PRO-2002 AM/FM Scanning Receiver (200-0116) Guide to Action Bands Faxback Doc. # 18979 Before Using Your PRO-2002 Mobile... Using receivers capable of covering police, fire, emergency and ambulance frequencies in your car may be restricted by law in some areas. Before installing your PRO-2002 in your car, check to be sure of the regulations in your locality. GUIDE TO THE ACTION BANDS Lots of things are going on that most of us just are never aware of. But, with the right frequencies programmed into your PRO-2002, you can monitor such exciting signals. You'll have to do a little investigating in your community to find out what services are active and on what frequencies. You will find one of our books to be very interesting and helpful in this area: REALISTIC GUIDE TO POLICE, FIRE AND AIRCRAFT RADIO. What to listen for and where? That is a little difficult for a specific answer. Each area of the country can and will use different channels. All we can do is give you some general pointers and then let you take it from there. Find out if there is a local club which monitors these frequencies. Often a local electronics repair shop that does work on the equipment can give you the channel frequencies used by local radio services. A volunteer police or fire employee can also be a good source of this information. An interesting service is the Mobile Telephone. FCC has assigned this service channels in the range of 152.51 to 152.81 MHz at every 0.030 MHz (channels are 30 kHz apart). Also, 454.375 to 454.95 MHz with channels 25 kHz apart from 454.375 to 454.625 and then every 50 kHz up to 454.95. As a general rule on VHF, most activity will be concentrated between 153.785 and 155.98 and then again from 158.73 to 159.46 MHz. Here you'll find local government, police, fire and most such emergency services. If you are near a railroad yard or major railroad tracks, look around 160.0 to 161.9 for them. In some of the larger cities, there has been a move to the UHF bands for these emergency services. Here, most of the activity is in a spread of 453.025 - 453.95 and again at 456.025 - 459.95 MHz. In the UHF band, the overall spread of 456.025 - 459.95 and again at 465.025 - 469.975 MHz is used by mobile units and control stations associated with base and repeater units which operate 5 MHz lower (that is 451.025 - 454.95 and 460.025 - 464.975 MHz). This means that if you find an active channel inside one of these spreads, you can look 5 MHz lower (or higher as the case may be) to find the major base station/repeater for that radio service. A handy book to have is the POLICE CALL RADIO DIRECTORY for your region. Stop by your local Radio Shack store and ask about it. It has complete listings, by frequency, of the various radio services in the bands covered by your PRO-2002. These Directories are updated every year, so get a current one. TYPICAL BAND USAGE The following is an abbreviated listing of what's going on in the frequency ranges your PRO-2002 can receive-it'll help you decide which ranges you'd like to choose. Here's a list of abbreviations used: Affiliate Radio System.......................MARS Armature.....................................Ham Automobile Emergency.........................Auto Emer. Broadcast Remote.............................BC. R. Bureau of Reclamation........................Bur. Recl. Civil Air Patrol.............................CAP Department of Agriculture and Forestry......Agr. and For. Fire Department..............................F.D. Forest Products..............................For. Prod. Forestry Conservation........................Fors. Cons. Government...................................Govt. Highway Maintenance..........................Hwy. Indian Affairs............................... Land Transportation......................... Land Tr. Local government............................ L. Govt. Manufactures.................................Mfg. Marine....................................... Military.....................................MIL Mobile Telephone.............................Mob. Tel. Motion Picture...............................Mot. P. Motor Carrier................................Buses. Trucks National Parks...............................Nat. Pk. Petroleum....................................Pet. Police.......................................P.D. Power Utilities..............................Power Radio Paging.................................Page Railroad.....................................R.R. Red Cross.................................... Relay Press..................................Press State Police.................................St. P.D. Special Emergency............................Sp. Ind. Taxicab Radio................................Taxi Telephone Maintenance........................Tel. Maint. U.S. Coastal and Goedetic Survey............U.S.C.G.S. U.S. Navy....................................USN U.S. Weather Bureau..........................U.S.W.B. 30 ~ 50 MHz Band (0.020 MHz or 20 kHz spacing) 30.01~30.56.....................................................Govt. 30.56~30.62..................................................Sp. Ind. 30.66~31.24.................Ind. (Pet., For. Cons., Bus., For. Prod.) 31.26~31.98......................................Sp. Ind., For. Cons. 32.00~33.00.....................................................Govt. 33.02~33.16.....................................Hwy., Sp. Emer., Bus. 33.18~33.38......................................................Pet. 33.42~33.98......................................................F.D. 34.00~35.00.....................................................Govt. 