RCA RP-6200 User manual

FM scanning receiver
RP-6200

FCC INFORMATION
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the
following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference,
and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference
that may cause undesired operation.
In accordance with FCC requirements, changes or modifications not expressly
approved by Thomson Consumer Electronics could void the user’s authority to
operate this product.
CAUTION: Scanning is a great pass time. You can listen to exchanges between
police, fire departments, ambulances, military organizations, government
agencies, private companies, aircraft and amateur radio stations. Owning and
operating this scanner is legal in so far as you do not intentionally intercept the
following electronic and wire communications:
• Cellular, cordless or private telephone conversations transmit through means
of telephone signal transmissions.
• Pagers transmissions.
• Scrambles of encrypted transmissions.
As amended the Federal Electronic Communication Privacy Act (ECPA) states you
could be fined and/or imprisoned for intentionally listening to, using or
disclosing the contents of such a transmission unless a party in the communica-
tion has consented-unless such an activity is otherwise legal.
In some areas/states it is unlawful to operate a scanner. Please check the laws in
your area as they may change from time to time. Thomson Consumer Electron-
ics assumes no liability for the operation of this scanner.
WARNING: In some areas/states it is unlawful to operate a mobile scanner.
Please check the laws in your area. Thomson Consumer Electronics assumes
no liability for the operation of this scanner.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
FIRST THINGS FIRST ........................................................................ 2
POWERING UP................................................................................. 2
RESETTING AND INITIALIZING ........................................................... 2
CONNECTING THE ANTENNAS .......................................................... 3
OPTIONAL ANTENNA .................................................................. 3
BUTTONS AND CONTROLS ................................................................. 4
THE DISPLAY .................................................................................. 5
USING THE SCANNER ....................................................................... 6
ADJUSTING VOLUME AND SQUELCH .................................................. 6
PROGRAMMING FREQUENCIES ........................................................... 7
USING DELAY .................................................................................. 8
TEMPORARILY STORING
AN ACTIVE FREQUENCY IN MONITOR MEMORY ................................... 8
SHIFTING AFREQUENCY
FROM MONITOR MEMORY TO ACHANNEL ....................................... 9
SCANNING CHANNELS ...................................................................... 9
MONITORING ONE CHANNEL .......................................................... 10
LOCKING OUT CHANNELS .................................................................. 11
CLEARING ACHANNEL ...................................................................... 11
TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS .................................................................. 12
EQUIPMENT SPECIFICATIONS ............................................................. 13
CARE AND MAINTENANCE ................................................................ 14
SERVICE INFORMATION .................................................................... 14
INDEX ........................................................................................... 15
LIMITED WARRANTY ....................................................................... BACK COVER
INTRODUCTION
Congratulations!
You are now the owner of a brand new RCA RP-6200 20-Channel FM Scanning
Receiver.
Your new scanner will provide for you all the excitement and action of police in
pursuit, ambulances en route and fire trucks on the scene. You’ll know the
latest changes in weather conditions, be able to warn family and friends where
the latest accidents are on the highways...plus much more!
With the capacity to scan more than 22,000 frequencies at 16 channels per
second, your new RCA FM Scanning Receiver allows you to be involved in your
community from the comfort of your own home. Enjoy!

2
MIN MAX
MIN
ON
OFF
POWER
VOLUME SQUELCH
SCAN MANUAL
CLEAR
PGM
MON DELAY L-OUT
0
ENTER
789
456
123
AUTO SEARCH
FIRST THINGS FIRST
POWERING UP
Your scanner has an external jack. Plug in the AC adapter supplied by inserting
the barrel end into the DC 12V jack on the back of the unit.
Your scanner has a memory backup that begins to
work moments after plugging in the adapter. Stored
information will be stored for approximately 1 hour
after the removal of power for any reason.
RESETTING AND INITIALIZING
When connecting your scanner to its power source, the
display may lock up or show erroneous messages.
These situations are simply and easily fixed by
resetting the scanner.
To reset:
1. Make sure the scanner is ON.
2. Press the RESET button on the back of
the scanner with a pointed object,
such as a paper clip.
If the above steps fail to reset your
scanner, it is possible you will have
to re-initialize the unit. Do this only
if you are sure resetting the scanner
has not worked. Initializing the scanner
clears all stored information from
the unit’s memory.
NOTE: The provided adapter supplies 12 volts DC power (300 milliamperes)
with a center positive plug. Should you decide to use an adapter other than
the one provided, please make sure it meets the above specifications. Failure
to do so may cause a safety hazard or damage the unit.

3
AUTO SEARCH
MIN MAX
MIN MAX
ON
OFF
POWER VOLUME SQUELCH SCAN MANUAL
CLEAR
PGM
MON DELAY L-OUT
0.ENTER
789
456
123
CH -MHz- -kHz-
FIRST THINGS FIRST
To initialize:
1. Make sure the scanner is ON.
2. Press and hold the CLEAR button.
3. Quickly press and release the RESET button.
4. When the display disappears, release the CLEAR
button.
CONNECTING THE ANTENNAS
Your scanner comes with a telescoping
antenna for better reception. To attach
the antenna, screw it into the provided
hole on top of the unit.
Adjust its length when necessary
to receive better reception.
OPTIONAL ANTENNA
While the telescoping antenna provides satisfactory
reception for local signals, your scanner has been
equipped with an ANT jack so you can attach a
multiband outdoor antenna - not provided - for even
better reception.
To install:
1. Choose the highest location possible to mount the
antenna, then do so according to the directions
provided by its manufacturer.
2. Plug the antenna cable into the ANT jack on the
back of your scanner.

