Picked up a rino 650. What accessories should I get?

[steeliedrew]

I finally bit the bullet today and got a Garmin Rino 650. I've wanted this unit for a couple years. I also purchased the hunting gps WA map chip. Those of you that have rino 600 series units, what accessories have been your favorite? I'm thinking an extra battery pack, car charger, and the AA adapter.

Can't wait to grab the mountain bike and hit the hills with this thing for some bear scouting.

[sled]

  Auto Charger.

[scottcrb]

I have the gpsmap 62st. Get a screen protector before you take it out .

[ghosthunter]

Battery packs for sure.

[steeliedrew]

I have the gpsmap 62st. Get a screen protector before you take it out .

Good call. With the price of these things I'd love to keep it nice.

[hogslayer]

I second the battery packs.  Go on amazon they are around $20.  You put AA batteries on them instead of the one that comes with it.  There is also some free topo maps online you can get.  Just google it and I have the NW TOPO version.  Has trails roads parks fans of course topo.

[Andrew]

battery packs like the others have said.  I purchased the pack that runs AA, however, you sacrifice radio range and length of use.  the rechargeable pack runs 3-days with intermitent use however with the AA it runs at best 1.5 days.  I'd purchase a spare rechargeable one and the AA if you can.

[pd]

SteelieDrew, on another thread I am vacillating between the Garmin GPSMAP 62stc (on sale now at REI for $250) and the Garmin Rino 610.  You went with the Rino 650.  Any special reasons why?

[steeliedrew]

Pd,

I went with the 650 over the 610 because I wanted the ability to use sd cards like the hunting gps map chip. I didn't need the camera or expanded memory of the 655t so I felt good about the 650. My elk hunting buddy will be getting a rino as well so it will be nice to have the buddy tracker.

[Mudman]

Dont buy the 610, you will be unhappy.  655 and love it.

[steeliedrew]

After playing with the 650 for a couple hours at home today I can see there is quite a bit to learn about. Good thing I didn't wait til the last minute to buy one. I want to make sure I'm using it to its full potential so it's time to get out and burn some boot leather with it.

What are some features you guys tend to use more than others on these units?

[Rob]

I have an older 530 that I have been very happy with.  I'm sure the newer models are even better.

I really like the alarm clock feature.  The unit turns off and wakes up to sound the alarm.  Very handy.

what PTT units do folks like?  Never been happy with any I have tried

[Andrew]

Waypoints, track my partner, radio, weather radio, and alarm.

[ghosthunter]

In a lot of cases you can extend battery life by going down on the wattage. You do not have to run on 5 watt all the time. The trip computer and map page I use the most.
The elevation chart I use less.

[bobcat]

What is a "PTT" unit?


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[ghosthunter]

What is a "PTT" unit?


Push to talk?


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[pd]

Dont buy the 610, you will be unhappy.  655 and love it.

Why is this, MudMan?  Please tell us your opinions.

[Rob]

yeah, PTT = Push to talk.  The ones I have tried don't stay plugged in very well.

[steeliedrew]

I'm having some trouble viewing topo lines on my unit. Here's a link to a thread I started on that. If you have a suggestion please post to that thread so we don't get too far off topic on this one. Thanks.  http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,153418.0.html

[steeliedrew]

I'm having some trouble viewing topo lines on my unit. Here's a link to a thread I started on that. If you have a suggestion please post to that thread so we don't get too far off topic on this one. Thanks.  http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,153418.0.html

Might have figured the issue out. However, since this is a thread about accessories let's talk about different map chips other than huntinggps maps that you'd recommend I look into? I was just thinking that I don't really ever find myself needing to know land owner info and just the ability to see topo lines with rivers, creeks, major roads and forest service main lines would be nice. I do however like that the huntinggps maps show gmu info for those times you're driving and see something good but aren't sure what unit it's in.

[WilliamWallace]

Don't get the AA battery pack for this unit... Spend the extra money and get another lithium pack... I bought a power monkey also to use for charging the lithium pack. Takes a while to charge but the power monkey is extremely durable, weather resistant. I have a buddy that works for the smoke jumper base in Winthrop and they spend summers testing gear. For maps... I got the huntinggpsmaps for WA and it is pretty sweet. I also got the vehicle charger for the unit. Other than that you made a good choice with the 650.

[Bob33]

Be advised that the AA battery pack limits the radio to 2 watts, versus 5 with the lithium pack. They also make the unit heavier.

