New Radtel RT-950

[wb4sqi]

Yes, it is confusing, my 950Pro arrived yesterday as well! I can enlighten your darkness however.

Set up one of the long press keys (or PF2) as Radio, activate that and it will initialise and probably display broadcast FM band.

Radio only offers 18-64 and 64-999 mhz

Press Menu, Modulation and select AM, then Exit. That will display at the top of the screen SW: 2.3-30 Mhz - tune away or key in what you want.

I can select AM but display does not change to SW, still get 18-64 and 64-999

If you press Menu, then Work Band you are offered LW, MW or SW - whichever you choose then press Exit and it will display the relevant title and frequency range at the top.

Work Band only shows what I mentioned above

If you press Menu, Modulation and choose one or other SSB types etc. then Exit it will show the relevant mode and a range of 0.15 - 30 Mhz at the top of the screen!

MOdulation only offers am/fm

Obviously the * key lets you select Step/BW/LNA/BFO or frequency when in the above modes.

So Work Band options are different depending which mode the radio is in and the 18-64 is a bit confusing but as it asks you to confirm that you have changed the antenna perhaps it allows Tx in the CB band in that mode?

How did you select Supermode, saw it in a review somewhere but forgot where, and how?

Hold down the 8 button and PF1/PTTC, turn on radio and continue holding until Supermode appears on screen

Hope that helps, seems it has a steep learning curve, give it a chance

I know what you have suggested is the proper way for this radio to work, however, it does not do what it should following these suggestions. I have he latest firmware .19 installed, radio works well on amateur vhf/uhf and airband.

I did manage to get the FM radio turned on last night and tuned to a local station but still no HF, MW or LW. I did a full reset back to factory settings and none of the above suggestions made any difference. Reloaded my codeplug and double checked all APRS settings, GPS is working and displays my location but it will still not beacon on schedule or manual.

 

[wb4sqi]

Hi Paul,

Let me show you how to hit the lower bands. Talk about a menu mess.

1) Go into Radio Mode.
2) Hit Menu and change modulation to AM. Radio mode reinitializes. (funny how it will say FM no matter what modulation is selected)
3) Go back into menu mode, and notice that the menu is different. Go to Working Band, and now you will see the LW, MW, and SW bands.

73!

Radio mode does not seem to make any difference, never initializes. I have selected Radio both in the menu and via keyad long press but does not seem to have any affect. Working Band is always either 18-64 or 64-999.

 

[wb4sqi]

Success! Did a full reset on the 950Pro, set key 0 long press to Radio. Long pressed and behold, it says FM initialization and next screen is the shortwave screen .15 to 30mhz. Freq that came up was 10.000 mhz in USB mode. I was able to change frequencies in the HF band so it appears that feature now is working. I used the return key to exit HF and it came back to the default three frequency screen.

I then set VFO A to 144.390 and enabled APRS, entered my callsign along with other required info. I started getting APRS popups as it began receiving beacons from others near me. It will now beacon on schedule or let me trigger a manual beacon. GPS icon is green so it appears that now I have APRS working.

At this point I am hesitant to load the codeplug I created before the radio arrived so I will download my existing configuration, save that as a new codeplug and add channel memories as needed. I'll be traveling to Columbus, OH later today for a few days and will keep APRS active this week, hoping to find a digipeater or igate near me. My current QTH I do not have local access yet but will work on that later.

Thanks to all for the great tips. FYI, Work Band still shows the same 18-64 or 64-999 even after my above success so I assume I am still doing something wrong.

 

[woodbar]

Thanks to all for the great tips. FYI, Work Band still shows the same 18-64 or 64-999 even after my above success so I assume I am still doing something wrong.

Great! Glad you got it working.

The menu option for Work Band is different in the 2 different modes - in Radio mode it displays the SW/LW/MW only after you select Modulation as AM in Radio mode. In standard normal mode you get the 18-64Mhz or 64-999Mhz.

A bit disconcerting is the "FM initalising...." message even when you select AM! A work in progress I think.

 

[woodbar]

there is a way to apply to the Admin Section and have your username changed

Thanks for that suggestion but I have now added my callsign underneath my nickname so no worries.

 

[chief21]

Thanks to all for the great tips. FYI, Work Band still shows the same 18-64 or 64-999 even after my above success so I assume I am still doing something wrong.

Based on the videos I have seen, this radio seems to have three special operating modes... 18-64, 64-999, and HF. Each appears to be accessed by various key combinations.

Found this in a Google search:
M0FXB (HAMTech Radio) has a YouTube channel with numerous videos about the Radtel RT-950 radio, including demonstrations of its band scope feature for airband scanning, how to add repeater memory channels, and other tips and tricks. You can find specific videos demonstrating how to use the RT-950's features, such as scanning, setting up repeater channels, and performing functions like DTMF setup and memory functions.

