| W1MVY |
Rating:      |
2022-11-10 | |
| Great budget radio - worth the money |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Mine is a Retevis RT-95.
I will say that all the comments about basic functionality in previous reviews are accurate. If the lack of a dedicated volume knob, mediocre printed manual and the case getting warm bother you, then you will not like this radio.
But... I can attest to the build quality and with the many Youtube videos on how to set up and operate the radio and now it's CHIRP support, I have found this radio is simple to set up and program. Both receive and transmit audio quality are excellent and, once you figure out getting the radio set for US frequency operation and basic front panel operation it is simple to use.
I find it hard to justify 3-5x the price for Yaesu, Kenwood, Alinco or Icom. The RT-95 is a superb, fully functioned, budget radio - well worth the ~$120 USD. |
|
| M0JFG |
Rating:   |
2022-01-12 | |
| CRT 279 UV |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have the CRT 279 UV version and firstly I must say that the control system is far from intuitive, even pressing Exit 100 times does not exit you from the awful control system - HELP!. The manual has proven to me that automatic translation of Chinese to English is better than from French to English. I think the French have maybe purposely made the manual harder to understand for English speakers. The software and the programming lead is essential as it's too difficult to program manually, on the computer it was possible in a day. This was my first ever amateur transceiver and I consider an early mistake, save up more and buy one of the bigger Japanese brands.
Good was it was cheap. |
|
| DB4UP |
Rating:    |
2021-11-06 | |
| O.K. for the price |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Mine is a RETEVIS RT95. Same box with a different name, I would say. It was intended to be used in my car but now it became my "local telephone". The main reason for that are the negative points of the RETEVIS.
However, I will start with the positive points: It's a small sized radio which easily finds a place in the car or the shack. The display is big enough to see the most important things clearly. Some figures are so small, that I have to get very close and put on my glasses, but most of the miniaturized data isn't that important. It has all the functions a VHF/UHF TRX needs today and the menu is simple enough to be understood without the manual. The microphone is large enough for my hands, but maybe too large for other people. The tuning knob is not easily detuned, a separate volume knob does not exist. It's all in one.
This leads me to the negative points and the first is, that there is no volume knob. I have to use a programmed function key first to change the volume. In my opinion this makes no sense. How much more often do you change the volume and not the channel or frequency ? The linearity of the volume regulation is as problematic as it is in many other radios made in China. For me, as an engineer, it is impossible to understand why this problem still exists. It is known since years. With other words: Low volume is too low, then comes a large part where nothing really seems to change and finally it gets too loud.
The receiver part is sensitive enough and not noisy, even with weaker signals. The S-meter is a bit generous and ends with 9. If this also means "S9" is not obvious to me. Anyway, the receiver is more susceptible to nearby transmissions as most of the other radios I own(ed).
The transmitter seems to be unproblematic. I can't say anything about how clear the harmonic spectrum is, due to the lack of measuring devices. It's hard to find the right distance to the microphone. Sometimes I'm told I should get closer, sometimes to keep more distance. With high power the radio gets soon very hot ! I recommend to use a fan permanently, maybe temperature regulated.
My problem with the, in my opinion, not very logic handling was the main reason why it's not in my car. Beyond that, I didn't want to put much effort on adding an additional cooling fan. Both reasons count less using it in my shack and there it does its job almost every day for hours. I switch it off when I transmit on shortwave to avoid interference in the RETEVIS. In my car is now an older VHF/UHF radio of one of the known "big three". No handling or thermal problems with that.
All in all the RT95 is absolutely O.K. for its price. I got mine for ca. € 120. If it would not get so hot and the rotating knob will change the volume and not the frequency, plus a fix of the volume regulation issue, maybe after a firmware update, I would consider to rate it "good". Undoubtedly, one can live with the negative points. They are not so debilitating that they would disparage the radio generally. So, I give three and a half stars for it now.
Finally one thing everyone should take into consideration before buying ANY of these radios in the low-price segment: Do you have a chance to get it repaired if anything goes wrong ? Do you get a schematic for it anywhere ?
Think about it ! |
|
| W1DYS |
Rating:     |
2021-10-04 | |
| good value FOR THE MONEY |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
PROS
- Good value FOR THE MONEY
- Small size
+ good if space is restricted.
+ easy to move between cars if not permanently mounted.
- Reliable.
- Full featured.
- Constantly displays input voltage (watch the voltage drop when you xmit).
- Good microphone.
- Dual band - switching bands via microphone is easy.
CONS
- A single rotary knob performs different functions
+ probably needed to keep size small but can be annoying as a simple volume change may require a key push first.
- When monitoring 2 bands, you can only hear one if both are active (seriously annoying).
- You can display the channel frequency OR name but NOT both at once. (I really want that).
- The channel name is limited to 5 characters - bad but, again, probably a space compromise.
- Squelch control is clumsy. You can select levels 0-6. (In my area 0.5 would be nice :-) ).
- The 'monitor' button is not a toggle. To disable squelch, you have to hold the button the entire time.
- There is no fan. The unit gets HOT when transmitting.
- Difficult to program. - rt-systems software highly recommended.
-
P.S.My other VHF/UHF radio is an Icom ID-5100A |
|
| VK3LZ |
Rating:     |
2021-07-28 | |
| Cheap and works well but some minor issues. |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I bought one of these for my second car, at home I use a Yaesu FT-8800 and in my main car I use a Yaesu FT-7250D so I'll be comparing it to these two radios.
