20-496 PRO-2096 Digital Trunking Mobile/Base Scanner

The Basicsstep 3: connect your scannerconnect the supplied antennaPush the antenna onto yourscanner’s antenna connector androtate until it locks into place.Your scanner’s sensitivity tovarious frequencies depends onits location and the antenna’slength. For best reception, adjust the antenna’s length asfollows:FrequencyAntenna Length25-54 MHzExtend fully108-174 MHzExtend 4 segments216-225 MHzExtend 3 segments406-1300 MHzCollapse fullyconnect an external antennaYou will need to connect an external antenna when youmount your scanner in the dashboard of your vehicle. Youmay also want to connect an external antenna if you use yourscanner as a base station.Your local RadioShack storesells a variety of antennas.Always use 50-ohm coaxialcable, such as RG-58 or RG-8, toconnect an outdoor antenna. Forlengths exceeding 50 feet, useRG-8 low-loss dielectric coaxialcable. If your coaxial cable does not have a BNC connector,you will also need a BNC adapter (not supplied).15

The BasicsUse extreme caution when installing or removing anoutdoor antenna. If the antenna starts to fall, let it go!It could contact overhead power lines. If the antennatouches a power line, touching the antenna, mast, cable,or guy wires can cause electrocution and death. Call thepower company to remove the antenna. Do not attemptto do so yourself.Warning!connect an external speaker or headphonesWhen you mount your scanner in your dashboard, you willneed to connect an external speaker or headphones.Connect externalspeaker hereConnectheadphones herelistening safelyTo protect your hearing, follow these guidelines when you useheadphones. Adjust VOL (volume) to its lowest level before putting onheadphones. With the headphones on, adjust VOL to acomfortable level. Avoid increasing the volume once you set it. Over time, yoursensitivity to volume decreases, so volume levels that do notcause discomfort might damage your hearing. Avoid listening at high volume levels. Prolonged exposure tohigh volume levels can cause permanent hearing loss.traffic safetyDo not wear headphones while driving. This can create a traffichazard and is illegal in some areas. Even though some headphoneslet you hear outside sounds when you listen at normal levels, theystill can present a traffic hazard.16

The Basicsstep 4: set up your scannersquelch1. Rotate VOL clockwise to turn on your scanner. DSP LOADINGand Welcome To Digital Trunking appears. In a few seconds,you might hear a hissing sound.2. Adjust VOL to a comfortable listening level.3. Rotate SQ (squelch) fully counterclockwise to OFF. Then,rotate SQ clockwise until the hissing sound stops.4. To turn off the scanner, turn VOL counterclockwise to OFF.storing conventional frequencies1. Turn on your scanner and press PROG.2. Select the desired channel storage bank and channel, andthen press PROG.3. Use the number keys and ./DELAY (to enter the decimalpoint) to enter the frequency you want to store.4. Press ENT to store the frequency.5. The scanner configures the channels you enter after atwo second delay. A D appears at the top of the display. Ifyou do not want the scanner to pause before it resumesscanning, press ./DELAY until D no longer appears on thedisplay.6. To receive conventional frequencies, including AM,FM/Digital, CTCSS and DCS, press MODE. For moreinformation on CTCSS and DCS programming, see“Programming CTCSS/DCS channels”.7. If desired, program a text tag for the channel. See“Assigning a Text Tag to a Channel”.8. To program additional channels, press PROG or e or d tomove to the next channel memory location.17

