PNI ESCORT HP 8900 CB Radio User Manual

PNI ESCORT HP 8900 CB Radio

Special warnings

• Read the warnings below to prevent fire, personal injury, or damages to the CB radio or to the CB antenna.
• Do not try to operate the radio while driving. Doing so exposes yourself to the risk of road accidents.
• This radio is designed for 12V/24V DC power supply. Do not use a voltage higher than the recommended one.
• Do not place the radio on an excessively dusty, damp or unstable surface.
• Do not connect the antenna during transmission; risk of electric shock.
• Please keep away from interfering devices (such as: tv, generator, etc.)
• Those who use pacemakers are advised to keep their distance from the antenna during transmission and especially not to touch it.
• Do not bring metal objects close to the internal electrical part of the radio; danger of electric shock.
• Avoid exposing the radio to temperatures lower than -26°C and higher than + 80°C, the temperature on board a vehicle can sometimes exceed 80°C, which can cause irreparable damage to the radio in case of prolonged exposure. Do not expose the radio to sunlight for a long time.
• Do not cover the radio, it will prevent it from cooling.
• Check that the vehicle battery is sufficiently charged to avoid rapid discharge.
• It is important to turn off the radio before starting the engine to avoid damage caused by high starting voltage.
• When replacing the fuse, you must use a 2A 250V type F fuse. Do not use a higher value fuse.
• If an abnormal odor or smoke is detected coming out of the radio, turn off the radio immediately.
• Do not transmit for a long time, the radio may heat up and malfunction.
• Keep the radio away from children.

Other warnings:
Before connecting or using this product, please read the instructions for use carefully. Keep this manual for future reference.
Before using the radio, connect the antenna. Check the SWR before transmitting. A too high SWR can lead to the destruction of the radio terminals, internal components that are not covered by the warranty. There are no components of the radio that can be repaired by the user. For repairs, contact an authorized service center.
To prevent the risk of fire, use a suitable power supply.

Installation instructions

Before installing the radio in your car, choose the most suitable location so that when using it, it does not disturb you while driving.
To install the radio, use the bracket and accessories in the package. The screws must be tightened well to avoid the vibration of the radio while driving. The mounting bracket can be positioned above or below the radio, and it can be tilted depending on the installation method.

Power the radio
The power cable of the radio includes a protection fuse, installed in the cigarette lighter socket. To power the radio, insert the cigarette lighter plug into the dedicated slot under your car’s dashboard.
WARNINGS
Make sure that you power the radio at 12V/24V.
If the fuse burns, do not replace it with a higher value one. The one in the factory has 2A.

The installation of the antenna
To use the radio you need an antenna that operates in the frequency range 26-28MHz.
To install and calibrate the antenna, consult a specialized technician. Usually, the antenna must be positioned on the highest part of the vehicle, without being shielded by obstacles and as far as possible from any electrical source or electromagnetic noise. The coaxial cable of the antenna must not be interrupted or pressed. Connect the plug on the end of the antenna coaxial cable to the antenna plug on the back of the radio.

Testing the radio

Once the radio is installed and powered, test its correct operation:

• Check that the radio is powered correctly
• Check the antenna connection to the radio
• Connect the microphone to the jack on the front panel of the radio
• Turn on the radio by long pressing the multifunction button on the front panel of the radio
• Adjust the volume to the comfort level
• Select the channel using the keys ▲ and ▼ from the microphone or the front panel of the radio.
• Adjust the squelch level to the limit where the background noise disappears. (Instructions on activating and adjusting the ASQ/SQ function can be found on page 8)
• Press the PTT button on the microphone to emit and release it to receive
• Check the level of the signal transmitted/received via the signal bars on the front panel of the radio

Key features

• Manual Squelch (SQ) and Automatic Squelch (ASQ)
• Multifunctional screen
• Frequency display
• S-meter
• NB and HI-CUT filters
• Scan function
• Additional settings menu
• Dual Watch function
• Key beep
• CTCSS/DCS codes
• Key lock
• Emergency channels
• Screen brightness adjustment

