Garmin Rhino 530h

[Bushman Brown]

Hey guys i am looking at Garmin Rhinos i was wondering what you all think about them? My hunting partners both have them and i was thinking that it would be a good purchase for my elk trip coming up in 4 days! I drew a goat draw for the region also so it would help being able to communicate with them and knowing were they always are? Tell me your thoughts?

[FLHTCUI]

Sounds like a No Brainer to me....
If they got them and you dont, why wait for our replies pros or cons.
Rob

[sparkymacker]

I assume you are referring to the Garmin 530HCX, I just bought (2) of them off ebay after a fair bit of research. Now is a good time to get one as Garmin has a $50.00 mail-in rebate. I also got a 2GB SD card with mine, I think that is about a $50-60 dollar value as well. The rebate is only good till the end of the month so I would not delay. The US ones have 5 watts of transmit power as well, the Canadian version only has 2 watts.

[tuchodi]

We now have 5 of them in our group and they work real good. We have 4 5 watt units and one 2 watt unit. There is a noticable differance in range which starts around 3 miles in the mountains so it depends how far apart you and your hunting partners are normally. With the 2 watt unit we have talked up to 6 miles but that is with not to much bush or hills in the line for the waves to penatrate. The feture we really like is the show your buddy system on the screen when you transmit to talk which really helps if you are hunting together. I have a 1 GB micro SD card which costs only aprox $9.00 now and I have all the topo's of BC and Alberta loaded and still have lots of room for my own waypoints and routs to add.

Bushman if you decide to get one and want the 5 watt US version Hub Sports in Abbotsford sells them so as long as they have them in stock you should get it before you go.

[Bushman Brown]

Tuchodi Thanks for all the information and help I went ahead and purchased a American model 5 watt from Nikka Marine in Richmond. I have loaded some maps that my friends have onto mine just the area i am elk and goat hunting in a couple days! Good luck this year ill tell you how i like the rhino after the trip!

[Buchaneer]

I just got the 530 HCX - US Version during the summer. Used it once and so far I am very happy. I especially like the fact that I can see on my screen the location of my son in law (who also has a Rino) when we are hunting in the same general area. I bought mine in the US, after I did I noticed that Hub Sports were priced lower than the US price I paid. (However, I am not sure if Hubs were the 2W or 5 W).