The Retevis RT73 and Kydera CDR300UV are identical radios. They are a DMR/FM duel band radio for Amateur radio use. This is great, as most of the early DMR radios available were commercial radios that were used for Amateur operations.
At time of writing this, the radio is one of the smallest dual band DMR mobile I’ve seen, about the size of a handheld.
Some of the features include:
- DMR / Analog
- Dual Timeslot (MotoTRBO compatible)
- VHF / UHF Dual Band
- Size: 121 x 76 x 43mm, 4.75 x 3.0 x 1.7″
- Weight: 329g, 11.6oz
- 136-174 400-480 MHz
- 5W-20W transmit
- FM radio receive
- 300,000 DMR DB IDs (w/ Latest FW/SW)
- 20,000 call groups
- 4000 channels
- Analog APRS
- 16 zones (250 Chan / zone)
- Built in GPS
- DMR roaming
Included with the radio in the box are:
- Microphone (DTMF currently doesn’t work but may be fixed with a future update)
- Mounting bracket and screws
- 2m 12V power cord
- 60-page user guide – 6 languages
- GPS antenna
- Programming cable (optional – but you may already have one)
There are three programable keys along the top along with other buttons. These buttons respond differently to long and short presses. The speaker is on the front making it easy to mount, however the speaker microphone can also be a speaker if you want it to be. There are two power levels, 5W and 20W.
The display is small, but it is a small radio. However, the 2″ screen is bright and colourful. It is easy to navigate also with icons on the main menu.
Programming can be a bit tricky if you use the normal software, however there are a few alternatives. The good news is the software is free. Some do not allow you to export or import, and when you want to add a channel, it has to be added to the end, not between.
I would recomend Codeplug Editor by David MM7DBT as it has an easy tabulated menu system that guides you through each step of programming this radio.
Some other things you should know:
- Listen in single channel or dual channel mode
- Has promiscuous mode for DMR, however it is only on the one timeslot even in dual mode which is a pain.
- You will need to make sure you are on the latest firmware for everything to work correctly (eg APRS).
- You can adjust the TX audio for DMR and analog. This may need adjusting when you first get it.
- Colour display that is easy to use, but can be hard to see from a distance or in a car.
- You can program in zones, which is great. So you can turn them on or off.
- Small design so easy to mount in the car
It is clear from other reviews that this radio had and has some bugs. But as more firmware updates gets pushed out, the better the radio becomes. This is mainly about GPS and APRS making the radio slow or even take over. However, most reviews admit with the latest firmware, the problem has been fixed.
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