Radtel RT-1000Pro

[pa9mwo]

When you get yours, test out the cross-band repeat if you get a chance - doesn’t seem to work on mine. I already emailed Radtel about it.

No crossband repeat does NOT work on mine :-(
( firmware 1.16 )
menu -> basic settings -> 47 repeater mode -> on
from 2m band to 70cm band does not work .. and also from 70cm band to 2m band does not work
also with the "all band test mode" option is does not work.

p.s
Hold down 5 when when starting the radio , you get the aviation code menu
Hold down "arrow down" when starting the radio for "all band test mode"

 

[RevEngOps]

I own both the RT-1000 Pro and the RT-950 Pro and have been doing a deep dive into the RT-1000 Pro over the past week or so. Having been playing with the 1000, I don't think I could recommend purchasing it over the 950 Pro due to what I believe to be a regression in features.

Just got word from Radtel's support that the 1000 does not support cross-band repeat by itself - it instead requires two radios and a cable linking them. The 1000 also lacks bluetooth and, while the USB-C charging is nice, Radtel decided to provide the same proprietary programming cable and slap a USB-C connector on the end with a custom pin-out instead of using the GP328Plus connector the 950 Pro has.

I am still investigating the radio's actual capabilities (possibly not built into the factory firmware), but I'd say that out of the gate, the 950 Pro offers more bang for your buck. Also, Radtel's support seems to go back and forth in my emails to them regarding features, so time will tell as this radio matures. As of right now, I can confirm that the factory firmware does not bring up a second transceiver chip. I haven't taken the radio completely apart yet, so don't have a visual transciever count yet - the transceiver(s) are on the front of the main board and I haven't had time to de-solder the antenna from it. As mentioned in another post, the main board has a "UV100" slikscreen marking.

AM TX on 27 MHz does work on the bench, but I haven't tested it practically. Since the BK48xx series only supported FM, there is additional front end circuitry that generates AM using a blank carrier from the BK48xx SDR transeiver (done by disabling FM deviation) and the microphone.

APRS "works" and I would say it's about the same quality implementation-wise as could be expected from a radio like this. The radio allows you to set an APRS slot (A/B/C) and will use that slot for RX/TX. There is one caveat: Sending a manual APRS beacon uses your currently selected slot, not the slot you specified for APRS. I submitted this as a bug to Radtel and it seems like they will be addressing it in a future firmware update.

Airband TX is firmware gated, codeplug modifications will not suffice to open that up.

Here are some power output observations (SW-33PLUS power meter with dummy load):

Low @446.0 MHz: 3.3W
High @ 446.0 MHz: 6.0W

Low @146.52 MHz: 3.4W
High @146.52 MHz: 7.06W

I have built an experimental CHIRP plugin for the radio which can be found here: GitHub - RevEngOps/CHIRP-Radtel-RT-1000-Pro-Plugin: A go at supporting new Radtel RT-1000 Pro in CHIRP.. It's a work in progress, so some features may work, others may not, and others may break the radio. I have been using it to configure channels and zones and, during development, I did corrupt the codeplug. The radio prompted me to initialize it on reboot and I was back to a "factory reset" state.

 

[pa9mwo]

I own both the RT-1000 Pro and the RT-950 Pro and have been doing a deep dive into the RT-1000 Pro over the past week or so. Having been playing with the 1000, I don't think I could recommend purchasing it over the 950 Pro due to what I believe to be a regression in features.

Just got word from Radtel's support that the 1000 does not support cross-band repeat by itself - it instead requires two radios and a cable linking them. The 1000 also lacks bluetooth and, while the USB-C charging is nice, Radtel decided to provide the same proprietary programming cable and slap a USB-C connector on the end with a custom pin-out instead of using the GP328Plus connector the 950 Pro has.

