Retevis RT2 compatibility with Kenwood TK-3400u4p

Hello,
At my work we use Kenwood tk-3400u4ps but they seemed to get bad signal in some areas. I went out looking and after an inquiry with the company I purchased a Retevis RT2 being told it would be compatible. It arrived yesterday but after many attempts I can not get it to communicate with the kenwoods. They’re both UHF radios and operating on the same frequencies according to the descriptions. Is there anything I can do to get these to communicate with each other? Any help would be greatly greatly appreciated.
All the best,
-Matt

The Kenwood TK3400U4P is an analog UHF business radio and operates on specific business frequencies. The Retevis RT2 is a digital/analog amateur radio that covers a range of frequencies but needs to be programmed for the specific frequencies assigned to the Kenwood. Here is a list of items to check.

[ol]
[li]What are the specific business frequencies you are using?[/li][li]Have you programmed those frequencies into the Retevis?[/li][li]If any QT/DQT codes are in use on the Kenwood, are they also programmed into the Retevis?[/li][li]Is the Retevis operating in digital or analog mode?[/li][/ol]

Keep in mind that if you are in the US, the RT2 may not be FCC type accepted for use as a business radio.

Tip: When incorporating a personally owned radio with a fleet of radios owned by your employer in a business, the best practice is to go with the same or similar make and model when possible. This will avoid a number of frustrating and potentially costly compatibility issues.

There are a lot of reasons why you may have poor signaling with the Kenwoods. Simply switching to another radio may or may not help at all, depending on the cause. Before dumping them for new radios, it may be best to review your work environment to determine why the radios are having the issue.

The TK3400U4P is a 2 watt radio, so moving up to a 4 or 5 watt radio may resolve the issue. Then again, it may not, since there are many factors that determine connectivity and range. It is even possible that simply swapping the antenna on the radio may resolve it. If so, it would be a quick and very inexpensive solution.

This is a silly question, perhaps - but your post makes me wonder if you actually even did programme it? The new radio comes with some of it’s memories full, but these won’t be the same as the Kenwood. Rick, I suspect has the same question in his head - hence why he’s asking those questions. You say the Kenwoods are the work radios - do you have the programming details for them, as it’s quite unusual for the average work radio to be programmed by the user? Normally they are supplied programmed - which means few people in the organisation would actually know the details. Your new radio programmes from software normally - you have that?