Retevis RA685 - using with other radios

[Renfield64]

Hi, newbie here. I have several two- way radios that are PMR446 type and they all work with each other fine. I have just purchased a Retevis RA685 but am having problems getting it to talk to one of the others. At the moment i have the others on ch2 and ctcss 2. I can talk to the Retevis but can’t talk to the others from the Retevis.
The manual states that when broadcasting it will show a red LED but this only happens if i use it in channel mode. In channel mode it doesn’t receive from the other radio.

Anyone help me on this?
Thank you.

 

[racingfan360]

I expect the likely issue here is that you have a CTCSS tone set on the Binatone, but none on the Retevis (or that the CTCSS tones don't match). Best set the Retevis to match that on the other, or you might be able to disable tones on the Binatone but not recommended. I assume tone 2 on the Binatone is actually 69.3Hz or 71.9Hz but worth checking the manual.

BTW, a 5W handheld like a RA685 isn't legal on the PMR446 band.

 

[Renfield64]

Hi, thanks for your advice. I will check these things now.
Cheers

 

[racingfan360]

There is no universal standard for matching the 38 CTCSS codes (01, 02 etc) to CTCSS tones (67.0Hz etc) but the list in the table here is very often used across PMR446 manufacturers:

Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch System - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And it might just be your bad luck, but often the second (02) of 38 CTCSS tones on a PMR446 unit is often the third CTCSS option available on a PMR transceiver (71.9Hz).

 

[Renfield64]

Hi, thank you for your reply, I'm learning a bit more each time.
Thanks 👍