Retevis RT81 Digital Walkie Talkie Radio - Waterproof Two Way Radio with Group Call, 2200mAh Battery, 2 Time Slots - Digital/Analog Walkie Talkies for Security, Retail Stores, Hotels, Construction Sites, Outdoor Adventures (Black, 1 Pack)

My wife and I use radios to communicate when she's walking our dog. I bought this radio to replace a TYT MD380 that she has been using for some time. The 380 is a fine radio but it has a lot of buttons and some of them can not be locked out. On a few occasions my wife accidentally changed channels and we could not communicate. Since our primary use of radios is for safety I wanted a radio that was less likely to be accidentally messed up.The RT81 is designed more like a business radio. Something that you program with a computer, give it to an employee and it just works. They can accidentally turn the knob to change channels but they can't change a lot of other options. To avoid accidental channel changes all 16 channels on the rotary knob could be set to the same frequency, or the user could just be told to always have the rotary channel knob all the way to the left or they will be dipped in hot oil.On arrival the radio could not be programmed because the programming cable was defective and Windows would not recognize it so I sent a message to the seller describing the problem, and they shipped out a replacement cable. The replacement cable arrived, Windows recognized it, but the Windows driver from the Retivis website would not work. I received a message in the device manager that the chip inside the cable was no longer supported.I'm familiar with low cost Chinese programming cables having Windows driver issues either due to counterfeit chips inside the cable or outdated chips so I was not surprised. I've run into driver issues with Baofeng and Wouxun programming cables. The trick to getting the Retevis cable to work was to download a driver from Powerwerx for a "Wouxun WXUSB (black cable)" which the website says is no longer supported. It can be a bit fiddly to get it going but it does work with the Retevis cable. If you wish to avoid Windows driver issues then Amazon sells a cable from Radioddity, model number PC001 which uses a FTDI chip that is not fake and is supported in modern operating systems. It's on my list to buy one of these cables but the Retevis cable I have is working for now.As for the radio itself, it appears to be well made and is solid in the hand. I have no complaints about build quality and the fact that it's waterproof is a plus for us since we live in the rainy Pacific Northwest and my wife often walks our dog in the rain. The radio can potentially operate at longer distances since it's 10 watts compared to the MD380 which is 5 watts, but I haven't tested range and frankly I'm skeptical that the added wattage will make a significant range distance especially since we have an MD380 on one end and an RT81 on the other.I would like to say that my experience with Retevis support was good. They responded quickly to my questions, sent a replacement cable to me and provided a tracking number without a hassle, and answered a couple of questions about encryption and the programming software. The replacement cable was sent from Covina California, not from China which was a nice surprise.The RT81 is exactly what I was looking for. A dead simple radio with no display and not a lot of buttons to get in the way. It is a solid utilitarian radio that can be used in the outdoor elements. I also purchased a Retevis waterproof speaker microphone so my wife can keep the radio in her pocket or on her belt with the microphone near her shoulder. This makes it easier for her to talk when holding a dog leash in one hand, while pressing the microphone button with her other hand.