Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The Garmin 130 arrived at my house about 36 hours before the deer hunting opener here in Wisconsin. I ordered a DVD getting started tutorial from another web site which got me started with the basics although the 130 is a feature-packed device that will be sure to keep the most gadget inclinced occupied for quite a while, but the basic features are fairly intuitive and easy to use with two basic buttons: the "click-stick" and the page/cancel button. I don't think the DVD tutorial was worth the money, but it's hard to say how much harder it would have been to get started without seeing it being operated by someone on the video.
A member of my party had a Garmin 120 last fall and I was anxious to unlock the power of the position tracking capabilities during the hunting season (for both him and myself). It proved very valuable while making drives with the compatible Garmin 120 as we were able to see each other's position in nearly real-time. It's not quite real time because the position of your buddies only updates when they release the talk button on their radio, so when we were trying to be quiet, we just got used to frequently keying the mic without transmitting any message.
I've read some complaints about the Garmin 130's radio capabilities, but I have to say it was one of my unexpected surprises with this unit. I had always borrowed a Motorola 2-way radio to use in previous seasons, so I not only stopped mooching off my buddies radios this year, but had best transmitting and receiving radio out of the group of 5 radios (and it was better than the Rino 120, too). On more than 1 occaision I had to translate for two buddies that couldn't hear each other, but I could hear both of them and they could hear me, so I translated for them (maybe I was right in the middle of them, but I think my radio was consistently a better performer under the same conditions and ranges throughout the season).
The 120 doesn't have as much memory and based on the comparison of the 130 and 120 in our camps this year, the satellite signal reception (affects accuracy of your position) and the radio signal strength were both better on the 130.
Other than my rifle, there's no other gear I will rely on more during a hunting season.
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The the most feature-rich device in the Rino family, Garmin's Rino 130 combination 2-way FRS/GMRS radio and GPS receiver comes fully loaded with an electronic compass, a barometric sensor, a weather receiver for 7 NOAA weather channels, and 24 MB of internal memory for downloading and storing MapSource detail--including data from products like U.S. Topo 24K, U.S. Topo, Recreational Lakes, BlueChart, and MetroGuide (MapSource products sold separately).The Rino 130 is also outfitted with a marine-point database and a basemap of North and South America. The database includes nautical navaids for North and South America. The Americas Highway basemap includes the United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America, and covers an area from W180 to W30 Longitude and S60 to N75 Latitude. Also included is a high-level worldwide map with political boundaries and major cities. Among many other included elements are oceans, rivers, and lakes (greater than 30 square miles), principal cities and many smaller cities and towns, major interstates and principal highways, and political boundaries (state and international borders).Integration has its advantages: the Rino 130 sends and receives GPS locations using FRS channels and shows them on the map. The GPS device is a 12-channel, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver. WAAS, which stands for Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), is the global-positioning-system of choice for mariners. The handheld's built-in electronic compass give a heading while you're standing still, and its barometric altimeter provides accurate elevation and pressure readings to help you identify and analyze weather conditions.The Rino 130 also provides two-way radio communication with a transmission range of up to two miles using FRS channels and up to five miles with GMRS (be aware that use of GMRS requires an FCC license). The integration of two-way radio and GPS lets you transmit your position with a simple button press, so others can easily navigate to your position. The Rino 130 also has a polling feature so you can manually request GPS location information from other Rino units.You get 14 FRS channels, 8 GMRS channels, and 8 GMRS repeater channels, as well as 38 sub-audible squelch codes per transmission channel for semi-private radio communications.The unit's ergonomic design grants single-handed operation, with its Call, Page mode, and Press-To-Talk (PTT) buttons mounted on the side, Power/Backlighting button on top, Volume and Zoom buttons on front, and a Thumb Stick positioned in the center. The thumb stick allows channel selection and volume adjustment in FRS/GMRS mode, as well as quick map panning, enter, and selection functions in GPS mode.Other features include a backlit display (160 x 160 pixels), external voice activation (VOX), waterproof construction to IPX-7 standards (immersible in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes), storage for up to 500 waypoints with graphic identification and 20 reversible routes, 10,000 trackpoints and up to 20 saved tracks to retrace your path or a companion's path via the location-reporting feature, trip computer with speed tracking, sunrise/sunset read out, trip time, and trip distance, and multiple grid formats including MGRS and Loran TD. The Rino 130 even sends and receives short text notes for quiet communication.The Rino 130 has a battery life of 14 hours (typical use) on 3 AA alkaline batteries (not included).What's in the Box Rino 130 receiver, a PC-interface cable, a wrist strap, a belt clip, a user's manual, and a quick-reference guide.
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