Jump to content

able2ru

Members
  • Posts

    20
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by able2ru

  1. Don't know what you were doing, but the only way I know is to re-install the firmware. Download the latest from Garmin and give it a try. To clear the maps, routes and stuff, you have to delete them. Seems like when you update the firmware it resets your mileage and trip logs. Not sure about that though. If you are not able to reload the firmware, call Garmin. They've always been very helpful to me.

  2. A clarification:

    The Rino 120 can show your gps position whether you use frs or gmrs or have the radio module turned off. The Rino 120 can send it's location and receive locations from other Rino 110, 120 and 130's on frs channels only. Yes, the 130 is out and does even more and they have granted one of my wishes, more memory. I know some like having radio separate from gps, and i also carry a ham and cell phone, but both integrated together makes a very compact unit.

     

    Some of the uses that a Rino would be great on are search and rescue and paint ball hunting. the Rino also can scramble voice so that you have a more private communication and can be set to vibrate on receive. The Rino 130 has a barometer and noaa weather freqs and can sent text messages (great for deer hunters in the stand not wanting to spook a potential deer but still keep in contact with other buddies and see where they are too so you don't mistake them for a deer...)

     

    I wish my ham radio could have that capability built in also. but that day probably is very near also. i know that aprs has started all this and evolution will continue. the Rinos are a great radio, for the licensed power they are authorized to use and a good gps to boot.

  3. I have the older DeLorme 2.0 version and have found that it generally is more accurate than the usgs map. I think they used radar imaging to create the topos. I know several area that that aren't right on usgs maps. one usgs map shows a road as descending in altitude but delorme show increasing altitude. a level shows that the correct map is delorme with a rise of about 30 feet. another error shows a what appears to be a level usgs road. delorme shows a drop of about 175 feet. it looks to be more like 280 feet approximating visual. even with that old delorme, i seem to have better results with it.

  4. I have 2 Rino 120's. The ability to transmit your gps position and recieve others happens on the FRS frequencies. Mine transmit and receive quite well on FRS frequencies. I do not know about the GMRS frequencies since I am not licensed for those, but specuating by comparing to FRS, they should also be quite good, but their antennae will be a limiting factor with no hookups for externals.

     

    The maps zoom down to 20 feet legend level and the RINO's show a circle that represents the accuracy of the GPS and I have seen it go all the way down to 3 feet with a good signal and WAAS.

     

    There are only two things I'd want more for my RINO's. More Memory and a color screen. Using my home state of Arkansas so that you will have an idea of road denisty, I can load 1/4 of the state, or roughly north of Interstate 40 and west of Little Rock. The grids that you can download can be quite large, and if you are loading maps for a trip, you can barely get an 8 hour trip loaded, so you will have to have a way to add more maps as you cross the country. The RINO's are great for traveling because you can tell where your partner is and the radio is quiet compared to the 11 meter CB.

     

    I am surprised at Garmin's lackluster advertising for these radio/GPS units. They would be purchased considerably more if people knew they existed. I am hopeful that my two wishes for the increased memory and color screens come to pass. I do not regret my two RINO's and would only trade them for a color screen version with more memory.

     

    The range varies for terrain. Car to Car on flat interstate got me almost a mile. Out in the open on the lake, almost 3.5 miles. On a mountain top talking to a friend in the valley, 7 miles. Country with trees, .5 to .75 mile. These are on the FRS frequencies.

     

    Hope this answers some of your questions.

  5. Hello, I am also in emergency services. I am also a ham radio operator. I would encourage you to locate and contact hams in your area. These individuals are very qualified to assist you in what you want to do. Many Hams are actively involved in emergency services doing what you ask? Providing communications, frequently in impossible to do situations. They are creative and will find a way to get a call out. For the GPS part, they are probably the forerunners of the RINO with the APRS system. They also can send TV images using slow scan TV signalling. They are a great group of people that will help you do the right thing and stay legal and get even better radio communications help than you could by hacking. That is the ideal, to serve the public, stay legal and safe, and encourage others to help and help them also. Hams are volunteers, so they are also limited with their funds, but they will help and take your nickle for communications farther than you can imagine. Find your local ARES or SATRN or even a local Ham group. If there is not an ARES or SATRN club in your area, you can involve them with local government officials to start one and create a positive support group that you can count on whether it is hurricane, tornado, fire, ice, rain or whatever. They will go and do what the postman won't do.

     

    For more information on hams in your area, you can start with WWW.ARRL.ORG. Even you can learn more on the radios and get your own ham license and the world is literally in your microphone.

  6. quote:
    Originally posted by Jolly B Good:

    quote:
    Originally posted by Captain Chaoss:

    would be mean, but I'd find a set of HUGE antlers, and get the camera to trip as if the rest of the deer was just out of the shot. icon_wink.gif

     

    Two roads diverged in the woods and I,

    I took the one less traveled,

    and that is how I found the cache.


