NEW - Retevis NR30S GMRS HT

[WRPL700]

Anybody seen or ordered the new Retevis NR30S GMRS HT?

https://www.retevis.com/retevis-nr30s-long-range-noise-reduction-gmrs-two-way-radio-with-display-us

Looks kind of like the HA1G.

Some of the features:

• High / Middle/Low Power Adjustable
  Two-way Noise Reduction
  VOX Hands-free
  Group Call
  Monitor
  Scan
  Roger
  Emergency Alarm
  Low Battery Alert
  30 Channels (GMRS)
  Power Save/Low Power Alarm
  Squelch  
  Weather
  Weather warn
  TOT（Time Out Timer）
  Talk  Around

Also says it has a 2800mah battery and IP67 waterproof.

 

[SteveShannon]

I have not, but I’ll be curious to hear how well the “two-way noise reduction” works.  Good noise reduction can really help in SSB mode on my ham radios, but I’ve not tried it in FM.

Other than noise reduction and IP67, all the other features are typical of most GMRS radios.

[Socalgmrs]

Just another radio.  

[WRUU653]

Looks like it does the one key pairing.
All the photos that they have showing the display shows one channel with the RX and TX frequencies and corresponding tones displayed. So it may not have dual channel/frequency display. 
Simple five button keypad on the front. It certainly seems geared towards simple group coms.  
They don’t seem to have a manual on line for it yet.  
I had looked over it’s more simple name sake the NR30 (no “s”) as a simple hand out to those that don’t know or care about key pads and displays.
I would also be interested in how well the noise canceling works. 
I would be interested in knowing more as well even if it is “just another radio” as “Some people” say. I guess that’s why I’m on a radio forum. 

[pl4tinum]

So I have a NR30 (non-s) with a Nagoya NA-771G antenna and its my favorite radio.  It performs almost as well as my KG905G but the ergonomics are way better in how it feels in your hand.  Feels way more commercial and durable than my GM-30.  I got it specifically because I wanted a minimalist radio with no screen for just the two repeaters I use.  It's also IP67 so I've carried it around in the rain no problem.  Only downside is you can't field program it and it has the gold pin accessory jack which you can convert to kenwood using this.

I was looking at a HA1G for my next radio because I I like my NR30 so much and figured that was basically an NR30 with a screen, but now there is an NR30S which seems like basically the same thing but with the noise cancelling.

The noise cancelling on the NR30 is pretty meh and I would say I have it off 99% of the time.  There are certain use cases where it comes in handy such as talking to someone on a repeater where there is a small amount of static and it basically filters all that out and making them sound clear like DMR but not robotic.  Once the signal is a bit weak it does more harm than good, filtering out a lot of the person's voice or making them sound garbled and harder to understand.  The one time it really came in handy was talking to my buddy on a repeater for about an hour straight with very mild static and flipping it on made him sound perfect.

IDK if the $25 premium over the HA1G for noise cancelling is worth it.  Maybe the additional power if it has it; the NR30 has low/med/high and goes up to nearly 10 watts.

[WSAW608]

Just got a new NR30S in the mail today (Retevis Official / eBay); tried to connect it to my windows 10 pc using Retevis-supplied NR30S software from their website, it won't load onto my cheap PC. I'm an Apple guy who bought a cheap PC just to program radios with, it's a Maestro Evolve - Celeron chip - and it has worked great for several of my Retevis radios (NR10, RB26, RB89, NR30) but so far it's a no-go for the NR30S as well as the Ailunce HA1G whose software won't load either. It could be that windows 10 on this PC isn't able to process the software, any ideas? (Ideas not involving Mac computers TY)

I definitely need to connect to a PC to achieve further programming on the NR30S 'cuz the CTCSS codes applied from the radio's screen apply to both TX&RX, no way to apply to just one as far as I can see. 

So I got a pair of NR30 (no screen) on Amazon and it's quite a nice radio; it seems to me that the screen itself is a point of potential weakness (imo) when looking at a hard-use primary radio so the toughness & simplicity of the NR30 interested me; the performance of the radio is excellent. The Noise Reduction works well, I'd consider using it in a high-noise area. I feel that it allows the user to turn up the volume for a better experience without excess background noise. I'm also using an RB89 with a Retevis HWN001 wireless BT mic, an excellent combination. BTW the Retevis CPS has been excellent for NR10, RB89, RB26, NR30 on my cheap PC; hopefully I'll find a way to get the NR30S program running. TIA for any suggestions! 

