BIRDIE FREQUENCIES
Every scanner has birdie frequencies. Birdies are signals created inside the scanner’s receiver. These operating frequencies might interfere with broad- casts on the same frequencies. If you program one of these frequencies, you hear only noise on that frequency. If the interference is not severe, you might be able to turn SQUELCH clock- wise to cut out the birdie.
The birdie frequency to watch for with this scanner is 489.25 MHz.
To find the birdies in your scanner, be- gin by disconnecting the antenna and moving it away from the scanner. Make sure that no other nearby radio or TV sets are turned on near the scan- ner. Use the search function and search every frequency range from its lowest frequency to the highest. Occa- sionally, the searching will stop as if it had found a signal, often without any sound. That is a birdie. Make a list of all the birdies in your scanner for future reference.
UNITED STATES BROADCAST BAND
In the United States, there are several broadcast bands. The standard AM and FM bands are probably the most well known. There are also four televi- sion audio broadcast bands — the low- er three transmit on the VHF band and the fourth transmits on the UHF band. You can use your scanner to monitor the
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