Mac
Veteran
What do you guys think about this GPS. Garmin Rino 530 HCX
Benifits - NOAA weather forecasts
Radio - up to 14 miles
Repeater feature re-broadcasts with 50 watts of power.
Screen to screen - You can see other GPS in your group.
hold charge 12 hours.
any bad points anyone can see?
---mac---
Benifits - NOAA weather forecasts
Radio - up to 14 miles
Repeater feature re-broadcasts with 50 watts of power.
Screen to screen - You can see other GPS in your group.
hold charge 12 hours.
any bad points anyone can see?
---mac---
Mac
Veteran
Here is the repeater info from epionons
The Radio
Now, onto the radio...Repeater channels!!! Such an IMPORTANT FEATURE! Why you ask? What's a repeater? If you are licensed for GMRS, which is easy to do through the FCC's website, you can set up a repeater on specific repeater channels. Repeaters sit up high on mountain tops or buildings and listen on a channel for your walkie talkie or low powered radio (such as the RINO) When you transmit they take your signal and send it back out with up to 50 watts of power behind it...which in my situation gives me the ability to talk to friends 40 miles away with ease! No need to struggle with wimpy FRS radios to get 5 miles of range. (if you're lucky) So yes, the RINO 530 can do repeater channels, and that's a wonderful thing. The radio itself is awesome. Everything is menu adjusted including the volume and squelch, which I love because I'm a tech head but that might annoy some deer hunter trying to be quiet in the woods when a radio call comes in. It takes considerable time to get in there and change the volume and things. Scramble mode works well for some privacy,and I found it's compatible with other scramble capable radios such as the Kenwood TK-3131, although your voice might sound slightly off in pitch but fully intelligible. Rino to Rino it works flawlessly. Scanning is fantastic. The radio automatically stops on activity and displays the privacy code of people talking. Not even my expensive ham gear does it this fast! For those not familiar those codes (PL Tones) keep the other party from hearing outside traffic without the same code. Without the code you can't reach those strangers you'd like to talk to in an emergency or just a social situation, so that's a valuable feature. The NOAA Weather radio receives well and the weather alert feature works regardless of you using the radio if you desire. With selectable power up to 5 watts this radio is a POWERHOUSE, especially if you can hit a repeater because most require 1/2 to 1 watt to reach them. Simplex (radio to radio) range for me was about 6 miles give or take. The peer to peer stuff in addition to all the other bells and whistles makes it THE best GMRS radio I've ever owned. Unfortunately though, I found the peer to peer positioning feature...the big selling point of the RINO series, DOES NOT WORK ON REPEATER CHANNELS! This restricts the peer to peer to just a mere 5 miles or so, which seems so very stupid and pointless. Rounding up the family at the mall is a nice use, but what about keeping track of a fleet of vehicles or something important? Guess people will need to tell Garmin they want this...I already did
The Radio
Now, onto the radio...Repeater channels!!! Such an IMPORTANT FEATURE! Why you ask? What's a repeater? If you are licensed for GMRS, which is easy to do through the FCC's website, you can set up a repeater on specific repeater channels. Repeaters sit up high on mountain tops or buildings and listen on a channel for your walkie talkie or low powered radio (such as the RINO) When you transmit they take your signal and send it back out with up to 50 watts of power behind it...which in my situation gives me the ability to talk to friends 40 miles away with ease! No need to struggle with wimpy FRS radios to get 5 miles of range. (if you're lucky) So yes, the RINO 530 can do repeater channels, and that's a wonderful thing. The radio itself is awesome. Everything is menu adjusted including the volume and squelch, which I love because I'm a tech head but that might annoy some deer hunter trying to be quiet in the woods when a radio call comes in. It takes considerable time to get in there and change the volume and things. Scramble mode works well for some privacy,and I found it's compatible with other scramble capable radios such as the Kenwood TK-3131, although your voice might sound slightly off in pitch but fully intelligible. Rino to Rino it works flawlessly. Scanning is fantastic. The radio automatically stops on activity and displays the privacy code of people talking. Not even my expensive ham gear does it this fast! For those not familiar those codes (PL Tones) keep the other party from hearing outside traffic without the same code. Without the code you can't reach those strangers you'd like to talk to in an emergency or just a social situation, so that's a valuable feature. The NOAA Weather radio receives well and the weather alert feature works regardless of you using the radio if you desire. With selectable power up to 5 watts this radio is a POWERHOUSE, especially if you can hit a repeater because most require 1/2 to 1 watt to reach them. Simplex (radio to radio) range for me was about 6 miles give or take. The peer to peer stuff in addition to all the other bells and whistles makes it THE best GMRS radio I've ever owned. Unfortunately though, I found the peer to peer positioning feature...the big selling point of the RINO series, DOES NOT WORK ON REPEATER CHANNELS! This restricts the peer to peer to just a mere 5 miles or so, which seems so very stupid and pointless. Rounding up the family at the mall is a nice use, but what about keeping track of a fleet of vehicles or something important? Guess people will need to tell Garmin they want this...I already did
A
Anonymous
Rino
I was just about ready to buy one of these, it looks like the cats MEOW and not A/C. Di you get one? How does it work? Thanks, Jim
I was just about ready to buy one of these, it looks like the cats MEOW and not A/C. Di you get one? How does it work? Thanks, Jim
