes slightly smaller than the screws. When drilling holes, be sure to avoid obstructions and wires behind the mounting surface.

3. Attach the mounting bracket to the surface using the supplied screws.

4. Slide the scanner into the bracket, aligning the scanner’s holes with the holes in the bracket, and then screw the mounting knobs into the scanner.

Your scanner requires a 2 x 7-1/8 x 5-5/16 inch (50 x 180 x 135mm) mounting area. Allow an additional 2-3/8 inch (60 mm) space behind the scanner for connectors and wires.

1. Remove the four rear screws that secure the outer metal case and pull off the case with care. 2. Insert the DIN sleeve into the opening in your dashboard, lip facing out.

3. Push out the top and bottom tabs to hold the sleeve firmly in place. 4. Slowly slide the scanner into the sleeve until it locks in place.

Note:

When mounting in your dashboard, you will need to connect an external antenna and an external speaker.

To remove your scanner from the DIN sleeve, insert the two removal keys straight into the scanner’s front panel and pull the scanner out.

step 2: power your scanner

You can power your scanner from a wall outlet, through your vehicle’s ignition, or from your vehicle’s cigarette lighter or power port. You must use a Class 2 power source that supplies 12V DC and delivers at least 500mA. Its center tip must be set to positive and its plug must fit the scanner’s DC 12V jack. Using an adapter that does not meet these specifications could damage the scanner or the adapter.

wall outlet

To prevent electric shock, do not use the AC adapter’s polarized plug with an extension cord, receptacle, or other outlet unless you can fully insert the blades.

1. Connect the tip of the supplied AC adapter to the DC 12V jack. 2. Plug the AC adapter into your wall outlet.

DC 12V

Power source connection.

vehicle cigarette lighter or power port

To power your scanner from your vehicle’s 12V power source, use a 12V DC cigarette-lighter adapter (not supplied, available at RadioShack).

Note:

If you use a cigarette-lighter adapter, you might hear some electrical interference from your engine while scanning. This is normal.

vehicle ignition (negative ground only)

Note:

If you are not experienced in connecting accessories to the vehicle fuse box, use a certified installer.

1. Disconnect the cable from the negative (-) terminal of your vehicle’s battery.

2. Ground the black wire of the supplied DC power cord to your vehicle’s chassis. The grounding screw must make complete contact with the metal frame of your vehicle.

3. Connect the red wire of the supplied DC power cord to a voltage source that turns on and off with the ignition switch, such as a spare accessory terminal in your vehicle’s fuse box.

4. Insert the adapter’s barrel plug into the scanner’s DC 12V jack.

5. Reconnect the cable to the negative (-) terminal of your vehicle’s battery.

step 3: connect your scanner

antenna

Expand the antenna according to the frequencies you want to monitor:

Frequency .....................................

Antenna Length

25-174 MHz .....................

Extend fully (4 segments)

320-512 MHz ...................

Extend half (2 segments)

806-1300 MHz ................

Collapse fully (1 segment)

The scanner’s ANT jack supports a variety of antennae (available at RadioShack).

Note:

An external antenna is optional if you use your scanner as a base station. If you mount your scanner in your vehicle, you will need to connect an external antenna.

The antenna should be as high as possible and vertical for best performance.

Keep the antenna and cable as far as possible from sources of electrical noise, such as appliances or other radios.

Always use 50-ohm coaxial cable, such as RG-58 or RG-8, to connect an outdoor antenna. For lengths over 50 feet, use RG-8 low-loss dielectric coaxial cable. You also may need a BNC adapter (not supplied).

external speaker

To use an external speaker (available at your local RadioShack store), plug the speaker’s 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) plug into the scanner’s EXT SP jack.

Note:

Connecting an external speaker mutes the scanner’s internal speaker.

ANT

Match the antenna connector arrow to the ANT jack’s upper projection.

CAUTION:

Use extreme caution when installing or removing an outdoor antenna. If the antenna starts to fall, let it go! If the antenna touches a power line, touching the antenna, mast, cable, or guy wires can cause electrocution and death. Call the power company to remove the antenna. Do not attempt to do so yourself.

step 4: setting up your scanner

turning on your scanner

To turn on your scanner, turn the VOLUME knob clockwise until it clicks. To set the squelch, turn the SQUELCH knob fully counterclockwise, and then rotate it clockwise until the hissing sound stops.

storing frequencies in channels

You can locate and store specific frequencies into channels for later use.

