Radtel RT-630 IP67 Waterproof 10W Full Bands Ham Radio
Radtel RT-630 IP67 Waterproof 10W Full Bands Ham Radio, 256CH Aviation Air Band Radio Long Range Handheld Walkie Talkie, Wireless Copy Frequency, USB-C Charger, 2800mAh battery
Radtel RT-630 High power walkie-talkie penetration is stronger
A reliable communication device designed to receive UHF satcom frequencies.
Stay connected and easily communicate with your team members in a variety of settings.
With its UHF capabilities, the RT-630 ensures clear and uninterrupted communication when you need it the most.
Specification
| Number of Channels | 256 |
| Frequency Range | 144-146/430-440MHZ |
| Talking Range Maximum | 10 Kilometer |
| Voltage | 7.4 Volts |
| Water Resistance Level | Waterproof |
| Output power | 10W |
| Charging mode | Type-c charging |
| Battery capacity | 2600mAh |
What is inside the standard package?
- RT-630 Multi-Band Radio x1
- 2800mAh Li-ion Battery Pack x1
- USB-C Charger Cable x1
- dual Band antenna x1
- Belt clip x1
- User manual x1
I haven’t dunked it in the water but it appears to seal well. It feels good in my hand and the controls are easy to operate. There’s a good tactile response. Menus are easy to navigate.
The capabilities of this radio are pretty much in line with any cheap handheld on the market today. In fact, just in terms of functionality, it’s basically indistinguishable from the newer Baofeng UV-5RM aside from a very slightly larger battery (2800 mAh vs 2600 mAh). However, where it really stands out is in the IP67 rating. So few low-cost handhelds have this feature, and it’s such a huge plus for an emergency communications device. Definitely recommend this radio (and upgrading to the newer firmware available on the manufacturer’s website to unlock a wider band for RX).
Battery lasts a long time and it works great. I admit I do not know much about Ham radios but I am learning. Once you get the basics down it is easy to listen to the channels around your area. It works best as a scanner for me and will scan miles away. Personally, I still have a ton to learn about this device but it has done everything it is supposed to do without a hitch. For a beginner like myself, I believe this a great radio that should last for quite a long time.
After extensive programming and testing I found this handheld radio to be the perfect survivalist and prepper’s emergency communications tool.
It can be used to monitor radio transmissions over a very wide range of frequencies, transmit on many of those frequencies, and be custom configured in advance to provide maximum utility to the user.
It can do special things that other radios cannot, like get the message through with more transmit power, and detect and communicate with other radios on their channel instantly.
The included instructions are mostly on how to use the built-in menu to program the radio. That method is very time consuming. Radtel offers free software on their website that allows much easier programming using your PC, and that is the way to go. A programming cable between the radio and PC is required. Radtel sells them, but I had a programming cable on hand that I use to program my Baofeng UV-5 series of handheld radios so I tried it with the Radtel and it worked perfectly.
This radio is very solidly built, even claiming to be waterproof. I’ll take their word for it, as it looks like it is built well enough for that to be true. One thing I really like is the battery is high capacity and contains its own USB-C charging connector. My other radios must sit in a charger base specific to the radio model in order to charge. With this battery charge method, charging is made much simpler, especially when on the move. A standard phone charger is all that is needed.
This radio’s capabilities and performance at this price point is amazing. It is truly a good value.
The Radtel RT630 is a good UHV/VHF amateur radio transceiver. It comes with a few bells and whistles, but largely is just a pretty standard handy talkie (HT in the ham radio parlance).
The radio is made from pretty tough feeling plastic. It’ll stand up to normal wear and tear just fine. All the buttons except the push-to-talk have a slightly rubberized feel to them. It’s kind of slick rubber as opposed to more sticky. I’m not a fan. You get two customizable buttons in addition the PTT on the side. By default you can open FM radio or NOAA weather (in the US) from the buttons. They can be programmed. It has a color screen that’s clear and easy to read, especially frequencies (big, real big). Even in sunlight, you can see the screen. Turning it so the sun was just almost reflecting into my eyes, and yeah, it washed out, but it took that much.
Operation and menu choices are pretty standard for these kinds of UHV/VHF transceivers. While the order and some of the names vary, if you know how to run a Baofeng, you can go straight to work on the Radtel. I was able to guess my way to change between VFO and Channel mode, get to the menus and make them work, and switch between A & B frequencies.
In size and shape, it’s reallly close to the Radtel RT-495. Even the batteries are interchangeable. And, funny enough, the RT-495 FCC-ID says RT630. However, unlike the 495, the 630 isn’t supported by Chirp (and I did try using the 495 setting in Chirp). I had to go to the Radtel website and download programming software… which is labeled RT-495. So I think there’s a lot of crossover between these two radios, despite the distinct name differences and slight differences in shape. Both receive 1.25meters. Both receive AM in the air band (and work well there).