The BasicsNotesIf you make a mistake entering the frequency, Invalid Freqbriefly appears.When you store a frequency by pressing ENT, yourscanner beeps.Press CLEAR to backspace and correct a character, or holddown CLEAR for about two seconds to clear the entire fieldand start over.Your scanner automatically rounds the frequency youenter to the nearest valid frequency. For example, if youenter 151.53, your scanner accepts it as 151.5275. Receptionof the frequency will not be adversely affected.If you enter a frequency that is already stored, an errortone sounds. Dupl.f and the duplicated frequency numberappear. Press CLEAR and enter another frequency.You can replace any stored frequency by selecting thedesired bank and channel, pressing PROG, and thenentering the new frequency.Press FUNC, and then CLEAR to erase programmedfrequency data.deleting frequencies from channelsIn certain circumstances you may wish to completely clearthe contents of a channel. One example would be to createempty channels in a selected channel storage bank so thefrequency copy function has empty channels available forcopied frequencies. See “Copying a Frequency to a VacantChannel into a Specified Bank”.1. Press PROG.2. Use the number keys or e or d to select the frequency youwant to delete.3. Press FUNC, and then CLEAR. The frequency is cleared, and0.00000 appears on the display.18

The Basicssearching and tuningYou can search for transmissions using the scanner’spreprogrammed search banks. The search banks include sixpreprogrammed search ranges, SR0 to SR5. You can changethe search range of Bank SR6 manually by setting the lowerand higher ends of the search range.NotesYou can use the scanner’s delay feature while searching.See “Using Delay”.You can set CTCSS or DCS mode when searching anyrange, except for SR0, SR1, and SR4. The scanner willdisplay detected CTCSS or DCS codes depending on themode setting. See “Using CTCSS and DCS”.The scanner does not search locked-out frequencieswhile searching ranges.You can use PAUSE to temporarily pause searching. Thescanner will remain on the frequency that was activewhen PAUSE was pressed until you press PAUSE again.You can simply listen to the radio traffic on the pausedfrequency, or copy the frequency to a channel beforeresuming your search.19

The Basicsbasic scanningPress SCAN to begin scanning channels. The scanner scansthrough all channels in the active channel storage bank. See“About Channel Storage Banks”. You must store frequencies into channels before you canscan them. The scanner does not scan through emptychannels. To change the scanning direction, press e or d whilescanning.about channel-storage banks To turn on a channel storage bank, press the numberkey corresponding to the desired bank until the bank’snumber appears on the display. To turn off a channel storage bank, press the numberkey corresponding to the desired bank until the bank’snumber disappears from the display. The scanner does not scan channels within a bank youhave turned off; however, you can manually select anychannel in a storage bank, even if the bank is turned off. You cannot turn off all channel storage banks. There mustalways be at least one active channel storage bank.monitoring a single channelYou can monitor a single channel by manually navigating tothat channel. The scanner will receive transmissions only onthat frequency.20

Beyond the Basicsusing CTCSS and DCSYour scanner’s advanced, DSP-based CTCSS and DCS,decoder allows you to listen only to a frequency group that isof interest to you. Simply specify the group’s specific CTCSSor DCS code for a certain frequency. CTCSS and DCS canalso help reduce interfering signals that cause your scannerto stop on one channel.When your scanner stops on a conventional frequency that isconfigured for CTCSS or DCS, it checks for a match betweenthe transmitted CTCSS or DCS code and the code stored inchannel memory. If the transmitted and stored codes match,the scanner stops on the transmission and allows the audioto pass to the speaker. If the codes do not match, the scannerresumes scanning. If the special “search” code is in use,the scanner instantly displays any detected CTCSS code ifprogrammed for CTCSS mode, or DCS code if programmedfor DCS code. You can store the detected code into channelmemory by pressing ENT while the code is displayed.searching a preprogrammed frequency rangeThe scanner contains these preprogrammed search ranges,stored in the search bank 3Police/FireSR4AircraftSR5HamSR6Limit search (User configurable)1. Repeatedly press SRCH to select a search bank.21