4
BUTTONS AND CONTROLS
CLEAR ------------- This button erases an incorrect entry.
•/DELAY ---------- This button allows you to enter a decimal point when
programming frequencies or a two-second delay for a specific
channel.
ENTER/L-OUT --- This button enters a frequency into a channel or lets you lock
out a specific channel.
MANUAL --------- This button interrupts the Scan mode and allows you to enter
a channel number.
0/MON ------------ This button allows you to enter a zero or access the Monitor
Memory.
PGM --------------- This button initiates the Program function and allows you to
enter frequencies into channels memory.
SCAN -------------- This button activates an automatic scan of all the pro-
grammed channels.
SEARCH --- These buttons activate a search for stations transmitting in a
particular frequency range.
The following list is presented in alphabetical order and provides general
information about each button and control on your scanner.
ENTER0 . PGM
978CLEAR
645MANUAL
312
L-OUTMON DELAY
SCAN
CH -MHz- -kHz-
SQUELCHVOLUMEPOWER
MIN MAX MIN MAX
ON
OFF

5
THE DISPLAY
MANUAL ----- appears when you manually select a channel.
SCAN ---------- appears when you scan channels.
SEARCH ------ appears during frequency search.
and ------ indicate the search direction.
DELAY -------- appears when you have programed the scanner to pause for two
seconds on the selected channel before continuing to scan.
MON ----------- appears when you are in monitor or search mode.
PROGRAM --- appears when you program a frequency into a channel.
88 --------------- is the channel number
L/O -------------- appears when you have manually selected a locked out channel.
888.888 ------- is the frequency.
MANUAL
SCAN
SEARCH 888.888
The display lets you know what your unit is doing. The following is a list of
display messages you will encounter and what they mean.
88
MON
DELAY PROGRAM
L/O

6
USING THE SCANNER
ADJUSTING VOLUME AND SQUELCH
1. Turn the VOLUME knob counterclockwise to MIN and the SQUELCH knob
clockwise to MAX.
2. Turn the POWER knob to ON. The display will show SCAN, a channel number
and a frequency.
NOTE: When turned on, the scanner may automatically begin scanning
channels and frequencies.
3. Press MANUAL to stop the display from scanning. A channel and frequency
will appear in the display.
4. Turn the VOLUME knob clockwise 1/5 turn. However, if the scanner is in the
middle of a transmission, wait until it finishes before turning the knob.
5. Turn SQUELCH knob slowly counterclockwise until there is an audible hissing
sound.
6. Now turn the SQUELCH knob clockwise until the hissing sound stops.
NOTE: Should the scanner begin to pick up partial, weak or unwanted
transmissions, simply rotate the SQUELCH knob clockwise. This decreases the
scanner’s sensitivity to these frequencies.

7
USING THE SCANNER
PROGRAMMING FREQUENCIES
Your scanner is capable of storing up to 20 frequencies in memory locations
called channels.
To program frequencies:
1. Press MANUAL and then enter the channel you want to program. The current
channel will appear on the left of the display and the one you just entered
will appear on the right.
2. Press PGM and wait for PROGRAM to appear in the display.
3. Enter the frequency of your choice.
4. Press ENTER/L-OUT to store the frequency.
NOTE : Should you make an incorrect entry, Error will show in the display.
Simply press the CLEAR button and repeat Step 3.
If you want the scanner to pause 2 seconds on a particular frequency before
scanning the next channel, see the next section - USING DELAY.
5. Repeat Steps 1-4 to program additional channels not in sequence or Steps 2-
4 to do so in sequence.
After entering the frequencies of your choice into the scanner’s channel
memory, you can scan those channels or manually select them.

8
USING THE SCANNER
USING DELAY
Some agencies use two-way radios that allow for pause between transmissions.
To avoid missing the reply to a query, your scanner has been equipped with a
Delay feature that allows you to pause on a specific frequency for longer than
the scanner would normally allow.
To activate Delay for a specific channel, select a channel and press •/DELAY until
DELAY appears in the display.
To activate Delay when the scanner stops on an active transmission while
scanning channels or searching frequencies, quickly press •/DELAY while the
transmission is still active. DELAY will appear in the display.
The scanner will now pause for two additional seconds before resuming its scan
after the end of the transmission on that frequency.
To turn the DELAY feature off, press •/DELAY while the transmission is still
active. DELAY will disappear from the display.
TEMPORARILY STORING
AN ACTIVE FREQUENCY IN MONITOR MEMORY
You may find a frequency that sparks your interest but you are not sure you
want to program it into a channel. Use the scanner’s Monitor Memory to
temporarily store the frequency until you decide.
To temporarily store:
1. Press MANUAL or PGM.
2. To start your search from a specific frequency, enter the frequency number.
To start from a preset channel, press MANUAL, the channel number and
MANUAL or PGM.
3. Press to search up from the frequency or down from the frequency.
The scanner will stop searching when it finds an active frequency. It will
continue to hold at that frequency until the transmission ends. It will resume
searching immediately upon the end of the transmissions.