I am still investigating the radio's actual capabilities (possibly not built into the factory firmware), but I'd say that out of the gate, the 950 Pro offers more bang for your buck. Also, Radtel's support seems to go back and forth in my emails to them regarding features, so time will tell as this radio matures. As of right now, I can confirm that the factory firmware does not bring up a second transceiver chip. I haven't taken the radio completely apart yet, so don't have a visual transciever count yet - the transceiver(s) are on the front of the main board and I haven't had time to de-solder the antenna from it. As mentioned in another post, the main board has a "UV100" slikscreen marking.

AM TX on 27 MHz does work on the bench, but I haven't tested it practically. Since the BK48xx series only supported FM, there is additional front end circuitry that generates AM using a blank carrier from the BK48xx SDR transeiver (done by disabling FM deviation) and the microphone.

APRS "works" and I would say it's about the same quality implementation-wise as could be expected from a radio like this. The radio allows you to set an APRS slot (A/B/C) and will use that slot for RX/TX. There is one caveat: Sending a manual APRS beacon uses your currently selected slot, not the slot you specified for APRS. I submitted this as a bug to Radtel and it seems like they will be addressing it in a future firmware update.

Airband TX is firmware gated, codeplug modifications will not suffice to open that up.

Here are some power output observations (SW-33PLUS power meter with dummy load):

Low @446.0 MHz: 3.3W
High @ 446.0 MHz: 6.0W

Low @146.52 MHz: 3.4W
High @146.52 MHz: 7.06W

I have built an experimental CHIRP plugin for the radio which can be found here: GitHub - RevEngOps/CHIRP-Radtel-RT-1000-Pro-Plugin: A go at supporting new Radtel RT-1000 Pro in CHIRP.. It's a work in progress, so some features may work, others may not, and others may break the radio. I have been using it to configure channels and zones and, during development, I did corrupt the codeplug. The radio prompted me to initialize it on reboot and I was back to a "factory reset" state.

how can i send you a private message ? you can email me at : pa9mwo@megasounds.nl
i have good news ;-)
m

 

[bearcatrp]

Appreciate your response. From what I have read, the only upgrade done was adding am to cb. Scratching my head as to why they doubled the price for little gain.

 

[Paco-Jerte]

Scratching my head as to why they doubled the price for little gain.

more like 3x, Got my 950pro for $59.94 @ AE and it came with the programming cable. Might order a 2nd one Green color today for about $54 with their 4th of july sale and discount code..

Glad I didn't get the 1000

 

[bearcatrp]

May get a second one myself. Waiting on the next firmware update to fix the scanning bug.

 

[Paco-Jerte]

May get a second one myself. Waiting on the next firmware update to fix the scanning bug.

should of mentioned, the $54 is a "Welcome Price" so use a new email and form of payment in case you have purchased from AE before.

 

[pa9mwo]

Yes ! its possible !
see :

!!! I tested on a dummyload !!!
!!! I tested on a dummyload !!!
!!! I tested on a dummyload !!!
!!! I tested on a dummyload !!!
!!! I tested on a dummyload !!!
!!! I tested on a dummyload !!!
!!! I tested on a dummyload !!!

 

[RevEngOps]

more like 3x, Got my 950pro for $59.94 @ AE and it came with the programming cable. Might order a 2nd one Green color today for about $54 with their 4th of july sale and discount code..

Glad I didn't get the 1000

The 1000 does come with a programming cable as well. My gripe is why go through the trouble of adding a USB-C port to the body of the radio when you’re not going use it as a real USB-C port? They implemented USB-C recharging, but didn’t add the USB to Serial IC on the main board. Missed opportunity in my opinion, especially since they decided to not include Bluetooth.

 

[AK9R]

My gripe is why go through the trouble of adding a USB-C port to the body of the radio when you’re not going use it as a real USB-C port?

This seems to be a common approach by the Chinese manufacturers. They put a USB-C charging port on the battery pack, but still use the speaker-mic connector to program the radio. Dumb.

