9-1104rc.fm Page 1 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM Cat. No. 19-1104 OWNER’S MANUAL Please read before using this equipment.
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 provides accurate and stable frequency selection, making it an ideal choice for your amateur communications needs.
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 interval from 0 to 161/2 minutes in 10-second increments. Busy Channel Lock Out — prevents transmitting while the selected channel is receiving a signal.
19-1104rc.fm Page 4 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM MANUAL CONVENTIONS Your transceiver’s buttons perform multiple functions. The abbreviation 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 combination 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.
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 .....................................
19-1104rc.fm Page 6 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM Scanning Operation ............................................................. Scanning for Active Frequencies ..................................... Using Scan Delay ..................................................... Scanning Standard Memory Locations ........................... Setting A Memory Location to Always Skip During Scanning ......................................................
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 anywhere! All you need is an Amateur Radio Operator’s License (Technician Class or higher) issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
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 absolutely 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 elementary radio theory. Many clubs hold license classes which can be a fun and easy way to learn about amateur radio.
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 sources: • 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 power. For the best performance and longest life, we recommend RadioShack alkaline batteries.
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.
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.
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-toDC 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 HTX400's DC 9V jack.
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. U 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 antennas, are available through your local RadioShack store.
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 (consisting of a microphone and speaker) to the transceiver so you can use it privately.
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 internal 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.
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 repeatedly press Wor V to step through the other options. Release FUNC and press V or W to change an option’s setting.
19-1104rc.fm Page 17 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM Main Menu Options Setting ( ) = default setting Description Page tot Time out Timer (Off) On 10-990 seconds Limits transmit time. 40 PS Power Save (Off) On Cycles power (PS flashes) to the receiver section to conserve batteries. The circuit remains off then turns on briefly to check for an incoming signal. 40 r Repeater Offset 0.00 – 8.00 MHz in 50kHz steps. (5.
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 appears.) Press FUNC + V or W to select the option, then V or W to change the setting.
-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 U Speaker Key/Control Use it to: Use with the FUNC + Key to: VOL/OFF Turn the radio on/off. Adjust the volume. Access the Main Menu. SQ Set the squelch level to block weak signals.
19-1104rc.fm Page 20 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM Use with the FUNC + Key to: Key/Control Use it to: (T.SET) Change (decrease) the frequency by the value set for CS (see the first menu option on Page 16). Accesses the Tone Set Option menu and settings. Press to override squelch. Press and hold to cycle through rC, tC, r, and CS settings. Reverse the repeater offset. Turn on the display’s backlight for 4 seconds. Enable/disable the key tone. appears when the key tone is enabled.
19-1104rc.fm Page 21 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM Key/Control Use it to: Use with the FUNC + Key to: C (LOCK) Press once to display and switch to the current call frequency. Hold down to change the call frequency and associated parameters, such as repeater offset and CTCSS tones. Lock the control (except PTT, MO, , VOL, and SQ). Press again to unlock the controls. PTT (Push To Talk) Hold down to transmit. Press to store the settings. Swap the input and output frequencies for repeater operations.
19-1104rc.fm Page 22 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM A QUICK LOOK AT THE DISPLAY 17 1 16 15 14 13 12 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1. F: appears when the FUNC key is pressed. 2. TX: appears when the radio is transmitting. 3. BUSY: appears when the radio receives a signal. 4. CALL: appears when tone squelch is on and the radio receives a matching tone. 5. : indicates the battery strength. 6. S-RF (Signal/RF Indicator): shows the level of an incoming signal.
19-1104rc.fm Page 23 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM OPERATION TURNING ON THE HTX-400 To turn on the HTX-400, rotate VOL/OFF clockwise until it clicks. The HTX-400 sounds a brief melody if the key tone feature is enabled. Then HELLO appears for about 2 seconds and the last used frequency appears. SELECTING FREQUENCIES (DIRECT TUNING) You tune to the desired frequencies in the VFO (variable frequency oscillator) mode. You can either step to a specific frequency or directly select the frequency.
19-1104rc.fm Page 24 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM RECEIVING TRANSMISSIONS Follow these steps to receive standard transmissions. 1. With the radio on, rotate SQ counterclockwise until you hear a hissing sound. Then slowly rotate SQ clockwise just until the noise stops. Notes: • BUSY appears when the HTX-400 receives a standard transmission or if the squelch is open. If the transmission uses CTCSS tones, CALL also appears. • Volume, power, and squelch are combined in one control.
