Radio Shack 20-423 owner manual Understanding Your Scanner, Look AT the Controls

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the scanner and connect the cable to the ANT jack.

Warning: Use extreme caution when you install or remove an outdoor antenna. If the antenna starts to fall, let it go! It could contact overhead power lines. If the antenna touches a power line, contact with 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.

Caution: Do not run the cable over sharp edges or moving parts that might damage it.

ˆUnderstanding 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. You simply determine the type of communications you want to receive, then set the scanner to scan them.

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

You can also search the service-search banks, which are preset groups of frequencies categorized by type of service.

When you find a frequency, you can store it into a programmable memory location called a channel, which is grouped with your 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.

A LOOK AT THE CONTROLS

Some of the scanner’s keys perform more than one function (such as MON/CL) and are marked with more than one label. The steps in this Owner’s Manual show only the label on the key appropriate to the action being performed.

POWER — turns the scanner on and off.

VOLUME — adjusts the volume.

SQUELCH — adjusts the scanner’s sensitivity to an incoming signal.

BAND — lets you search service banks.

PRI/ALERT — turns the priority function on and off, or sets the scanner to WX alert mode.

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Understanding Your Scanner

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Contents Channel VHF/AIR/UHF Desktop Scanner Introduction Dual Conversion helps prevent FCC NoticeScanning Legally Contents Guide to the Action Bands TroubleshootingSpecifications Power Sources Using AC PowerUsing Vehicle Battery Power PreparationConnecting an Outdoor Antenna Connecting AN AntennaConnecting the Supplied Antenna Understanding Your Scanner Look AT the ControlsLook AT the Display Understanding Service BANKS/BANKS Channel Storage BanksAmateur Radio Service BanksAir Marine Channel Frequency MHzFire/Police 45.880 45.900Storing Known Frequencies Into Channels Turning on the SCANNER/SETTING Volume and SquelchOperation Searching the Service Banks Finding and Storing Active FrequenciesUsing Direct Search Using the Monitor Memory Scanning the Stored ChannelsListening to a Monitor Memory Frequency Moving a Frequency from a Monitor Memory to a ChannelTurning Channel Storage Banks on and OFF Monitoring a Stored ChannelClearing a Stored Channel Scanning OptionsWeather Channel Frequency Chart Using the Weather AlertListening to the Marine Bank Listening to Weather BandSpecial Features Using the Delay FunctionLocking OUT Channels and Frequencies Locking Out ChannelsUsing Priority Turning the KEY Tone on and OFFReviewing Locked-Out Frequencies Removing All Locked-Out Tags From FrequenciesUnited States Broadcast Band Using a Computer to Program the ScannerBirdie Frequencies Guide to the Action Bands Typical Band UsagePrimary Usage VHF BandAbbreviations Services Band AllocationAmateur Band 50-54 MHz Government Band 406-450 MHz Avoiding Image Frequencies Frequency ConversionResetting the Scanner TroubleshootingRESETTING/INITIALIZING the Scanner Care Initializing the ScannerSpecifications Channels of OperationNominal Limited One-Year Warranty