2000649 / PRO-649 User’s Guide HANDHELD RADIO SCANNER Thank you for purchasing your Handheld Radio Scanner from RadioShack. Please read this user’s guide before setting up and using your new scanner.
Contents Package Contents...................................................... 3 Scanning Legally......................................................... 3 Features...................................................................... 4 Scanner Basics............................................................ 5 Setup.......................................................................... 6 Connecting the Antenna...................................................6 Connecting a Speaker or Headphones.....
Package Contents • Scanner • Belt Clip • Antenna • User’s Guide • Quick Start Guide • Alkaline Battery Holder • Rechargeable Battery Holder Scanning Legally Your scanner covers frequencies used by many different groups including police and fire departments, ambulance services, government agencies, private companies, amateur radio services, military operations, pager services, and wireline (telephone and telegraph) service providers.
Features Your new PRO-649 Handheld Scanner lets you scan conventional transmissions, and is preprogrammed with search banks for convenience. By pressing a one touch search key, you can quickly search those frequencies most commonly used by public service and other agencies without tedious and complicated programming.
Scanner Basics After you familiarize yourself with your scanner’s features you can then set up your scanner. Frequencies A frequency is the waveband of the transmitting signal (expressed in kHz or MHz). Your PRO-649 receives a range of analog frequencies; the best resource for your local frequencies is www.radioreference.com. Also, you can use your scanner’s search functions to find active frequencies in your area.
Setup Connecting the Antenna To attach the supplied flexible antenna to the antenna jack on top of your scanner, align the slots around the antenna’s connector with the tabs on the antenna jack. Press the antenna down over the jack and turn the antenna’s base clockwise until it locks into place. Connecting an Outdoor Antenna To connect an external antenna, follow the installation instructions supplied with the antenna. Use 50 Ohm coaxial cable, such as RG-58 or RG-8.
Connecting a Speaker or Headphones You can plug an amplified speaker or headphones (not supplied) with Çinch (3.5 mm) mini-plug into the HEADPHONE jack on the top of the scanner. This automatically disconnects the internal speaker. Note: Use an amplified speaker with this scanner. Nonamplified speakers do not provide sufficient volume for comfortable listening. Listening Safely To protect your hearing, follow these guidelines: • Do not listen at high volume levels.
Powering Your Scanner Using Batteries Your scanner has a built-in charging circuit to maintain peak performance of your Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) or Nickel Cadmium (Ni-CD) rechargeable batteries (not supplied) while they are in the scanner. RECHARGEABLE BATTERY HOLDER ALKALINE BATTERY HOLDER For the best performance, use alkaline batteries. For rechargeable battery holder, we recommend nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries. You must charge rechargeable batteries before you use them the first time.
Cautions: The battery holders fit only one way. Do not force them. Use only fresh batteries of the required size and recommended type. Remove old or weak batteries. Batteries can leak chemicals that destroy electronic circuits. Dispose of old batteries promptly and properly. Do not burn or bury them. Do not mix old and new batteries, different types of batteries (alkaline, or rechargeable), or rechargeable batteries of different capacities.
Understanding the Keypad Turning Off the Key Tone The scanner is preset to sound a tone each time you press one of its keys. To turn the key tone on and off: 1. Turn on the scanner. WELCOME SCAnnInG rECEIVEr appears. 2. While the welcome message is on the screen, press 1 to turn on the key tone or press 2 to turn it off.
– Signal Stalker II. PSE (Pause) – Stop and restart a search or tune. – Search the preprogrammed marine bank. – Search the preprogrammed fire/police bank. – Search the preprogrammed aircraft bank. – Search the preprogrammed amateur radio bank. – Search the preprogrammed weather bank, or hold to jump to the Skywarn® channel. (First, program your local Skywarn® frequency into channel 200). SCAN / MAN (Manual) – Press to scan programmed channels. Press again to monitor a single channel.
Understanding the Display Row 1 – Signal Stalker II search is active. BANK – Appears with numbers (1-10) to indicate the scan bank. The bar under the bank number shows banks that are turned on for scanning. - Keypad locked. Row 2 WX – Searching weather channels. MAR – Searching the marine bank. FD/PD – Searching the fire/police bank. AIR – Searching the aircraft bank. HAM – Searching the amateur radio bank. Row 3 - Skywarn® channel active. 000 – Channel number the scanner is tuned to.
