Radtel RT-470L Triband Ham Radio 144/222/430Mhz All Bands Handheld Two Way Radio 256CH Air Band Long Range Walkie Talkie NOAA/USB-C/Police Scanner/Aviation Receive/Copy Frequency

Excellent quality, Built like a Yaesu !

I bought this model specifically because it has the best AIRBAND audio of any of the cheap HTs. It also has many nice features like USB charging, large battery, preprogrammed NOAA weather channels and a nice display.

If you like buttons and menus well look no further this has all that and more. First off this has a very solid build quality. Feels a lot like a Motorola. This is yet another contender against the Baofengs. This is a tri band and you should have your ham ticket to transmit on this. If you like trying to navigate menus and multi function buttons then you will love this. Well made radio.

Ok

Keeping track of Chinese Ham and GMRS radios is akin to herding cats. Mass confusion in both communities often results. This radio is no different. I cannot find it on the Radtel site which mentions only the newer RT-470X model and the original 10-watt RT-470.I have previously reviewed the $23 Baofeng UV-17R, a more basic radio but with 999 memory slots instead of the 256 you get with Radtel. The very good build quality of the two radios is pretty much the same, but this Radtel has a somewhat better-sounding speaker.The big differences? The Radtel can pick up police and aviation bands (but you need to program that with a computer app unless you have many hours on your hands) and can scramble transmission and reception. For the $38 Radtel, it's your call if those extras are worth the extra expense.Neither brand is very user-friendly when setting them up, so using the CHIRP programming app or the ones from the companies are highly recommended. For this radio, you'll need the $7 Radtel USB Programming Cable.Radtel told me the X has a wider frequency range: 136-180Mhz, 200-260Mhz, 330-520Mhz.On the L: 136-180MHz, 200-260MHz, 350-520MHz. The newer X is cheaper ($29) so I don't know why this one is more expensive. So, you'll be missing out on the 330-350MHz band with the 470L.That said, Radtel makes some good radios for the GMRS crowd (and even some Hams who don't want to pay $600 for a spare handheld).The choice is clear if you want Radtel: pay $47 for the 10-watt RT-470 or $29 for the 470X. This $38 470L is not worth buying. Unless I'm missing something.My rating system:5 Stars = Knocks it out of the park. A great value!4 Stars = Excellent product. A solid buy.3 Stars = It provides some value, but perhaps not as advertised.2 Stars = A little dubious, so do your research. Read the critical reviews!1 Star = Avoid this product and look elsewhere.

Works on all the necessary frequencies. Transmission and reception are nice and clear. I ran a test with my TinySA and its running clean, no spurious emissions on with my device. I think I will like this radio better than the Baofengs!

Easy to use and set up. Scans quickly abd has a good sound quality. Husband loves it. Perfect gift for a nosey dad or husband.

I'm going to preface this by saying I had ZERO experience with radios of this type and know absolutely nothing about them. I do mean nothing. But, I'm curious and interested, so I picked up this radio when it became available.Now, I'm extremely tech savvy, so while numerous buttons, menus, configurations, and readouts don't really intimidate or confuse me, with this tech, I have absolutely no idea what 90% of them mean or what I might be changing.Based on other reviews I picked up the cable and grabbed the CHIRP software as suggested. But as yet I haven't been able to get it to access the radio as there's an issue with incompatible firmware versions causing the Python software to have a conniption as only Python does.This seems like a decent radio. The build quality feels good, sound quality is decent, and a USB C charger for the battery is nice.