RadioShack PRO-404 Owner Manual
User’s Guide 20-404/PRO-404
Handheld Radio Scanner
Thank you for purchasing your
Handheld Radio Scanner from
RadioShack. Please read this user’s
guide before installing, setting up,
and using your new scanner
Package Contents
Scanner
Antenna
Belt Clip
User’s Guide
Quick Start Guide
Alkaline Battery Holder
Rechargeable Battery
Holder
www.radioshack.com
2
3
Contents
Features ................................................... 4
Understanding Your Scanner .............................5
Channel Storage Banks ...................................6
Service Banks ..................................................6
Preprogrammed Service Bank Frequencies ......6
Marine Service Bank ........................................6
Fire/Police Service Bank ..................................8
Aircraft Service Bank .......................................9
Ham Amateur Radio Service Bank ..................9
Weather Channels ...........................................9
Understanding the Keypad .............................10
Understanding the Display ..............................12
Additional Display Messages ........................13
Sub Bank Messages ......................................13
Setup ..................................................... 14
Power Sources .................................................14
Using Batteries ..............................................14
Charging Rechargeable Batteries .................16
Using External Power ....................................17
Connecting the Antenna .................................18
Connecting an Outdoor Antenna .................18
Connecting Headphones ................................18
Connecting an Extension Speaker ................19
Attaching/Removing the Belt Clip ................19
Basic Operation ..................................... 20
Turning on the Scanner and Setting Squelch .....20
Programming Known Frequencies into
Channels ..........................................................20
Searching for Active Frequencies ...................21
Tune Search ...................................................21
Service Bank Search ......................................22
Signal Stalker II Search ..................................22
Storing Found Frequencies into Channels ......23
Scanning the Stored Channels ........................24
Turning Channel-Storage Banks On and Off .....24
Monitoring a Stored Channel ..........................25
Clearing a Stored Channel ............................25
Listening to the Marine Bank ..........................25
Weather Features .................................. 26
Listening to a Weather Channel ......................26
Weather Alerts ................................................26
Receiving All Weather Alerts ........................26
Receiving Alerts for Specific Areas ...............27
About SAME Signals ...................................27
SAME Standby Mode ..................................27
Skywarn .........................................................28
Settings .................................................. 29
Setting Delay ...................................................29
Locking Out Channels and Frequencies .........29
Reviewing and Removing Lock-outs .............30
Stored Channels ..........................................30
Marine Service Bank ....................................30
Other Service Banks and Signal Stalker II ...30
Removing Lock-outs from All Frequencies
in a Service Bank .........................................31
Using Priority ...................................................31
Using the Display Backlight.............................32
Turning the Key Tone On and Off ...................32
Using the Key Lock ..........................................32
Additional Information ........................... 33
Cloning the Programmed Data .......................33
Programming with a Personal Computer ........33
Initializing the Scanner ....................................33
Troubleshooting ..............................................34
Birdie Frequencies ...........................................35
FCC Notice ......................................................35
Scanning Legally..............................................36
Care .................................................................37
Service and Repair ..........................................37
Specifications ..................................................37
Limited Warranty .............................................39
4
Features
5
Features
Features
Your new PRO-404 Handheld 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 one-touch search key—no complicated
programming required.
Your new scanner gives you direct access to over 25,000
frequencies, including those used by police and fire
departments, ambulance services, aircraft, and amateur
radio services.
Your PRO-404 scanner also has these special
features:
Signal Stalker II –
monitor, and store frequencies from nearby radio
transmissions.
Service Banks –
preprogrammed frequencies in separate marine, fire/
police, aircraft, ham, and weather banks.
Display Backlight –
low-light situations.
Lock-out Function –
frequencies when scanning or searching.
Ten Channel-Storage Banks –
channels in each bank (200 total channels).
tune to new and unlisted frequencies starting
Tune –
from a specified frequency.
SAME/FIPS Weather Alert –
event and sounds an alert for the specific cities or
counties you choose.
Memory Backup –
memory for an extended time even without batteries.
Scan Delay –
moving to another channel in order to hear replies.
Priority Channel –
channel every two seconds while scanning.
Data Cloning –
another PRO-404 scanner.
a powerful tool to rapidly detect,
easily locate types of calls by searching
makes the display easy to read in
skip over specified channels or
group and store 20
displays the weather
frequencies remain stored in
delays scanning for two seconds before
set the scanner to check one
transfer the programmed data to
Key Lock – lock the scanner’s keys to help prevent
accidentally changing the scanner’s programming.
Liquid-Crystal Display –
programming information.
Flexible Antenna with BNC Connector –
good reception of strong local signals. You can also
connect an external antenna for improved reception of
distant or weak signals.
Three Power Options –
batteries (rechargeable or non-rechargeable), external
AC power (using an AC adapter, not supplied), or DC
power (using a DC adapter, not supplied).
Your PRO-404 scanner can receive these bands:
Frequency Range Types of Transmissions
29–54 MHz 10-Meter Ham, VHF Lo,
108–136.9875 MHz Aircraft
137–174 MHz Military Land Mobile, 2-
380–512 MHz UHF Aircraft, Federal
Note: See “Specifications” on page 37 for more
information about frequency steps.
easy to view and change
provides
power the scanner using
6-Meter Ham
Meter Ham, VHF Hi
Government, 70-cm Ham,
UHF Standard, UHF “T”
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. You can also search the
Service Banks
categorized by type of service.