As for what to get: (1) hunting partners with Rinos, (2) time to study the manual and practice using
Rinos with your partners so you all understand polling, (3) extra battery pack of some sort, (4) screen protectors.

If you bought a Hunting GPS Maps chip (versus the download), you will want an extra SD card. Download Basecamp from Garmin (or Mapsource which is the older version and easier to use IMO), and get some experience transferring data to and from the unit. You can transfer more maps to your own SD card, but not the Hunting GPS card.

Here's a great source for good NW topo maps with trails: http://www.switchbacks.com/gpsmaps.aspx

[ghosthunter]

Don't get the AA battery pack for this unit... Spend the extra money and get another lithium pack... I bought a power monkey also to use for charging the lithium pack. Takes a while to charge but the power monkey is extremely durable, weather resistant. I have a buddy that works for the smoke jumper base in Winthrop and they spend summers testing gear. For maps... I got the huntinggpsmaps for WA and it is pretty sweet. I also got the vehicle charger for the unit. Other than that you made a good choice with the 650.

Did you have to buy any extra special adapters to plug into the 650?

[ghosthunter]

Don't get the AA battery pack for this unit... Spend the extra money and get another lithium pack... I bought a power monkey also to use for charging the lithium pack. Takes a while to charge but the power monkey is extremely durable, weather resistant. I have a buddy that works for the smoke jumper base in Winthrop and they spend summers testing gear. For maps... I got the huntinggpsmaps for WA and it is pretty sweet. I also got the vehicle charger for the unit. Other than that you made a good choice with the 650.

Well sooner or later I would buy one AA battery pack. Because you cannot recharge the lithium pack un plugged from the unit. Which creates a problem when on long trips and every day use. The unit is tied up being the host for recharging.
In most cases two lithium packs will be enough.
But if you find yourself hurt and unable to recharge having the AA pack and  8 spare batteries could be a life saver.
 

[Bob33]

Don't get the AA battery pack for this unit... Spend the extra money and get another lithium pack... I bought a power monkey also to use for charging the lithium pack. Takes a while to charge but the power monkey is extremely durable, weather resistant. I have a buddy that works for the smoke jumper base in Winthrop and they spend summers testing gear. For maps... I got the huntinggpsmaps for WA and it is pretty sweet. I also got the vehicle charger for the unit. Other than that you made a good choice with the 650.

Did you have to buy any extra special adapters to plug into the 650?

I use the 12V power adapter for my Garmin Nuvi with my handheld GPSs. In fact I've used phone chargers. The GPS squaks at you that's it's not a proper charger, but will work fine. If it doesn't, try setting the GPS to Spanner Mode: Setup--> System --> Interface --> Garmin Spanner Mode.

Sounds crazy but it works.

[steeliedrew]

Be advised that the AA battery pack limits the radio to 2 watts, versus 5 with the lithium pack. They also make the unit heavier.

As for what to get: (1) hunting partners with Rinos, (2) time to study the manual and practice using
Rinos with your partners so you all understand polling, (3) extra battery pack of some sort, (4) screen protectors.

If you bought a Hunting GPS Maps chip (versus the download), you will want an extra SD card. Download Basecamp from Garmin (or Mapsource which is the older version and easier to use IMO), and get some experience transferring data to and from the unit. You can transfer more maps to your own SD card, but not the Hunting GPS card.

Here's a great source for good NW topo maps with trails: http://www.switchbacks.com/gpsmaps.aspx

Good info Bob33. There is definitely a learning curve with these things. My elk hunting buddy is supposed to be getting a rino too so we'll have to make sure we're dialed in.

A big thing I'm looking for is high quality maps. After some research today I found that someone hacked the garmin firmware at some point and created a firmware patch that allows you to load high quality custom maps up to 50,000 tiles. it seems like kind of a black art though with a lot of computer jargon involved so I probably won't attempt it. I'll check out that link you posted though.

[WilliamWallace]

Don't get the AA battery pack for this unit... Spend the extra money and get another lithium pack... I bought a power monkey also to use for charging the lithium pack. Takes a while to charge but the power monkey is extremely durable, weather resistant. I have a buddy that works for the smoke jumper base in Winthrop and they spend summers testing gear. For maps... I got the huntinggpsmaps for WA and it is pretty sweet. I also got the vehicle charger for the unit. Other than that you made a good choice with the 650.

Did you have to buy any extra special adapters to plug into the 650?

The power monkey has a 12v charger, so I just bought the car charger for the 650 and works for both.