19-1104rc.fm Page 25 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM TRANSMITTING There are two basic types of communication possible with this transceiver: radio-direct-to-radio (simplex) or radio-to repeater-to radio (duplex). Simplex operation uses the same frequency to send and receive. Duplex operation uses one frequency to transmit and another to receive. For more information about duplex, see “Understanding Repeaters” on Page 26.
19-1104rc.fm Page 26 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM UNDERSTANDING REPEATERS Operation through a repeater, where you transmit on one frequency and receive on another, is called duplex operation. Operation direct to another station, where you transmit and receive on the same frequency, is called simplex operation. A repeater is a station that receives a signal on one frequency (the input frequency) and then retransmits that signal on a different frequency (the output frequency).
19-1104rc.fm Page 27 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM SETTING THE REPEATER OFFSET FREQUENCY The HTX-400’s default repeater offset is 5 MHz, which appears as 5.00 (MHz). Follow these steps to change the offset. Note: This setting only affects the VFO mode. If you saved a frequency offset in a memory, that setting is not affected. 1. With power off, hold down FUNC and turn on the HTX-400, 2. Hold down FUNC and repeatedly press until r and the current offset appear. 5.00 appears if no offset is currently set.
19-1104rc.fm Page 28 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM SETTING THE REPEATER OFFSET DIRECTION 1. Set an offset frequency other than 0.00. 2. Press FUNC + SC (RPT) to see the current offset direction (+ above or – below). 3. Press FUNC + MO (REV) to change the repeater offset direction. Note: To save this setting in a memory location, MR must be flashing before you store the settings (see “Using the Calling-Frequency Memory” on Page 31 and “Storing a Transmit/Receive Frequency” on Page 29).
19-1104rc.fm Page 29 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM MEMORY OPERATION Your HTX-400 has 30 standard memory locations that you can use to store frequencies for quick access. For each memory location, you can also store other settings such as the repeater offset, CTCSS tones, and frequencies to pass or lock out during scanning. STORING A TRANSMIT/RECEIVE FREQUENCY 1. Press MR. MR and the last used memory location appear. 2. Repeatedly press or to select the desired memory location.
19-1104rc.fm Page 30 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM RECALLING MEMORIES To recall saved memory settings, press MR so MR appears. Then press or to select the desired memory location. Press MR again to return to the VFO mode, (See “Selecting Frequencies (Direct Tuning)” on Page 23.) CLEARING A SINGLE MEMORY Follow these steps to clear any single memory location. 1. Press MR . MR and the last used memory location appear. 2. Repeatedly press location. or to select the desired memory 3. Press FUNC+MR.
19-1104rc.fm Page 31 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM USING THE CALLING-FREQUENCY MEMORY The calling-frequency memory location lets you quickly jump to a specific frequency at any time. The default calling frequency is 446.0000 MHz. You can store a different frequency into memory as well as other settings associated with that frequency, such as the repeater offset and CTCSS tone. 1. Press C to display the current calling frequency. 2. To change the frequency, hold down C until flash. MR and C 3.
19-1104rc.fm Page 32 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM SCANNING OPERATION SCANNING FOR ACTIVE FREQUENCIES 1. To search for activity on a frequency, press SC. The transceiver begins to scan up or down the full frequency range, and it stops on each active frequency for the duration set by the scan delay option (see “Using Scan Delay” on Page 32). 2. To change the scanning direction, press or . 3. To stop on a frequency or to stop scanning completely, press SC again.
19-1104rc.fm Page 33 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM Setting A Memory Location to Always Skip During Scanning The HTX-400 is preset to include all memory locations (except empty locations) during memory scanning . Follow these steps to set the transceiver to have it always skip (or resume scanning) a specific location during scanning. 1. Press MR. MR and the last used memory location appear. 2. Repeatedly press location. or to select the desired memory 3. Press FUNC+MR.
19-1104rc.fm Page 34 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM Temporarily Locking Out (Skipping) Locations During Memory Scanning You can set the transceiver to lock out a location while scanning the frequencies stored in memory. When the transceiver stops at a memory location you want to skip, press FUNC. PASS briefly appears and the transceiver continues to scan, locking out (skipping) that location from then on. Repeat this for each location you want to skip.
