Retevis RA89 Ham Radio, IP68 Waterproof Two Way Radio for Hunting, Survival

this tank of a radio is perfect. with GMRS firmware I finally have the one i can take anywhere. It has excellent reception. the display is great in direct sunlight and veryuch bright enough in the dark. it is chirp compatible. you can drive over this thing and take it to the beach. its affordable. i put a smiley super stick IV on it. I get NOAA channels and commercial radio great with it. USB C and loud speak with the noise cancelling output which cleans up fuzzy signals so well. it can be programmed without a computer easily enough. the screw on the mic/speaker door can be used with a coin or even just fingers. two things the belt clip could be improved. I havent been too worried because i have a holster if im ever going to be doing summersalts. I wish holding the up and down arrows would fast scroll....but you have to press. this is mostly an issue when naming channels. if you just use channel numbers or you use chirp for programming, it wont be an issue. it feels good in hand. sturdy like a commercial radio. talkaround and reversal. it doesnt look too flashy and has an old school vibe. you can save a channel from VFO mode without even going into the menu. just two buttons! custom startup and simple firmware updates. i hope they continue to support this radio and maybe add the hold to speed scroll navigation.

Great simple dual band HT !... Youtube video's show the power & purity pretty good and I like the simple old school easy to read screen :) Feels good and sturdy in the hand.

Unlike many radios that claim 8-10 watts, this radio truly is a 10 watt plus radio! It performs across the bands and even out of band. Easily modified for extended frequencies by a few key strokes while turning the radio on (see YouTube for instructions) for use on Marine and GMRS. The radio is LOUD! (Listen to above video) Has a nice noise cancelling mic that can be turned on or off with software defined buttons on the side of the radio. It has 3 power levels, low~2w med~5w & high 10 watts plus! The included rubber duck antenna is amazing, never going over 2.6:1 even out-of-band. Going to use this one on my boat and motorcycle because it is ip67 waterproof. Lots of value to the money paid for!

I have several friends and acquaintances with this radio, and I was impressed, so I picked one up. This review is after 1 week of use and the initial learning curve. User Interface = *** Operation = **** Value= *** Quality = **** If you already know what you're doing, you'll be fine, once you figure out a few secret handshakes. If this is your first ham radio, you'll have a steep learning curve, and the manual won't help much. One week ago it came with the programming cable. This week it doesn't??? But, hey if you already have one you can use it for multiple radios. HITS: Solid. Feels good in the hand. I don't completely trust IP ratings in general, but if not waterproof, it at least appears weatherproof with a modicum of care. USB-C and cradle charging. Decent battery size, use lower power if you can. FM broadcast radio reception with memories! I have limited used on repeaters, but my friends have no problem. Selectable dual watch (D.Wait) for the VFO and selectable DW for when using the FM receiver (kudos). CHIRP programming (more on that later), but you can use CHIRP to program the side buttons and the power on screen to your liking. MEH: The charging cradle requires perfect alignment and a bit of force. It NOT a drop-in cradle like most, but if you knock it over it will keep charging. Com si com sa. Headset connector cover sealed well but you need a dime and a pry tool to remove it. Your fingernail won't work for either. Available headset to mate and seal. So good and bad. It's there if you need it but not 100% convenient to switch back and forth. CHIRP programming yielded garbled signals all the CHIRP programmed frequencies and repeaters -- and maybe I can save you a day or week, or a returned radio... It took me all evening and past midnight last night to figure out what was going on - all the CHIRP programmed channels were garbled. The manually programmed ones were not. Reading hand programmed channels into CHIRP showed the programming was "identical". I finally found that if I selected a CHIRP programmed channel on the radio, then went into the menu, the Scramble setting was on. I turn it off manually and everything is fine! After a long time searching in CHIRP I found a setting that expands the view of all columns to make them visible, and there it was... a column that had all the channels set to scramble enabled. Fixed that and now the programmed channels work fine. MISSES: The USB-C charger cover WILL eventually get lost. They should throw a few more in the box, or make it so you can't lose it. The manual is hot garbage. All of the Chinese radio companies need to spend $2500 and get an actual native-speaking ham radio operator as technical writer for these manuals, but this one in particular might be the worst one I've seen so far. Like I said, if you already know what you're doing, you can struggle your way through it... but there are still a couple of menu items that I have no clue what they do. Apparently, a few YouTubers who make a living doing this don't know either. @Retevis - please do NOT put "Alarm" as the default for a side button long press. I was in the middle of a net and my typical radio does a monitor while you press and hold, and I set off the siren during the net. Fortunately that's programmable, but not in the menus, so yeah, you need a programming cable. That's the first think I fixed in CHIRP. Button labels are missing a few key items - those secret handshakes I referred to earlier - like what button to press at the end when storing a channel in memory. And what button to press to change from channel to frequency mode. frequency mode - channel mode. The order of the menu items is haphazard. Plus there are more menu items in my radio than are in the menu, so that thing about not knowing what some functions do... yeah, it's a problem... I'll have to see if there is an update on their website. Also, I just thought of this... I want a side button to press and hold to open the squelch - I don't think that was one of the options, but I think I'll look for it now.

