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)
Privacy Policy