RETEVIS RT21 GMRS to working MURS and FRS/GMRS

Another quick video where I actually put VHF MURS channels on a UHF radio originally set for FRS/GMRS.
I did this before with Baofeng 888s radios, including NOAA, but I could not get it to work on this one!
Still I have 5 MURS channels and 11 FRS/GMRS channels on one little handheld.
Original RT21 Video: • RETEVIS RT21 FRS adult...
888s Conversion video: • How to put VHF on BF-8...
Affiliate links:
Retevis RT-21: amzn.to/45gysf0
Affiliate links to tools I use when testing for review:
NanoVNA (antenna tuning) : amzn.to/47glgbF
Power & SWR Meter: amzn.to/43S5OiZ
Multimeter: amzn.to/43Xft8b

[@kensakamoto258]

Thank you for such a through review. I agree simple is better and a dual band capable without a keypad is a rarity.

[@fittoat9261]

Thanks for watching!

[@SciFer3321]

Hello. Can you please send me link to download the software version that you used to program the rt21? The latest downloadable version on their site is quite restrictive. Thank you in advance.

[@CurtMann-q9z]

Chirp wouldn't let me enter a VHF frequency; it gives an error message: "invalid edit; frequency is out of supported range". Any ideas?

[@fittoat9261]

I dis this quite a while back! Not sure if newer versions of CHIRP no longer allow for that! I will look into it.

[@fittoat9261]

I am now unsure of why you are having this issue? I just went back and tried setting VHF frequencies to one of my RT21s, and it did it fine .... ? You can try setting in CHIRP as RT21V - maybe that will work better for you. After all this hobby IS about testing different things! Hope this helps!

[@johngoold1218]

TY

[@johnhosler9417]

I like retrievis, I like they truly attempt great customer support, I like that the tech lady is smart and pretty , I can't speak Chinese so I would never judge the language barrier,, but all things equal the uv5r is still the better deal. Retrievis is competitive they make a great repeater but a uv5r is all that and a bag of chips.

[@michaelbayless5691]

I just bought these the second version with the 3000 mah battery was wondering if i can communicate with the rca rdr 2500 because I'm so tired of carrying 2 different radios i have one for the English guys and one for the Spanish

[@fittoat9261]

I am not familiar with the model you mentioned so I cannot answer your question, maybe some else can. Although I am pretty sure you can program them the anything you want, as I have MURS, GMRS, on one, and PMR446 on another pair. And they are CHIRP compatible!

[@2148aa]

If you want to go down the reprograming rabbit hole. Jailbreak the Retevis RA25 and start programing it with the spreadsheet programing software. It will cause you to drink and both the radio and the spreadsheet has an ungodly amount of faults. But when done it is a lovely sounding radio that can do anything and at 17 watts UHF and 21 watts VHF a mismatched antenna is not the biggest sin. I have used it to tie into farmers business band radios that I have worked for. Walmart must be upgrading their store's MURS radios. Using the RA25, hearing and understanding a store's radio system 5 miles away has become common place. My guilty secret pleasure was walking over a 30 mile away weather station signal in our little town. I got that out of my system and won't do it again.

[@davidwade5141]

Does anyone recommend a replacement antenna for a Retevis RT21...

[@kensakamoto258]

In use antennas from Smiley. They are well tuned and have great performance.

[@kennethjohnson4280]

@@kensakamoto258 I only see a telescoping tri-band antenna on Smiley, not Ideal. I would really prefer a non-telescoping dual band.

[@willblumenkemper6523]

What program were you using to put on MURS frequencies? Does this radio work with chirp?

[@fittoat9261]

Yes it does! I used it to program these radios. I have a pair set on PMR446 which I use in Europe, and THEY work fine also!

[@willblumenkemper6523]

@@fittoat9261 I am in CHIRP and trying to put in MURS channels and I keep getting a error out of range message. Is the something special I need to select or something else you think I would be doing wrong?

[@fittoat9261]

@@willblumenkemper6523 follow the links in the description to how it is done on Bf888s which then takes you to another link that shows you how to do that! Tedious, I know, but worth it!

[@willblumenkemper6523]

@@fittoat9261 Thank you.