Note: To store trunked system frequencies, see “programming trunked frequencies.”

Follow these steps to store frequencies into channels.

1.Press ENT/PGM to put the scanner in programming mode. PGM appears.

2.Use the number keys to enter the channel number you want to assign to a frequency.

3. Press MAN.

If you entered an in valid channel number, “Invalid Channel.” appears and the scanner

beeps error tones. Enter a valid channel.

4. Press FUNC, then press /BANK or (Press FUNC, then press ) to advance the channel with 0 MHz in next bank (or previous bank).

If the channel with 0MHz is not, the first channel of the bank is selected.

5.Use the number keys and •/DELAY to enter the frequency, including the decimal point you want to store.

6.Press ENT/PGM to store the frequency into the channel.

Notes:

If you entered an invalid frequency in Step 5, “Invalid Freq.” appears and the scanner beeps error tones. Enter a valid frequency.

If you entered a frequency in Step 5, which already exists on another channel, the scanner beeps an error tone and displays that channel. Press CL to clear the display, or press ENT/PGM to store the frequency in both channels.

The scanner automatically rounds the entered number to the nearest valid frequency. For example, if you enter 151.473 (MHz), your scanner accepts it as 151.475.

After a transmission, the scanner automatically pauses for 2 seconds on this channel before proceeding to the next active transmission. Press •/DELAY to turn the delay function off or on. See “delay”). The scanner stores this setting in the channel.

7.To program the next channel in sequence, press or and repeat Steps 5 and 6.

copying / moving frequencies

If you want to copy/move a frequency to a channel, follow the steps below:

1.Press ENT/PGM to put the scanner in programming mode. Enter the channel which contains the frequency you want to copy or move.

2.Press MAN to advance the channel.

3.Press and hold ENT/PGM during program mode.

4.Select the bank where you want to copy or move the frequency.

5.Press ENT/PGM. The smallest empty channel number and “0.0000” appear. If there is no empty channel, the scanner automatically selects the first channel of the bank.

6.Press ENT/PGM to enter the frequency, “Delete Source Channel?” appears.

7.To moving a frequency, press ENT/PGM. Or to copying a frequency, press CL.

searching for frequencies

You can search for frequencies up or down using chain search. 1. Press SRCH until SRCH appears in the display.

2. (Optional) Press 0 – 9 to enable or disable the search bank number being searched. 3. Press or to begin searching up or down the frequencies.

4. (Optional) To avoid unwanted frequencies, you can skip up to 200 specified frequencies during a search. To skip a frequency, press L/O when the scanner finds the frequency.

If you skip all frequencies within the search range, the scanner cannot search.

If you try to skip more than 200 frequencies, the scanner will stop skipping the earliest skipped frequencies.

To clear a skipped frequency, complete the following steps: 1. Press PSE/TEXT to stop the search.

2. Select the frequency. L/O appears.

3. Press L/O. L/O disappears.

4. (Optional) To clear all the skipped frequencies, press MAN/MENU, and then press and hold L/O until the scanner beeps twice.

step 5: monitoring and scanning

monitoring

To monitor a channel, press MAN/MENU while the scanner is pausing on the channel, stop the scanning by pressing MANMENU, or enter the channel number, then press MAN/MENU.

scanning

To scan, press SCAN/. When the scanner finds a transmission, it monitors the transmission until it ends.

Note:

If you have not stored frequencies into any channels, the scanner cannot scan.

If the scanner picks up weak transmissions, turn SQUELCH clockwise to decrease the scanner’s sensitivity to these signals. To listen to a weak or distant station, turn SQUELCH counterclockwise.

Press MAN/MENU to stop scanning, or press PSE/TEXT to pause the scan without losing your position.

earphones / headphones

For private listening, you can plug earphones or headphones into your scanner’s headphone jack. Do not use headphones with your scanner when operating a motor vehicle in or near traffic. Doing so can create a traffic hazard and could be illegal in some areas. Some headphones let you hear some outside sounds when listening at normal volume levels, but they still can present a traffic hazard. To protect your hearing, follow these guidelines for headphones.

Do not listen at extremely high volume levels. Extended high volume listening can lead to permanent hearing loss.

Set the volume to the lowest setting before you begin listening, and then adjust the volume to a comfortable level.

