Home > Consumer Reviews > GARMIN 010-00564-01 Rino 530HCx 2-Way Radio With GPS/FRS/GMRS

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

I just don't know if I can say enough about the rino 530HCX But I am very impressed. I've had it for a few weeks now, but wanted to try it while archery hunting before I made a review. What an neat and handy tool for hunting with a groop. I can concentrate on hunting with out having to wory about where I'm going, where I left my ATV, or where those in the groop are. At anytime I want, I can poll there location, and just like that, there position shows up on my map screen. I know where I've walked, and I know where they have walked. It's great. Defenatly 5 stars.

I searsly doubt that you'll ever be able to comunacate at 14 miles, unless maybe at night and I'm on one mountain peak and someone else is on another mountain peak. But I have been able to communacate for a little over 3 miles during the day, with out much obstruction. Most of the time while archery hunting, the grupe is with in a mile or so anyway, and the radio and location locater works well, even in thick trees. The satellite reciever is exelent, I have yet to lose the signel, it even keeps a lock on the satelltes in bottom flore of my two story house.

I have the topo 2008 maps loaded on the 530HCX and they work great. I have the city navagator maps unlocked for the 530HCX and I know they work, but I haven't used them yet, because I have a Garmin IQ3600 with the city navagator maps on it , and also a Zumo 550 with City navagotor NT on it. Great products also, and I use them for travel in the car and motorcycle. But the 530HCX Is the cat's meow for the mountains, and hunting and those kinds of outdoor recreation, especially with a group.

I really haven't any complaints yet, but If I do, I'll post them.

Bottom line.... If you are out and about, and would like to keep track of those in your group, I don't think you can buy a better product right now than the Rion 530HCX. I totally recoment it. Yes, it is expensieve, but peace of mind is priceless. Get lost, or loose someone in your group in the mountains, spend all day looking for them, or worse yet, all night... And then the price of a good raido with the ability to beam your location to your friends becomes priceless.

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.

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!

The Garmin Rino 530HCX is waterproof GPS with a 2 way radio & 22 channel radio (& NOAA weather, barometric pressure, altimeter, electronic compass (with true North & magnetic North. It's great for the out doors man that likes to go far beyond the normal traveled trails. If you have more than one Rino series you can ping your location and others Rino location and their tracks. By keeping track of your group's base camp you will never get lost. Keep in mind that the base map is basically useless and that you will need to buy the mapping software that you want. The TOPO 2008 is great for outdoors and off-road. The Map Source City Navigator is great for in the city or road trips with all of its point of interest and detailed city information. You will also want to buy at least 2 2 GB microSD chips, one for each type of software. You can still save your way points and routes across both. In my opinion this GPS has it all and is very accurate.