PRO 96 SCANNER

I have the same problem. A good shake restores the digital channels to working order for a few hours again.

I think I have a cold solder joint or similar internal problem. I've only had it a few months.

Since a quick shake cures it, I'm not going to return it yet. But it could be that there is something going on with the internals.

It may not be detecting the channels, can you manually change channels and tune into radio activity, if you can't the channel selection is not working. The expence to repair will not justify the cost of a new one.

The NOAA weather frequencies have constant broadcasts, so your scanner "locks" onto them. The only ways to prevent this are to either delete the weather frequency or lock it out. To delete, just program the frequency "0.0" (zero point zero) into the channel. To lock it out, press the L/O key while on the weather freq.

Bill B

Your PRO-96 has 10 banks of 50 channels, giving you access to 500 channels for conventional systems. It also has 11 banks of 500 channels, giving you access to 5500 users on trunked systems. Detailed instructions for programming the scanner are contained in the factory operating instructions, which you can download and print at no cost here:

http://scancat.com/OnLineHelp/OEM_Radio_Owners_Manuals/RadioShack-OlderManuals/Pro-96/pro96.pdf

For a comprehensive database of active frequencies and trunking systems in your area, and a lot of other useful scanning information, visit:

www.RadioReference.com

Bill B

If there is no frequencies on your scanner it will lock all channels out. if all your frequencies are on one bank and you accidentally hit that bank number and turn it off it will lock out all channels. If that's the case just hit that bank no. back on and they will unlock.

PROGRAMMING YOUR SCANNER

For a a comprehensive database of active frequencies in your area, visit:

www.RadioReference.com


1. Turn on your scanner by turning VOLUME clockwise.

2. Press [MANUAL], enter the channel number you want to program, then
press [MANUAL] and [PROGRAM]. The channel number flashes to indicate
you are programming the channel.

3. Enter a frequency.

4. Press [ENTER] to store the frequency. If you make a mistake in Step
3, ERROR appears on the display. Proceed again from Step 3.

5. If you want your scanner to pause after each transmission before
scanning to the next channel, press [DELAY] so that DELAY appears in
the display. See "Using the Delay Feature."

6. To program more channels, repeat Steps 2-4. If you want to program
the next channel in sequence, simply press [PROGRAM] and repeat Steps
3 - 4.

SETTING THE VOLUME AND SQUELCH CONTROLS

Use the SQUELCH control to decrease your scanner's sensitivity to weak
signals. This allows the scanner to receive only the strongest
transmissions.

1. Turn the SQUELCH and VOLUME controls fully counterclockwise.

2. Turn the VOLUME control clockwise until you hear a hissing sound.

3. Slowly turn the SQUELCH control clockwise until the hissing sound
stops.

SCANNING THE CHANNELS

To begin scanning the channels, press [SCAN]. Your scanner scans through
all the channels except the ones you have locked out. Be sure to read the
following sections to get the full benefit from your scanner's special
features.

USING THE DELAY FEATURE

Many agencies use a two-way radio system that might have a 2 second silence
(or more) between a query and a reply. To keep from missing a reply,
program a delay on the channels you identify as operating this way.

To program a delay, select the channel and press [DELAY] so that DELAY
appears on the display. Now when your scanner pauses at an active channel
when scanning, it waits for 2 seconds after the completion of each
transmission on that channel before it resumes scanning.

If you do not want your scanner to pause, select the channel and be sure
that DELAY is not on the display. If DELAY appears on the display, press
[DELAY] to turn it off for that channel.

LOCKING OUT CHANNELS

You can make your scanner scan more efficiently by locking out channels
that you have not programmed. Manually select the channel and press [LOCK
OUT] so that LOCK OUT apperas on the display. This is also handy for
locking out channels that have a continuous transmission. You can still
manually select locked-out channels for listening.

To unlock a channel you have locked, manually select the channel and press
[LOCK OUT] so that LOCK OUT disappears from the display.

NOTE: You cannot lock out Channel 1.

USING THE PRIORITY FEATURE

Channel 1 is designated as your scanner's priority channel. You can turn
on the priority feature so that you do not miss transmissions on Channel 1,
even if you are monitoring another channel.

Press [PRIORITY] so that PRIORITY appears on the display. Now your scanner
checks Channel 1 every 2 seconds, and stays on the channel if there is any
activity.

