Retevis MA1 50W Dual Band Mobile Ham Radio w/ Wide-Band Receive

I am just getting into HAM and wanted a mobile unit for my jeep. I am not knowledgeable enough yet to give super technical opinions on the radio because of this. What I can say is I bought this because of other positive reviews, size, and detachable faceplate. All of these were as described and exactly what I wanted. Its seems to get good reception and transmit really well but I dont have much to compare to. The only reason for 4 stars rather than 5 is programming. I have only programmed 2 other brands of radios but this one is definitely the least user friendly of the 3. The fact that they dont have a mobile friendly app this day in age is kinda frustrating in my opinion. So far I have only added my local radio club repeater and 4 other frequencies the family uses often. I did all these by hand with the mic. Once you get the rather down its fairly quick but still not as easy as loading everything through an app and phone. Eventually I will plug it into my PC but I was in a hurry as we had a trip planned and I wanted to use it. One thing I did not consider prior to buy was the antenna. If you run a jeep or anything with plastic or fiberglass top I'd look for a different antenna or be willing to have it on the hood somewhere like I did. Not ideal but does work in a pinch.

Overall, I really like the Retevis MA1. I've owned numerous dual band transceivers from Anytone, Radioddity, Kenwood, Yaesu and others over the years. The Retevis MA1 is, by far, the best one that I've owned.Signal reports from other stations have been excellent citing full quieting signals and very good audio (see below.) This has been true whether contact was made via a repeater or simplex.Here are the positives and improvements for the MA-1 as they occur to me. You will note many improvements in my list. This does not mean that this is a bad radio. It is really very well designed and built. It simply means that a very good radio could be made into a great radio. Many of the improvements can likely be accomplished in a future firmware update.Positives:Excellent reports on transmissions (via repeater or simplex.)True simultaneous dual receiveSeparate physical knobs for volume and squelch for each channelLED display (it really looks great and is easily readable in all kinds of lighting)Display shows all relevant information without being overcrowded.The MA1 delivers actual measured power levels as specified both on VHF and UHFSensitive receiver--better with weak signals than most other transceiversEasy to switch between A and B channelsEasy to switch between Memory and VFOUSB C programmingMic connects to either the body or the headSeparate speaker outputs for each channelAir Band AM receiveThe transceiver looks intimidating but it is actually easy to learnMicrophone has dedicated switches to lock the mic buttons and turn the backlight on and offDetachable head that can be mounted on the body in either up or down (180 degrees.)The radio physical design is very attractiveImprovements:While transmitter audio is reported as very good, it is also reported as being too loudThere is no apparent way to adjust microphone gain. This is needed!The PTT button takes about a second to key the transmitterThe volume change also lags the control knowProgramming software needs improvement (see below.)At high power levels the radio gets exceptionally hot even with the fan runningHow I wish that it had SSB capability!No GPS or Bluetooth. At this price it should have bothNo dedicated NWS button on mic or radioNo NWS warning abilityManual is lacking important information such as programming channel namesA true S meter with markings would be a significant improvementUSB C connector cannot be used for data output from the transceiverProgramming Software Issues:MA1 app must be run with Windows Administrator privileges or it won't openNo way to import or export channelsNo way to move channels or copy and past themUSB cable doesn't make reliable connection with PCNo way to set prevent transmission on certain channels

Got it with the Antenna by Retevis. Worked great right out of the box. Antenna worked so well that I tested another radio and found the antenna I'd been using was bad. Other radio worked like it was new too. Programed the radio manually. Radio easy to program. Only issue with that method is channel scan may not work. Have read that using chrip fixes the issue by adding it as a scan channel. Other then that great radio.

Sooo. Lloooooonggg story short. RETEVIS knows that the radios that amazon has require you the consumer to update with firmware because of MULTIPLE issues..Example. While programming will NOT save PL TUNE. OR OFFSET.IF YOU DONT OWN A COMPUTER YOU CANT FIX THAT ISSUE.While talking to Retevis on the phone they what you to send the old version back to them.And then they will send you a updated versionNot sure why they just can’t pull stock from there warehouse and restock with updated versions that have no problem or requiring you to update ..Programming is a nightmareLast note. If you ever worked I a company that handle returns , you know what a RMA is.THE SERIAL NUMBER OF THE UNIT has RMA AND THE NUMBER. not good.

Radio meets or exceeds expectations placed by video reviews by popular hams. Remote head does have some temperance in regards to cold weather, but warms up quickly enough. Compact, easy to program, sounds good with a loud speaker. Amazing power output and range for the cost.

I’m not saying this is a bad radio just that it’s difficult to program. Comes with no instructions. I tried for an hour to program one repeater into memory and gave up. The Retevis site has some firmware and software downloads but that messed up my windows computer. The ma1 has the typical ptt lag, squelch and volume issues that should have been fixed before release. Most people buying these seem to have good luck and you’ll probably as well. I’m returning mine. Good luck.

The power on vhf is 37 watts and not 50 all on lab grade Bird watt meter into a dummy load. Uhf is 37.5 watts out. Other than that the radio works fine.

Gets out fine. Poor instruction manual: print too small and not well organized. (I am a writer). Better to program thru computer. Good buy otherwise. Dual receiver, great screen. Only can get on quickly on simplex.

Work great had to have it programmed

Great radio. Easy programming, good reception on air bands. Good tx/rx on 70cm/2m. Just getting started, but this seems like a great radio.

Nice radio, but still needs refinement. I returned the radio for a couple reasons. First, the PTT delay. It did not seem to matter whether I was on an old firmware version or the latest one, the delay remained. I went through several steps to correct it, but it never cleared up. Second, was the volume control. It was either off or something like a level 5. It felt like a digital volume adjustment that worked in stages, not like potentiometer with more variable adjustment for the volume. Overall, the radio is well built. The screen is nice, the programming software wasn't overly complicated, the radio just needs more refinement. Especially when you can buy one of the newer Yaesu dual band radios for about $50 more.

