Two Way Radios

Garmin is a company which is very well know for its GPS devices. What less people know is that Garmin also produces some GMRS/FRS two way radios with embedded GPS capabilities, which is great for geocaching activities. They more pricey than usual two way radios, but given that they have many extra capabilities, they are a pretty fair deal. Some of them will be briefly presented below, in order of ascending price. For more information, you can always visit Garmin’s website.

Garmin Rino 110

“Answer the call of the wild with Rino 110 — a waterproof, rugged FRS/GMRS radio plus GPS navigator.”

Rino 110 combines two-way radio and GPS features to help you communicate with your partners and find them easily. Using Rino’s unique Position Reporting feature, you can send your exact location to other Rino users in your group, so they can see your precise location on the map page. As you can imagine, this feature can be a real lifesaver in an emergency, but it’s also handy anytime you need to round up family and friends at an amusement park or other outdoor activity. And, because Rino is a standard FRS/GMRS radio, you can use it to communicate with any other conventional FRS/GMRS radio around.

Rino 110 can save up to 500 of your favorite places in memory as waypoints so you can visit them later, and it has a built-in city point data base. Or, you can use Rino’s 1 megabyte (MB) of internal memory to load other points of interest data from compatible MapSource® products.

Detailed specs can be found here. Suggested Retail Price: $194.27 USD.

Garmin Rino 130

“Keep tabs on your friends and keep your eye on the weather with Rino 130. This waterproof FRS/GMRS radio plus GPS navigator has a built-in barometric altimeter and electronic compass, NOAA weather radio, voice scrambler and vibrate mode for your wildest outdoor adventures.”

Rino 130’s barometric altimeter pinpoints your precise altitude, and its built-in electronic compass provides bearing information even while you’re standing still. To help you keep tabs on changing weather conditions, Rino 130 has a built-in weather radio that scans for the nearest NOAA weather radio station. You can also set up a weather alert tone, so when your radio is on, it will alert you when a storm warning is being broadcast for your area.

For extra-secure communication, Rino 130 can scramble your radio signal to secure it for your intended recipient. When you want to maintain silence, you can set your 130 to vibrate mode — especially helpful when you’re hunting that big buck.

Rino 130 can save up to 500 of your favorite places in memory as waypoints so you can visit them later. The 130 also has a built-in Americas highway basemap and 24 megabytes (MB) of internal memory so you can load additional detailed maps from optional MapSource® products.

Detailed specs can be found here. Suggested Retail Price: $349.99 USD.

Garmin Rino 530HCx

“Know exactly where you are at all times with Rino 530HCx and the precision of high-sensitivity GPS. This waterproof FRS/GMRS radio plus GPS navigator adds a barometric altimeter, electronic compass and NOAA weather radio in addition to the popular features of the Rino 520HCx — 5 watts of transmit power, a microSD card slot, brilliant color display and a high-sensitivity GPS receiver — so you’ll never be lost again.”

With its high-sensitivity GPS receiver, Rino 530HCx locates your position quickly and precisely and maintains its GPS location even in heavy cover and deep canyons. The advantage is clear — whether you’re in deep woods or just near tall buildings and trees, you can count on Rino 530HCx to help you find your way when you need it the most.

Rino 530HCx boasts a whopping 5 watts of transmit power (GMRS), which lets you contact others from up to 14 miles away (line of sight). In Canada, you can transmit at 2 watts over GMRS with a range of up to 8 km.

Other Rino 530HCx features: Barometric altimeter pinpoints your precise elevation. Electronic compass tells you what direction you’re headed, even when you’re standing still. Bold color TFT display makes it easy to see and navigate to family or friends at an amusement park, lake or other outdoor group activity. microSD™ card slot accepts preloaded MapSource® data cards with detailed maps. Automatic routing and turn-by-turn directions with alert tones let you find an address or point of interest and drive there (with optional MapSource map data). Rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides up to 14 hours of outdoor use.

Detailed specs can be found here. Suggested Retail Price: $499.99 USD.