Retevis RT97L portable repeater -- first impressions

[WRTC928]

My RT97L arrived today, and I did some initial testing.

Setup was a breeze using the software downloaded from the Retevis website. There is no software included, but the download was no big deal. There aren't a whole lot of things to set or change, so it's hard to goof it up too much.

I didn't have a GMRS-specific antenna to test it with because my truck is loaned out, so I tried it with a few dual-band antennas. The Comet 2x4 had an SWR of 2.04, a couple of others had ~1.69, and once again, the much-maligned Nagoya UT-72 came out on top with an SWR of 1.23. I'll be interested to see what I get with an antenna that's tuned for GMRS.

Power output was good -- 21-24 watts with all the antennas except the Nagoya. For some reason, I consistently got a reading of 26-27 watts with the UT-72. I can't explain why a different antenna would make a significant difference in power, but that's what I got. All the antennas were tested on the same NMO mag mount except the Nagoya which is an integrated unit. As far as I know, a different antenna and/or coax shouldn't change the power reading at the meter, particularly because the reading is taken before the RF energy even enters the antenna's coax.  

I wasn't able to test range, but I did confirm that it does indeed perform as a repeater. It doesn't "kerchunk" which surprised me a little. Not that I really care, but it was unusual.

I hope to get this thing out to the field sometime soon, but my first impression is that it will be an excellent tool to have available for camping, hiking, or other outdoor activities.

[OffRoaderX]

There is a setting for the kerchunk.. "STE" i think?  I would double check for you but both of mine are boxed back up and ready to be given away to lucky viewers.

[WRTC928]

4 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

There is a setting for the kerchunk.. "STE" i think?  I would double check for you but both of mine are boxed back up and ready to be given away to lucky viewers.

Thanks. I'll look at it. I don't even know for sure that I want it to "kerchunk" but I'd like to know how to set it if I want to.

[OffRoaderX]

Just now, WRTC928 said:

I don't even know for sure that I want it to "kerchunk"

If you want the repeater to remain more stealthy, no kerchunk makes it sound like people chatting on simplex..

[WRTC928]

10 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

If you want the repeater to remain more stealthy, no kerchunk makes it sound like people chatting on simplex..

I may actually leave it that way. I'd just never heard a repeater that didn't do it, so I was afraid maybe something was wrong with the repeater.  It tested out okay, though, so I figured it was just a quirk of the design. Stealthy actually has some advantages for a portable unit. I don't want every random yoyo in the park scanning for the tone and jumping on my repeater.

[WRTC928]

I did a little testing using a Nagoya UT-72G antenna on a pizza pan about 9 feet off the ground on my back deck. Using an HT, I was able to get about 3 miles to the east and 1-2 miles to the south and southwest. Not spectacular, but not bad for an unfavorable setup. To my surprise, there were a couple of places about a mile to the west where I could access the repeater. I was surprised because there's a tall hill to my west. I guess there are a couple of places where radio waves can sneak around it. I plan to use it with a better antenna on a 25' mast attached to my truck or RV, so I expect much better distance under those circumstances. I just couldn't resist testing it. TBH, for a lot of purposes, i.e. camping, 2-3 miles is plenty. Still, I should be able to better that considerably with a gain antenna and more height.

[Mrsig]

I should have my RT97L in about a week.

[Mrsig]

If I set the RT97L to scan what dose that do? I don't see any channel change.

[OffRoaderX]

1 hour ago, Mrsig said:

If I set the RT97L to scan what dose that do?

Not to be a d*ck, but did you read the manual?  Page 5 says:

Quote

 

Page 05: Scan Channel -

On: Enables scanning of programmed channels; exits scan upon receiving a signal and returns to scan mode after the transmission ends.

Off: Disables scanning

 

The only issue is that I think you need to have a speaker plugged in to hear it scan.

[Mrsig]

I did read it & I have the speaker mic plugged in to the DB-9 and I do not see the channel's changing or scanning.

[SteveShannon]

4 hours ago, Mrsig said:

I did read it & I have the speaker mic plugged in to the DB-9 and I do not see the channel's changing or scanning.

I don’t know about the RT97L, but not all radios display changing channels when scanning.  That was one of the original main complaints about the Yaesu FT5DR.  It showed the new channel when it paused, but not until then.  A firmware update has partially fixed the problem.

But it could be that scanning only works when you’re in base station mode; a scanning repeater would be kind of unusual.

[Radioguy7268]

I once had a "channel saver" repeater set up to scan on 5 UHF trunked channels.  The concept was that the system needed to be operational within one year on all 5 frequencies in order to file a Construction notice with the FCC.  In order to do that, we built up a 5 channel scanning repeater (all the frequencies were fairly close together in the 451/452 range). A portable could key any of the 5 licensed channels, and carry a short conversation to prove operation - just not on all 5 channels at once. A split antenna system was already in place, and we just used a widely tuned bandpass cavity on the transmit side.

We got the idea from Nextel, who was doing a similar thing on 800MHz analog channels they had acquired, but not yet transitioned into their iDEN system.

Unusual, yes. But not bizarre   But ultimately a waste of time and material. 

[Socalgmrs]

On 4/21/2025 at 6:20 AM, WRTC928 said:

I may actually leave it that way. I'd just never heard a repeater that didn't do it, so I was afraid maybe something was wrong with the repeater.  It tested out okay, though, so I figured it was just a quirk of the design. Stealthy actually has some advantages for a portable unit. I don't want every random yoyo in the park scanning for the tone and jumping on my repeater.

If you’re just using it in a park do you really need a repeater? An ht does 3-5 miles minimum, some times up to 60plus.  Why would you need a repeater in a park.  

[SteveShannon]

56 minutes ago, Radioguy7268 said:

I once had a "channel saver" repeater set up to scan on 5 UHF trunked channels.  The concept was that the system needed to be operational within one year on all 5 frequencies in order to file a Construction notice with the FCC.  In order to do that, we built up a 5 channel scanning repeater (all the frequencies were fairly close together in the 451/452 range). A portable could key any of the 5 licensed channels, and carry a short conversation to prove operation - just not on all 5 channels at once. A split antenna system was already in place, and we just used a widely tuned bandpass cavity on the transmit side.

We got the idea from Nextel, who was doing a similar thing on 800MHz analog channels they had acquired, but not yet transitioned into their iDEN system.

Unusual, yes. But not bizarre   But ultimately a waste of time and material. 

I made the change to “unusual”.

[Mrsig]

Been testing it with some of the other ranchers so far in heavy woods we have gotten 14 miles south and 12 miles north of me so far. 

 

[CoffeeTime]

Nice fars.

[Mrsig]

This is my RT97L

 

[WRTC928]

11 hours ago, Socalgmrs said:

If you’re just using it in a park do you really need a repeater? An ht does 3-5 miles minimum, some times up to 60plus.  Why would you need a repeater in a park.  

Apparently, you've never been to Denali National Park or Wrangell-St Elias Alaska State Park (you should, BTW). For that matter, Black Mesa Oklahoma State Park would benefit from some boost if you're camping and day hiking. If I only went to Death Valley, I suppose I wouldn't need a repeater.