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19-1104rc.fm Page 1 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM
Cat. No. 19-1104
OWNER’S MANUAL
Please read before using this equipment.
HTX-400
Mini Handheld 70-Centimeter FM
Amateur Transceiver
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19-1104rc.fm Page 2 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM FEATURES Your RadioShack HTX-400 Mini Handheld 70-Centimater FM Amateur Transceiver is compact and lightweight, making it easy to carry almost anywhere. The crystal controlled circuitry pro- vides accurate and stable frequency selection, making it an ideal choice for your amateur communications needs. Note: You must have a Technician Class or higher Amateur Ra- dio Operator’s License, and a call sign issued by the FCC, to le- gally transmit
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19-1104rc.fm Page 3 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM Paging Tones— you can set the radio to play a short, selectable paging tone when it transmits, and sound the same tone when it receives a signal. Signal Strength Indicator — a graduated bar shows the relative strength of the received signal. Time-Out Timer — lets you set a maximum transmission time in- 1 terval from 0 to 16 /2 minutes in 10-second increments. Busy Channel Lock Out — prevents transmitting while the se- lected channel is recei
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19-1104rc.fm Page 4 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM MANUAL CONVENTIONS Your transceiver’s buttons perform multiple functions. The abbre- viation or symbol for a function is printed on, below, or above each button. To activate certain transceiver features, you must press FUNC (function) and another button at the same time. Those key com- bination instructions are printed as the first button name, +, then the second button name. For example, FUNC+LOCK means hold down FUNC while you press LOCK.
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19-1104rc.fm Page 5 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM CONTENTS Introduction to Amateur Radio ............................................. 7 Preparation ............................................................................. 9 Power Sources .................................................................. 9 Using Internal Batteries ............................................. 9 Testing Internal Batteries ......................................... 10 Using AC Power .......................
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19-1104rc.fm Page 6 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM Scanning Operation ............................................................. 32 Scanning for Active Frequencies ..................................... 32 Using Scan Delay ..................................................... 32 Scanning Standard Memory Locations ........................... 32 Setting A Memory Location to Always Skip During Scanning ...................................................... 33 Temporarily Locking Out (Skipping
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19-1104rc.fm Page 7 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM INTRODUCTION TO AMATEUR RADIO Your transceiver is the perfect first radio for anyone entering the exciting world of amateur radio, as well as a great additional transceiver for the experienced amateur radio operator. Your transceiver opens a door for you to the world from almost any- where! All you need is an Amateur Radio Operator’s License (Technician Class or higher) issued by the Federal Communica- tions Commission (FCC). If you do not h
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19-1104rc.fm Page 8 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM Start studying for the license exams. Do not be intimidated by the word “study,” because most people can go from knowing abso- lutely nothing about amateur radio to passing the Novice and Technician written exams in less than a month. The exams test your knowledge of basic radio regulations and el- ementary radio theory. Many clubs hold license classes which can be a fun and easy way to learn about amateur radio. There are good books, casse
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19-1104rc.fm Page 9 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM PREPARATION POWER SOURCES You can operate your transceiver from any of three power sourc- es: • internal batteries • AC power (using an optional power supply and DC adapter) • vehicle battery power (using an optional DC adapter) Using Internal Batteries Your transceiver can use two AA batteries (not supplied) for pow- er. For the best performance and longest life, we recommend Ra- dioShack alkaline batteries. Cautions: • Use only fresh batte
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19-1104rc.fm Page 10 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM 2. Press down and slide the battery compartment cover in the direction of the arrow marked on the cover. 3. Put the batteries into the compartment and on top of the attached ribbon, according to the polarity symbols (+ and –) marked inside the compartment. 4. Replace the cover and slide the LOCK tab to secure the cover. Testing Internal Batteries When you turn on the HTX-400, BAT appears briefly and the grad- uated bar (the signal strentgt