     

    Naah, I'd rent a gorilla suit and run through the area just far enough away to leave the owner wondering.

     

    Jolly R. Blackburn

    http://kenzerco.com

    "I'd like to buy the world a coke, but I only have fifty cents"


     

    Better yet, get a BIGFOOT costume and walk by it and watch the local paper for the "discovery" of BigFoot in the area...

     

    Able2ru?

  7. I can't say if 8megs is enough for you, it will hold about 1/3 of Arkansas. As far as being off, the base map is pretty crude as far as accuracy goes. I would load a better map and zoom in and see if it still is way off. Even the Metroguide maps are off. No map is perfect since many are tiger maps and not knocking tiger, they did a lot with very little gov't money, and the gps sometimes lies too. If you have WAAS capability, turn it on. You should be accurate to at least 12 feet or less with that turned on. The very first time it is initialized, it will be off more until it reads all sats. But if it is still a long ways off, then send it in for repairs or see if the store will exchange it.

     

    Able2ru?

  8. Haven't experimented with your device, but other things to check are the "handshake", RTS parameters. If you are not getting a continous stream, it might be that your communications protocol with the serial port settings may need to be turned off, set so that it accepts anything and no response. CTS, needed. What you're trying should work, and if I find the website that goes into better detail about the data stream, it should enable you to write code that will assemble and calculate your position. Not too hard to do, but can be a problem since some newer computer com port protocols, can have some problems. It's amazing that an old 386 can do things that a state of art XP can do only with considerable tweaking.

     

    Able2ru?

  9. I have two Rino 120's. My complaints? The Mapsource should enable you to load only the points of interest that you want. So if you don't want any, you could load more map. The Map grids could be smaller like the Mapsource Roads and Recreation so I could more define my area without a huge space out of area, wasting memory. The later versions of Mapsource strip out many creeks that are important when referencing them for landmarks and just knowing they are there before driving down the trail and discover something deeper than you can ford. The memory of the unit needs to be larger. 8 megs is not enough for a trip from Arkansas to Florida, easily a single days driving distance. The data/power plug give me fits sometimes when plugged into power. Haven't heard of anyone else having problem with the power cord being somewhat positonal. The alarm sounds are too soft and I don't think there is a way to change them or increase their volume. Missed several critical points because I drove by where I needed to turn. Garmin needs to pressure the FCC, possibly getting our support to help them, to change the polling back to 10 secs. Freeway speeds can mean you pass your friend on the exit and get out of range before the 30 secs are up. A color screen would be very helpful in distinguishing water from a road.

     

    But I do like my Rino's, the above aren't really complaints, more like a wish list. I know a lot of search and rescue organizations would really love a radio/gps like the Rinos.

     

    Able2ru?

  10. I still have my old Sony. If I had a boat, I might use it on it. The Rino 120 is the Rino to get because it can load maps. It is a great unit and if you are considering getting a radio, it is both. I love both my Rino's and wouldn't let them go for anything except another Rino with more memory and color screen.

     

    Able2ru?

  11. most .shp files are Arcview or Arcinfo from ESRI (www.esri.com). They have a free program, called ArcExplorer that will be able to open this file, if it is in ESRI format. The file you listed is on your C drive on your computer, so I could not access it to see if what I have said is true or not. You can also download a huge amount of shape (.shp) files from ESRI, that you can use with this free program and Arcview and other CAD programs that can access .shp files.

     

    Able2ru?

  12. The vox sensitivity adjustment is for what loudness to key the mic. When you reach the range that the vox isn't working, have one of you set your radio to monitor and see if you can still hear the other unit. If you can clearly hear the other unit, then there might be a problem with the recieve squelch being too high. If you can barely hear him over the white noise, then the transmitters may be weak or antennae problems. 1/4 mile LOS should still have a loud and clear signal.

  13. quote:
    Originally posted by benjamin921:

    quote:
    Originally posted by Night Hunter:

    Before I buy a 120, I was wondering if any of you felt that the 8MB of memory was not enough for the amount/detail of mapping that you want to download?

     

    Thanks

     

    Night Hunter


     

    In using Roas and Rec or Topo 8mb is plenty for what I need it for. You can download a lot of maps in your area and forget about it for a while. I forget off hand how many maps I have in there but it is a lot. Hope this helps.


     

    I have the Rino 120 also, and the density of the roads affects the amount of maps you can store. Maps of New York City occupy far more space than Anchorage Alaska. For a simple comparison, I can get almost 1/2 of Arkansas loaded, roughly either Arkansas south of Interstate 40, including those counties or North of Interstate 40. Again, that depends on the density of the data you are looking at.

     

    Able2ru?

×
×
  • Create New...