Water Torture Test :: The Results Were Shocking! Retevis RA89

I was shocked by the results after the water torture test :: Retevis RA89
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[HamRadioDX]

Great job Jason! Good to see some more radios coming out that are waterproof and rugged

[nvmt]

not a bad backyard water stress test. Thanks N3VMT

[LibertyEver]

The Trifecta - waterproof, USB-C charging and *true* high power output. Nice large capacity battery to go with the high power output as well. The programming cable is not included and is an additional $13. The RA89 is not currently supported by CHIRP but programming will almost certainly not be a problem for long. On the plus side, Amazon has a 10% off coupon so the $70 radio is $63. Very tempting for my rough and tumble HT use - my 4WD mini truck, 4WD SHTF bugout 4Runner, and my G310GS adventure motorcycle, where the HT would be acting in place of a mobile rig so the extra power would be appreciated, but I'd also be likely to operate in the rain or drop the HT into a creek.

Baofeng has been making radios that have one of the three features for the trifecta, but not all... and while none of the HT specs accurately report power output, Baofeng fibs more than most. Retevis seems more accurate than most.

I think it would also be very interesting if someone made a software defined radio version of an HT that allowed AM and SSB as well as FM. AM is good to receive (and transmit if legal to do so) on air bands, and SSB could be useful for digital modes on VHF/UHF.

[KMACK]

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[fredhillhousejr]

I have been looking at various waterproof radio options. This is a nice low end option. For my high end VHF/UHF HT (D72), I use the Aquapac pouches. My Marine HT is waterproof already. My next purchase will for GMRS since not everyone I paddle with is licensed for amateur radio. I will look closer at the RA85 now based on this review even though it is only IP67.

[betterbprepared]

Great review Jason! One question I would have is how clean is the transmit. Some of these "cheaper" radios are "dirty" with harmonics bleeding over into other frequencies when transmitting. If this radio has clean transmit, then I agree this is a relatively "cheap" radio that we all need in our every day carry kit. Thanks for the review!

[terryboyle]

good test, pleased to see it passed the test

[retevisQA]

Cool, seems people are love high leveled waterproof and rugged feature, and type c port. Record the needs about BT programming and type c programming. Thanks for sharing, Jason! 😁👍

[ADDMDennis]

Kinda like when I scared Chuck by throwing my ruggedized Windows tablet on the ground shortly after buying it at Huntsville Hamfest. But I knew it would handle the drop. Cool test, Jason. Risking the damage so we won't be guessing.

[hawkeyeCHE]

A guy in my ham club said he worked for Majic Mountain amusement park. He stated that if they dropped radios into water rides they would rush them to a bucket of De-ionized water and a lot of times it would save the radio.. Not sure if it works but apparently DI water has no minerals which is supposedly what really shorts out the radios circuits. Not sure I'm buying that theory.

[johnk]

Looks like it passed your tests with flying colors. The one thing you didn't check was to see if the output was clean. At that power level if it's not clean, it could cause increased interference with other frequencies. Some of the lower priced Chicom radios pass, some are not so great. Thanks for the test. I don't think I'd buy one until I knew the spectrum output was clean.

[clone]

Thank you for testing and sharing! I recently got one and I know they SAY its waterproof, but sometimes you gotta see to believe (Especially with Chinese HT’s). Just out of curiosity, any Idea how many watts this thing puts out around 462.700MHz? Also here’s something interesting… I saw a Retevis YouTube account on another YouTube video comment claiming that the radio is waterproof even without the dust cover/plug inserted in the USB-C port! I emailed them to confirm, as well as to clarify whether or not its only waterproof with the stock antenna. Eagerly awaiting their response.

[KUL]

More & more radios are having the feature enabled if being able to be programmed via BT from an App to your Laptop. My Chromebook isn't compatible with most of the universe these days, but my Android Pixel 7 would be great if an App could update the settings & memory channels on my Ham & GMRS radios. I do love the USB-C charging as most of my Camp Hosts are not set up with an Inverter in their rigs & we find it inconvenient to run the generator just for charging via a wall cube. It would be nice to see a GMRS version of this radio. I find it much easier to get 16 camp hosts a GMRS license than to convince more than one or two of them how easy it is to get a ham license at their age, lol. Cheers, Davey - KU9L

[kevinshumaker]

Shame the USB-c on the radio can't be used for programming or control, too... Thanks for the review, Jason.

[chrissewell]

Looks like a great radio! But its currently unavailable at Amazon!?

[bruehlt]

I guess I just don't see the need for a higher power HT - I don't really want to cook my brain. Why have a higher power HT when a 50w mobile will do so much more?

[digital.rancher]

Nice results at that price! Thx Jason, 73!