MANUALLY SELECTING A CHANNEL

You can continuously monitor a specific channel without scanning. This is
useful if you hear an emergency broadcast on a channel and do not want to
miss any details-even though there might be periods of silence-or if you
want to monitor a specific channel.

Follow these steps to manually select a channel.

1. Press MANUAL.

2. Enter the channel number.

3. Press MANUAL again.

Or, if your scanner is scanning and stops at the desired channel, press
MANUAL one time. (Pressing MANUAL additional times causes your scanner
to step through the channels.)

LISTENING TO THE WEATHER BAND

The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has allocated several channels
for use by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). We
have preprogrammed your scanner with all of the frequencies available to
NOAA. To hear your local forecast and regional weather information, simply
press [WX]. Your scanner begins scanning through the weather band, and WX
SEARCH appears on the display.

Your scanner should stop within a few seconds, and you hear the local
weather broadcast. If the broadcast is weak, you can press [WX] again
to scan through the rest of the weather band.

Bill B

Performing a RESET will not clear/erase frequencies or other data programmed into the scanner. If the RESET doesn't work though, you may need to INITIALIZE the scanner. That procedure will clear all programmed data and return the scanner to its "as new" state. Need the manual for your PRO-82? You canb download/print it here:

http://support.radioshack.com/support_electronics/doc69/69887.pdf

For a comprehensive database of active frequencies in your area, visit:

www.RadioReference.com

Bill B

You've somehow "initialized" it meaning, all of your frequencies have been deleted. You'll have to reprogram all of them.
Initializing is good if you want to wipe out everything & start fresh. It's not good when it happens "accidentally". It's happened to me twice & it's frustrating !!

The realistic 2000 series scanners do not have a "VFO" (variable frequency occilator) in the true meaning of the sence. This basicly means that they can only scan the channels or memories that you have programmed.

You can however set a low frequency (like 144 Mhz) and a high frequency (like 145 Mhz) and the scanner will "bounce" between the two, picking up anything in between.

Do you have the operating manual? If not, here is a copy

Turn on your Pro-2010 by rotating [VOLUME] clockwise. (When first turned on, your Pro-2010 may start scanning).
Rotate [SQUELCH] fully counterclockwise. You'll hear a rushing noise from the speaker. Slowly rotate [SQUELCH] clockwise until the noise just stops.
You're now ready to start entering frequencies.

Programming Frequencies
Before programming frequencies, make sure your Pro-2010 is turned on and the SQUELCH is adjusted.
Suppose you want to program Channel 1 to receive 162.55 MHz. Here's how you would do it:

1. Press [MANUAL] and select channel 1. You can do this in two ways:
press [MANUAL] continuously until the Display indicates Channel 1 or
by pressing [1] [MANUAL].

2. Press [PROGRAM] to enter the programming mode.

3. Enter the desired frequency. In this case, press the [1] [6] [2] [.]
[5] [5] keys. Check the display to make sure the frequency it shows
is the one you meant to program. If it is, press the [ENTER] key.

4. To add more frequencies, just press [PROGRAM] to advance to the next
channel and follow the steps above.

5. If you ever want to change the frequency entered for a specific
channel, just enter the new frequency "over" the old frequency using
steps 1, 2, and 3.

Make a mistake while entering the frequency? Just press [CLEAR], enter the correct frequency and press [ENTER]. If you're entering a new frequency in place of an old one, the old frequency won't be "erased" when you press [CLEAR]. It will remain stored on that channel until you correctly enter a
new frequency and press [ENTER].

You'll hear a "peep" sound as you press the various keys. This lets you know the key has been properly "entered" into your Pro-2010.

Using the Scanning Function
Your Pro-2010 will automatically scan all the channels you've programmed and stop whenever it finds a signal. To scan channels, just press the [SCAN] key.
To stop scanning, just press [MANUAL] and you can select specific channels
you want to listen to.

IMPORTANT! Your Pro-2010 won't scan unless SQUELCH is set to the point where no sound is heard if a signal isn't being received.

Delay Function
When your Pro-2010 is scanning, it will stop whenever it finds a signal on a channel. As soon as the signal ends, the scanning function will resume. Most communications heard will be two-way. To make sure you don't miss any replies, press [DELAY]. This will cause your Pro-2010 to stay on a channel for two seconds after the end of a transmission, giving you time to hear any reply. To release the Delay function, just press [DELAY] again. The Delay indicator will show on the display when the Delay function is used.