After you set the volume, do not increase it. Over time, your ears adapt to the volume level, so a volume level that does not cause discomfort might still damage your hearing.

the basics

A frequency is the tuning location of a station. A channel is a programmable memory location for storing frequencies that you can scan for activity. Channels are grouped into 20 channel storage banks, each of which contains 50-channels. Service banks are preset channel-storage banks of frequencies used by the marine, CB band, FRS/GMRS/MURS, police (fire/emergency), aircraft and HAM band services. For example, many amateur radio frequencies are located in the HAM service bank.

Your scanner provides many features that help you locate, monitor, and organize useful transmissions in your area, including frequencies used by police and fire departments, ambulance

services, government agencies, private companies, amateur radio services, military operations, pager services, and wireline (telephone and telegraph) service providers.

This scanner is designed to prevent reception of illegal transmissions, in compliance with laws that require that scanners be manufactured to not be easily modifiable to pick up those transmissions. Do not open your scanner’s case to make any modifications that could allow it to pick up transmissions that it is not legal to listen to. Doing so could subject you to legal penalties.

It is legal to listen to almost every transmission your scanner can receive. However, there are some transmissions you should never intentionally listen to. These include:

telephone conversations (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), as amended, you are subject to fines and possible imprisonment for intentionally listening to, using, or divulging the contents of such a transmission unless you have the consent of a party to the communication (unless such activity is otherwise illegal).

We encourage responsible, legal scanner use.

your scanner’s controls

SCAN/ — Scan the stored channels; scan an active ID while trunking. Press and hold SCAN/ to turn Signal Stalker on and off.

MAN(Manual)/MENU — manually enter a channel; enter the menu mode.

SRCH(Search)/TUNE— start a chain search, start a service search. search a specified frequency range; enter the fine tune mode.

TRUNK/MODE — enter the Talk Group ID program mode; select the modulation for trunking system. WX/ — starts weather search; activates Skywarn function.

FUNC(Function)/A/a — let you use to various functions by pressing this key in combination with other keys; let you use to switch the small letter and capital letter.

PRI (Priority)/ALERT— sets and turns the priority function on or off; SAME weather alert on and off.

L/O — lockout selected channels or skip specified frequencies during a search; lock out a selected ID while trunking.

CL/CTCSS/DCS — Press CL to clear an entry; let use to turn on and off the CTCSS/DCS.

DIM/M-LOCK

Lets you set the display brightness, or locks the memory. To set the brightness of the display backlight selects BRIGHT, DIMMER or OFF.

BANK — enter the select bank menu.

—Search and scan up and down a selected frequency range; selects options during programming; changes the ID location number while trunking.

PSE(Pause)/TEXT — stops and resumes searching; change from Program mode to Program Text Tag mode.

1-9/WXYZ, 0 — input a number or characters.

•/DELAY — enter a decimal point, space, or programs delay time for the selected channel/search bank, or enters a hyphen (in trunking ID setting). Programs a 2-second delay for a selected channel or service; programs a 2-second delay while trunking.

OPEN/CLOSE — let you use to change the open mode and close mode.

ENT/PGM (Program) — programs frequencies into channels.

SQUELCH — adjust the squelch.

VOLUME — turn the scanner on or off and adjust the volume.

PC/IF — connect an optional PC interface cable here to use the scanner with your computer.

— connect an earphone or headphone here.

replacing the fuse

To replace your scanner’s fuse, turn off the scanner and your vehicle’s ignition, then replace the fuse only with another fuse of the same type and rating (1-amp, fast-acting glass fuse).

Beyond the Basics

transferring data to or from another scanner or pc

You can transfer the programmed data to and from another PRO-160 scanner using a connecting cable which has 1/8-inch phone plugs on both ends (not supplied). Connect the cable between each scanner’s PC/IF jacks. See “cloning your scanner”. You can also upload or download the programmed data to or from a PC using an optional PC interface cable and software available through your local RadioShack store. See “wired programming.”

about your scanner

We use a few simple terms in this manual to explain the features of the scanner. Familiarize yourself with these terms and the scanner’s features, and you can put the scanner to work for you right away. Simply determine the type of communications you want to receive, and then set the scanner to scan those communications.

The scanner scans conventional frequencies and trunked systems. For more information about trunked transmissions (see “trunking operation”).

