Garmin Rino 110 5-Mile 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Waterproof Two-Way Radio and GPS Receiver

 Imagine a cross between a walkie talkie and a Star Trek communicator, that's the best way to understand the Garmin's Rino 110. Not just a powerful GPS receiver, this two-way radio can even track your friends and transmit your location to others. These innovative features and low price makes it ideal whether hiking, hunting, playing paintball or just checking up on your kids.

100 meters: Accuracy of the original GPS system, which was subject to accuracy degradation under the government-imposed Selective Availability (SA) program. 15 meters: Typical GPS position accuracy without SA. 3-5 meters: Typical differential GPS (DGPS) position accuracy. Less than 3 meters: Typical WAAS position accuracy.

About the size of a small cordless phone, the bright-yellow and black Rino 110 has two fixed antennas coming out of the top. One antenna lets you talk at up to two miles using 14 FRS (Family Radio Service) channels. It also can communicate across 8 GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) channels, offering up to 5 miles of range, though this requires an FCC license.

The other antenna offers the advanced WAAS-enabled GPS tracking you'd expect from Garmin (see chart at right). Using the large 160 x 160 pixel backlit display you can save up to 20 different routes and 500 waypoints in the unit's 1 MB of memory. Plus, in addition to the built-in cities database, you can even upload maps from Garmin's Points of Interest CD with an optional adapter.

The fun really starts when you combine these two features. The Rino can transmit its location to others at up to two miles and track up to 50 contacts simultaneously. So, for instance, you can display a map on the screen with the names and locations of all of your friends, or select a friend and have the Rino guide you to their location.

The Rino's graphical interface makes it easy to control its myriad functions with a 5-way cursor, similar to those found on laptop keyboards, which lets you move quickly across the menu screens. This waterproof device runs on 3 AAA batteries.

Once you use the Rino 110, it's hard to imagine purchasing a two-way radio without GPS functionality, the two features go so well together. --Ken Feinstein

Pros:

• Two-way radio with GPS functions
  
• FRS and GMRS support
  
• Waterproof
  
• Large backlit display

Cons:

• 1 MB memory not upgradeable

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