Testing the radio itself, as you can see in the pictures, I was getting 10 or even 11 watts output on 2 meters. However, on 70cm, I was only getting about 6 watts at high power. I was easily reaching local repeaters that are as much as 20 miles away. Signal reports were good. Reception was also pretty good and clear. The speaker has quite a bit of volume. I also tested power on 1.25 meters and it was showing up as around 10 watts (no picture).
The radio can capture nearby transmissions, their frequency and the CTCSS codes, if any. You also have a form of encryption, more like simple garbling of the transmission, but I’m not sure that’s legal to use as a ham.
The package came with the radio itself, one battery, belt clip and a lanyard. It had and instruction book, but it was mostly just a run through of the menu choices. There is no dock. The battery charges from USB-C and you get a cable for that.
Overall, a nice radio.
Oh, and it’s supposed to be waterproof, but I didn’t test that.
This is another of the low-priced handi-talkies that will transmit on the 2 meter and 70 cm amateur bands. It also receives NOAA weather radio and FM broadcast stations and pretty much everything in between. You can get a pretty good idea of its capabilities from the online description so I’ll focus on some high points.
First, the unit claims IP67 waterproofing. I’m not going to drop mine in the bathtub to test this so I’ll take Radtel’s word. Examining the unit suggests that they have taken a number of steps to achieve this goal; for example, the cover over the K1 jacks (for mic and earphone) locks into place with a screw, presumably to prevent water from getting in through the jacks. This brings up my first concern about the unit. The screw on this cover is not secured in any way, and I’m sure I’m going to lose it the first time I’m out in the field with it.
The screen is extremely readable. There’s just no comparison to most of the Baofeng and Quansheng units; this Radtel beats them hands down.
The unit comes with a very large battery (even though the online description says it’s a 2600 mAh battery, mine is labeled 2800 mAh). This makes the unit a bit heftier than the typical low-priced units. For example, my UV-5R weighs about a bit over 7 ounces with antenna; this unit weighs almost 11 ounces. I like the feel of the extra heft, though, and having the extra battery capacity means that it can go longer between recharges.
Speaking of recharging, you may have noticed that it doesn’t come with a recharging cradle. That’s because the unit recharges using a conventional USB-C charging cable, so you can recharge almost anywhere including your car. If I had to make a choice I’d pick USB-C capability over a desk charger.
You can store up to 256 pre-programmed channels. You can download software from Radtel to enter your frequencies but I found the software clumsy. There is an experimental module for CHIRP that seems to work fine, though; I uploaded to and downloaded from the unit with no problems, and I assume that at some point the RT-630 drivers will be incorporated into the latest CHIRP version.
It appears that the firmware can be upgraded, and this is a good thing because it allows the manufacturer to continually improve the operation of the unit. Some other manufacturers load the firmware into a read-only EEPROM which locks the unit’s capabilities (and flaws) at the time of manufacture.
One thing I hope Radtel can improve upon is the issue of spurious emissions. From tests that I have seen (I don’t have the equipment to test my own unit) it seems like the second and third harmonics are at or slightly above FCC thresholds.
Overall, this unit seems to work well. The audio isn’t quite up to the quality of many other low-priced units but it’s not bad and I assume that’s a function of the waterproofing. Everything else seems to be at least as good as competitive units. I recommend the RT-630.
I got this as a first radio/walkie talkie basically, with the intention of using it to listen to local airband traffic. I haven’t been able to test it in that regard yet (my house is a bit too far from the airport to pickup while just sitting at home), but I have scanned around on it and gotten familiar with some of the more basic functions. So far my impression of it is that it works exactly as it’s supposed to (which I do not take for granted as it’s very common for settings on this type of item to be lost in translation in relating to what the manual says which is likely written in another country). That said, I found it fairly easy (not extremely easy, but easy enough) to get familiar with what the buttons basically do, this radio has some nice features. You can switch between FM radio with the touch of one button, same for WX weather, and again for the entire frequency range, you also get the convenience of being able to switch (again one button press) between two different frequency ranges (so you could have one range set to around 120 and another up at 400+, and switch back and forth between which is nice), it’s also nice to have a full keypad to be able to just type in the frequency you want, there is also the option to save channels which is nice too. The radio claims to be water proof, not something that I have tested nor particularly want to test, but it feels well built so I would not be surprised if it actually was water proof to some extent. The battery has a usb-c charging port on the back which is always nice, volume adjustment by way of a knob on the top which is typical for a radio (this also functions as the power button). It has a light to indicate when it is picking up a signal, as well as ports on the side to add on accessories like a headset etc. Comes with a basic antenna, which functions for it’s purpose. Priced at $50 dollars when I received the item, I would say this product feels like it’s worth about what it costs, and I am in no way disappointed by it, though I would not recommend someone to pay much more than that for it.