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| GARMIN 010-00564-01 Rino 530 2-Way Radio With GPS/FRS/GMRS | 
 enlarge | Brand: Garmin
Category: CE
List Price: $535.70
Buy New: $367.02
You Save: $168.68 (31%)
New (45) Used (1) Refurbished (2)
Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 1136
Color: Silver/ Grey
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: Yes
Native Resolution: 176 x 220
Battery: 1 lithium-ion battery pack
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.4
Dimensions (in): 2.3 x 7.5 x 1.8
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: Rino 530HCx
Model: Rino 530HCx
UPC: 753759066857
EAN: 0753759066857
ASIN: B000QJNC78
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 21 | | NEXT » |
 Garmin Rino 530HCX GPS/radio October 26, 2008
I bought this unit for a Deer hunt in Utah. While there are many things to like about it, my unit had a number of negatives that ended up being a dealbreaker with me. I would also like to preface this review by saying that I have extensive experience with marine GPS units, starting with the first small black and white Garmin unit I purchased 18 years ago to the latest top of the line Garmin 5212 GPS Chartplotter. Because of this, I feel that my hopes were set too high and perhaps I had unrealistic expectations for this unit.
First off, I think the display is too small. I found myself constantly zooming in and out. When you zoom out to a certain point, roads disappear. Funky battery pack design: It's an add-on module affair. It was designed to be changed out for the alkaline battery pack (available as an accessory from Garmin). I realize it was designed to prevent water intrusion , but the battery pack should and could easily be designed so that it is fully internal in the main case of the unit, as it is on nearly all handheld (and now fully submersible) Marine VHF radios. Battery life of the Li ion battery is OK if you are using just the GPS. Use of the radio will rapidly deplete the battery. In just one day of hunting, (4hrs morning, 4hrs evening) the battery was half discharged after very minimal radio use. Better you make sure that you get the (optional at extra cost) car charger. BTW, the charger connects to the unit via a super-funky (and easily lost...) clip-on adapter.
Garmin states that the radio has a 14 mile range set at 5W. I found that, in the mountainous area we were hunting in, that 2-3 miles is about the best you could hope for. Radio transmissions were crispy and clear though. I don't know what other radios this can communicate with, so if others in your party are not similarly equipped, you may be just as well off with the radioless 520 model. It's funny, the use of these UHF frequencies require the user to obtain and FCC LICENSE...there was never any mention of this in anything I have read re this unit, nor in the owners manual. Speaking of which, the owners manual is (typical for this type of equipment...) not well written and missing critical details. Too bad, because this unit is not what I would describe as intuitive, and can be downright confusing to operate without several days for intensive familiarization.
The most glaring issue I had with this unit is that it switched itself off for no apparent reason 6-7 times in the course of only 2 days use. I called Garmin on this issue and they postulated that it was "probably some kind of software glitch". They further stated that I "sounded unhappy" and actually encouraged me to return the unit. I felt this was an odd response for such a large company. From the number of "refurb" units I see for sale, this strikes me a probably not an isolated instance.
Garmin Rino 530HCX October 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
best thing going for keeping track of your buddies as long as everyone has a Rino. Reception can be a problem in rough terrain but I heard and tracked someone on a mountain 76 miles away. uses battery power fast so I recommend the AA battry pack backup. It's big and ugly but it works.
 Great start poor endind September 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a great powerful GPS given the right conditions. I praised the improvements from the rino 130. Great features and options.
Unfortunately my GPS battery wont re-charge after the first use. there goes 50 in one battery pack.
To my surprise i could not load the routes from the computer to the GPS. OK, the routes would load but an error would come up when I tried to use the roads. This feature was no problem with the rino 130
Maybe it is an defect in my system or the battery pack.
I was initialy pumped and impressed and ended up disappointed.
Field use of 530hcx September 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have used man GPS receivers and 2 way radios. I have to say I am most impressed with the function of the 530 HCX. IT does an amazing job at locating others. I used it primarily at a music/art event called Burning Man in the Nevada desert. There is no cell coverage there so 2 way radios are the only way to communicate. I was able to place on in my wife's purse and one in our mobile art car. In the past 2 way radios only worked if both people were trying to find each other. With the 530hcx, when separated, I could page out "Poll" my wife and see just where she or our art car were. The party on the other end of the device does not need to have any knowledge as to how it works. I would then walk to where she was on the map, look around and in most cases find her within 25 feet.
The reason I did not give it 5 stars is that the polling feature is buried deep within several levels of menus. It would be nice to make it available on the top level. Many of the features require a day or two of use to become fluid with. Be sure to practice before you need anything in a real life emergency.
Great Product? August 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I recently purchased a Garmin Rino 530HCX, it is a great product, I am having a problem using the peer to peer with the Rino 120, in a dense forest the position updates take longer than I would like but i dont think this is because of the 530HCX, its most likely the fault of the rino 120. It gets bad reception even at a 1/4 mile from a moving vehicle, and unless it has a clear pathway to the 530 it doesnt seem to update. I would assume that if both parties had the 530HCX the recpeption and the peer to peer would be better, this is a case of "your only as strong as your weekest link" and in this case its the 120.
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