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RCA BR-250 UHF Handhelds

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SafeRanger

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TINTIN FALLS, NJ
Hi Guys!

Looking for any and all programming information on RCA BR-250 UHF Hand-held's.

How & What type of Cable and software are used to program this radio.

I have several cables, but this is the first set (12 each) radios of RCA brand I have come across at work.

Others I have programmed include Kenwood, Yeasu Motorola & Vertex.

Thanks All!

Rob in Austin Texas
 

b7spectra

EMS Dispatcher
Joined
Jul 8, 2002
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3,143
Location
Cobb County, GA
Man, normally you can find something on the web about that radio, but nothing! A couple places sell them with programming, but nothing else. Good to see that they are getting back into the two-way business.
 

Fast1eddie

Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2004
Messages
628
Location
Crafton Pennsylvania
I question if RCA manufactured the radio (doubt it) and who they bought it from??? Do not expect they will stick around as they got out two way in the late 70's-early 80's time frame. Is it more Chinese junk??
 

baycomm

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Joined
Jan 15, 2008
Messages
80
Location
Greenville, Delaware
RCA ceased to exist as of 1986. Their name and all trademarks are owned by "RCA Trademark Management S.A" which is a French company. This company will essentially rent the rights to the RCA name to the highest bidder in each product category. These radios appear to be built in China by HYT, however, I don't know if the HYT programming software will work. They are being imported & marketed by a company called "discounttwo-wayradio.com". The FCC approvals for them were obtained by the same company. These are in no way related to the original RCA Company. Personally I think that it is quite deceptive to do business this way but probably very profitable.
 

brilliant

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Sep 2, 2008
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RCA BR250 Programming

I called Discount Two-Way Radio and they said that the BR250 is programmed by them with user supplied freqs and tones before it ships at no charge. I then asked if I wanted to reprogram, what's the procedure. They said send it back and pay $20. I prodded further for more info on programming software and cables and they offered no more info. I said thanks. I am going to try to contact RCA an see what I can find.

I am also curious as if the HYT rig will work. I have good things about this handheld and actually am looking at getting one in VHF to replace my aging Motorola MT1000 brick that has served me well on duty for a long time. They market this unit as a CP200 killer.

I will update if I find out more.
 

armedmikeq

Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Messages
9
I am a new user and been looking at the RCA radio too.

When I go to Ebay and look at the HYT radio it is exacly the same radio build. I think it is a HYT radio and they must have purchased the RCA Communications brand and re-brand the radio so USA would see it as a name brand in the US.

Can anyone with HYT experience comment on the quality? Also interested in the programming cable and software? Mainly does it comes with the radios or available.

Thanks and glad to be apart of the website.

I plan to take my ARRL test soon,

Mike
 

brilliant

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Got my hands on one...

Got my hands on a BR-250 in VHF 136-174. It is basically an HYT model TC-610V-2-BLK with a different faceplate and an upgraded 2000 mAh Li-ion. The other (disappointing) difference is the spacing of the mic and speaker jacks. They are spaced so that a HYT serial port programming cable for the 610 (PC23) will not fit. I am sure this is where the programming is accessed because I looked into the input jacks on the radio and they are 3-conductor. My guess is that RCA purposely did this so the HYT cable would not fit, along with the accessories. I don't know if modifying the cable to fit (splitting the hard spacing to two separate mic and speaker lines) would work using the HYT programming software, but that may possibly be my next quest.

The radio works great and I hit the repeater with a clear transmit and receive from about 5.5 miles.

Others please update if you find out more....
 

kp3k

Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2011
Messages
4
Please, let me know how is the audio quality of the RCA?
Is as good as a KENWOOD TK2300 or is poor as a Family Radio.
Most of the radios made in China have a poor quality audio.
 

lawdog200

Newbie
Joined
Jun 8, 2011
Messages
2
Br250

I bought one for my personnal repeater. Programming was easy using cables I had for a CP240 portable. My only problem with the radio is that the transmit volume is real low and the is nothing in the programming to fix this. I am not sure if it is a radio issue or what
 

SafeRanger

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
May 10, 2005
Messages
6
Location
TINTIN FALLS, NJ
Thanks for all the great Support!

I liked the radios, they were durable for the cost. I no longer work there anymore.

ROB
 

n3obl

Ø
Database Admin
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
1,813
Location
PA
Can the software for the HYT radio program the br250? And can it be purchased as i got a few that need to be reprogrammed.

Frank
 

castanedao

Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2008
Messages
2
i am also looking for software needed to program an RCA br-250. any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

radioguy99

Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2008
Messages
46
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Ok gang,

I will tell you the HYT-HT610E software is what you need to program these as well as the HYT PC19 programming cable works fine. Now, I am the one who needs help on this part:

The idiots at Discount Radio refuse to give me their password they stuck on the radio to read and overwrite the existing codeplug. As stupid as it sounds, they have added to (write too) password to block overwriting the existing info that is in the radio.

Does anyone know the password or am I going to have to spend several hours plastering over Winhex/Hex Edit all to put that info out on the net for all to see? I hate companies like this and I am tired of playing cat and mouse with trying to program a radio.

At least now I have confirmed what a lot of others needed to know, now I wuold like some help on my end please :)
 
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n2meg

Member
Joined
May 15, 2008
Messages
10
Location
bronx new york
password

Ok gang,

I will tell you the HYT-HT610E software is what you need to program these as well as the HYT PC19 programming cable works fine. Now, I am the one who needs help on this part:

The idiots at Discount Radio refuse to give me their password they stuck on the radio to read and overwrite the existing codeplug. As stupid as it sounds, they have added to (write too) password to block overwriting the existing info that is in the radio.

Does anyone know the password or am I going to have to spend several hours plastering over Winhex/Hex Edit all to put that info out on the net for all to see? I hate companies like this and I am tired of playing cat and mouse with trying to program a radio.

At least now I have confirmed what a lot of others needed to know, now I wuold like some help on my end please :)

Did you ever get the password? I have one of these just sitting on my desk, did you hex edit? what values what offset???
please advise
thanks...
 
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