19-1104rc.fm Page 35 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM CONTINUOUS TONE CODED SQUELCH SYSTEM FEATURES Your HTX-400 can transmit and receive a low-level, selectable subaudible tone at the same time as it transmits (TX) or receives (RX) a regular signal. This special tone lets you listen only to other radios set to the same tone frequency when you use the HTX400 in simplex operation. It also lets you match your radio to the subaudible tone frequency used by a local repeater.
19-1104rc.fm Page 36 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM To select and store a CTCSS subaudible tone in a memory location, press MR. MR and the last used memory location appear. (In the examples shown on the preceding page, memory location 2 is used.) Then follow the preceding Steps 1–5. Subaudible Tone Frequencies (Hz) 36 67.0 114.8 186.2 69.3 118.8 189.9 71.9 123.0 192.8 74.4 127.3 196.6 77.0 131.8 199.5 79.7 136.5 203.5 82.5 141.3 206.5 85.4 146.2 210.7 88.5 151.4 218.1 91.
19-1104rc.fm Page 37 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM TONE PAGING You can set the HTX-400 to sound an alert tone when it receives a transmission that includes the currently set subaudible receivetone (or any transmission, if the receive-tone or the tone feature is set to off). Turn off the radio, then press while you turn the HTX-400 on again. appears.
19-1104rc.fm Page 38 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES CHANGING THE TRANSMIT FREQUENCY RANGE You can change the standard transmit frequency range from 430–450 MHz to an extended range of 420–450 MHz. To set the transceiver to its extended range, turn off the transceiver, then hold down SC and turn on the transceiver again. To return to the standard frequency range, turn off the transceiver, then hold down SC and turn it on again.
19-1104rc.fm Page 39 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM TURNING THE KEY TONE ON AND OFF The transceiver is preset to sound a beep each time you press a key. To turn off the beep, press FUNC+ (BEEP). disappears. To restore the key tone, press FUNC + (BEEP) again. Note: If the key tone feature is disabled, the power-on tone does not sound.
19-1104rc.fm Page 40 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM POWER SAVE The power save feature lets the radio conserve battery power by turning off power to the receiver section and periodically turning it on to check for a transmission. Use the Main Menu to set the power save option (see “Using the HTX-400’s Menus” on Page 16). With PS and the current status (on or oFF) displayed, press or to turn this feature on or off.
19-1104rc.fm Page 41 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM REDUCING SQUELCH TAIL If you are communicating with a repeater or another station using subaudible tones, you can eliminate the squelch tail (the burst of noise the other person hears when you stop transmitting) by turning on the transmit delay option. When you turn on this feature and use CTCSS, the radio continues to transmit for a short period of time after you release PTT, but then it immediately drops the subaudible tone.
19-1104rc.fm Page 42 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM TROUBLESHOOTING If your transceiver is not working as it should and it displays an error message, these suggestions might help you eliminate the problem. If the transceiver still does not operate properly, take it to your local RadioShack store for assistance.
19-1104rc.fm Page 43 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM CARE AND MAINTENANCE Your RadioShack HTX-400 Mini Handheld 70-Centimeter FM Amateur Transceiver is an example of superior design and craftsmanship. The following suggestions will help you care for your transceiver so you can enjoy it for years. Keep the transceiver dry. If it gets wet, wipe it dry immediately. Liquids might contain minerals that can corrode the electronic circuits. Use and store the transceiver only in normal temperature environments.
19-1104rc.fm Page 44 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM USING THE KEYPAD DIAGNOSTIC The HTX-400 has a built-in diagnostic program that lets you confirm whether the keypad switches are functioning correctly. To use this diagnostic program, follow these steps. 1. Hold down MO (REV) and turn on the transceiver. 2. Press MO (REV) again. PrESS dn appears. 3. Press . If the action is correct, PrESS Up appears. 4. Press . If the action is correct, PrES Mr appears. 5. Press MR (MW).
19-1104rc.fm Page 45 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM SPECIFICATIONS GENERAL Frequency: RX .............................................................. 420–470 MHz TX ............................................................... 430–450 MHz Extended TX Range.................................... 420–450 MHz Frequency Generation .............................. PLL Synthesizer Frequency Stability ................................................ ± 5 ppm Operating Temperature ...........
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19-1104rc.fm Page 48 Friday, August 27, 1999 8:31 AM Limited One-Year Warranty This product is warranted by RadioShack against manufacturing defects in material and workmanship under normal use for one (1) year from the date of purchase from RadioShack company-owned stores and authorized RadioShack franchisees and dealers.
