- First Name
- Scott
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2020
- Threads
- 8
- Messages
- 404
- Reaction score
- 940
- Location
- Centennial, CO
- Vehicle(s)
- 2022 F350 Tremor, 2019 Beta 300RR
- Your Bronco Model
- Badlands
- Thread starter
- #1
I managed to get a REALLY good deal on a Retevis RA25 GMRS radio on Black Friday. It took 3 months to ship though.
Finally got it installed in the Bronco this weekend. I used a Melowave Shadow antenna and the Mountains to Metal pillar mount. Power is ran direct to the battery to avoid any possible interference.
RA25 Feedback
Retevis took a while to ship plain and simple. This radio is a clone of some others on the market and can be “hacked” to do dual band. The radio comes preprogrammed with the standard GMRS channels with the exception of 8-14 due to the low wattage transmission on those channels. It also is programmed with DCS/CTSS codes on all the channels. This is extremely hard to remove via the front panel or mic so a programming cable is needed. The software is a bit clunky when compared to other radio software and CHIRP. WIth the software, the radio is capable of duplex operation, split tones and activating any of the channels it can’t normally access. Other than those items, it’s a nice little unit.
Mountains 2 Metal mount
The mount itself is nice. I would say a little spendy for what it is, but it’s a ready made solution. I did have to enlarge the antenna hole and grind down the thickness of the mount to fit my antenna and NMO mount. A word of advice, make sure you clean up the threads of the factory bolts as well as the heads of the bolts and the paint on the mount. This helps provide a ground contact and therefore the ground plane for the antenna. This made a huge difference for me. I didn’t do any readings but I couldn’t get any intelligible audio to our local repeater which is about 20 miles away. I cleaned up the grounds and hit it well with a little bit of static.
Melowave Shadow Antenna
I’ve been using a Shadow antenna as my “base station” set-up for a while with the intention of move my antenna and base radio to my camper (Wouxun KG1000plus). I’ve had really good luck with it so I purchased another one for the Bronco
As for the radio mounting location, we have a 2-door and this is my wife’s DD. I would have liked to have mounted it on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel but then the seat would hit it sliding forward. My second option would have been to utilize the factor accessory mounting point on the dash but my wife didn’t like it in her field of view. The factory wireless charger is pretty terrible so my wife utilizes the USB cord and the radio fit perfect in that space.
Finally got it installed in the Bronco this weekend. I used a Melowave Shadow antenna and the Mountains to Metal pillar mount. Power is ran direct to the battery to avoid any possible interference.
RA25 Feedback
Retevis took a while to ship plain and simple. This radio is a clone of some others on the market and can be “hacked” to do dual band. The radio comes preprogrammed with the standard GMRS channels with the exception of 8-14 due to the low wattage transmission on those channels. It also is programmed with DCS/CTSS codes on all the channels. This is extremely hard to remove via the front panel or mic so a programming cable is needed. The software is a bit clunky when compared to other radio software and CHIRP. WIth the software, the radio is capable of duplex operation, split tones and activating any of the channels it can’t normally access. Other than those items, it’s a nice little unit.
Mountains 2 Metal mount
The mount itself is nice. I would say a little spendy for what it is, but it’s a ready made solution. I did have to enlarge the antenna hole and grind down the thickness of the mount to fit my antenna and NMO mount. A word of advice, make sure you clean up the threads of the factory bolts as well as the heads of the bolts and the paint on the mount. This helps provide a ground contact and therefore the ground plane for the antenna. This made a huge difference for me. I didn’t do any readings but I couldn’t get any intelligible audio to our local repeater which is about 20 miles away. I cleaned up the grounds and hit it well with a little bit of static.
Melowave Shadow Antenna
I’ve been using a Shadow antenna as my “base station” set-up for a while with the intention of move my antenna and base radio to my camper (Wouxun KG1000plus). I’ve had really good luck with it so I purchased another one for the Bronco
As for the radio mounting location, we have a 2-door and this is my wife’s DD. I would have liked to have mounted it on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel but then the seat would hit it sliding forward. My second option would have been to utilize the factor accessory mounting point on the dash but my wife didn’t like it in her field of view. The factory wireless charger is pretty terrible so my wife utilizes the USB cord and the radio fit perfect in that space.
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