Retevis RA79, RA89 & HD1 GPS

Searching for a Japanese HT

Recently, I began doing more work on dual-band VHF/UHF radios on the channel and blog. This process actually started about half a year ago, but I could not find a new Japanese HT with the feature set I wanted/needed. Older models had many of these features, but they had been discontinued.

Those amazing features have been rolled back by Japanese manufacturers, in favor of a sometimes “less is more” approach to the dual-band HT. Don’t get me wrong though. The radios are great and have lots of features. Sadly, the most practical (and advanced features) aren’t always on offer.

What I wanted was an analog radio which was:

• Waterproof and dustproof
• Has USB-C port for charging
• Has wide RX for listening to out of band frequencies
• Has cross-band operation
• Won’t require a charging dock for charging
• Able to send analog data modes when integrated with a digirig.
• Full Duplex would be nice (but not holding my breath)

The Kenwood TH-D75 would have fit the bill, but it lacked ruggedness, and was way out of budget. It also isn’t available yet.

The RA89 is an IP68 waterproof/dustproof analog dual-band radio. It has charging over a USB-C port via its 2500mah battery. It does not require the docking port for charging!

Considering this radio would be used on a chest pack, the IP68 ingress protection was a huge deal. Not having to protect the radio from the elements, means I can mount more fragile components inside the chest pack, while the HT rides in a skeleton pouch externally.

The above image shows a mock-up of my VHF/UHF data modes chest pack go kit using the Retevis RA89.

USB Charging

Like the RA89, the RA79 also has built-in USB charging. Unlike the RA89, the RA79 has emplemented the USB port on the radio case, rather than the battery. This clever feature allows one to change or remove the battery pack while the USB cable is plugged in, without having to power down the radio. The RA79 will take its power from the USB port during a battery swap! That’s very clever!

In my opinion, someone put a great deal of thought into how Operators will use these radios out in the field. The very pragmatic hot-swap capability of removing a fully charged battery pack, replacing it with a depleated pack (or vice-versa) for charging, provides us with very capable battery and charge management. I may be mistaken, but I have not seen this functionality demonstrated on any other dual-band HT in this budget price range.

Retevis HD1 DMR radio

There was one more radio I thought to mention. I’ve said this before, but will say it again. The world is becoming more dangerous! When operating with a local or community group, we require HF AND VHF/UHF comms capabilities. Having only one or the other won’t cut it. To that end and in addition to HF radio concepts, we will begin working with DMR radios on the channel.

DMR radios have certain capabilities that can help ensure our safety and ultimately, our security if SHTF. The HD1 GPS should arrive during the next few weeks, and we’ll start our journey down the DMR road. You may want to be subscribed to the Rumble channel, as some of the DMR content, may not be “YT friendly”. All in good taste, but we need the freedom to explain concepts and means, from outisde the box.
I’ll leave it there for now.

The HD1 DMR radio with built-in GPS is fully DMR Tier I and Tier II compliant, has built-in APRS, Cross-band operation, 3000 channels 256 zones and up to 200000 contacts; support signal call group call and all call; IP67 waterproof walkie-talkie allows you to use it in rain or snow or inclement weather.

• US：
  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076V85XPM?maas=maas_adg_2DEE9930B4E41E548D9E5DDB9136001A_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maas
• Europe:
  https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0774K4K8Z