TEN METERS FOR A PRICE THAT WON'T BREAK THE BANK
This radio won't break the bank if your a Technician class amateur radio operator. Very often on sale for $199.99 either through Amazon or the Retevis website. I happened upon this one on Amazon, which was still on sale, and there was a coupon to clip for 10% off, saving me another $20, so after sales tax the total came to around $191 (not too shabby).
When I took it out of its box, and glancing at each side of the covers, I found it ironic that this radio didn't have any manufacturer "break this seal and void your warranty" stickers. Ironic, because to modify this radio, you don't have to take the covers off the radio - it's all done via the front panel (*Hint: don't pay a dealer $20 or more to convert this radio).
FUNCTIONS & FEATURES (Taken from the Retevis website)
1. Large LCD panel which displays frequency and all kinds of information
2. DUAL-DIGITAL TUBE FOR CHANNEL DISPLAY
3. USE EL technology for backlight
4. PA-CW-AM-FM-USB-LSB mode
5. A-B-C-D-E-F-6 modes in total, where 60 channels at least can be individually programmed.
6. Frequency Tuning Step can be 10HZ, 100HZ, 1KHZ or 10KHZ.
7. Multiple CLARIFIER Operating Modes
8. Flexible menu functions and PC programming software to meet varied customer demands
9. ECHO Function
10. SQ, ASQ Function (FM and AM mode only)
11. RF GAIN ADJUSTMENT
12. RF Power ADJUSTMENT
13. SCAN FUNCTION
14. RB FUNCTION
15. NB/ANL FUNCTION
16. DW DUAL -WATCH FUNCTION
17. BEEP VOICE PROMPT
18. +10KHZ Function
19. SWR/S/RF/DC Voltage display function
20. TOT function
21. HI-CUT FUNCTION
22. EMG CALL
23. SWR PROTECTION
24. POWER SUPPLIED VOLTAGE PROTECTION
25. Key-Lock Function
26. VOX function
27. CTCSS/DCS code
28. RX compander: noise blanker
29. Noise gate setting: mic noise adjustable
30. RX Noise Reduction
31. Compatible with“electronic" and“dynamic" MIC type
It's a 1-35 watt radio on SSB, 1-40 watts on FM, and only 1-12 watts in either the AM or CW modes. Not a powerhouse on SSB, but no slouch either. I can only assume that they expect the radio operator to set it for 1 or 2 watts on AM, to let an external linear amplifier do the heavy lifting. Nonetheless, it is kinda low, but I'll hold off on a final verdict until after I check it on the watt meter.
The following information (Specifications, and menu settings) comes from the owners manual (available off Retevis's website) -
As noted in the title field, this is part review and part first look, and as usual, as time goes by I'll update this particular Blog Post. So as a first look, I've drawn some conclusions, of which I'll share with you now:
WHAT I LIKED
- The price is right (usually under $200). Unless you buy something in the used market, this is your ticket to 10 meters.
- The Roger Beep. It's an honest-to-God single beep. I can't tell you how many radios offer a variety of beeps to choose from, and not one has the original singular tone beep. Kudos to Retevis!
- It has a 4-pin side mounted mic jack, and yes, if you have another microphone wired for a 4-pin Cobra or Uniden, it'll work fine. I'm currently using a Turner Super Sidekick desk microphone on this radio.
- The radio is programmable and it comes with a programming cable. The software is available on the Retevis website (bottom of the page).
- If you modify this and use it like a CB you have the option to turn the main display off and only use the channel selector, but you'll lose all other information as well (s/rf meter, whether the NB is on or off, etc.).
- The noise compander / reduction works well. Keep it set to a minimum though, to avoid that watery sound. *I did do a quick double take when I saw it called the noise compander. It's the only other time I've seen that description (the first time was with a Cherokee 150 SSB mobile radio).
- It's a nice large size radio - good for a base station
- Easy to modify. Hold Function and EMG key down when powering up radio. Display shows 1 Band. Turn channel selector to 2 Band and reset.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
- You can turn off the display, but not the channel selector, and turning off the display means losing the RF-S meter, along with other information.
- The Clarifier isn't smooth, rather a click-click-click control. Yet, on the other hand... because the new breed of radios are on frequency, you may never have to use it (I haven't thus far).
- The band switching is divided into banks from A - F, and unlike other newer radios, there is no SPAN selection, so you have to use the bands as they're setup. It's a small gripe, but I guess I got spoiled by other radios.
- It's a nice large radio - not that great if you have limited space to mount something in your vehicle.
- The volume control. Yes, it's my pet peeve, but nonetheless something important to me. Like every radio with an Anytone board in it, the volume control is not linear. Turning the volume control clockwise takes you from no volume to BOOM!! a volume level that is low, but not as low as it should be. If there was a numerical setting, I'd say it goes from no volume to level 2 volume. This is not a radio I would use if it was late at night and family members were asleep, or, if I wanted it at a just low enough level to hear if a friend of mine was now on the frequency. If President can get this, why can't Anytone, Retevis, Radioddity, and others?
- 12 watts on AM. This for someone who uses AM a lot (not me). However, it will swing to roughly 35w with modulation.
- No memory function. There aren't any memories to plug your favorite frequencies into, albeit, most radios only offer 4 memory channels.
To sum it up: This radio almost seems to be a radio caught between the old world of 10m/export radios, and the new world of enhanced noise blanking and auto squelch. There are other radios you could consider, but none usually fall under the $200 price point. However, most of those other radios will offer 12 meters as well as 10. If a new ham were to ask me about it, I would recommend this transceiver to him without prejudice.
