Retevis RT73 - The Best Budget Mobile DMR Radio

Tell me does it work on the amateur radio band 2 m and 70 cm I'm talkin let me know

Hey buddy I like their radios I think they make some real nice ones I got the RT 87 handheld is easy to program break from the keypad very good company thank you so much you sounded bloody good cheerio my countrymen from Carrollton Georgia in the USA 🌞

Hello Lewis that's a really cool looking radio 🌞

Very cool 👍

Hi Lewis is it the same lead as the anytone 878 ?

Do you know the reason why the radio wouldn't receive audio from a talk group if you don't set it to promiscuous mode? I've been having this issue even with a parrot talk group that's supposed to play back your own audio.

What power adapter does it run off? 12v? Just thinking it might make a good portable radio for backpacking.

Great video! Does anyone know if the encryption modes are compatible with hytera? I have a load of hytera radios for my business but I don’t really fancy dropping another £500 for something to go in my car for as and when so looking for something a little more budget friendly.

Hello greetings from Chile thanks for the video very good radio this brand is seen in Chile I bought a radio and it gives very good results here they use public transport radios and it would be a good idea to have that type of model since it has gps and a good alternative greetings from chile

Hi Lewis! I was wondering if you might be posting any more with this radio or perhaps if you've encountered problems with it? It seems Radioddity will be releasing a very similar radio and their email notification brought the rig back to my mind.
Thanks!
Rob

Would I need an external antenna like a magnetic base antenna for this to work in my vehicle?

Looks a good little radio I have seen it on amazon uk but no one else is selling it in the uk yet understand it had a few problems when it came out but like most of the dmr handhelds in the past hopefully new firmware updates can cure them

The audio didn't sound very clear - quite difficult to understand the other guy.

I bought this radio. Software has run time errors. I wouldn't buy this radio until they get the software working. No support from Retevis.

I have this radio but it is impossible. The programing is really buggy I just get "data mistake" after "data mistake". Lewis I am very impressed that you have manged to get it to work.

Analog sounds like being horribly compressed already, I guess DMR must be incomprehensible then?

Thanks for the review, Lewis.
Tell me, you know of Andy Kirby? :)

Best budget showdown video of radios in different categories? 🤞🏻

Hi Lewis - I've finally "splurged" and ordered a RT73 but have started looking at the CPS software from the Retevis download site. It's not really like the other CPS that I use for Hytera & TYT, but I have the userdb downloaded and saved as a file etc, but any chance of a few pointers or a short video detailing how it's laid out, as I see no where to enter channel info, DMR user ID and nor does it import any of my existing CodePlugs ...... :-/

Now that you have had the Retevis RT73 for a couple months . . . how do you find it now after a couple months?

Seems to work better/faster in single band mode (not a true dual receive, scans between the two)

Hi Lewis & firstly best wishes for 2021. I've been considering another new handy talkie for DMR but am being "pulled" towards this or the Kydera version but read many online comments about bad firmware etc. In your objective opinion as a reviewer , have you come across issues with it? I know it's cheap 'n' cheerful and am just looking for something mobile (I do +/-1500 km a week) but don't want to go to the expense of investing in something expensive that could get stolen from the car - unless you have a dual band DMR demo model going spare or that needs endurance testing that is :-P
Seriously, keep the videos coming - great content as always. 73's de F4VRX

Looks same as the Kydera CDR-300UV. Who is the Original Equipment Manufacturer?

Hot take: This radio stinks like hot, burning trash.

This is not a working radio as described in ANY of retevis' advertising, and anyone who has purchased one expecting a working "state of the art" radio has been sorely mislead. Having purchased one just shy of 2 weeks ago, I can confidently say that this radio makes claims crazier than Donald Trump and is a HUGE waste of time and cash.

The radio itself seems well built, but that is the only thing nice thing I can say about it. While the radio hardware seems OK, the LONG list of features that do not work and known issues/failures add up FAST. When I opened my box, I found that no GPS antenna was included (GPS does not even work as I understand it), the DMR reception cuts out (just as others have reported here), factory reset from the radio's menu does nothing (also as reported here), and the PTT on the Mic only works about 2/3 the time.

The software is absolute trash too--It's full of gibberish made from poorly done translation, non standard terms, columns/options that mean nothing, and is missing features a LEGIT state of the art radio would have. (Excel import/export functions for channels and contacts!!)

There is a bit of promise in this radio, especially with the compact size and lack of a good remote head DMR radio. Should the issues get dealt with, this could even be a great radio, but for now, I'll be returning this and buying something else ASAP.

How is it as a DMR radio since that is why one would buy it over an analog radio.
May be a H.T. radio in a mobile control head size. Is it really 20 watts??