 

[SteveShannon]

19 minutes ago, WSAW608 said:

I definitely need to connect to a PC to achieve further programming on the NR30S 'cuz the CTCSS codes applied from the radio's screen apply to both TX&RX, no way to apply to just one as far as I can see. 

See if you can choose squelch mode “Tone” instead of TSQL.  Then it will disregard the RX tone.

[WSAW608]

Thx much Steve, I actually discovered (Mac guy here) that it was my PC that was 'preventing' the CPS download. Once I got past that, the CPS got installed and acted normally, allowing complete channel programming & preferences selection. The software seems almost the same as other Retevis software I've used. This GMRS Radio has a removable antenna; some similar radios have a very small Allen setscrew to assist in secure attachment of the antenna, not so with this radio. The radio has weather alert as well; this feature can be activated as needed from the keypad menu. Another Retevis / Ailunce keeper! 

[WSEP954]

I have the regular NR30. Can anyone verify if the NR30s has the 10w transmit power on HIGH like the NR30? The Retevis website and the manual conflict with each other on this detail. 

[WSAW608]

I'm pretty sure there are 3 selectable power levels accessible through the screen, and I think they would be 0.5,5,10. Additionally, I believe that the PC CPS allows power level to be selected as well as CTCSS/DCS setup, wide/narrow band, scan inclusion, etc. My 'program list' is pretty consistent throughout my Retevis collection (NR30,NR30s,NR630s,RB89,RB26/RB626,NR10); I have a GMRS setup (30 channels), a dual-band setup (approx 60 channels) and an FRS setup (16 channels). When using a PC to program multiple radios it goes pretty quick; I save the latest channel list to 'documents' prior to writing to the radio. NEWBIE HERE!!  

[Socalgmrs]

Why would FRS be set up any differently than gmrs?    You have a gmrs license so why have 16 FRS channels?  It’s not even all the FRS. But then you have gmrs also?   I’m so confused.   

35 minutes ago, WSAW608 said:

I'm pretty sure there are 3 selectable power levels accessible through the screen, and I think they would be 0.5,5,10. Additionally, I believe that the PC CPS allows power level to be selected as well as CTCSS/DCS setup, wide/narrow band, scan inclusion, etc. My 'program list' is pretty consistent throughout my Retevis collection (NR30,NR30s,NR630s,RB89,RB26/RB626,NR10); I have a GMRS setup (30 channels), a dual-band setup (approx 60 channels) and an FRS setup (16 channels). When using a PC to program multiple radios it goes pretty quick; I save the latest channel list to 'documents' prior to writing to the radio. NEWBIE HERE!!  

 

[WRYZ926]

FRS shares all of the same simplex channels as GMRS. FRS is limited to 2 watts output on channels 1-7 and 15-22, and limited to 0.5 watts on channels 8-14. GMRS is allowed 5 watts on channels 1-7, max of 0.5 watts on channels 8-14, and up to 50 watts on channels 15-22. GMRS mobile radios are not allowed to use channels 8-14 because they won't go down to 0.5 watts output. Most mobiles will only go down to 5 watts on low power. 

When it comes to hand held radios, FRS and GMRS have the same number of simplex channels. The difference is that GMRS is allowed repeater channels whereas FRS is not.

So yes one can program both FRS and GMRS hand held radios with the exact same simplex channels. The firmware on GMRS radios should keep the power down to 0.5 watts on channels 8-14. All bets are off with amateur band radios that have been unlocked.

[GreggInFL]

^ Nice summary.

[WSAW608]

Socalgmrs, I think I understand your confusion; the UHF radios and some of the FRS radios I have are only set up with 16 Channels available to program. My NR10 is like that, as are some UHF radios (e.g., RB626, NR630s) so I program them with the higher-powered GMRS channels (one channel entered twice) and skip the 0.5 watt channels. Maybe not the best method, but I'm new and still learning!