A frequency, expressed in kHz or MHz, is the tuning location of a station. To find active frequencies, you use the search function.

Besides searching within a selected frequency range, you can also search your scanner’s service banks. Service banks are preset groups of frequencies categorized by the type of services that use those frequencies. For example, many amateur radio frequencies are located in the HAM service bank.

When you search and find a desired frequency, you can store it into a programmable memory location called a channel. Channels are grouped into channel-storage banks. The scanner has 20 channel-storage banks. Each bank contains 50-channel sets. So the scanner has 1,000 channels. You can scan the channel-storage banks to see if there is activity on the frequencies stored there.

Note: You search frequencies when you want to find your local frequencies and scan

channels after you programmed your found frequencies.

understanding banks

service banks

The scanner is preprogrammed with all the frequencies allocated to the marine, CB band, FRS/GMRS/MURS, police (fire/emergency), aircraft and HAM band services. This helps you quickly find active frequencies instead of doing a chain search (see “service bank search”).

channel storage banks

To make it easier to identify and select the channels you want to listen to, all the channels are divided into 20 banks of 50 channels. Use each channel-storage bank to group frequencies, such as those for the police department, fire department, ambulance services, or aircraft.

For example, the police department might use four frequencies in your town while the fire department uses an additional four. You could program the four police frequencies starting with Channel 1 (the first channel in bank 1), and program the fire department frequencies starting with Channel 51 (the first channel in bank 2).

turning on the scanner and setting squelch

Note: Make sure the scanner’s antenna is connected before you turn it on.

1.Turn SQUELCH fully counterclockwise.

2.Turn VOLUME/OFF clockwise until it clicks and you hear a hissing sound.

3.Turn SQUELCH clockwise until the hissing stops.

Programming channels text tag

You can customize your scanner by storing text tags (up to 16 characters) for easy identification of channel.

1.Press ENT/PGM to put the scanner in programming mode.

2.Enter the channel number where you want to store a text tag. If you make a mistake, press CL repeatedly until the display is cleared.

3.Press MAN to advance the channel.

4.Press TEXT to put the scanner in program channel text tag edit mode. The cursor appears.

5.Press ? or ? to move the cursor in the right or the left. Press the number key and decimal key to enter the letter. (See “text input chart”).

6.Input the word and press ENT/PGM to store.

Programming bank text tag

You can customize your scanner by storing text tags (up to 16 characters) for easy identification of bank.

1.Press ENT/PGM to put the scanner in programming channel mode.

2.Enter the channel number where you want to store a text tag. If you make a mistake,

press CL repeatedly until the display is cleared.

3.Press MAN to advance the channel.

4.Press FUNC, and then press TEXT to put the scanner in program bank text tag edit mode. The cursor appears.

5.You can store same as channel text tag.

text input chart

User can use the number keypad on scanner to enter text by referring to the alphabet printed on each number key. When user presses the number key in the text entry field, the scanner displays the first alphabet printed on the number key. Press the number key twice to display the second alphabet and three times to display the third. When user wants to input the small letter, press [A/a] to switch the capital letter and small letter.

For example, to enter "Scanner":

1.Press [7/PQRS] 4 times to enter "S".

2.Press [A/a] to switch the capital letter and small letter.

3.Then press [2/ABC] 3 times to enter "c".

4.Press [? ] to move cursor.

5.Press [2/ABC] 1 times to enter "a".

6.Press [6/MNO] 2 times to enter "n".

7.Press [? ] to move cursor.

8.Press [6/MNO] 2 times to enter "n".

9.Press [3/DEF] 2 times to enter "e".

10.Press [7/PQRS] 3 times to enter "r".

11.Press [ENT] to end your text entry.

 

 

 

 

Number of times key is pressed

 

 

 

Keys

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

1

.

(

)

-

+

*

/

@

^

&

1

2/ABC

A

B

C

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3/DEF

D

E

F

3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4/GHI

G

H

I

4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5/JKL

J

K

L

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6/MNO

M

N

O

6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7/PQRS

P

Q

R

S

7

 

 

 

 

 

 

8/TUV

T

U

V

8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9/WXYZ

W

X

Y

Z

9

 

 

 

 

 

 

0

Space

#

?

_

,

$

%

!

~

'

0

Press A/a to choose the input mode. (Capital letter, Small letter, Numeric)

programming channel CTCSS/DCS code

Your scanner can monitor systems using a Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System (CTCSS) and Digital Coded Squelch (DCS) system, which allow squelch to open only when the tone you have programmed with a specific frequency is received along with a transmission.

