Positive review of Ronson RT26V / RT-26V VHF handheld transceiver / radio

** Please note: At the moment, we have stopped supplying this model. An upgraded version is available from our e-commerce website, i.e. Ronson RT88. Click HERE for more info. **

At first when I got this radio, I was quite surprised to see how small it is. On average, the size is similar to Yaesu's VX3R. It is like a mobile phone except with an antenna outside its body. Of course, the weight is just around 200 grams (with antenna and battery installed) this is surely one lightweight radio!

In my opinion, the built quality of this handheld is very acceptable. It doesn't feel as flimsy like some of its counterparts. Quite solid I might say, as much as the price you paid for.

The design for the keypad is somewhat different with common handheld looking at its arrangement. They are put in two rows for the numbers 0 - 9 and a column of function / setup keys (please see the above picture). For those who are well accustomed with the commonly 3 rows x 3 columns number keypad settings might find this one a bit awkward at first but it only takes a moment to get used to it.

The knob on the upper side of the body serves three distinctive purposes. Turning clockwise  / anti clockwise cycles through the menus or channels / frequencies. With a press of the lowest side button while turning it will adjust the volume. Finally, a push downward will cause the radio to turn on or off. Pretty neat!

The audio output is quite loud for its body. A volume at 0 level does not put the radio in full silence though. It will still have a little audio out at that level, just a little audio that is.

Another good thing about this radio is, the battery. It uses the 3.7v battery that can easily found in mobile phone shops. It is similar to those Nokia batteries commonly used today. This just tells us that we don't need to worry about replacing it in the future when we can get it at our nearby phone shop.

The maximum TX power is just 2 watts, suitable with its size and battery power. It has two power level of high and low.Though its only a small amount of battery power supplied to the radio, it is acceptable that the standby life with occassion TX, can 'live' the radio for around  2 days. I guess that is pretty much standard to most radios anyway.

The channel names can be labelled up to 6 alpha-numeric characters. This is pretty good as some radios can only fit 5 characters. For Malaysian amateur radio users for example, the repeaters name are usually comes in 6 characters callsign (for example 9M4RCD) so this is very helpful.

Channel scanning mode is available, but a bit slow when in operation. It also has FM radio receiver built in so we could listen to our favourite FM broadcast stations anytime. The earpiece/microphone-ptt jack is using the standard 2.5mm plug type. 

In short, I think this radio is worth for its money paid. For just RM250 (normal price), it is a very good deal! By the way, it comes with FREE earpiece!

Published specifications from manufacturer:

1) CH 128 , All channel scan and priority channel scan

2) Scan types :Carrier， time and search

3) Busy channel lock: carrier/QT/DQT

4) VOX sensitivity:0-9 levels adjustable

5) Transmitter power：High power and low power switchable

6) Squelch opening threshold: Receive field intensity should accurate (use the sq level to show the intensity)

7) Led backlight: On/off/automatic

8) Beep set: Beep on/off

9) Keypad lock function: Manual/auto optional

10) Transmit limited: off-270 optional

11) Offset set:0-xxmhz optional (confirm the max offset according to the band after adjusting)

12) CTCSS and DCS setting

     1. Receive only

     2. Transmit only

     3. 50 CTCSS and 104 DCS

13) +/-offset:+/-frequency optional

14) Offset step optional:12.5k/25k

15) Use Dot Segment to display on LCD

16) Select the LED/emergency call by programming software

17) Volume control knob to turn on/off the power

18) PC programming and store channel

19) Can use car charger

20) DC 3.7V single li-ion battery compatible with mobile phone battery

21) MINI compact size 84*48*25 cm

22) Output power: VHF 136-174mhz 2w

23) With most competitive price

24) CHANNEL step :  6.25/12.5/ 25/50/100khz