gps info

[madmack76]

just got a rhino 530hxc. anyone have one, what can ya tell me about it likes, dislikes it was a birthday present i wanted but would like input and advice. :twocents:welcome

[BuckHunter23]

I picked up my 530Hcx a few months ago.  It has more bells and whistles than I know what to do with.  The GMRS radio frequencies are great.  Love the digital compass and altimeter.  Loading maps was easy.  Planning on taking it out in the next few weeks to get some practice with it.  I'm interested in seeing how the locator function works, as several of my hunting buddies got these as well.

[MIKEXRAY]

I bought one a couple of months ago & really like it. I finally got over to the east side to my hunting area and was relieved to find that it worked in the timber / canyons I hunt. Was tracking 8 satelites all day and I was pretty deep. I also have yet to try the tracking feature of my buddies. I did order the car charger, handle bar mount, and window mount for my truck and am really happy with all. I found the measuring distance feature on my last hike, from where you are located can run a pointer anywhere and get distance to any other point , nice feature. I also purchased the topo chip for Oregon / Washington and think that is a great product. I'm excited about it as I hunt far in the wilderness & had to stay in the area I know well. Now I can venture around more, if I do connect on an elk it will allow me to come back to the animal and pack the rest out. I was always worried about not finding it again in unfamiliar terrain. Only played with 20% of features. Mike

[Crunchy]

I have one and cant see hunting without it.  They came out with new mapping software this year, and I am thinking about buying it over the older mapsource software that I have installed on mine now.  I think its about 100 bucks.  its the 24k US Topo

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/buymaps.do

[MIKEXRAY]

That's what I bought was the 24k chip for Wash & Ore.  I don't have anything to compare it to but works pretty cool. Nice to install, just pop it in. Seems very accurate, although I did go snowmobiling at green water and a lot of the smaller roads were missing. Would show me in the draw but no road. Mike

[Wacenturion]

Bought a pair of the Garmin 520Hcx's last year....love em.  Same as the 530Hcx without the digital compass and altimeter.  Also bought the 24k Wa./Oregon topo chip.  Great setup...radio is awesome....satelite pickup is amazing.

[Crunchy]

Is there an advantage to buy the chip rather than the DVD other than cost?  I was thinking with the DVD i could load the maps on my Rino and also my hunting partner(s)?  The cheapest I found the DVD was about 95 bucks so it isnt exactly cheap.

[KillBilly]

Is there an advantage to buy the chip rather than the DVD other than cost?  I was thinking with the DVD i could load the maps on my Rino and also my hunting partner(s)?  The cheapest I found the DVD was about 95 bucks so it isnt exactly cheap.

I don't think so, I bought a 4GB micro chip and I can load the whole U.S. on it. 24K is not much in reality.. you can fill it up pretty fast if you put many tracks and waypoints on it.   By the way, your unit will keep putting tracks on even while you are not moving. If you leave it on anywhere for a prolonged amount of time while stationary, it will build a big pile of tracks for one single point. That sounds funy but it does it. same for the return trip, it makes return tracks on top of your outbound tracks. It fills up a small card fast or unit memory fast.

[snipereyez]

Is there an advantage to buy the chip rather than the DVD other than cost?  I was thinking with the DVD i could load the maps on my Rino and also my hunting partner(s)?  The cheapest I found the DVD was about 95 bucks so it isnt exactly cheap.

I don't think so, I bought a 4GB micro chip and I can load the whole U.S. on it. 24K is not much in reality.. you can fill it up pretty fast if you put many tracks and waypoints on it.   By the way, your unit will keep putting tracks on even while you are not moving. If you leave it on anywhere for a prolonged amount of time while stationary, it will build a big pile of tracks for one single point. That sounds funy but it does it. same for the return trip, it makes return tracks on top of your outbound tracks. It fills up a small card fast or unit memory fast.

Guys, you can turn off the tracks feature on/off.  I only use the tracks feature when I'm actually hiking in an area I want to map out.  It's an awesome tool that will save your life someday.  BTW...if anyone wants some detailed maps of Oregon and Washington email me and I'll load it up for them on a 2G memory card. 

Happy Hunting..

[reddog132]

Garmin has a $50 rebate going on now for both the Rino 520HCx and 530HCx. Here's the link.
http://garmin.blogs.com/files/rino_series_rebate_2009.pdf

[Crunchy]

snipereyez

I shot you a PM.