Beyond the Basics2. In the marine, CB and FRS bands, you can directly selecta channel or search through the band. When M appearson the left on the second line, you can directly select achannel (see “Search Bank Charts”). Use the numerickeypad to select a specific two-digit channel number (forexample, press 1 6 to select Channel 16, or 0 5 to selectchannel 5). You can also change the channels by pressinge or d.There are several group banks in the SR3 Police/Fire andSR5 ham bands. You can turn on the groups by pressingthe group numbers. For example, to turn on group 0,press 0.3. Press FUNC, SRCH while M appears in SR0, SR1 or SR2. Mchanges to S. Then search through the band. To return tothe previous mode, press FUNC, SRCH.4. Rotate SQ clockwise and leave it set to a point just afterthe hissing sound stops. After two seconds (if the delayfeature is on), the received frequency appears and thescanner starts searching.5. When the scanner finds an active frequency, it stopssearching, and resumes when the transmission ends. Ifdelay is programmed with the search range the scannerwill pause for a reply before search resumes.search bank chartsSearch bank: SR0 Marine bandNoteFor some Marine frequencies, two frequencies areassigned to one channel, for example, 157.000 and161.600 are assigned to Channel 20.22

Beyond the BasicsReceive mode: 161.825085157.2750161.875023

Beyond the 50Search bank: SR1 CB bandReceive mode: ch bank: SR2 FRS/GMRS/MURSReceive Mode: FM/Digital, CT or DC24

Beyond the 27154.6000Search bank: SR3 Police/Fire bandReceive Mode: FM/Digital, CT or DCGroup0Frequency (MHz)Step (kHz)33.420 – 33.9802037.020 – 37.4202039.020 – 39.9802042.020 – 42.9402044.620 – 45.8604045.88045.90045.940 – 46.0604046.080 – 46.5002025

Beyond the Basics1153.770 – 154.13060154.145 – 154.44515154.650 – 154.95015155.010 – 155.37060155.415 – 155.70015155.730 – 156.21060158.730 – 159.21060166.250170.15023453.0375 – 453.962512.5458.0375 – 458.962512.5460.0125 – 460.637512.5465.0125 – 465.637512.5851.0125 – 860.987525866.0125 – 868.987512.5Search bank: SR4 AircraftReceive mode: AMFrequency (MHz)Step (kHz)108.000 – 136.987512.5Search bank: SR5 Ham bandReceive mode: FM/Digital, CT, DC, AM (depends on group)GroupFrequency (MHz)Step (kHz)028.0000 – 29.70005150.0000 – 54.000052144.0000 – 148.000053222.0000 – 225.000054420.0000 – 450.000012.551240.0000 –1300.00006.2526

Beyond the Basicssearching for active frequenciesYou can search a specific range of frequencies byprogramming SR6 with lower and upper frequency limits.1. Press PGM, SRCH. PSR (Program Search) appears in the topline and the cursor blinks L on the second line for thelower limit frequency.2. Use the number keys and ./DELAY to enter the desiredlower limit frequency (including the decimal point).3. Press ENTER to set the lower limit frequency. The cursormoves to upper frequency field. If the entered frequencyis incorrect, Invalid Freq briefly appears in the scanner’sdisplay.4. Enter your desired upper frequency and press ENTER.5. Rotate SQUELCH clockwise and leave it set to a point justafter the hissing sound stops.6. Press SRCH to start searching. When the scanner finds anactive frequency, it stops searching.using ZeromaticZeromatic sets the scanner to automatically tune to thecorrect center frequency (or the step increment closest to thecorrect center frequency) during a search. Turn Zeromatic onor off by pressing FUNC then 0. When this feature is turned on,Zeromatic ON briefly appears on the display. Then, z appearsas the first digit on the second line. If the scanner stops on asignal before it reaches the correct center frequency, skip tothe correct frequency using e or d. Zeromatic functions onlyin search banks 3, 4, 5, and 6.using seek searchWhile the scanner is searching, press FUNC, 7 to turn on seeksearch. Seek ON appears on the bottom line. The scanner27