Display Messages ALL CH L-out – All channels locked out during scan or marine band search. b X Ch-FULL – All displayed bank channels are full. b X StorE – Frequency programmed into displayed bank’s channel. CLOnE – Clone mode. -dUPL- – Frequency is already stored in another channel. Error – Entry error. FLo ALL- CL – All the locked-out frequencies removed during a FD/PD, AIRCRAFT, or HAM bank search. L-r – Review the locked-out frequencies. L-O Fr-FULL – Maximum of 50 frequencies already locked out.
Configuring Your Scanner Preprogrammed Frequencies Your scanner includes 153 preprogrammed frequencies, which you can load into Channels 1 to 153. For a list of these frequencies, see “Preprogrammed Frequency List” on page 26. To load the preprogrammed frequencies: 1. Turn off the scanner and then turn it on again. 2. While WELCOME message appears, press PGM. 3. Load –Fr– appears, then YES––Ent and No––CLEAr appear alternately. 4. Press ENT to load frequencies or CLEAR to cancel.
Programming with a Computer You can upload or download programmed data to or from a PC using a USB cable available from your local RadioShack store or www.RadioShack.com. The application software is available online. Use a search engine to find “scanner programming software.” Follow instructions in the software package to upload and download data. Cloning Programmed Data You can transfer the programmed data to and from a PRO-649 scanner using an optional connecting cable with Ç-inch (3.
Searching for Frequencies During a tune search, the scanner tunes up or down starting from a frequency you specify. 1. Press TUNE. The display alternates between PSE and –t–. 3 1 2 2. If you want to change the starting frequency, enter a new frequency and press ENT. 2 3. Press PSE to start tune search. –t– appears on the display. 4. To change the tuning direction, press or . Service Bank Search Your scanner contains groups of preset frequencies called Service Banks.
Storing Found Frequencies You can save frequencies in channel-storage banks. 1. Press ENT when you find a frequency. The bank number and StorE appear. 2. To change banks, enter the new bank number. 3 2 3. Press ENT. The channel and frequency flash twice. To cancel the operation, press 1,3 TUNE/CLEAR. • The frequency is automatically stored in the first empty channel of the selected bank. • If the scanner displays -dUPL-, the frequency is already stored in another channel. Press ENT to continue.
Scanning and Monitoring Press SCAN/MAN until SCAN appears to continuously scan through all channels with stored frequencies. If the scanner finds an active frequency, it pauses until the transmission ends. Press or to change the scanning direction. To monitor a channel, press SCAN/MAN so that MAN appears. The scanner does not scan channels in banks that are turned off. To turn a channel-storage bank on or off, press the bank’s number key (1–0, using 0 for bank 10) during scanning.
Using the Priority Channel The priority feature sets the scanner to check one specific channel every two seconds while scanning. You can only program one frequency into the priority channel. 1. Press PGM. 2. Press PRI/ALERT. PCH and 000.000 0 (or the previously stored frequency) appear. 3. Enter the frequency you want stored in the priority channel, then press ENT. 4 2 4. To turn on the priority 3 1 feature, press PRI/ALERT during scanning or searching. PRI appears.
Locking Out Channels You can increase the scanning or search speed by locking out channels or frequencies that have a continuous transmission, such as control channels, weather channels, or birdie frequencies. Press L/O when the scanner stops on a channel or frequency while scanning or searching. The scanner locks out the channel/frequency and continues scanning/searching. To manually lock-out a channel, select the channel then press L/O. L/0 appears in the display.
Unlocking All Service Bank Frequencies 1. Hold down L/O/L/O RV W for about two seconds during a Service Bank search. L-r appears. 2. While holding down TUNE/CLEAR, press L/O/L/O RV W. FLo ALL–CL appears for about two seconds. Then the display alternates with YES - -Ent and No --CLEAr. 3. Press ENT. L-r EMPty appears. The scanner clears lock-outs from all frequencies in the Service Bank. Clearing a Stored Channel To remove a frequency stored in a channel. 1. Press SCAN/MAN to stop scanning. 2.