 

[RichardKramer]

Great! Glad you got it working.

The menu option for Work Band is different in the 2 different modes - in Radio mode it displays the SW/LW/MW only after you select Modulation as AM in Radio mode. In standard normal mode you get the 18-64Mhz or 64-999Mhz.

A bit disconcerting is the "FM initalising...." message even when you select AM! A work in progress I think.

I have the RT880; I can listen to an HF frequency while the radio will check for activity on each of the 3 vfo's and it will cycle back to the HF frequency after the transmission is finished on the vfos.
Wondering if the RT950 can do the same.

 

[woodbar]

Wondering if the RT950 can do the same

Yes it does - well mine does anyway! Of course if you have Standby Setting set to off it will only monitor 1 channel.

 

[EAFrizzle]

Success! Did a full reset on the 950Pro, set key 0 long press to Radio. Long pressed and behold, it says FM initialization and next screen is the shortwave screen .15 to 30mhz.

Glad it worked for you.

For me, this drives home the point for Radtel stuff to assign functions to keys, first rattle out of the box, even if you're not sure what they are. I kept getting lost on my RT-860, so the first thing I did with the RT-880 was start assigning functions. I prefer doing it by hand rather than in the CPS just for that extra bit of muscle memory.

 

[VK3RX]

As I mentioned an earlier post, I found that the list of long press functions in the downloaded manual I have were not consistent with what was actually preprogrammed in the radio.

I got myself in strife by starting to long press buttons to see what they actually did, then pressing the back button. Some toggle a function on or off, others present a sub-menu for option selection.

After digging myself out of the hole, I've now assigned buttons as I needed. Hopefully a firmware update won't override these.

 

[buddrousa]

Just to be safe why not use the Windows Software and save what is in your RT-950 Pro?

 

[wb4sqi]

FYI, I have been beaconing all day as I drove around Columbus, OH. Looks like my beacon was only heard one time around 14:00 local and that is on the rubber antenna. Don’t have the correct gender sma for my mobile antenna. Battery still shows 1 bar after 13 hours of continuous beacons every 10 minutes and TW enabled. Not seeing any beacon popups today, saw a few yesterday that were less than one second even though pop up time is set to 10 seconds. Beacon list is populated with call signs so aprs is working somewhat, still needs a few issues squared away. All in all, a neat radio with potential if Radtel keeps improving firmware.

 

[ivos68]

Hi all,
how to set FM radio broadcast on one button ? HF works fine, but I am not able to activate FM broadcasting.
Thanks for help.
Ivo, ok2shi

 

[woodbar]

Not sure you can do it one button as the "Radio" function originally jumped to FM broadcast but after you have used it to get to HF I think it jumps back in to wherever you left it last. However in that Radio mode at HF you just need to select "Modulation" choose FM and you will be into broadcast FM band.

Having said that my rig is now coming up with a different menu in Radio mode and is now not offering the Work Band option and whatever Modulation you choose FM,AM,SSB or CW it always says "FM initialising..." or similar. Definitely the firmware is a work in progress, especially after 4 updates, and I tend to think released prior to proper testing. At least Radtel seem to release frequent updates so let's just hope they get it right at some point! Maybe the frequent updates are to enable customer beta testing?

 

[VK3RX]

After getting FM broadcast receiving working (don't ask me how ...), I programmed button PF2 for radio so now it comes up at a touch of that button.

Today I did the FW update from 25 to 26. Seemed to go OK no glitches during the process, but after switching the radio off then on and turning on the GPS I noticed that its icon stayed white, whereas the change log for v26 said it was to be green. Had a look in the "About" menu and saw it still read software version v25.

What I also noticed in that submenu was that my callsign had changed to "NOCALL". Same in the APRS settings. I don't know what else the FW update process glitch may have changed

So I did the FW update process again and this time after power up the GPS icon changed to green and the software version in "About" was "ver0.26", while the callsign was still NOCALL. I then loaded/wrote the radio profile I'd saved before doing the update, and now the callsign and everything else is correct and thus far all seems OK ....

What I have noticed is that the timing of APRS beaconing is not quite to the times offered e.g. "2 Minutes" is about 3:30 seconds, and "1 minute" is about 1:30. A minor thing, but when testing the APRS function with a separate receiver, when the radio doesn't beacon when expected, you wonder what you may have wrong in the settings ....

 

[VK3RX]

Noticed today new CPS version v1.2.1 available.

