Radio Shack PRO-404 User Manual

Also see for 20-404: Quick start

2Basic Operation2Basic OperationWeather FeaturesThe FCC (Federal Communications Commission) hasallocated channels for use by the National Oceanicand Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Regulatoryagencies in other countries have also allocated channelsfor use by their weather reporting agencies.The NOAA and your local weather reporting agencybroadcast the local forecast and regional weatherinformation on one or more of these channels.Listening to a Weather ChannelPress to hear your local forecast and regionalweather information. WEAthEr appears for about twoseconds, then the scanner starts searching the weatherbank.Press PSE to stop searching the channels. SRCHdisappears and MAN appears. To change the channelmanually, press e or d.n Note: Your scanner incorporates weather alert asone of its features and is an extremely sensitive highquality receiver on the weather frequencies. However,the included flex antenna is optimized for generalpurpose scanning. If you use this scanner as your onlymeans for receiving weather alerts, please make sureyou are receiving a clear signal on the flex antennaor switch to an external antenna that gives you clearreception of a local NOAA weather broadcast.Weather AlertsReceiving All Weather AlertsTo program the scanner to search for weather alerts everytwo seconds, set a weather channel as the priority channel.1. Press .2. Select the weather channel you want to set as thepriority channel.. Press and hold ENT then PRI/ALERT. P ChAnnELis displayed momentarily. Then P CH flashes and000.000 0 (or the previously-stored frequency)appears.4. Press ENT to store the priority channel. The displayflashes twice. Press TUNE/CLEAR to cancel.. Press PRI/ALERT during scanning or searching toturn on the priority feature. PRI appears.If the scanner detects a 1050 Hz weather alert tone onthe programmed channel, the scanner sounds the alerttone and ALErt flashes. Press any key to turn off thealarm.Receiving Alerts for Specific AreasAbout SAME SignalsThe National Weather Service precedes each weatheralert with a digitally encoded SAME (Specific AreaMessage Encoding) signal, then a 1050 Hz tone. TheSAME signal includes a FIPS (Federal InformationProcessing Standard) code and an event code thatcorresponds with the type of alert being sent.The FIPS code format is:Subdivisions State County0-9(0=entire area)01-50(00=all states)XXX(000=all counties)Example: 048439(0=All; 48=Texas; 439=Tarrant County)A current list of FIPS codes is located atwww.NWS.NOAA.gov/NWR.SAME Standby ModeIn SAME Standby mode, your scanner monitors weatherchannels for SAME alerts for up to seven areas youspecify 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.. Use e or d to select the desired FIPS code storagelocation.4. Use the number keys to enter the FIPS code, thenpress ENT to store the code.