Price is an easy win for the Anytone, it was way cheaper new than either of the other two.
Transmit audio is good (no one can really tell which radio I'm using, I sound like me).
Receive audio on all three sounds good but the FT-8800 is the most resistant to interference followed by the Anytone with the FT-7250 in last place (all are much better than a cheap TYT I tried a while back).
Displays sees the FT-8800 in first place again, it has a large very readable display (color would be nice though), second goes to the Anytone which has nice color and good information displayed (but it is a bit small and bright sunlight effects it), last place goes to the FT-7250D which is not only small but is mono and has poor viewing angles (which is a real problem for mobile use).
Construction/Solidity/Feel; I'd put FT-8800 first, FT-7250D second and the Anytone last (it's still solid but it looks and feels cheaper).
Usability; FT-8800 first, FT-7250 second and Anytone last. The lack of a dedicated volume knob and the slow scan rate are annoying. And the Anytone lacking a fan gets hot with extended overs (the other two which have fans). The microphone doesn't feel as nice in my hand as the other two however it works fine.
But I have to come back to the price, the other two radios cost twice what the Anytone did and I have to say that the Anytone is a good cheap and usable option for an operator that can't afford a new radio from one of the big 3. It's not perfect (but then neither is the FT-7250D... or even the FT-8800 for that matter) but it is cheap and I can forgive it's issues given the price.
Recommended as long as you understand what you're getting. |
|
| K9IKE |
Rating:      |
2021-07-27 | |
| Great value! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Used mobile for yrs. with no issues. The lack of knobs
is what makes the radio so compact. Tested radio in a
location noted for hi intermod. ( so hi car remote won't
work ) This little radio never flinched. For $112 not a
bad deal. |
|
| VE3TMT |
Rating:    |
2021-07-27 | |
| Is to be expected |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Had the radio in the shack for a couple of days, not really much you can't do in this time frame.
First the things I like:
The display is very nice, all of the functions are on the screen and you can easily program the six buttons that surround the display.
The ergonomics are very good, large finned chassis that acts as a heat sink. The radio is very solid.
Nice well lit microphone, I don't use in the car, so this is not an issue.
RX audio is very nice, as is the TX from the reports I've been getting.
Once you get used to the menu, it's a very easy radio to program.
Things I don't like:
The scan speed is very, very slow. Don't plan on using it for a scanner, unless you are retired.
The radio runs very hot after a period of transmitting. I have a Noctua fan sitting on top of mine to help keep things cool.
My HF operation is creeping into the radio. Depending on the band I'm on, it overloads the radio. Never happened once on the Kenwood.
For what you pay, you get your moneys worth.
Definitely not on par with the big three. I sold a Kenwood TM-V71A to buy this and another radio for the car.
VE3TMT |
|
| GRUMPY2021 |
Rating:  |
2021-07-27 | |
| Certainly not worth the money. |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| After listening to the Youtube "Used car salesman" tell me how great this radio is and click the affiliate link to buy buy buy... I did. Glaring negatives. Screen impossible to see in the daylight. No real volume knob which is just completely stupid when you're trying to drive. Scan speed as slow as a turtle. Not going to waste my time writing more. It's so poor I threw it in the trash. |
|
| K6DS |
Rating:   |
2021-06-06 | |
| A couple of real negatives |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Had the rig only three days and have been working with it for about 6 hours each day. Got all 75 of the channels programmed that I can reach from my location. My previous rig did very well, but after many many years, it died.
Anyway, have a few problems with the 778. First, the scan is PAINFULLY slow! Second, there is really no volume knob and when you do switch to it, you have numbered choices, but cannot really mute it. You can choose between 1 and 36 for volume and on 1 it is impossible to really hear and when you step to number 2 it is quite loud. Really should be a regular smooth knob. And, for now, the last complaint I have is the fact that if you are scanning the channels and have it in "dual watch", the dual channel will not show busy when somebody is transmitting on that frequency. I hope this is all and that there are not more complaints to come!
All this is really sad since this is basically a very compact and nice looking rig. Sorry Anytone, but this needs work. |
|
| KJ4DGE |
Rating:     |
2020-12-07 | |
| Very good for the price |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Still a 4, because it is really a 4. Been running as a base rig and can make repeaters 20 + miles out on 25 watts. It just keeps working fine with no issues except one.Long rag-chews will cause the heat sink to really get hot, not warm, HOT. I am talking about 30 minutes or so of talking with little listening. Other than that it does all the things a base rig should. Forget using it as a scanner as it runs 3 channels per second. You really have to use this radio and understand the menu system before you chuck the manual but its worth it. You can manually program the radio and make changes on the fly once you understand the menus.
I had a Lexien before this at 10 watts and although it was OK, the 778 has it beat in so many ways. It is basically a great radio for base or mobile use and worth every penny over a HT. I would give it a 5 if it had a fan LOL
It seems Btech and Anytone are the leaders in the around 99.00 range. I have found in working the menus its fairly easy to program this one from the mic. I like the quality a lot and have found that 25 watts and a decent base antenna will get me pretty much where I want to talk. For the money you get a great display and cool running output, good audio reports etc. The reason for not giving it a 5 is of course the manual but even that is understandable versus some I have read. Anytone and Btech both have US distributors which is a real plus. The audio on receive is really loud. As has been stated though its a two step process to adjust. A good all round radio for the money.
IF having a programming cable is important to program your rig, then this one is not for you (yet) as its not listed by CHIRP quite yet. Still worth a look though! |
|