Garmin Rino 110 FRS radio

I picked up one of these units on e-bay for not much. Anybody have one? Likes or dislikes?

I know it’s not an ifinder but for what I bought it for I thought it was a good thing to have.

thanks

I have on e. I like it. On the lake for summer vacation, the wife can use a cheapie to call me to supper. I can mark structure on a lake, and the proximity alarm gets me back close. You can mark trolling motor speed and running speed. The other stuff is cute but is irrellavant to me. As for mapping, Iprint lake maps on my computer. Then mark waypoints on hard copy.

thanks. i get it tomorrow. I was hoping it had a speed feature. the proximity alarm sounds interesting also.

Hey, SteveO

I have the next model up, the Rino 120. You can download maps from Garmin’s MapSource disks onto it. The only mapping software I have is the topographical software, and it works pretty well, I can fit most of Western Wisconsin and Easterna Minnesota in it’s 8 MB of RAM.

The hardest thing to get used to on them is the joystick that you use with your right thumb. On mine (an early model) it was quite sensitive and easy to accidentally either click when your scrolling or scroll when you’re clicking. You’ll get used to it after a couple uses, but it’s frustrating to get started with. Later models tended to correct the problem, but it still requires getting used to.

Garmin’s service is very good. I had a problem with the LCD display after the first year. Even thought it was a little out of warrantee, they still replaced the unit and I had my new one in about a week, no cost to me other then shipping the defective unit out to them.

If you have any friends with Rino units, it’s pretty cool – every time they transmit a message to you, they also transmit their current GPS coordinates and you know where your friend is. I’ve to 2 hunting buddies with Rinos and it’s easy to know where everyone is. Especially when hunting.

The GPS reception isn’t great in the woods, you have to be able to see the sky to be able to synch up with the satelites. My old Garmin Legend was a little better than the Rino. Also, the 5-mile radio may go 5 miles on a lake, but you’ll be lucky to get half that where there’s terrain. That’s the same with all of those Motorola-type 2-way radios though. I did a comparison on ePinions.com of several models/brands.

Let us know how it works.

thanks Thumper. still waiting for it to arrive. I’m heading down to Red Wing for the opener and hope to give it a try.