Weather Features The NOAA and your local weather reporting agency broadcast local forecast and regional weather information on one or more channels allocated for use by weather reporting agencies. Your scanner is an extremely sensitive high-quality receiver on the weather frequencies. However, the included antenna is optimized for general purpose scanning. To receive weather alerts, please make sure you are receiving a clear signal or switch to an external antenna.
SAME Standby Mode In SAME Standby mode, your scanner monitors weather channels for SAME alerts for up to seven areas you specify by entering the FIPS codes. To program your scanner for SAME Standby mode: 1. Press . 2. Press PGM to access the FIPS code entry mode. 3. Use or to select the desired FIPS code storage location. 4. Use the number keys to enter the FIPS code, then press ENT to store the code. 1,6 7 4 3 2 4 5. Repeat steps 3-4 for all the FIPS codes that you wish to store. 6.
Testing the Weather Alert and Beep Tone 1. To test the weather alert, press and hold ENT for more than 2 seconds while F [1-7] CH StAndby appears on the display. The display indicates the type of message, and the scanner sounds an alert or series of beeps. The beeps automatically change every 3 seconds. 2. Press any key to stop testing. Skywarn® Many areas of the country have amateur radio repeaters that have been designated as “Skywarn®” repeaters.
Additional Information Care Your scanner is not waterproof. Do not expose it to rain, moisture, or extremely high humidity. If the scanner gets wet, wipe it dry immediately. Use and store the scanner only in normal temperature environments. Handle the scanner carefully; do not drop it. Keep the scanner away from dust and dirt, and wipe it with a damp cloth occasionally to keep it looking new.
Preprogrammed Frequency List Channel .........Frequency (MHz) Bank 1 1............................................40.5000 2............................................ 52.5250 3..........................................121.5000 4......................................... 122.0000 5......................................... 122.2000 6..........................................122.7000 7..........................................122.7500 8......................................... 122.8000 9.......................
Bank 7 121.....................................462.5750 122.....................................462.5875 123.................................... 462.6000 124..................................... 462.6125 125.....................................462.6250 126..................................... 462.6375 127.....................................462.6500 128.....................................462.6625 129.....................................462.6750 130.....................................462.6875 131..........
Service Banks The scanner is preprogrammed with the frequencies allocated to marine, fire/police, aircraft, ham radio broadcast and weather services. This is handy for quickly finding active frequencies instead of searching through an entire bank (see “Service Bank Search” on page 16). Fire/Police Group 1 Frequency Range (MHz) ....................................................Step (kHz) 33.420-33.980.......................................................................................................
Marine Channel .................................................................. Frequency (MHz) 01.................................................................................................................156.0500 05................................................................................................................156.2500 06................................................................................................................156.3000 07.........................................
Specifications Frequency Coverage 29-54 MHz................................................................... (5 kHz steps)/FM 108-136.9875 MHz..............................................(12.5 kHz steps)/AM 137-144 MHz......................................................... (12.5 kHz steps)/FM 144-148 MHz............................................................... (5 kHz steps)/FM 148-150.8 MHz..................................................... (12.5 kHz steps)/FM 150.8-162 MHz.....................
FCC Notice This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a scanning receiver, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
Limited Warranty General Wireless Operations Inc., doing business as RadioShack (hereafter “RadioShack”) warrants this product against defects in materials and workmanship under normal use by the original purchaser for one (1) year after the date of purchase from a RadioShackowned store or an authorized RadioShack franchisee or dealer. RADIOSHACK MAKES NO OTHER EXPRESS WARRANTIES.
THAT MAY BE IMPOSED BY LAW, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY AND, IF APPLICABLE, THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, SHALL EXPIRE ON THE EXPIRATION OF THE STATED WARRANTY PERIOD.
© 2015 General Wireless Operations Inc. All rights reserved. RadioShack is a registered trademark used under license by General Wireless Operations Inc. dba RadioShack. 2000649 12B15 Printed in Philippines (Rev.