Beyond the Basicsstops on each active frequency for five seconds thenautomatically resumes searching. You can copy and save a frequency into a specified bank,channel, or priority channel when the scanner finds anactive frequency. See “Frequency Copy” on Page 29 to savethe frequency. Frequency copy works only in search banks1 - 6. In the Air and Limit search bands, press FUNC then e tostart searching up from the lowest frequency or d to startsearching down from the highest frequency. You can press e or d at any time to change the searchdirection or resume searching while stopped on an activefrequency. Use e or d while paused to increment the frequency onestep at a time.manually tuning to a frequencyYou can manually set the scanner to move through allreceivable frequencies, or select a specific frequency as astarting point.1. Press TUNE. TUNE, the current frequency, and ** PAUSED **appear on the display.2. Use the number keys to enter the frequency where youwant the scanner to start.3. Press ENT to store the frequency. Press e or d to step upor down from the displayed frequency, or press PAUSE tobegin automatic tuning.Note4. Press e or d to change the automatic tuning direction. Thescanner stops when it finds an active frequency.If you press PAUSE while tuning, the scanner stops tuningand **PAUSED** appears on the display. Press PAUSE again,and the scanner resumes tuning.28

Beyond the Basicsfrequency copyYou can copy a frequency into a specified channel, a vacantchannel in a specified bank, or a priority channel. This featurelets you easily store frequencies of interest you encounterwhile searching or tuning. You cannot copy a frequency fromthe Marine search bands.copying a frequency into a specified channelYou can copy a frequency into a channel you specify whenthe scanner stops on that frequency during search modeor when you manually tune it. If a CTCSS or DCS codeis detected on the transmission, the scanner copies thedetected code into the channel memory as well.If you try to copy a frequency that is already stored, thescanner sounds a tone after you press ENT. Dupl.f Chxxx appearsat the bottom line. To copy the duplicate frequency anyway,press ENT. Otherwise, press CLEAR to cancel.1. Press FUNC, PROG when you find a frequency. Chan Store?appears on the bottom line. After about one second, thefrequency to be copied flashes on the indicator.2. Press the desired bank number and channel numberwhere you want to store the frequency. The bank andchannel number, then the frequency appear. You canrepeat this step as needed until you find an acceptabledestination channel. After about one second, thefrequency to be copied flashes.3. Press ENT. All the conditions, such as receive mode anddelay condition, are copied onto the channel. Chan Store!briefly appears. The scanner automatically returns tosearch mode.29

Beyond the Basicscopying a frequency to a vacant channelinto a specified bankYou can copy a frequency into a vacant channel in a bankyou specify when the scanner stops on the frequency duringsearch or tune mode.If you try to copy a frequency that is already stored, thescanner sounds a tone after you press ENT. Dupl.f Chxxx appearsat the bottom line. To copy the duplicate frequency anyway,press ENT. Otherwise, press CLEAR to cancel.1. Press FUNC, ENT when you find a frequency you want tocopy. Bank9 Store? appears.2. To copy the frequency into bank 9, press ENT. The scannerstores the frequency in the first available vacant channelin the bank. Otherwise, enter any bank number thenpress ENT to store the frequency in the selected bank.Chan Store! appears for two seconds. All the conditions,such as receiving mode and delay condition, are copiedon the channel. After about two seconds, the scannerautomatically returns to search mode.copying a frequency to the priority channelYou can copy a frequency into the priority channel (see“Programming the Priority Channel”) when the scannerstops on the frequency during Search, Scan, Manual, Tune,or WX mode. Press FUNC, PRI when the frequency appears.The display flashes twice and the frequency is copied to thepriority channel.30

Beyond the Basicslistening to the weather bandThe FCC (Federal Communications Commission) hasallocated channels for use by the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration (NOAA). Regulatory agencies inother countries have also allocated channels for use by theirweather reporting authorities.NOAA and your local weather reporting authority broadcastyour local forecast and regional weather information on oneor more of these channels.1. To hear your local forecast and regional weatherinformation, press WX. Your scanner scans through theweather band, and then stops on the first active weatherfrequency.2. Repeatedly press WX to find the strongest weatherfrequency for your location.3. If necess

Thank you for purchasing your Pro-2096 digital trunk scanner from RadioShack. You can mount your scanner in a fi xed position and use it as a base scanner or you can use it as a mobile scanner by mounting it in a vehicle. This scanner is the fi rst of an innovative and exciting new gene