Front panel description

1. Multifunction button. Long press this button to turn on/off the radio. Turn this knob to adjust the volume. If you have accessed the settings menu, press this button to access a sub-menu and rotate it to change an option.
2. ▲/▼. Press these buttons to change the channel (Channel +/Channel-).
3. DW. Press this button to activate, deactivate and configure the Dual Watch function.
4. MENU. Long press this button to access the menu with additional settings.
5. SQ/ASQ. Press this button to activate, deactivate and select the manual and automatic squelch level.
6. AF/SC. Press this button to switch the modulation (AM/FM) and to activate the Scan function.
7. 9 19/Lock. Press this button to switch to emergency channels (9/19) and to activate/deactivate the Key lock function.

Basic operations

Turn the radio on/off
Long press the multifunction button [1] to turn on the radio. The screen will light up and will first display the PNI logo, then the channel, standard, frequency, modulation and active functions.
Note: If you have activated the AUTO ON function in the radio’s menu, the radio will start automatically immediately after power up.

Adjust the volume
After turning on the radio, rotate the multifunction knob left or right to adjust the volume. 28 volume levels are available. Briefly press the multifunction button to turn off the speaker. The text MUTE will appear on the screen. Briefly press the multifunction button again or rotate it to reactivate the speaker. The screen will return to the standard display mode and to the last set volume level.

Select the channel
Briefly press the buttons ▲ and ▼ on the microphone or the front panel of the radio to change the channel. Press and hold to switch over 5 channels at once .

Functions

Activate SQ. Sensitivity level setting.
Briefly press the SQ/ASQ button [5]. The SQL text accompanied by the current sensitivity level will appear in the lower left corner of the screen. Turn the multifunction knob [1] to set the desired level. 28 levels of squelch sensitivity are available (00 – 28). Press the multifunction button to confirm or wait 5 seconds, afterwards the screen will return to the standard display mode. The set squelches level will be displayed in the upper left corner of the screen.

Activate ASQ. Sensitivity level setting.

Briefly press the SQ/ASQ button [5] or the ASQ button on the microphone to activate the Automatic Squelch function. The text ASQ will appear in the lower left corner of the screen accompanied by the current sensitivity level.
Turn the multifunction knob [1] to set the desired level. 9 levels of automatic squelch sensitivity are available (01 – 09). Press the multifunction button to confirm or wait 5 seconds, afterwards the screen will return to the standard
display mode. The set squelch level will be displayed in the upper left corner of the screen.

AM/FM modulation
Briefly press the AF/SC button [6] to switch between AM and FM.
Note: If the radio is set to a standard that does not support AM, pressing the AF/SC key will have no effect. Only the FM icon will remain displayed on the screen.

Dual Watch

1. Briefly press the DW [3] button to activate the Dual Watch function.
2. The channel number and DW icon will flash on the screen. Use the ▲ and ▼ keys to select the second channel you want to monitor.
3.  Briefly press the DW key again to confirm.
4. The two monitored channels, accompanied by the DW icon, will be displayed alternately on the screen.
5. Briefly press the DW key again to deactivate the Dual Watch function.

Scan

1. Long press the AF/SC button [6] to activate the channel scan function.
2. The SC icon will appear on the screen in the upper right corner, and the channel number will increase or decrease. Briefly press the ▲ and ▼ buttons to change the scan direction.
3. If during the scan, the radio receives a signal on one of the channels, the scan will stop for 10 seconds. If you want to continue scanning, press and hold the ▲ or ▼ button. If you want to stay on the signal channel, press and hold the AF/SC button or press the PTT button.
4. To stop scanning, press and hold the AF/SC button again or press and hold the PTT button briefly.