1.Press ENT/PGM to put the scanner in programming mode.

2.Enter the channel number where you want to store a CTCSS/DCS code. If you make a mistake, press CL repeatedly until the display is cleared.

3.Press MAN to advance the channel.

4.Press FUNC, and then press CL/CTCSS/DCS to put the scanner in program CTCSS/DCS CODE mode.

5.Press ? or ? to select a CTCSS/DCS code. CTCSS/DCS code flashes.

The CTCSS/DCS code is changed below:

NO TONE -> CT 67.0 -> ... -> CT 254.1 -> DCS 023 -> ... -> DCS 754 -> CODE SRCH -> NO TONE -> CT 67.0 -> ...

6. Press ENT/PGM to store the CTCSS/DCS code.

about CTCSS/DCS

CTCSS and DCS are subaudible tone signaling systems sometimes referred to as PL or DPL (Motorola’s trademarked terms for Private Line and Digital Private Line respectively). CTCSS and DCS are used only for FM signals and are usually associated with both amateur and commercial two-way frequencies. These systems make use of a special subaudible tone that accompanies a transmitted signal.

CTCSS and DCS are used for many purposes. In many cases, CTCSS and DCS are used to restrict access to a commercial repeater, so that only those units which transmit the correct tone along with their signal can “talk” to the repeater.

CTCSS and DCS are also used in areas that receive interference where there are several stations with output frequencies close to each other. When this occurs, you might hear multiple communications on the same frequency. The stations might even interfere with each other to the point where it is impossible to clearly receive any of the stations. A scanner equipped with CTCSS and DCS (like your scanner) can code each received frequency with a specific CTCSS or DCS frequency. Then, when you receive multiple signals, you only hear the transmission with the CTCSS or DCS tone you programmed. If you do not receive the correct tone with a signal, the scanner’s squelch remains closed and you hear nothing.

You can search for the following CTCSS frequencies and DCS codes.

CTCSS Frequencies (Hz)

67.0

69.3

71.9

74.4

77.0

79.7

82.5

85.4

88.5

91.5

94.8

97.4

100.0

103.5

107.2

110.9

114.8

118.8

123.0

127.3

131.8

136.5

141.3

146.2

151.4

156.7

159.8

162.2

165.5

167.9

171.3

173.8

177.3

179.9

183.5

186.2

189.9

192.8

196.6

199.5

203.5

206.5

210.7

218.1

225.7

229.1

233.6

241.8

250.3

254.1

 

 

 

 

DCS Codes (Octal)

023

025

026

031

032

036

043

047

051

053

054

065

071

072

073

074

114

115

116

122

125

131

132

134

143

145

152

155

156

162

165

172

174

205

212

223

225

226

243

244

245

246

251

252

255

261

263

265

266

271

274

306

311

315

325

331

332

343

346

351

356

364

365

371

411

412

413

423

431

432

445

446

452

454

455

462

464

465

466

503

506

516

523

526

532

546

565

606

612

624

627

631

632

654

662

664

703

712

723

731

732

734

743

754

searching for and storing active frequencies

If you do not have a reference to frequencies in your area, use a chain, fine tune, or service search (except weather search) to find a transmission.

Beyond the Basics

Notes:

While doing a chain, fine tune, or service bank search, press /DELAY if you want to turn the delay on or off (see “delay”).

While doing a chain, fine tune, or service bank search, press FUNC, then MENU if you want the scanner to skip data signals (such as fax or modem signals) and search only for audio (voice) signals to enter the menu mode and turn Data Skip Option to on (see “skipping data signals”).

chain search

This feature lets you search through preset frequency ranges. You can also preset a range. There are three modes within this feature: chain search mode, chain search pause mode, and program band select mode.

The preset frequency ranges are:

Bank No.

Frequency (MHz)

Step (kHz)

0

25.0000-54.0000

5

1

137.0000-174.0000

5

2

179.7500-215.7500

6000

3

216.0000-224.9950

5

4

225.0000-399.9875

12.5

5

400.0000-512.0000

6.25

6

764.0000-775.9875

12.5

7

794.0000-805.9875

12.5

8

806.0000-956.0000

12.5

9

1240.0000-1300.0000

12.5

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