This radio was supposed to be more awesome than it turned out to be The good. It came with a programing cable, which I wasn't expecting. It programed with chirp easily on linux. Mac seemed to need a driver. It's solid. It actually has a proper SMA female on top! I did not test waterproofing but Retevis seems to have done a good job on the seals. The bad. It had to be unlocked to receive outside the ham bands. If it's advertised with wide RX I shouldn't have to consult youtube to unlock that range. Unlocking wide RX also unlocks TX through the entire range, which seems weird. I had to hold S2 (bottom side key) and 9 while turning the radio on. Scanning is incredibly slow, like a uv5. It's also tedious to start scanning unless you program a hot key for it. Receive sensitivity and quality. Somewhere between a uv5 and gd-77 in both sensitivity and audio quality. But my bottom of the line Yaesu will receive clearly when this will barely break the squelch. Power can only be changed from the menu, not a single button. There's no tether on the USB cover on the battery so I bet it will get lost easily. Random things I noticed. It won't charge (via cradle) from just any USB charger. You can't stop scanning by hitting the ptt like most radios. You have to hit the red A/B button Not a terrible radio but this was supposed to be more awesome. The extra power and waterproofing don't make up for the downsides for my use.

I have a couple other Retevis portables, and I'm rather "picky" when it comes to one. Having said that, this one, the RA89 is the best one yet... 10 watts, dual band, 95% Front Panel programmable, easy to program via the keypad, USB "C" charging option, FM broadcast. And its "unlockable"... theres several videos on the web showing how. The only thing missing is a dedicated "bank" for NOAA weather channels & alert. ● Now if Retevis wanted to make a "dream" radio all they'd have to do is add 1.25m (220mhz), 6m (50mhz), GPS, Aviation Rx. One version Analog & another with DMR.

I have many RT85's (and a couple TYT UV88's, etc). they're great an all, but feel like I need to treat them like my mobile phone (i.e., try not to sit on them, put a doily on them to keep them away from the elements, ... Wait maybe that last thing is just me, anyway...). This RA89 feels, better. It's solid, even has a decent stock rubber ducky - which is good since I don't want to mess with the IP68 rating. My Yaesu VX-6R is a tank, but this RA89 feels/seems *almost* as tough, maybe a Styker, or a Bradley. Anyways, I like it.

If you're looking for a top-quality alternative to the ubiquitous Baofeng HT's (notably the UV5R's and their variants), give this radio a chance. Sturdy and generally well made, it finds and hold frequency well and works well for Amateur Radio Operators looking for something to keep in your bag, talk to local Hams or (like me) use it with a Digirig (or similar interface) to do digital communications. The only downside? They provide a lovely manual that describes a plethora of functions and features BUT NOT HOW TO USE MOST OF THEM! I spent more time on the Internet trying to find information than I should have. Using the manual to figure out the best way to setup Winlink Extress was a nightmare. Luckily for me, the person who recommended the radio to me had done it and helped me figure it out. Anyway, if you can find one, it's a great HT.