35.02~35.18......................................................Bus. 35.22~35.66..........................................Mob. Tel. & Page 35.70~35.72......................................................Bus. 35.74~35.98...........................................Sp. Ind. & Bus. 36.00~37.00.....................................................Govt. 37.02~37.44...........................................P.D. & L. Govt. 37.46~37.86.....................................................Power 37.90~37.98..........................................Hwy. & Sp. Emer. 38.00~39.00.....................................................Govt. 39.02~39.98............................................P.D., L. Govt. 40.00~42.00.....................................................Govt. 42.02~42.49..................................................St. P.D. 42.96~43.18...........................................Sp. Ind. & Bus. 43.22~43.68............................................Mob. Tel. Page 43.70~44.60..............................................Trucks, Bus. 44.62~45.06......................................St. P.D., For. Cons. 45.08~45.66......................................................P.D. 45.68~46.04......................................P.D. Hwy., Sp. Emer. 46.06~46.50......................................................F.D. 46.52~46.58..................................................L. Govt. 46.60~47.00.....................................................Govt. 47.02~47.40..................................................St. Hwy. 47.42.......................................................Red Cross 47.44~47.68.......................................Sp. Ind., Sp. Emer. 47.70~48.54.....................................................Power 48.56~49.58..........................................For. Prod., Pet. 49.60~50.00.....................................................Govt. 108~136 MHz Band 108~118................................................Air Navigation 118~136......................................................Aircraft 144~148 MHz 2 Meter Amateur (Ham) Band 148~174 MHz Band Mixed Spacing (15, 20, 25 kHz) 148.010..........................................................MARS 148.15............................................................CAP 148.155~148.250...................................................MIL 148.290~150.750...................................................USN 150.815~150.995..................................................Bus. 151.010~151.130..................................................Hwy. 151.145~151.475............................................For. Cons. 151.505~151.595..............................................Sp. Ind. 151.625~151.955..................................................Bus. 151.985~152.240.......................................Mob. Tel. (RCC) 152.270~152.450..................................................Taxi 152.480~152.840........................................Mob. Tel. Page 152.870~153.020.....................................Sp. Ind., Mot. P. 153.050~153.440......................................Pet., For. Prod. 153.470~153.710.................................................Power 153.740~154.115..............................................L. Govt. 154.130~154.445..................................................F.D. 154.450~154.600..................................Sp. Ind., Pet., Bus. 154.655~155.145.............................P. D., L. Govt., St. P.D. 155.160~155.400.......................................Sp. Emer., P.D. 155.415~156.030........................................P.D., L. Govt. 156.045~156.240............................................Hwy., P.D. 156.275~157.425................................................Marine 157.456~157.500............................................Auto Emer. 157.530~157.710..................................................Taxi 157.740~158.100.......................................Mob. Tel., Page 158.130~158.460...............................Power, For. Prod., Pet. 158.490~158.700.......................................Mob. Tel. (RCC) 158.730~158.970........................................P.D., L. Govt. 158.985~159.210.............................................P.D. Hwy. 159.225~159.465............................................For. Cons. 159.510~160.200................................................Trucks 160.215~161.565..................................................R.R. 161.600~162.000................................................Marine 162.026~162.175............................................Bur. Recl. 162.400 .....................................................U.S.W.B. 162.550~.....................................................U.S.W.B. 163.125~...............................................Indian Affairs 163.175~...................................................Bur. Recl. 163.275 .....................................................U.S.W.B. 163.388~163.538...................................................MIL 163.825~163.975.................................................Govt. 165.025~164.075............................................U.S.C.G.S. 164.175~165.188...............Bur. Recl., Nat. Pk.,Govt., Agr. & For. 169.300 ................................................F.A.A. 169.450~169.725............................................Ind., Data 170.150 .................................................F.D., BC. R. 170.200~170.220............................................U.S.C.G.S. 170.225~170.325........................................Ind., Land Tr. 170.425~170.575............................................For. Cons. 170.975~171.250..................................Govt. Ind., Land Tr. 171.388~172.725...............................Bur. Recl., For. Cons., Ind., Dept. Ag. & For., Govt. 172.775 .....................................................Nat. Pk. 173.025 .....................................................U.S.W.B. 173.075 ...................................................U.S.C.G.S. 173.204~.......................Mot. P., Pet., Bur. Recl. Press Relay. 