Most helpful client reviews
49 of 49 humans found the following review helpful.
Great Two-In-One
By Jared D. Lane
I purchased the 530HCx in regards to 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 commune 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 employed the unit to mark various deer trails, rub lines, and possible stand placements and I was competent to return to those areas very easily. I used the averaging feature to fine tune the emplacements and was capable to get within 5-7 feet of everything I marked.
Everyone in the group said that radio transmission was crystal clear, they could listen my transmissions better than any individual elses. Don't get me wrong the Garmin in definetly a GPS primary and radio second but I was very pleased with it is two-way capabilities. It performed as well, if not better, than the midlands and motorolas in the group.
I likewise 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 assorted trips to Fort Campbell each year and all roads, creeks, and even fire
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful.
battery life info
By R. Kurth
Just received this unit -- arrived quickly from Amazon, as usual. Display is bright, controls simple to use, sensitivity of gps receiver is magnificent (I may get reception in my basement, though 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 gain of the radio capability, in case of emergency in wilderness while treking with my 9 and 12 year old daughters.
With a completely charged, brand new rechargable battery as supplied with the unit, I got 40 hours of continuous use. I turned off the radio for the duration of 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 beneath similar conditions. After reading Hinch's book on GPS use, I did turn off the WAAS after with regards to 8 hours into this trial. I did not have the radio on at all for the duration of the alkaline battery trial, even though I did "fiddle" with the pages and settings more ofttimes 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 for the duration of this time).
The base map supplied with the unit provides minimal street selective information and (as with any map from any source) some inaccuracies. Lists our grade school parking lot as "Black Partridge Park" -- which is in truth a very big prairie/forest preserve located just outside of our little town.
Be aware: you cannot load any map onto this unit except those quintessentially provided/sold by Garmin. To my knowledge, this is unfeigned for all gps units; the units with mapping features will only receive 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 underneath typical wilderness conditions. The discrepancy amid this irl range and the 14 miles listed on specs (which is always the greatest or most complete or best possible obtainable beneath totally optimal conditions) is wholly 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 commend Stephen Hinch book, Outdoor Navigation With GPS. I've been a basic-feature gps user for assorted years, but wanted a better understanding of the more progressed features and the jargon.
53 of 58 persons found the following review helpful.
Garmin Rino 530HCX GPS/radio
By Jimmy Blevins
I purchased this unit for a Deer hunt in Utah. While there are a good deal of things to like with regards to it, my unit had a number of negatives that ended up being a dealbreaker with me. I would likewise like to preface this review by saying that I have broad experience with marine GPS units, starting with the basi little 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 perchance I had unrealistic expected values for this unit.
First off, I think the display is too small. I found myself perpetually zooming in and out. When you zoom out to a sure 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 must and could without apparent effort be designed so that it is to the full or entire extent internal in the main case of the unit, as it is on almost all handheld (and now entirely 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 quickly 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 by way of a super-funky (and effortlessly 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 with regards to the best you could hope for. Radio transmissions were crispy and clear though. I don't recognise what other radios this may commune with, so if others in your party are not also 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 may be downright mixing up to operate without assorted days for intensive familiarization.
The most glaring issue I had with this unit is that it swopped 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 a great deal of kind of software glitch". They further stated that I "sounded unhappy" and genuinely encouraged me to return the unit. I felt this was an odd response for such a huge company. From the number of "refurb" units I see for sale, this strikes me a in all probability not an apart instance.
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