I must have gotten a lemon, this radio does not seem to match the glowing reviews! Nothing good to say about this radio, repeater offsets don't work, the volume control is very twitchy on both bands, the air band receive audio sounds horrible and it takes 2 seconds or more for the PTT to enter transmit mode when keying the mic. Looked for firmware files on the Retevis web site, but there was no update tool listed and no clear instructions to install the firmware. My return window is closing and I don't have anymore time to sort out all the problems with this radio. Very confusing and disappointing so its getting returned.

First an issue that other new users may have. When I first programmed the local repeaters using the Retevis software, I couldn't get a response from anything. It seems that the programming will at times drop the "tones". I reinstalled the software and data file. After that it worked fine. Our house sits on a small hill and I am using a Tram 1477 antenna. On my first attempt, I hit a repeater 70 miles away and got a really solid report on the audio quality. This is my first really nice uhf/vhf unit so there has been a bit of a learning curve.

Great radio

On analog FM, the MA1 has performance that matches my Icom ID-5100A. TX is as advertised and signal quality is exceptional. RX quality is excellent in both sensitivity and selectivity. The display is attractive and easy to read for my aging eyes. I have only two complaints. For some reason, the programming cable was not included in the package, and I had to borrow one to update the firmware to resolve the TX delay issue. The second issue is that the mounting plate included with the radio was the wrong plate for the MA1 faceplate. These two issues make me wonder if I received an Amazon return. In any case, this is an exceptional mobile, shack, or go-kit radio for the price.I will be buying another, but direct from Retevis, as I suspect Amazon shipped me a repackaged return without disclosing it, and is no offering to replace or correct the missing parts.

I am new to Ham Radio,this is my first serious piece of kit,having owned only HT’s.There is a learning curve,updating the firmware is easy,the setup menu is pretty straightforward.I have one negative so far,I cannot get airband Frequencies Eg:118.000 -121.000Mhz to work on the B channel.I have contacted the manufacturer to find out if this is a norm for this radio,I am awaiting a reply.I have also found that the PTT delay when fixed by firmware update,if the radio is fully reset the problem recurs.This radio has a lot going for it and I consider it Good Value for money.******UPDATE*******Angela at Retevis was quick to respond to my query.She confirmed the radio is configured to receive Airband frequencies on the A channel only.She has assured me that it has been flagged for their technical team to look into. Customer support is A++++,leaving at 4 stars because I can’t review durability at this stage.

Haven't had the radio for long. I'm still learning it's capabilities. One thing to remember is customer service is overseas. The time difference means waiting for a reply. It's usually within 24, hours. Once you get a hold of them, they are very helpful. Better than other companies. 5 stars for customer service.

I think this is a very good radio. Did not take it out of the box ahter seeing the instruction manual. The Instruction manual is very small and not many pages. I would like to see a much beter revised manual.I will say this is my problem and I think the radio appears to be a good radio

I recant the previous review. As I was able to get in touch with customer support and they are persistent which I think is great. Bad ass radio. I still can’t use the programming software for the MA1 but my programming software for my TYT 9800 plus got the job done and it also opened up the radio to a quad band just like my TYT 9800. Pretty cool. The radio claims to be a 50 watt radio but that is a little on the low side because in the 2m band it’s showing around 57 to 60 depending on what end of the band you are checking. And on the 70cm it’s around 50 watts across the band. Very impressed with the radio Retevis did it again good price for high quality as I have come to enjoy from this company.

EDIT: The Retevis team reached out to me and noted that the plastic bracket supplied with the radio I received was in fact an incorrect part. They shipped the correct bracket to me and it does fit the front panel (which allows it to be mounted remotely).Retevis also provided updated firmware which addressed the volume issue noted below. Once set, the volume does seem to be consistent. Unfortunately the PTT delay, while somewhat lessened, still exists.Given the above, I am updating my review from one star to three. I am primarily doing so as Retevis was very helpful and responsive in addressing the issues I encountered. However, I am somewhat concerned about their quality assurance process which allowed this model to be shipped with an obvious firmware issue and also with an incorrect bit of hardware.Original review:I discovered three issues with the MA-1.First, there is a delay of one second or more from the time PTT is pressed and the radio starts transmitting. That's not a huge issue but it is certainly annoying when the first part of your transmission is cut off due to the delay.The second issue is that there appears to be a plastic bracket provided with the radio to allow the remote head of the radio to be mounted separately. This bracket doesn't seem to fit the remote head in any way that I can determine. It's too narrow to clip onto the control head and the clips that seem to be designed to fit into the slots on the remote head don't line up with those slots at all.The third problem is the one that makes this radio essentially unusable. Once a comfortable audio level is set with the volume knob, the receive audio will drop (on its own) to a very low level. Adjusting the volume knob clockwise results in the audio level suddenly increasing from that low level to a high level (like a large step instead of a linear increase). Also, adjusting the volume knob from fully counter-clockwise often results in no change to the audio level - until it increases suddenly. It seems as if the potentiometer used for the volume control could be defective; however, both volume knobs (for the left and right 'sides' of the radio) have the same issue so it seems to be more of a design issue. The fact that the volume adjustment isn't linear, in and of itself, is something I could live with. However, the fact that the audio level drops on its own - often below a level where the receive signal could be heard above ambient noise - makes it unusable.I should point out that I did upgrade the radio to the latest firmware available on the Retevis web site but the PTT and audio issues remain.It's a shame that these issues exist in what otherwise might be a decent radio.