EMG (Emergency channels)

1. Briefly, press button 9 19/Lock [7] to switch to emergency channel 09.
2. Press the 9 19/Lock button again to switch to emergency channel 19.
3. The EMG icon will flash on the screen.
4. Press once more to return to the standard mode of operation of the radio.

Lock (Keylock)

1. Long press the 9 19/Lock [7] button to lock the keys (except the PTT key).
2. The text LOCK and the icon will appear on the screen .
3. Press and hold the 9 19/Lock button again to unlock the keys.

Additional settings menu

1. Long press the MENU button [4] to access the settings menu.
2. Press the multifunction button [1] to access one of the settings: BRIGHT, KEYTONE, NOISE BLANK, HIGH CUT, TIMEOUT TIMER, ROGER BEEP, AUTO ON, RFG, CDCSCODE, FACTORY RESET.
3. Rotate the multifunction knob to select the desired option.
4. Press the multifunction button to confirm.
5. Turn the multifunction knob to move to the next setting.

BRIGHT (Display brightness)
Options: 1 – 2 – 3 (1 – the least bright, 3 – the brightest)

KEYTONE
Options: OFF – ON

NOISE BLANKER
Options: OFF – ON

HIGH CUT
Options: OFF – ON

TIMEOUT TIMER
Options: OFF – 1 MIN – 2 MIN – 3 MIN – 4 MIN – 5 MIN -6 MIN – 7 MIN – 8 MIN – 9 MIN

ROGER BEEP
Options: OFF – 1 – 2 -3 AUTO ON
Options: OFF – ON RFG (RF Gain)
Options: OFF – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 -6 – 7 – 8 – 9.

CTCSCODE (CTCSS/DCS codes)
Options CTC: OFF and from 01 to 50. Options DCS: OFF and from 01 to 104.

Note: We do not recommend activating CTCSS/DCS codes unless the person you are communicating with has this feature enabled too.

FACTORY RESET
Options: YES – NO

Note: The radio can also be reset by the key combination: MENU + multifunction button (hold down the two buttons simultaneously when the radio is turned off).

Setting the standard

1. Turn off the radio.
2. Hold down the 9 19/Lock button [7] and the multifunction button [1] simultaneously.
3. Only the current standard will be displayed on the screen.
4. Turn the multifunction knob to the right or left to select the standard for your country.
5. Turn the radio off and back on.
6. The selected standard will be displayed on the screen.

Available standards

Norme| Frequency (MHZ)| Channels| Country| EMG (9/19)
---|---|---|---|---

EU

| ****

26.965-27.405

| ****

40CH (4W) AM/FM

| AT, BE,

BG, CH,

CY, DK,

EE, ES,

FI, FR,

GR, HR,

HU, IE, IS, IT, LT, LU, LV, NL, NO,, PT, RO, SE, SI

| ****

CH09: 27.065MHz AM/ FM

CH19: 27.185MHz AM/FM

FR

| ****

26.965-27.405

| 40CH (4W) AM/FM| ****

FR

| CH09: 27.065MHz AM/ FM

CH19: 27.185MHz AM/FM

PL

| 26.960-

27.400

| -5KHZ 40CH (4W) AM/FM| ****

PL

| CH09: 27.060MHz AM/ FM

CH19: 27.180MHz AM/FM

UK| 27.60125-

27.99125

| 40CH (4W)

FM only

| UK| CH09: 27.68125MHz FM CH19: 27.78125MHz FM

DE

| 26.965-27.405| 01CH-40CH (4W) AM/FM| ****

DE

| CH09: 27.065MHz AM/ FM

CH19: 27.185MHz AM/FM

26.565-26.955| 41CH-80CH

(4W) FM only

CE| 26.965-27.405| 40CH (4W)

FM only

| RO, MT| CH09: 27.065MHz FM CH19: 27.185MHz FM

IN

| ****

26.965-27.275

| 27CH (4W) AM/FM| ****

IN

| CH09: 27.065MHz AM/ FM

CH19: 27.185MHz AM/FM

Technical specifications

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