Radio Shack Pro 2096 Scanner

programming CTCSS/DCS channels

Your scanner features an advanced, DSP based CTCSS and DCS decoder. CTCSS and DCS allow you to program frequencies into your scanner that are used by more than one group in your area and listen only to the group that is of interest to you by specifying the group’s specific CTCSS or DCS code. CTCSS and DCS can also help reduce interfering signals that cause your scanner to stop on one channel. There are two ways you can program your scanner to operate with CTCSS and DCS. If you know the CTCSS or DCS code that is used on a particular frequency, you can manually enter the code when you are programming the scanner, or any time afterwards. You can also set a special search code that instantly decodes the CTCSS or DCS code on a received transmission. Channels programmed with the search code will receive all traffic on the channel, and will instantly decode and display any CTCSS or DCS code that is found with the transmission. You can then store the code in channel memory. For more information on using CTCSS and DCS while scanning, see “Using CTCSS and DCS”.

1. Enter a conventional frequency.
2. Press MODE until the desired mode (CT for CTCSS, and DC for DCS) appears on the display.
3. By default, the search code is programmed. To program a specific code, press FUNC, MODE, and then use the arrow keys to scroll to the desired CTCSS or DCS code. You can also use the keypad to enter the code manually.
4. Once the desired code is selected, press ENT to store it in channel memory.
5. You can program memory channels for CTCSS or DCS operation at any time. Simply place the scanner in program mode, navigate to the channel you wish to change, and follow the steps above.
6. When stopped on an active conventional channel while scanning, you can press MODE to cycle through the valid modes for that channel. This resets any stored CT or DC code to the search code, allowing you to easily check for other CT or DC codes that may be present on the frequency. CTCSS, DCS, and digital voice all operate independently of each other. If a channel is configured for CTCSS or DCS, it will not be able to decode digital transmissions. Use FM mode when mixed analog and digital voice reception is desired.

attenuator

There are two attenuator modes in your scanner. Normal attenuator mode allows you to set the attenuator on a per-channel basis. Normal mode is useful when individual channels are found to be prone to interference. Global attenuator mode applies attenuation to every channel in the scanner, and overrides any normal mode attenuator.

To assign attenuation to a channel in the scanner, press ATT when the scanner is stopped on a channel, or manually navigate to a channel. A appears on the top of the display. Press ATT again to turn attenuation off.

To assign attenuation to a search bank, press ATT while searching. Attenuation will be applied to the active search bank, or search group within a search bank. Press ATT again to turn attenuation off.

receive mode

The scanner defaults to the commonly used AM or FM/Digital receive mode for each frequency range. The preset mode is correct in most cases. To change the receive mode, repeatedly press MODE.

AM          configures an AM channel.
FM/DIGITAL  configures an FM/Digital channel.
CT          configures a CTCSS channel.
DC          configures a DCS channel.
MO          configures a MO channel for analog or digital Motorola trunking system channels, or APCO-25 trunking system channels.
ED          configures an ED channel for EDACS trunking system channels.

MO and ED modes are not available when performing service searches, limit searches and the TUNE function.