Lockout Function
You may want your Pro-2010 to "skip over" certain frequencies while it's scanning (such as continuously transmitted weather broadcasts). To "lock out" such channels, follow these steps:
1. Press [MANUAL] to stop scanning. Continue to press [MANUAL] to
advance to the channel you want to lock out.

2. When you reach the channel, press [LOCK OUT]. The display will show
[o] to indicate this channel will be skipped over during scanning.

3. To release the lockout, press [MANUAL] to stop scanning. Advance to
the channel that is locked out and press [LOCK OUT] once again. [o]
will disappear from the display.

If you use the lockout function on all channels, scanning will be impossible - you'll only be able to change channels using [MANUAL].

Speed Selection
Your Pro-2010 will normally scan channels at a rate of four channels per second. If you press [SPEED], channels will be scanned at a rate of nine per second. Press [SPEED] again to return to a rate of four channels per second.

Priority Function
You might want to scan other channels yet not miss a call on a channel of particular interest to you (police, fire, ambulance, etc.). The Priority function will let you scan other channels - but if a call is received on the Priority channel, your Pro-2010 will automatically switch to the
Priority channel!

1. Only Channel 1 can be used as Priority Channel: Key in the desired
Priority frequency into Channel 1.

2. Priority function works only when the unit is in Scan or Manual mode.

3. Press [PRIORITY] to start Priority function. A [P] will appear on the
display.

4. Press [MANUAL] or [SCAN] to listen to other channels. Your Pro-2020
will check the Priority channel and switch to it if a signal is
received on it.

5. To cancel Priority function, press [PRIORITY] again. the [P] will
disappear from the display.

SEARCHING WITH YOUR PRO-2010
One great feature of your Pro-2010 is its ability to "search" for frequencies being used. This means you can hear all the action on the airwaves in your area! To use this great feature, just follow these steps:
1. Press [PROGRAM] key.

2. Press [LIMIT] key. Enter the lower limit of frequency range to be
searched (such as 45.00 MHz). Press [ENTER].

3. Press [LIMIT] key again. Enter the upper limit of frequency range to
be searched (such as 46.00 MHz). Press [ENTER].

4. Press either [up arrow] or [down arrow] to start Search. [Down arrow]
will start search from the highest frequency and go down. [Up arrow]
will start from the lowest frequency and go up.

5. You can control the speed of the search by using the [SPEED] key to
accelerate or to slow down the search.

6. Search will stop when a frequency is found with a signal. To restart search, press [up arrow] or [down arrow]. In Program Mode, search range will be displayed each time [LIMIT] is pressed. It is impossible to change the lower frequency only: to change lower frequency you must change higher frequency first. The higher frequency can be changed any time.

Storing Frequencies
If you want to enter some of the frequencies found during search, do this:
1. Press [MONITOR] when your Pro-2010 finds a frequency you want to store.

2. Use [MANUAL] key to select a channel to enter the frequency your Pro-
2010 found. The display will show the frequency currently stored on
the channel, but don't worry - the old frequency will be erased when
you start to enter the new one.

3. Press [PROGRAM].

4. Press [MONITOR] again. The new frequency found during the search will
be displayed.

5. Press [ENTER] to put the new frequency into the channel in place of
the old frequency.

6. Press either [up arrow] or [down arrow] to resume the search. To
return to manual or program operation, press [MANUAL] or [PROGRAM].
To resume the search from one of the limit frequencies, press [LIMIT]
and then [up arrow] or [down arrow].

Error Indications
Sometimes when you try to enter a frequency for a channel or as a search range limit, you may find an ------ on the display. This means the frequency is in error and you won't be able to enter it into your Pro-2010. Such frequency errors usually mean you've entered a frequency outside the ranges your Pro-2010 operates on (such as 225.00 MHz) or you've put the decimal point in the wrong place (14.682 MHz instead of 146.82 MHz). Check carefully to find your mistake and then press [CLEAR]. You can now enter the correct frequency.

Hope this helps,
M3ODQ

go to cityfreq.com and see if the frequencies in your area have changed. you might even need a new anteanna radio shack should have a really good one for 20 buck. a little longer than the original but good