Garmin Rino 110 Handheld GPS Navigator and 2-Way Radio

Directly from Amazon is the way to order. I received my Rino within a matter of days. I would have no problem purchasing from Amazon again.

I thought this is what I wanted, now I'm not so sure.

I bought it for a few reasons;

I sail and wanted to be able to call for help if I needed to but there is no chanel 16 (help channel)on this unit.

I also wanted the gps so I could find my way back in the fog. despite reading the two booklets and playing with the unit I'm still cant seem to figure out how to use it.

So, I'm now looking for a proper marine radio so I can call for help.

I guess this old sea dog is just too old to figure out this new tech stuff

This item is simply a walkie-talkie that locates others of its own kind and shows you your position relating to dots (waypoints). No maps. No elevation graphics. Not even roads. I'm sure the newer models are much better, but how hi-tech can something be when it only has one Meg of on board memory. I had no idea an item from 2006 could be so outdated by now. This would only be useful for locating others in a hunting party who also have a rino. My nuvi auto gps does more on the trail than this does. I'm a hiker and I'm pretty sorry I wasted three years worth of my wife's safety incentive points on this thing. I will try to send it back, but I may be stuck with a huge digital compass that runs on 3 AAs.

I used the Rino attached to my harness when windsurfing. This allows me to both stay in contact with a buddy and see what speeds I reached. It works very well and the interface is easy to master. However, Garmin overpromised on the waterproofness of the product. The battery compartment caught some water which I discovered after a few days. Luckily it only damaged the batteries and not the device itself. Next time I will seal it with an aquapac which will give it a second layer of protection.

For anyone concerned about giving away a position in Iraq, why not go into the radio setup menu, disable the "Send Location" feature under the Send Location tab, and disable position polling under the Allow Polling tab? If these features are disabled, the Rino will not send its position when the radio is keyed. People really should read their user manuals.