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REGULATED POWER SUPPLY AMP 313.8 VDC 19-1104rc.fm Page 11 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM USING AC POWER You can operate the HTX-400 from AC power using a regulated power supply capable of supplying 13.8 VDC at least 1A and a vehicle power adapter (see “Using Vehicle Battery Power” on Page 12). The supply should also have an accessory power socket into which the DC-to-DC power adapter fits. If your power supply does not have an accessory power socket, you can either wire the power cord direct
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19-1104rc.fm Page 12 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM USING VEHICLE BATTERY POWER You can power the HTX-400 from a vehicle’s 12V power source (such as cigarette-lighter socket) using an 9-volt, 900 mA DC-to- ® DC power adapter and a size I Adaptaplug (neither supplied) with TIP set to +. Both are available at your local RadioShack store. Cautions: You must use a power source that supplies 9V DC and delivers at least 900 mA. Its center tip must ! be set to positive and its plug must fit the HTX
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19-1104rc.fm Page 13 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM CONNECTING THE ANTENNA Place the threaded base socket of the supplied antenna over the antenna connector on top of the transceiver and turn the antenna clockwise to tighten it. Turn it clockwise to remove it. Caution: Do not over-tighten the antenna Note: You can connect an external antenna to the HTX-400 using an SMA-to-PL-259 adapter. This adapter, as well as suitable an- tennas, are available through your local RadioShack store. ATTACHI
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19-1104rc.fm Page 14 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM ATTACHING THE WRIST STRAP To attach the supplied wrist strap to the top of the belt clip, thread the strap’s small loop through the opening in the top of the clip. Then insert the longer loop through the smaller loop and pull on the strap until the loop is tight. CONNECTING A MICROPHONE/ SPEAKER You can connect an external communications headset (con- sisting of a microphone and speaker) to the transceiver so you can use it privately. Lift
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19-1104rc.fm Page 15 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM Caution: Use only microphone and speaker accessories that do not share a common ground for the speaker and the microphone. Doing otherwise might damage the transceiver. Note: Inserting a headset’s plug automatically disconnects the in- ternal speaker. You can also connect an optional mono earphone to the SPK jack. This lets you use the transceiver’s push-to-talk button to transmit as usual. Your local RadioShack store carries a wide se- le
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19-1104rc.fm Page 16 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM USING THE MENUS USING THE HTX-400’S MENUS The HTX-400 provides two menus to access its features, the Main Menu and the Tone Set Menu. To see details about each operation, refer to the page number in the following chart. To access the Main Menu, hold down FUNC while turning on the HTX-400. (The CS option appears). Hold down FUNC then re- peatedly press Wor V to step through the other options. Release FUNC and press V or W to change an option
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19-1104rc.fm Page 17 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM Setting Main Menu ( ) = default Options setting Description Page tot (Off) Limits transmit time. 40 Time out On 10-990 seconds Timer PS (Off) Cycles power 40 Power Save On (PS flashes) to the receiver section to conserve batteries. The circuit remains off then turns on briefly to check for an incoming signal. r 0.00 – 8.00 MHz Sets the offset in 50 27 Repeater in 50kHz steps. kHz steps between Offset (5.00) the repeater’s trans- mi
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19-1104rc.fm Page 18 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM The Tone Set Menu lets you set features that relate to sound and the CTCSS tones. To access these settings, turn on the HTX-400 then hold down FUNC and press T.SET. (The tone option ap- pears.) Press FUNC + V or W to select the option, then V or W to change the setting. Tone Set Setting Option ( ) = default setting Description Page tone (Off) Lets the HTX-400 35 Subaudible On transmit and Tone receive the Sub- audible Tone (CTCSS) fre- q
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19-1104rc.fm Page 19 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM A QUICK LOOK AT THE CONTROLS Most of the controls of the HTX-400 have multiple functions. Use the following chart to review the function of each control. VOL/OFF Microphone SQ PTT Speaker Use with the Key/Control Use it to: FUNC + Key to: VOL/OFF Turn the radio on/off. Access the Main Adjust the volume. Menu. Set the squelch level N/A SQ to block weak signals. () Change (increase) the Directly changes frequency by the value the frequency
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19-1104rc.fm Page 20 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM Use with the Key/Control Use it to: FUNC + Key to: (T.SET) Change (decrease) Accesses the Tone the Set Option menu frequency by the value and settings. set for CS (see the first menu option on Page 16). MO (REV) Press to override Reverse the squelch. Press and repeater offset. hold to cycle through rC, tC, r, and CS set- tings. Turn on the display’s Enable/disable the (BEEP) backlight for 4 sec- key tone. onds. appears when the
