Retevis RA25 Mobile Repeater-Capable GMRS Radio 20W

I love these radio

Simply put, a great radio!

One who knows what they are doing can make this radio useable but it is a tedious struggle. Lines cannot be added for the same frequencies with different tones and global changes have to be performed line by line, window by window. 6 pages of tiny print, you call that an instruction manual? Often, it is wrong!

I bought this because it was rather inexpensive and had all the functions I needed. Who needs 50W anyways, 20W is plenty in almost all situations. Like others have said, programming is a bit tricky, but spend a bit of time on it and you'll have it down in no time. One hint that I didn't know at first: to be able to program all of the memories, first download the "code plug" from the radio itself, then edit that for upload. If you use the code plug templates that come with the Retevis software you can only edit standard memories. I like that it has a battery supply volt meter on the display, super handy for those of us who use a battery to power it when the vehicle is turned off. If only it was better weather proofed, then it would be a no brainer for all use cases.

I have the Radioddity labeled version of this.. Great receive, as if it has a pre-amp and get excellent reports on transmit. It does get hot on long transmit so make sure it has good air flow around it..I only need to add tone for one repeater and did that with the on board commands.