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Reviews For: Retevis RT10

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Hand-held

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Review Summary For : Retevis RT10
Reviews: 2MSRP: US $60
Description:
Single-band 902-928 MHz DMR/FM Handheld Transceiver
Product is in production
More Info: https://www.retevis.com/rt10-two-way-radio-for-business-128-channel-900-mhz-us
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
1525
N4YJA Rating: 2023-03-27
Great affordable 902MHz Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought a pair of these off Amazon and right out the box one of the charger base does not work. Contacted tech support on retevis.com and got a replay back a day later (may be due to time difference between US and China) and secure a replacement charger on the way. Going back to the review: Program the radio with some DMR frequencies and head off for my cruise last week ( I also had with me UHF DMR radio). This is a great radio for the cruise ship, crystal clear for the whole ship that we used it on (160k tonnage class ship). I can tell that Analog is dead, where the analog signal start to get cracking, digital is going thru load and clear on both UHF and 900MHZ. I see some people that are using FRS/GMRS analog struggling on the ship but the digital mode if going clear. The only complaint s I have is this is really a basic radio ( for the price and the band, no one can beat it for now), The PTT is too soft and get activated too easily when taking radio off the belt. The antenna constantly getting loose. This radio needs the keypad and LCD display desperately move it up to the next level. The radio is definitely not FCC type certified ( no number anywhere) but as ham radio should be OK, No way it qualifies under the free License ISM (you need FHSS and minimum of 50 channels hops like he Motorola). If they make it a FHSS, smaller for a factor with a LCD screen, this is definitely a go to radio for the family.
AE4KR Rating: 2022-09-23
Bare bones, but a great basic DMR radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Thumbs-up: Price, form factor, battery life, basic functionality, audio quality. Thumbs-down: No display, lack of flexibility in some settings, spurious emissions are legal but not as good as advertised.

I ordered a pair of these radios to experiment with analog FM on the 33cm ham/ISM band, and to evaluate the band's potential for linking. DMR was a bonus. The RT10 is available for about $60 US online, (occasionally less in quantity or on sale,) and mine took about a week to arrive. It is capable of full coverage of 902-928 MHz in both transmit and receive, and is compatible with DMR Tier-II repeaters within the limitations of its feature set.

The RT10 lacks a display and keypad, which rules out some DMR bells/whistles, and requires creativity in arranging its 128 channels in a manner which will facilitate memorization. Programming requires a standard Baofeng-type two-pin cable; Retevis offers the software as a free download. There are eight zones of 16 channels each. Zones are changed using a function button, and channels are selected using a 16-position rotary switch.

The user manual and programming software both have translation issues which complicate setup, especially for first-time DMR users (like me.) Nevertheless, I had it up and running on our local mixed-mode net the same day it arrived.

Its manual claims the RT10 is a license-free radio for businesses in Canada and many EU countries. It lacks either of the modulation schemes which would qualify it to operate license-free under Part 15 in the US. The good news is, there appears to be nothing which rules out this radio for legal use under Part 97 by hams in the US. As a bonus, it allows programming both 12.5 and 25 kHz analog FM channels, which is blocked on some commercial radios. Wideband channels are legal for US hams, and important for some testing I hope to do.

The radio looks and feels good. The belt clip is user-installed with two screws, holds to your belt securely and is easy to use. Audio on receive has good volume and quality. Being the only non-Motorola user in our local group, I considered it a win when they reported my transmit audio was "a little hot, but good." On analog FM, the radio employs audio companding to mitigate QRM from LoRa and other unlicensed gadgets, but there's no option to turn it off, which might compromise packet or other applications.

I had the opportunity to test both my RT10s on a calibrated spectrum analyzer at a local university. The manual claims spurious and harmonic emissions are "-65 dB," but the third harmonic on both my radios was -47 dBc. That meets the limit for a 1-watt radio under 97.305(e), but only by 1 dB. All other harmonics below 5 GHz were at least -67 dBc, and most were -70 or better. The OEM rubber duck showed 2:1 SWR or better across the band.

The 1400 mAH battery charges in 3.5 hours; I'd estimate a full charge lasts 10 - 12 hours of DMR use in standard 90/5/5 duty cycle, slightly less using analog. A function key can be programmed for voice readout of battery condition, and appears to be expressed in percent remaining. The radio will start alerting to charge the battery below 15%. Auto shut-down occurs at 4.8 volts (2.4 volts per cell.) Spare batteries are available as a special order from the manufacturer, but the battery fastener doesn't look like it was designed for lots of open/close cycles. There is no power input to allow running the radio from 12V, but I hope to homebrew an external adapter.

If you want to use a 900 MHz DMR hotspot or just experiment with the band, this looks like a great starter radio. I'm not aware of any direct competitor. If you use your surplus Motorola as a weapon in hand-to-hand combat, the RT10 is probably not a good replacement. So far, I'm happy with my choice. If I have occasion to interact with Retevis on a warranty issue, I'll return and report.