expiredfrancois posted Dec 12, 2025 09:05 PM
Item 1 of 2
Item 1 of 2
expiredfrancois posted Dec 12, 2025 09:05 PM
Retevis Portable Dual Band 2-Way Ham AM/FM Radio Walkie Talkie
$15
$30
50% offAmazon
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Deal Details
Retevis Direct via Amazon has Retevis Portable Handheld Dual Band 2-Way Ham AM/FM Radio Walkie Talkie (RA79) for $14.99. Shipping is free with Prime or on $35+ orders.
Thanks to Community Member francois for posting this deal.
Features:
Thanks to Community Member francois for posting this deal.
Features:
- Multi-band amateur walkie talkie; 2m and 70cm band receiver and transmitter; 1.25m/AM (Aviation) /FM/NOAA reception
- Easy to use for beginners; the large screen clearly displays all info; dedicated A/B band keys and customizable side keys put critical functions at your fingertips; adjustable high/medium/low power optimizes range and battery life
- Emergency Alarm & Flashlight
- Built-in NOAA Weather Alert receives extreme weather warnings
- Rechargeable two way radio; the 1400mAh battery offers extended talk time; supports modern USB-C charging (even with a power bank) and an optional desktop dock
- Supports CHIRP and VFO mode; users can choose to manually set the frequency through the keyboard or use a PC to add new channels and settings
- Powerful team management; ham radio with 200 channels; use frequency copy to instantly configure your entire team; DTMF for selective call; group call; and individual call; enabling precise and private communication
Editor's Notes
Written by StrawMan86 | Staff- Don't have Amazon Prime? Students can get a free 6-Month Amazon Prime trial with free 2-day shipping, unlimited video streaming & more.
- If you're not a student, there's also a free 1-Month Amazon Prime trial available.
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Retevis Direct via Amazon has Retevis Portable Handheld Dual Band 2-Way Ham AM/FM Radio Walkie Talkie (RA79) for $14.99. Shipping is free with Prime or on $35+ orders.
Thanks to Community Member francois for posting this deal.
Features:
Thanks to Community Member francois for posting this deal.
Features:
- Multi-band amateur walkie talkie; 2m and 70cm band receiver and transmitter; 1.25m/AM (Aviation) /FM/NOAA reception
- Easy to use for beginners; the large screen clearly displays all info; dedicated A/B band keys and customizable side keys put critical functions at your fingertips; adjustable high/medium/low power optimizes range and battery life
- Emergency Alarm & Flashlight
- Built-in NOAA Weather Alert receives extreme weather warnings
- Rechargeable two way radio; the 1400mAh battery offers extended talk time; supports modern USB-C charging (even with a power bank) and an optional desktop dock
- Supports CHIRP and VFO mode; users can choose to manually set the frequency through the keyboard or use a PC to add new channels and settings
- Powerful team management; ham radio with 200 channels; use frequency copy to instantly configure your entire team; DTMF for selective call; group call; and individual call; enabling precise and private communication
Editor's Notes
Written by StrawMan86 | Staff- Don't have Amazon Prime? Students can get a free 6-Month Amazon Prime trial with free 2-day shipping, unlimited video streaming & more.
- If you're not a student, there's also a free 1-Month Amazon Prime trial available.
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Top Comments
You are technically correct that you (the person) do not need a license to transmit on CB. However, the radio itself must be certified (Type Accepted) by the FCC for CB TRANSMIT. You can of course use this to receive anything and that is legal.
This Retevis RA79 (or the Quansheng UV-K5) is not certified for CB. It is designed and approved as an Amateur (Ham) radio. This creates a few hurdles:
Legality: Even if you have a Ham license, you are strictly limited to transmitting on Amateur bands (based on your license class). A Ham license does not authorize you to transmit on CB, GMRS, or FRS frequencies using a non-certified radio like this one.
Hardware Reality: The "Citizen Band" (CB) is at ~27 MHz (HF), while this radio is built for ~144/440 MHz (VHF/UHF).
Here is what this radio can actually do:
Out of the Box: It transmits/receives on the 2-meter (~144 MHz) and 70cm (~440 MHz) Ham bands. It can receive FM radio, NOAA weather, and some other frequencies. It cannot transmit or receive CB.
With Firmware Mods: You can flash custom firmware (like Egzumer) to open up the receive range significantly. This allows you to listen to CB, Airband, and more. However, reception on CB is often poor because the physical antenna and circuits aren't tuned for it.
With Hardware Mods: To actually transmit on CB frequencies, you would need to physically modify the internal circuit board (adding an HF board). Even if you do this, the signal is often 'dirty' (full of interference/harmonics), and it remains illegal to transmit on CB with this device. You could technically transmit on other frequencies such as the 10-meter band, if the harmonics were within the allowed limits of Amateur radio license requirements (which it probably is not unless you throw a lot of money at it for filters).