1.Add support for import Chirp csv in the channel information screen;
2.Fix an issue where channel partitioning function data was abnormally tampered with during data re-binding;
3.Optimize software code logic;

Installed, read and saved the radio's current profile OK, but like I mentioned once before, if you try to use it to open profiles created with an earlier CPS version it reports "The data file does not match or is corrupted".

 

[woodbar]

I looked at that as I really need the Chirp CSV facility, sadly it is for the 950 and not the Pro model which I have! Hopefully they might catch up.

 

[gbouwkamp]

I looked at that as I really need the Chirp CSV facility, sadly it is for the 950 and not the Pro model which I have! Hopefully they might catch up.

I have the latest 950Pro 1.1.0 CPS and I'm using the CSV import option. Takes some manipulating to get freqs added to the proper zones. (Waiting for the radio, but meanwhile building a .dat file).

 

[AB5ID]

Quick Overview:​

1. Install Python - Download from python.org and make sure to check "Add python.exe to PATH" during installation
2. Download the driver - Get it as a ZIP from the GitHub repository you mentioned
3. Use Command Prompt - Navigate to the driver folder and use Python commands to read/write/convert

The Basic Workflow:​

• Export: Read radio → Convert to CSV → Edit in Excel → Convert back → Write to radio
• Import: Just reverse the process

Important Note: Once you download the driver, check if there's a README.md file included - it should have the specific commands for that driver.

The general pattern for Python-based CHIRP drivers is usually:

• python scriptname.py --read to read from radio
• python scriptname.py --export to convert to CSV
• python scriptname.py --import to convert from CSV
• python scriptname.py --write to write to radio

*******************************************************************************************************************************

Installing Python & Using RT-950 Pro Driver
Step 1: Install Python on Windows

Download Python:

Go to python.org/downloads
Click the yellow "Download Python" button (this gets the latest version)
The file will be named something like python-3.x.x-amd64.exe


Run the Installer:

Double-click the downloaded file
IMPORTANT: Check the box that says "Add python.exe to PATH" at the bottom of the installer
Click "Install Now"
Wait for installation to complete
Click "Close" when finished


Verify Installation:

Press Windows Key + R
Type cmd and press Enter
In the command prompt, type: python --version
You should see something like Python 3.12.x



Step 2: Download the RT-950 Pro Driver

Get the Driver Files:

Go to github.com/NathanBarguss/Chirp_Radtel-RT-950-Pro
Click the green "Code" button
Select "Download ZIP"
Extract the ZIP file to a folder (e.g., C:\RT950Driver)


Note the Location:

Remember where you extracted the files
You'll need to navigate here in the command prompt



Step 3: Install CHIRP (if not already installed)

Download CHIRP:

Go to chirpmyradio.com
Download the Windows installer
Install CHIRP normally


Install Required Python Packages:

Open Command Prompt (Windows Key + R, type cmd, press Enter)
Type: pip install pyserial
Press Enter and wait for installation



Step 4: Using the Driver
Connecting Your Radio

Connect your RT-950 Pro to your computer via USB cable
Turn on the radio
Check Device Manager (Windows Key + X, select Device Manager) to find the COM port number (e.g., COM3)

Exporting from Radio to CSV

Open Command Prompt:

Press Windows Key + R
Type cmd and press Enter


Navigate to Driver Folder:

cd C:\RT950Driver
(Replace with your actual folder path)

Read from Radio:

python rt950_driver.py --port COM3 --read radio_backup.dat
(Replace COM3 with your actual COM port)

Convert to CSV:

python rt950_driver.py --export radio_backup.dat channels.csv
Importing from CSV to Radio

Edit Your CSV File:

Open channels.csv in Excel or a text editor
Make your changes
Save the file


Convert CSV to Radio Format:

python rt950_driver.py --import channels.csv radio_updated.dat

Write to Radio:

python rt950_driver.py --port COM3 --write radio_updated.dat
Common Issues & Solutions
"Python is not recognized as an internal or external command"

You didn't check "Add python.exe to PATH" during installation
Uninstall Python and reinstall, making sure to check that box

"Port COM3 cannot be opened"

Wrong COM port number - check Device Manager
Another program is using the port - close CHIRP or other radio software
USB driver not installed - install Radtel's USB driver

"Module not found" error

Run: pip install pyserial in Command Prompt

Script errors

Check that you're using the correct command syntax
Verify the driver files are in the folder you're running from
Make sure the radio is on and connected

Tips

Always backup your radio configuration before making changes
Keep your original .dat files as backups
Test with a few channels first before programming everything
The CSV format should match the structure the driver expects (check included examples)

CSV File Format
The CSV will typically have columns like:

Channel Number
Name
Frequency
Offset
Tone
Mode
Power
Bandwidth

Edit these in Excel or a CSV editor, keeping the format consistent.