430~450 MHz Amateur (Ham) Band 450~512 MNz Band (25 kHz Spacing) 450.050~450.950................................................BC. R. 451.000~451.150.................................................Util. 451.175~451.750.....................For. Prod., Pet., Pwr., Tel.Maint 451.775~451.975............................................Spec. Ind. 452.000~452.500..............................Taxi, Mot. Carrier, R.R. 452.525~452.600.............................................Auto Club 452.625~452.975.....................................Motor Carr., R.R. 453.000~453.975..................................L. Govt., P.D., F.D. 454.000~454.975.............................................Mob. Tel. 455.000~455.975............................................Remote Br. 456.000~458.975............................P.D., F.D., Ind., Lan. Tr. 459.000~459.975.......................................Domestic Public 460.000~460.625............................................P.D., F.D. 460.650~462.175..................................................Bus. 462.200~462.450..................................................Taxi 462.750~462.975..................................................Bus. 463.000~463.175...............................................Medical 463.200~464.975..................................................Bus. 465.000~467.500............................P.D., F.D., Ind., Land Tr. 467.750~467.925..................................................Bus. 467.7375~469.975..........................Pub. Safety, Ind., Land Tr. In some large metropolitan areas, 1 or 2 channels of the "TV Band" (470 MHz to 512 MHz) are used for special communications. Each station (Channels 14 through 20) uses 6 MHz: 470~476 T.V. Channel 14 476~482 T.V. Channel 15 482~488 T.V. Channel 16 488~494 T.V. Channel 17 494~500 T.V. Channel 18 500~506 T.V. Channel 19 506~512 T.V. Channel 20 Where these frequencies are assigned for special communications, in lieu of a T.V. station, the 6 MHz segment is allocated as shown here for channel 14 (470~476 MHz.) 470.0125~470.2875........................Domestic Public (Base, Mob.) 470.3125~471.1375.......................................Public Safety 471.1625~471.2875......................................Reserve Pool A 471.3125~471.4125....................................Pw., Tel. Maint. 471.4375~471.6375..........................................Spec. Ind. 471.6625~471.7875......................................Reserve Pool B 471.8125~472.3375................................................Bus. 472.3625~472.4375................................................Taxi 472.4675~472.7875.....................R.R., Motor Carrier, Auto Emer. 472.8125~472.9875..............................Pet., For. Prod., Mfg. 473.0125~473.2875.....................................Domestic Public 473.3125~474.1375.......................................Public Safety 474.1625~474.2875......................................Reserve Pool A 474.3125~474.4125...................................Pwr., Tel. Maint. 474.4375~474.6375.................................Spec. Ind. (Mobile) 474.6625~4747875......................................Reserve Pool B. 474.8125~475.3375................................................Bus. 475.3625~475.4375................................................Taxi 475.4625~475.7875.....................R.R., Motor Carrier, Auto Emer. 475.8125~475.9876..............................Pet., For. Prod., Mfg. The same allocation pattern is repeated for each of the TV channels 14 thru 20. For example, if channel 17 is assigned for communications in your area, "Taxi" would be 490.3625 to 480.4375 and 493.3625 to 49..4375 (corresponding to 473.43750 to 472.3625 to 472.4375 and 475.3625 to 475.4375 Above). Note that in the example, we added three TV channels (18 MHz) to the channel 14 frequencies. SOME RANDOM NOTES You'll soon notice some differences between reception on the aircraft band (108-136 MHz) and the other ranges covered by your PRO-2002. Aircraft band stations use AM, while stations on the other ranges covered by your PRO- 2002 use FM. Don't be too surprised if reception is a bit "noisier" on the aircraft band than others. Your PRO-2002 will automatically switch over to AM or FM depending on the frequency you wish to listen on. Reception on the frequencies covered by your PRO-2002 is mainly "line of sight." That means you usually won't be able to hear stations located beyond the horizon at your listening location. You'll be able to hear aircraft at greater distances than ground stations. And during the summer months you may be able to hear stations in the 30-50 MHz range located several hundred or even thousands of miles away. This is due to summer atmospheric conditions; this type of reception is unpredictable (but often very interesting!). One very useful service is the National Weather Service's continuous weather broadcasts. These broadcasts contain weather forecasts and data for the area around the station plus bulletins on any threatening weather conditions. These stations use three frequencies-162.40, 162.475 or 162.55 MHz. In most areas of the country you will be able to receive one of these frequencies. (/all-02/14/96)