TL;DR: If you want to talk on CB, save yourself the headache and buy a dedicated CB radio. If you want to get into the technical hobby of Ham radio, the UV-K5 is a fun, cheap starting point!
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That being said you can do a ton with FRS and GMRS radios. I have a bunch of retevis and baofeng (btech) radios that I've set up for GMRS use. I paid the licensing fee so my wife would feel comfortable that we aren't breaking any rules when I hand those out to the kids. Technically we are using uncertified radios, but I keep them locked down and it works just fine with our certified GMRS radios.
these are great family tools. We had an incident where we were skiing and one of our kids took a nasty fall and got a concussion. He radioed for help and we all heard, alerted ski patrol, converged on the ski patrol facility with the car ready to go and got him to the hospital quickly. Trying to do that with phones can be a nightmare.
if you are new to all this, a good FRS/GMRS radio, or a model that supports GMRS bands out of the box might be an easier choice. If you're a ham, then let's marvel at how cheap radios are today. It's mind boggling.
A few technical notes - it seems unclear what power this transmits at. Also the Amazon page mentions Dstar, which I don't think this actually supports. So it's a bit confusing whether this is a crazy good deal on a digital-capable radio or a good deal on a pretty run of the mill-style handytalkie
Please let us tell you that this is Angela from Retevis Direct store on Amazon. You ordered the Retevis RA79 Walkie-Talkies in our store.
1. Due to an Amazon system outage, RA79-related orders have been set to be shipped by the seller.However, these orders should be shipped by Amazon. We are sorry, due to shipping time constraints, as sellers, we cannot match Amazon's delivery time. Could you please close the order for now?
2.If you still need this model, we'll let you know as soon as the Amazon system returns to normal. Is that okay?
If you have other ideas, please tell us in time, we will do our best to help you.
Thank you for your supporting and understanding.
Waiting for your reply.
Stay Well
Best regards
Retevis-Angela
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There is some validity to discussion around "CB" with this particular radio. This radio is very popular to mod, and it is possible to mod to receive and even transmit on CB, disregarding any legalities or interference issues.
Here is a youtube video regarding it, the model # is not exactly matching this, but it is still applicable. The specific HF board to mod it may be slightly different, but the firmware and mod discussion is valid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuQFFNW
I am not trying to comment any judgmental, accusatory, or whatever posts, just trying to present the facts. If you have a amateur radio license, or are interested in getting one, or are interested in listening and hardware modding - this is a good radio to get. If you goal is to transmit on CB, or to use on FRS, or as a "walkie talkie" around the house, my suggestion is to move on. This will not be legal for those uses and will be more complex than you probably want. Just go to amazon and look for a dedicated CB or FRS radio depending on your use case.
People are going to have to get used to this. From another SlickDeal I upgraded my MS 365 account to Premium and have been enjoying the enhanced AI features. Of course, I check all my work when I use AI assistance, for I'm responsible, but the tech is getting better and batter. It's either embrace it, get used to it, or get lift behind.
There is some validity to discussion around "CB" with this particular radio. This radio is very popular to mod, and it is possible to mod to receive and even transmit on CB, disregarding any legalities or interference issues.
Here is a youtube video regarding it, the model # is not exactly matching this, but it is still applicable. The specific HF board to mod it may be slightly different, but the firmware and mod discussion is valid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuQFFNW
I am not trying to comment any judgmental, accusatory, or whatever posts, just trying to present the facts. If you have a amateur radio license, or are interested in getting one, or are interested in listening and hardware modding - this is a good radio to get. If you goal is to transmit on CB, or to use on FRS, or as a "walkie talkie" around the house, my suggestion is to move on. This will not be legal for those uses and will be more complex than you probably want. Just go to amazon and look for a dedicated CB or FRS radio depending on your use case.
FWIW, I too like to ramble on and on. AI is often able to streamline might thought processes while making my message much more digestible.
Regardless, thanks for your input into the discussion!
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We're writing to let you know we processed your refund of $14.43 for your Order 1xxxxxxxxxxx from Retevis Direct.
This refund is for the following item(s):
Item: Retevis RA79 (Upgrade for UV 5R 3rd) Ham Radio, Dual Band Two Way Radio, Support Chirp, NOAA, Portable Handheld AM/FM Radio, Emergency Walkie Talkies
Quantity: 1
ASIN: B0CD3PHGH7
Reason for refund: Account adjustment
Here's the breakdown of your refund for this item:
Item Refund: $14.99
Item Tax Refund: $0.94
Item Promotion Deduction*: -$1.50
I have no clue what is happening with my order. It also shows shipped with a tracking number ending in 5005. It does not show up in my UPS dashboard because it is shipping to a totally different state than I live.
So, if you live in Oxford, MI, yours may be on the way.
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