When you find a frequency, you can store it into a
programmable memory location called a channel,
, which are preset groups of frequencies
6
Features
7
Features
which is grouped with other channels in a channelstorage 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, and
weather services. This is handy for quickly finding active
frequencies instead of searching through an entire bank
(see “Service Bank Search” on page 22).
Preprogrammed Service Bank Frequencies
Marine Service Bank
Channel Frequency
(MHz)
01 156.0500 63 156.1750
02 156.2500 64 156.2250
06 156.3000 160.8250
07 156.3500 65 156.2750
08 156.4000 66 156.3250
09 156.4500 67 156.3750
10 156.5000 68 156.4250
Channel Frequency
(MHz)
Channel Frequency
11 156.5500 69 156.4750
12 156.6000 70 156.5250
13 156.6500 71 156.5750
14 156.7000 72 156.6250
15 156.7500 73 156.6750
16 156.8000 74 156.7250
17 156.8500 77 156.8750
18 156.9000 78 156.9250
19 156.9500 79 156.9750
20 157.0000 80 157.0250
21 157.0500 82 157.1250
22 157.1000 83 157.1750
23 157.1500 84 157.2250
24 157.2000 161.8250
25 157.2500 161.8750
26 157.3000 161.9250
27 157.3500 161.9750
28 157.4000
(MHz)
161.6000 81 157.0750
161.8000 85 157.2750
161.8500 86 157.3250
161.9000 87 157.3750
161.9500 88 157.4250
162.0000
Channel Frequency
(MHz)
n Note: Both frequencies (transmission and reception)
are shown for marine channels used for duplex
transmission.
8
Features
9
Features
Fire/Police Service Bank
Aircraft Service Bank
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
Group Frequency Range (MHz) Step (kHz)
1 108.000-118.000 12.5
2 118.0125-136.9875 12.5
Ham Amateur Radio Service Bank
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
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
11
Features
Understanding the Keypad
(Marine)
Search the preprogrammed marine bank.
(Fire Department/Police Department)
Search the preprogrammed fire/police bank.
(Aircraft)
Search the preprogrammed aircraft bank.
(HAM)
Search the preprogrammed amateur radio 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 20).
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.
PRI / ALERT
Enable and disable the priority feature.
-
Enable and disable SAME standby mode when
-
monitoring a weather channel.
TUNE / CLEAR
Enter Tune search.
-
Clear an incorrect entry.
-
e d
Select the direction for searching and scanning.
L/O
L/O RVW
/
Lock-out selected channels or frequencies.
-
Review locked-out frequencies.
/
Turn the backlight on and off.
-
Press and hold to lock and unlock the keypad.
-
PGM
Program frequencies into channels.
(Signal Stalker II)
Activate the Signal
Stalker II function.
0–9
Input a number when entering frequencies and
-
selecting banks (0 selects bank 10).
The range of numbers above the key (1–20, 21–40,
-
41-60, etc.) indicates the channels stored in that bank.
• / DELAY
Input a decimal point when entering frequencies.
-
Program a two-second delay for the selected
-
channel.
ENT (Enter)
Complete the entry of frequencies.
PSE (Pause)
Stop and restart
a search or tune.
12
Features
13
Features
Understanding the Display
Row 1
Row 2
Row 3
Row 4
Row 1
– Signal Stalker II search is active.
BANK –
the scan bank. The bar under the bank number shows
banks that are turned on for scanning.
Appears with numbers (1–10) to indicate
– Keypad locked.
Row 2
WX – Searching weather channels.
Searching the marine bank.
MAR –
FD/PD –
AIR –
HAM –
Searching the fire/police bank.
Searching the aircraft bank.
Searching the amateur radio bank.
Row 3
– Skywarn channel active.
000
– Channel number the scanner is tuned to.
Appears with channel number (1–
CH –
(priority channel).
000.0000
B
L/ 0
selected or reviewed.
– Frequency the scanner is tuned to.
– Batteries are low.
– A locked out channel/frequency is manually
200
) or
Additional Display Messages
ALL CH L-out
or marine band search .
b X Ch-FULL
b X StorE
bank’s channel.
CLOnE
-dUPL-
Error
FLo ALL-CL
removed during a FD/PD, AIRCRAFT, HAM, or Signal
Stalker II search.
L-r
P
L-O Fr-FULL
locked out.
oFF tonE
On tonE
P
-t-
– Clone mode.
– Frequency is already stored in another channel.
– Entry error.
– Review the locked-out frequencies.
– Scanner is tuned to the priority channel.
– Tune mode.
– All channels locked out during scan
– All displayed bank channels are full.
– Frequency programmed into displayed
– All the locked-out frequencies
– Maximum of 50 frequencies already
– Key tone deactivated.
– Key tone activated.
Row 4
e d (Up/Down) – Search or scan direction.
SRCH –
SCAN –
MAN –
PGM –
PRI –
DLY –
Searching a service bank.
Scan mode.
Manual mode.
Program mode.
Priority feature is active.
Two-second delay is active.
Sub Bank Messages
Lo VHF
Hi VHF
UHF
10 M
6 M
2 M
70CM
– Sub-bank 1 of the fire/police bank.
– Sub-bank 2 of the fire/police bank.
– Sub-bank 3 of the fire/police bank.
– Sub-bank 1 of the HAM bank.
– Sub-bank 2 of the HAM bank.
– Sub-bank 3 of the HAM bank.
– Sub-bank 4 of the HAM bank.
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