Wetland Wanderers Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 Hello All, Has anyone (well two...) tried the Rino 110 GPS-Integrated FRS/GMRS Radio by Garmin and have some useful comments to make about this or similar products from other makes? I've used the eTrex (yellow, despite everything, I like simple) for quite a while but I'd like to add voice com too. Thanks, Quote Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 Some if the first one made had crpay audio. They should be better by now. For myself I carry a Ham radio. If I were to carry an FRS or GMRS I would want a srand alone one, that uses the same size battery. Quote Link to comment
dampeoples Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 I have a 120, and think it's an excellent setup. I don't ever see any other cachers locally (that I know of), but I use it when the family goes caching, along with the other FRS radios I have. The audio is fine on my model, and the range is better than the other radios I have, but in fairness, the rino has a larger antennea. Quote Link to comment
JustaCrawlin Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 I have a 120, and think it's an excellent setup. I don't ever see any other cachers locally (that I know of), but I use it when the family goes caching, along with the other FRS radios I have. The audio is fine on my model, and the range is better than the other radios I have, but in fairness, the rino has a larger antennea. Ditto... Even if you are not using the radio, it is nice to hear an alert when you are approaching your waypoint. This comes in handy when you are driving to your destination and following a route or a track. Also, I like the quad-helix over the patch antenae. Very pleased with my 120. Quote Link to comment
+The Jester Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 I have a Rino 110, and it has some advantages over the Garmin GPS 12 that I used to use - and some disadvatages. I like the distance in feet as opposed to the .01 miles; the audible alarms; the joystick (it did take some getting used to); the data input screens. What I miss is the MOB (Man Over Board) function (I used it on the car) and the averaging waypoint feature. What I don't like it the shorter battery life - 15 hours with radio & GPS, 28 with GPS only. The peer-to-peer location transmission feature is nice, IF others in the group have Rinos. In the right situation it's great, but if you have the only Rino it's worthless. If all you want is radio communication, stand alone FRS radios are a lot cheaper (if you're worried about another device to keep track of, I've seen wrist watch FRS's). Quote Link to comment
OuttaHand Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 Surprised nobody has Markwelled this yet! I have a Rino120 and love it! The only (apparent) downfall with the radio is that, in order to make it waterproof, Garmin had to put a type of plastic membrane inside the case and that covers the holes where the microphone sits. This means your voice becomes quite muffled when you speak thru the radio. The person on the other end may have a hard time understanding you. The only other problem I know of with these is that the batteries are a bit loose. If you drop or knock the unit, it will momentarily lose contact with one of the batteries and shut off. Many have solved this problem by putting a piece of foam rubber inside the battery case back to hold pressure on that third battery. Besides that, the unit is pretty terrific. I've had mine for quite some time now and have found MANY caches with it. It has a great basemap and MUCH better when you use the Mapsource product with it. It does quite well keeping satellite lock even under pretty thick tree cover. I can use it in the car as long as it's on the dash or next to a side window. The peer-to-peer positioning is fun when you go to a geocaching event where other cachers are present with these units. They show up on your screen and you can identify who they are. All-in-all I can whole-heartedly recommend the Garmin 120. I would happily buy another one in a heartbeat. Quote Link to comment
+TresOkies Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 I bought two 120's about three months ago. The experience, so far, has been good. The radio works as well as a Moto TalkAbout and the GPS works fine. I do wish I had purchased at least one 130 though for the magnetic compass. Under tree cover and when standing still, the course indicator isn't any help. It would also be nice to have USB download capability, so I'm hoping that Garmin makes a Rino 140 or 130c in the near future. As for the 110, is there some reason that it's not worth the extra $40 or so for the mapping functionality in the 120? -E Quote Link to comment
dampeoples Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 Surprised nobody has Markwelled this yet! See, that's the problem with that, a topic in the past might not have this cachers specific question answered, probably didn't have my input, or others input, and might not have the info about the batteries you placed here. It's a silly system, really, things change. This fellow might have read an earlier topic, discovered that the rino had audio problems, not that they have been fixed, and didn't buy his perfect unit because someone wanted to be lazy. Quote Link to comment
Wetland Wanderers Posted July 17, 2004 Author Share Posted July 17, 2004 Thanks all, Interesting reading. Thanks for all your comments. Quote Link to comment
+NimravusHSSR Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 Walmart near me has the Rino 110 for $100 on clearance. I bought some. Might want to check your local Walmart. Quote Link to comment
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