The radio is at an beta status, eg how to make a factory reset, so all data are gone? its not the icon in the menu, its channel and power on. And how to setup digital APRS? TG214999 isnt working....

It's a great form factor but i'm finding it very difficult to program it at the moment. The software is very poor and seems a backwards step from other Retevis models even with the latest firmware. Multiple problems with zones mixing, scan groups changing and just general bugs throughout. I spent 10 minutes setting up some channels, went to add them to scan group and it changed all of the channels to analogue when I went back into the Zone edit. Very frustrating! The analogue audio also isn't very nice, it sounds like the companding setting is switched on all the time and appears muffled. All in all I wouldn't recommend buying one at all until some serious improvements are made.

Pity its not available until 10th dec 2020.

Nice beastie, price is OK too. Keep the videos coming.

Power is around 7W on UHF and 15W on VHF neither are 20W.

I had one for about a week. the CPS is very buggy, zones vanish or merge with others, VHF and UHF frequencies just disappeared. After trying three time to get the code plug in correctly, the radio rebooted and will not stay on for more than 3 to 5 seconds. I worked with tech support for 4 or 5 days trying everything under the sun. I finally got them to send me the info to return the radio, which is going to cost me $70 shipping. I paid $25 shipping to get the radio here so I am not to happy about being out almost $100 in shipping for a $160 radio. Very unhappy, will never buy Retevis again.

Sounds to me like it's using Campanding on analog. Can that be turned off in the CPS?

Nice and small compact radio 👍👏👏

So did you a factory reset, it dosent work. What are ham groups in the CPS? APRS is nor working. 25 kcs FM in rx is not working. what is the differeence between MIC1 and MIC2 gain. No muting of subchannel possible. No promiscuous mode.

Does it do APRS?

That might be the rig for my motorcycle. Like the form factor. Thanks, Lewis!

You are reallly that is an dmr Radio?

Looks like a nice little radio, and a great review.

Here’s another quick oversight. You see the knob on the front of the radio? That is for changing talk groups and for pushing to get into sub menus and such. It is NOT programmable. You know how some stations audio is really weak and others are really loud? You need to turn the volume up or down depending upon the station and how they have programmed their radio. Well, on this radio you need to press the VOL button first then that activates the volume function. Now you rotate the knob to turn it up or down. Then wait for volume function to time out before you can do anything else. When you are driving this is a real pain in the butt.
If you need to make changes to a setting while monitoring you need to go to the settings menu and scroll through until you find another sub menu. This is fine but then a signal comes through and the radio jumps back to monitor mode and doesn’t let you make changes. If you need to make changes to that talk group and it’s busy then you will need to either disconnect the antenna or take note of the changes you want to make and remember to change them in the codeplug and load them from the CPS.

Very nice looking Radio

Looks good Lewis. Just wondering if it has promiscuous mode? / Digi monitor? Thanks for the vid.

Nice radio, Lewis and it was a pleasure to work you on the demo. 73, Paul M7MVF.

Great video! Looks like a nice little radio.

Your message reaches Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Thank you sir. Could I use this radio to take all 3 levels of the Ham radio tests? Your input & advice would be appreciated. Cheers.

I’ve had one of these for a couple of weeks now. The CPS is quite buggy. After a few hours of building the codeplug I noticed the CPS had deleted data from some of the other zones and merged data from one zone to another. It is very frustrating. I’m using the latest rev of CPS. 
The programming is a bit different from an Anytone or a Connect Systems. The analog receive audio is distorted or slightly off frequency. I’ve been trying to return it to Retevis but they want me to choose the least expensive shipping with no insurance and declare the value at 10 dollars. So what happens when it gets lost in the mail or at Retevis? I’m out 200+ dollars. They tell me to go ahead and send it but I’m not about to risk losing my money without a guarantee of payment. It randomly reboots on me and at times turns off for no reason.
It will not do APRS yet. They tell me that they are working on it. Mine shows 18 watts of output on both UHF and VHF on high power. I haven’t checked low power.

I really like the radio but there are issues with it. I’d recommend waiting for a few months before buying one. They shouldn’t have released it for sale until it is ready for the general public. The CPS needs to be reworked and I don’t understand why it has so many problems. Retevis has been making radios for awhile now. Why can’t they use CPS from another product instead of making a new one? I wish I’d waited. I see the price has dropped from 179 to 169.
It’s the same radio as the Kydera CDR-300.

A grear review sir. I like this radio, it looks very nice with the added bonus of a front speaker. Who s the UK distributor, or is it a direct purchase?

i like it i got the kydera which is exactly the same

Thank you for this! I have been looking for reviews, but it is a new radio after all and not many reviews are out there (at least in English). I eagerly look forward to more on this rig. Would love to see the power measured and a DMR test from your infamous Werneth Low test site!
Thanks again!