Makers eXperimenters and Operators: October 2017

Friday, 27 October 2017

Retevis RT90 Dual Band DMR / Analogue mobile

Retevis RT90

Dual Band DMR / Analogue radio

I was kindly sent this radio by Retevis to test out and review, I have found the radio very easy to program, the USB cable / com port is detected in the software automatically.

The code plug is available from your local radio dealer and is compatible with the hand held model

Once programmed up using the radio is simple, select the zone (repeater) which is close to you, using the tuning knob on the right side select the talk group.

Use the microphone as usual.

Having the 45 Watts really helps over the hand held and signal reports and access to distant DMR and analogue repeaters was an added bonus.

Powering on and off with Custom screen

You switch on and off the radio using the Green power button and pressing for a few seconds.

You can customise the screen welcome text in the programming software

Showing the Channel selection on DMR and Analogue

Tuning the talk group is simple using the knob on the right side of the radio, you could also use the arrow buttons on the microphone (when mobile this is useful)

To switch into analogue, press the band / esc key, you will have needed to program in analogue repeaters in the same zone to make this work.

Contacts, so many contacts available for use

See a callsign and a name (not just an ID number)

The RT90 has a lot of memory space, this allows you to store a lot of contact details, you can get the list off the Internet and this converts the DMR ID number to a name and Call sign.

A note that the display is bright and stay's lit for about 30 seconds, the microphone also lights up which is useful.

Changing zone (Repeater)

Changing location, will probably mean you will need to change to a different repeater, or changing different repeater types (analogue, phoenix / Brandmaster) this is easily achieved by using the menu zone option. Zones have an A and B side, A is for digital and B can be used for analogue.

Sending a text message

You have the ability to send and receive text messages on the radio as well, luckily the microphone have an alpha numeric keypad which makes it easy to do.

Programming from the menu / microphone

Instead of having to remove the radio from your car and using the programming cable, which as we know can be a pain, there is the added functionality to program a new zone (repeater) frequency, colour code, time slot(s) and everything you need plus store it in memory. Both for DMR and analogue.

Quick QSO on DMR with David MI6DVM

Here is a quick demonstration of a conversation with David MI6DVM, showing the quality of the digital audio. Its very clear and his report back suggest we are also sounding good to him.