Sounds like a winner! Does it do auto-routing? -----Original Message----- From: Ford, Denny Date: 12/14/06 8:18 To: listserv@azgeocaching.com Subj: Re: [Az-Geocaching] Garmin Rino 520/530 Scott, We use these when we are hunting and they are nice. They come with a rechargeable battery that will last a full weekend of use. We also use to have the Motorola radios, but the quality is very impressive of the 530. The color map is also a bonus. They are not bulky and you get the added bonus of once you set up the unit to auto send your location it will update every 15 minutes or so. I am very happy with the unit, and 3 other friends have the 530, and makes it real nice when hunting a large area, on flat land you can talk at a range of 3 to 4 miles where the Motorola radios had a useful range of maybe a mile if you had trees or hills in the way. If you have clear line of site such as a balloon, I am sure it will meet its claim. It also comes with the weather radio, which is also useful. Denny Ford, Tres Hombres -----Original Message----- From: az-geocaching-bounces@listserv.azgeocaching.com [mailto:az-geocaching-bounces@listserv.azgeocaching.com] On Behalf Of Roping The Wind Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 10:23 PM To: listserv@azgeocaching.com Subject: [Az-Geocaching] Garmin Rino 520/530 Anyone on the listserv using the Garmin Rino 520/530... I am interesting in picking up a couple and would like lots of comments and reviews on them. I of course would like to know how well the GPS functions work and how well it would work for geocaching. I dont plan to use it for geocaching, just want to know if it works as well as any other GPS for things such as geocaching (how does it compare to the 60c/cs). Also, and most importantly, am VERY interested in knowing how well the radio's work. The 520 and 530 boast 5 watts (!) of power for a range of up to 14 miles. I currently use 2 Motorola Spirit radios with 1 watt. I think they advertise a 2 mile range. But I can easily talk 10-12 miles or more with these Motorola 1 watt radios. They are VHF radios. Which I 'think' is a higher frequency than a GMRS radio. If that is so, perhaps a VHF would 'reach out' farther with 1 watt than a GMRS would with 5 watts??? Is this so? Or not? Anyone with lots of radio expertise can chime in here. I am not interested in the Rino 530 if it cant reach out at least as far as my current radios do. I also know that with line of site, I have been known to talk over 30 miles (air to air) with my 1 watt motorola radios. Will the Rino 530's do that with 5 watts?? Or are these whopping 5 watt radio's capable of much more? I dont know too much about radio's so anyone with knowledge on that can chime in too. ____________________________________________________________ Az-Geocaching mailing list listserv@azgeocaching.com To edit your setting, subscribe or unsubscribe visit: http://listserv.azgeocaching.com/mailman/listinfo/az-geocaching Arizona's Geocaching Resource http://www.azgeocaching.com