Garmin Rino 530HCx 2-Way Radio with GPS/FRS/GMRS
by admin on Sunday, October 10th, 2010 | 5 Comments
- High-Sensitivity, WAAS-Enabled GPS Receiver
- Electronic Compass Displays Accurate Heading While Standing Still
- Barometric Sensor With Automatic Pressure Trend Recording
- Features Built-In Quad Helix Receiving Antenna & Basemap With Automatic Routing Capabilities
- 5W Of Transmit Power Using Gmrs Frequency Up To 14-Mile Range
Garmin Rino 530HCX Two-Way Radio and GPSAmazon.com Product Description Hit the trail in confidence with the Garmin Rino 530HCx, which combines a two-way FRS/GMRS radio with a high-sensitivity GPS navigator. The waterproof unit offers 22 channels and 5 watts of transmit power, so you can contact friends or rescue crews from up to 14 miles away (line of sight) over GMRS channels or up to 2 miles over FRS channels. The high-sensitivity GPS receiver, meanwhile, locates your position quickly and prec
Rating: 
(out of 45 reviews)
List Price: $ 535.70
Price: Too low to display
Garmin GPSMAP 62 Handheld GPS| US $297.99 End Date: Thursday Feb-23-2012 10:07:38 PST Buy It Now for only: US $297.99 | |
| US $381.99 End Date: Thursday Feb-23-2012 10:07:44 PST Buy It Now for only: US $381.99 | |
Review by Jared D. Lane for
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I purchased the 530HCx about two weeks ago to use while deer hunting in East Tennessee. Everyone in our group has GPS and two-way radio to find our way around and communicate when we are in unfamilar territory. I have been searching for a device that will take care of both needs, without having to handle two seperate pieces of equipment, and the 530HCx has worked flawlessly so far.
The satellite positioning seems to be right on and positioning after start-up was quick. I used the unit to mark several deer trails, rub lines, and possible stand placements and I was able to return to those areas very easily. I used the averaging feature to fine tune the locations and was able to get within 5-7 feet of everything I marked.
Everyone in the group said that radio transmission was crystal clear, they could hear my transmissions better than anyone elses. Don’t get me wrong the Garmin in definetly a GPS first and radio second but I was very pleased with its two-way capabilities. It performed as well, if not better, than the midlands and motorolas in the group.
I also invested in TOPO US 2008 to install on the unit. I wasn’t that impressed with the TOPO map but area detail is alot better than the basemap. We make several trips to Fort Campbell every year and all roads, creeks, and even fire
Review by R. Kurth for
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Just received this unit — arrived quickly from Amazon, as usual. Display is bright, controls simple to use, sensitivity of gps receiver is excellent (I can get reception in my basement, although I have lost signal inside my local, small-town, one-room grocery store). I have an older Garmin which is working fine, but I purchased this one for the added benefit of the radio capability, in case of emergency in wilderness while treking with my 9 and 12 year old daughters.
With a fully charged, brand new rechargable battery as supplied with the unit, I got 40 hours of continuous use. I turned off the radio during all but 1 hour of this time but had the WAAS enabled. During this time, I took it with me while I ran errands, took 2 short day hikes, and went to work, but did not carry it on my person around the home. With 4 brand new, high quality brand name AA batteries (using the separately purchased alkaline battery pack), I got 19 hours of continuous use under similar conditions. After reading Hinch’s book on GPS use, I did turn off the WAAS after about 8 hours into this trial. I did not have the radio on at all during the alkaline battery trial, although I did “fiddle” with the pages and settings more often than the rechargable trial (was reading the Hinch book simultaneous with the alkaline trial, so I tried a couple of the tasks in the book during this time).
The base map supplied with the unit provides minimal street information and (as with any map from any source) some inaccuracies. Lists our grade school parking lot as “Black Partridge Park” — which is actually a very large prairie/forest preserve located just outside of our little town.
Be aware: you cannot load any map onto this unit except those specifically provided/sold by Garmin. To my knowledge, this is true for all gps units; the units with mapping features will only accept those from the manufacturer of the receiver. You can, however, download waypoints generated from other mapping software programs.
Have not tested the radio capability in the wild, but I see others have reported 5 mile range under typical wilderness conditions. The discrepancy between this irl range and the 14 miles listed on specs (which is always the maximum obtainable under totally optimal conditions) is entirely par for 2 way radio range estimates. If you plan to use the GMRS radio frequencies, you will need an FCC license. No training or test required; just an $85 fee. Easy to obtain online.
BTW: highly recommend Stephen Hinch book, Outdoor Navigation With GPS. I’ve been a basic-feature gps user for several years, but wanted a better understanding of the more advanced features and the jargon.
Review by Jimmy Blevins for
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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.
Review by Timothy A. Allen for
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While I must agree the documentation which comes with the unit is lacking, the unit itself has operated flawlessly. I can “lock-up” 9 sats from my lower level family room and never loose lock in deep canyons. Otherwise very quick acquisition. I think 14 miles is “stretching it” for any low-powered handheld, but it is much better than the FRS unit I had been using. The electronic compass and altimeter work very well and reception on the NOAA freqs is good!
Review by RadarNix for
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To make a long story short:
I took my kids on what was supposed to be a short quad ride in the mountains and left my wife at the truck.
About 2 miles into this trail in an area I’ve never been, one quad runs out of Oil, and the big quad almost out of Gas. Sun goingd down quick, no idea where we were, and no way to communicate back to base.
We decided after this event was over, look for decent communication gear for these types of situations.
I created a simple checklist:
1. Longer range comm. (Keep this in perspective, I’m happy with a couple miles)
2. GPS.
3. Ability to send position.
4. Ability to Poll position. What if I fell and broke my neck? Better yet, what if I lost it
So, I researched and found these bad boys! I bought 2.
Though they are somewhat expensive, safety is well worth it.
Out of the box, they feel rugged enough, but not so rugged I can throw them off the roof. They come with the strap, belt clip, charger, and USB cable(I’ll get to this).
Supposedly they carry a charge long enough for 14 hours of use. I’ve used them for over 4 and had well over half left.
Range: So far I’ve got around 2 miles in town(housing) using GMRS. The keying isn’t instant, you have to hold the transmit for just under a second then talk.
Screen: Not the greatest in the world, nowhere close to what you’d get off of a dedicated car GPS, but definitely usable. There are settings to turn off clutter which helps since the screen is smaller..
Buttons: The only thing I wonder about is the navigation stick. Time will tell how well this holds up, but so far so good.
Back to the USB cable:
You can connect this device to a computer for updates and map loads. So far I’ve tested the Topo maps, and Road maps. Nice added functionality, but more cost. You need a microSD card for this.
As with most newer GPS’, this unit does auto-routing, lookups, etc. No voice command as far as I can tell.
It has a built in compass, could be helpful. Barometer, altimeter…
SO, it accomplishes what I needed and more. When you transmit to talk, the unit transmits its location at the end updating the other units. You can poll the position of another unit in your contacts list if you haven’t heard from them. You can even send little text messages if you don’t want to talk; this could be handy if the others can’t understand what you are saying. It does do GeoCaching if that’s your thing. So there’s more functionality than I discuss.
I’m extremely satisfied with these.
NOTE: One of the units I first received had an issue where it wouldn’t transmit more than about 15 feet. Since I ordered from Amazon, I created the RMA, and had a new one in 2 days. No hassle at all.
You MAY find a cheaper price, but dealing with Amazon is super easy. Don’t be cheap and order from Joe Schmoes online who nobody ever heard of to save $20.
I hope this helps.