 

[RevEngOps]

Well, I had some time on my hands today and opened the radio up. Confirmed only 1 transceiver (BK4819), so no true dual-watch. I think this may also affect APRS reception quality when the multi-watch feature is enabled since a single IC has to scan between 3 frequencies. This to me makes even the 880g a more valuable radio (it has two BK4819 transceivers).

Main Board - Rear:


GPS, APRS and Wideband RX ICs


Main Board - front


Single transceiver (2nd one on 880 goes where the unpopulated IC is to the left, which is the wrong footprint on this radio anyways)


MCU

 

[bearcatrp]

Is the 880G better than the 950 Pro?

 

[RevEngOps]

For those interested, ElectroBananas has a great 880g teardown:

He also has an 880 teardown:

 

[RevEngOps]

Is the 880G better than the 950 Pro?

The 950 pro has a better MCU, dual upgraded transceivers (BK4829 vs BK4819), FM only TX on 27 MHz, a better screen, and Bluetooth programming. I'd say 950 pro wins on processing, transceiver upgrades and Bluetooth alone.

Here is the 950 pro teardown from ElectroBananas:

 

[RevEngOps]

Also, made a mistake above regarding APRS - 1000 pro does it all in firmware on the main MCU. From what I can tell, no hardware modem is actually being used. Same for the 950 pro - so they're even on that front.

 

[AK9R]

The 950 pro has a better MCU, dual upgraded transceivers (BK4829 vs BK4819), FM only TX on 27 MHz, a better screen, and Bluetooth programming.

And, the zero key is in the correct location. (Pet peeve of mine.)

 

[EAFrizzle]

Is the 880G better than the 950 Pro?

Hard for me to say one is better overall because they excel at different things.

HF reception is much better on the 950 than the 880. Not that the 880 is bad, but it does best with an active loop or amplified signal; my 950 likes just about any antenna for HF.

For MilAir monitoring at home, I prefer the 880's dual antennas. An MLA-30 on the HF side and a discone or vertical to the transceiver, and it's a heckuva rig for the price. It also has 900 MHz coverage which the 950 doesn't. The 880 and 860 both do fairly well on 900 with a proper antenna.

Going out and about, I grab the 950. The Radtel tri-band antenna does well for HF reception, and there's no fiddling with the dual antenna sockets. The receiver and transceiver are better than the 880, but the 880 has some useful functions the 950 misses.

 

[Paco-Jerte]

more like 3x, Got my 950pro for $59.94 @ AE and it came with the programming cable. Might order a 2nd one Green color today for about $54 with their 4th of july sale and discount code..

Glad I didn't get the 1000

Again I will be passing on the RT-1000pro even at $100 which likely will not happen any time soon. I ordered the KSUT 889Plus green color which is the exact same as the 950pro today from Aliexpress by stacking 2 codes. Like mentioned I did use a new email/cc/shipping address and was surprised the 2 codes stacked worked. Total with tax and free shipping for $44.99 OTD.

889Plus takes the Radtel 950Pro FW and should be no problems and or issues. Aliex does offer free returns for first time buyers which in my case I was lol.

Will post pics once it arrives. Happy 4th of July weekend to all.

​

 

[EAFrizzle]

Another thing to consider in the 950/880 comparison is that the HF section in the 880 has adjustable bandwidth. The 950 is fixed at 10 kHz and can be problematic in crowded conditions.

To me, the 950 seems easier for setup and familiarization. The 880 gets easier to operate once you figure out exactly how you want the buttons programmed.

For an amateur operator, I think the 880 is the better option. Having 33 cm, along with the selectable bandwidth on the HF receiver gives a ham a lot more options.

 

[clovisb31]

Sold my 950 Pro due to no 6 meter or 220MHz TX capability. Too bad this one doesn't include those bands. CB band in a handheld is worthless unless you only need to talk from a taco truck to the terriyaki truck next door.