If you're a tech looking to spend the least amount of money on a new radio to get you talking on 10 meters, this is certainly one you should consider. Whether you have an interest in CW now, or even if you don't, the jack on the back makes it very simple should you want to try CW later on, just plug in your key and start tapping. Right now is THE time to utilize 10 meters! It's usually a quiet band. For example, the 11m CB band might be going crazy with skip (DX), yet 10 meters is quiet as a cemetery.
I've been on 10m recently, and a contest was in progress. It was almost impossible to find a clear frequency to call "CQ" without interfering with another station that afternoon, so I jumped in several pileups and found myself competing with stations that were pumping out over 500 watts, yet I remained hopefully persistent with my less than 100w radio. This paid off and I made contacts in several European countries, the UK, and more. While FT8 and other digital modes certainly have their place, nothing gets your blood pumping faster than a hard-to-reach station coming back and acknowledging your call sign.
UPDATE: 11.07.2024
This is weird, and I'm checking menus to make sure there isn't a setting I missed, but I went on one channel and turned the Roger Beep "ON", but when I changed channels, RB was OFF. I had to turn it ON again with each channel change.
The same thing happened with NB/ANL. Turned it ON while on one channel, and it was OFF on the next channel change. It seems that whatever you turn on/off, you'll have to do it on each channel. I haven't tried programming it, but I'm pretty sure I can set something ON for all channels, but c'mon Retevis, if I press NB/ANL on one channel, it should remain ON on all channels - unless turned OFF.
Has anyone else run across this weird issue?
UPDATE: 11.09.2024
Playing around with the band switch I moved down 5kc to a nought frequency (28.480 vs. 28.485), then moved the band switch to another bank, which brought the frequencies back to the 5's (28.485, 495, etc.). Switching back to the other band (and frequency) I found it had remembered it was the way I left it (on the nought). Powering the radio off and back on didn't change it. This is kinda cool if you want to hang out on 28.480, but on the 5's elsewhere. This may explain what I experienced on the previous update. Nonetheless, it's not enough to make up for what happens with something as mundane as NB/ANL.
One last thing - last night I was sandbagging on the local frequency and the station very close to my QTH sounded slightly distorted. I compared it to how it sounded on an FT-710, and the 710 was clearer, without distortion. Backing down the RF Gain slightly on the HS4 fixed that.
I've had a chance to compare the HS4 with a half dozen or so radios, and it seems no better or worse when it comes to the adjacent channel rejection.
UPDATE: 11.15.2024
Atmospheric conditions seemed to be the cause of the some distortion mentioned above, possibly not affecting my FT-701 as much, because the receiver (and filtering) is so much better. Then again, 10 meters can be a funky band to operate on. I'm really struggling to decide if the HS4 is a "keeper". I've mentioned my dislikes already, as for the "likes", the 4-pin mic jack is great (no more re-wiring mics to an RJ-45, 6-pin or 8-pin connector, and no mic adapter).
Locally, I've received compliments on my audio and during an A/B test between a Turner Super Sidekick and a Turner +3 desk mic, the +3 came out on top. Not only was the audio consistently stronger (it has a built-in speech compressor), but it had a pleasing low end (bass), whereas the Super Sidekick's strength was having higher pitched audio, so a Plus 3 was good for local rag chewing, and the SSK would be a tad better in getting through DX and a crowded pileup.
35 watts vs. an 80 watt radio doesn't make a lot of difference (it takes a 4x increase in output power to gain 1 S-unit at the other end), so it seems to boil down to the way the volume control acts. Currently, either late at night, or early in the morning, I use another radio to allow my ears to get the lowest possible volume to listen - without disturbing the rest of the household. If you have already owned, or own a radio like the Quad 5, QT-60, or QT-60Pro, and if you don't mind it now, you won't notice a difference with the HS4.
While I haven't done it yet, I plan to look under the covers, and see how hard it would be to add a resistor in series to the volume control. I had a wild thought that if I added some resistance it might give me more of a gradual increase in volume vs. the "no sound - jump to a preset level", nowhere close to the gradual gain experienced in ham radios or other CB radios, both modern (President Washington) and elderly (Cobra 138XLR).
UPDATE: 11.19.2024
I ran across an issue I hadn't seen since I bought one of the first RCI 2950 radios - Inconsistency when changing frequencies/channels. What does that mean you ask? It's when your on a channel (example: 38) and want to go to 37, but instead, it goes up to 39. Another observation was when I was on 38 and moved the selector down one channel to get to 37, and it while it did change channel going down, it did it 2 channels at a time so I ended up on 36.
The first time I went from 38 to 37, and got 39 instead, I thought I had turned the channel selector the wrong way. Several nights later it did it again, and I was verifying which way the selector went after that first time so I could confirm that I was doing it correctly, but the radio wasn't - and yes, I turned the selector correctly. This doesn't happen every day, in fact it's quite sporadic, and quickly remedied by moving the selector the other way, and then back to where I was originally going.
Keep this in mind when shopping for a new rig.
Otherwise, the click-click-click clarifier, and difficulty in seeing the display in various lighting situations, has made a good case for not running this mobile, however, as a base radio it would not be an issue.
UPDATE: 11.27.2024
Sent the radio back and got another one. Same issues (have to set NB of RB for each individual channel. As I've written earlier, some of the radio I like, and some I don't. I'm sure you'll have your own battle about whether to keep it or not. Unless it smokes, dies, fries, etc. this will be the last update about this radio.
DISCLAIMER: I don't know this guy from Adam, and have no reciprocal relationship between his YouTube channel and my Blog. But since I rarely post anything on YouTube anymore, I wanted you to see, what I believe to be, one of the best videos on this radio. Enjoy!
If I left something out from my notes, or have an update, it will be added to this Blog Post. In the meantime - "May all of your DX dreams come true.."
73
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