garmin 5 watt rino

imdoo'n · Sep 12, 2013

has anyone checked how far rhe us 5 watt rino radio sends a signal compared to the canadian 2 watt unit, and the lower 1 watt rino 120/130 would like to know how they compare side by side, on the same day, same area type of thing.

i have tested the rino 130 1 watt and a rino 530hcx 2 watt, and gotten 4miles with clear talk, and 4.5 miles just hearing clicks.
no hills in the way. over the hill at 4miles lost signal.

so i think the rino 110,120,130 are close in there distance estimation, as long as there are no obstructions. anyone else with a real word test?

arff · Sep 12, 2013

I am interested in the results.

Also what are the Canadian rules on the radio's?

imdoo'n · Sep 12, 2013

arff said:
I am interested in the results.

Also what are the Canadian rules on the radio's?

as far as i can tell Canada is still limited to the 2watt receiver, there is talk about upping it to the 5 watt unit, but as of right now no.

i wonder if the range they list for the units is close or just optimistic.

arff · Sep 12, 2013

imdoo'n said:
as far as i can tell Canada is still limited to the 2watt receiver, there is talk about upping it to the 5 watt unit, but as of right now no.

i wonder if the range they list for the units is close or just optimistic.

Good question.

Thanks for the information.

thegeneral · Sep 12, 2013

Even with the 5 watt you are still basically restricted by terrain, as these are " line of sight " distances.
Last year though with the 5 watt units (655T) on a trip to Oasis, two of the guys passed by the turn off by the river and continued in the logging road about 16 km's and we stopped at the bottom of the cut block, I'm guessing 6-7 km's up the trail and we were able to communicate very easily.
It was a fairly clear day.

dezmitchell · Nov 20, 2013

guna try our new 5w rino 650's this weekend at revy will let you know results.

gibsons · Nov 20, 2013

I've got both the 530 and the 650, both of which are the 5w and my brother has 530 2w. last year from our room at the days inn we were able to communicate with a group of guys on bolder which we helped out who got into a pickle and both radios communicated fine. Probably not a great distance as the crow fly's now that I think of it but thought it was pretty good.

imdoo'n · Nov 20, 2013

gibsons said:
I've got both the 530 and the 650, both of which are the 5w and my brother has 530 2w. last year from our room at the days inn we were able to communicate with a group of guys on bolder which we helped out who got into a pickle and both radios communicated fine. Probably not a great distance as the crow fly's now that I think of it but thought it was pretty good.

Have u compRed the distance o the signal of the 3 watt verses the 5 watt? The 1,watt rhino 130 will send signal 4 miles with no obstructions. They claim the 2 watt is 8 miles ?

sweld · Nov 20, 2013

We used ours for hunting this year. We could get 3km maybe 4 sometimes. That was about it. In the middle of the bush

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gibsons · Nov 20, 2013

sorry, brothers is the 530hcx which I guess would be 3w. No, haven't really compared them, just that they always worked when we needed them

imdoo'n said:
Have u compRed the distance o the signal of the 3 watt verses the 5 watt? The 1,watt rhino 130 will send signal 4 miles with no obstructions. They claim the 2 watt is 8 miles ?

fnDan · Nov 20, 2013

gibsons said:
sorry, brothers is the 530hcx which I guess would be 3w. No, haven't really compared them, just that they always worked when we needed them

530hcx is 5 watt as well. I just picked one up but have yet to test it. I do know the hcx gets satellites faster than my 530, which I hope helps with better tracking in the trees.

maierch · Nov 20, 2013

fnDan said:
530hcx is 5 watt as well. I just picked one up but have yet to test it. I do know the hcx gets satellites faster than my 530, which I hope helps with better tracking in the trees.

It all depends on whether its a US or Canadian version the US are 5W and the Canadian are limited to 3W.

imdoo'n · Nov 20, 2013

K, was wondering, A hill in the way will stop the signal on mine, not sure about trees, an obstruction like trees should do it though

gibsons · Nov 20, 2013

correction again 530hcx canadian is only 2w.
Just tried them out, my 650 5w against my brothers 530 2w. we are about 8-10 miles apart and can't reach each other. I'm about 10 blocks in the city limits and he's on an acreage. he gets static on his end but can't here anything and I get nothing when he tries calling me.

imdoo'n · Nov 20, 2013

Interesting to see if the two 5,watt radiox
S will work? They should

thegeneral · Nov 20, 2013

You also have to be mindful of what channel you are using. Some channels limit your radio to 2 watt even though you have it set on 5 watt. I waited on hold with Garmin for 40 minutes last year to find this out.

fnDan · Nov 20, 2013

maierch said:
It all depends on whether its a US or Canadian version the US are 5W and the Canadian are limited to 3W.

Oops. I thought they were either 2 watts for Canadian and 5 for US.
Either way 14 miles is the stated range for the 5 watt with direct line. I'm having hard time figuring out where you could see 14 miles around here. This year everyone in our group has rinos. My brother and I have 5 watt versions so we will definitely test the range.

MoThEr TrUcKeR · Nov 20, 2013

thegeneral said:
You also have to be mindful of what channel you are using. Some channels limit your radio to 2 watt even though you have it set on 5 watt. I waited on hold with Garmin for 40 minutes last year to find this out.

How do you know which channel is 2 or 5??

thegeneral · Nov 20, 2013

MoThEr TrUcKeR said:
How do you know which channel is 2 or 5??

I don't recall exactly but there are quite a few of them. If you have selected 5watt in settings and on your radio screen it will say 2 watt. I saved a note on my radio. Ill look at in when I get home in December lol

Thegeneral

fnDan · Nov 20, 2013

Just checked. Manual doesn't list which channels but as you select channels, the lower part of the screen will tell you if you are on an FRS channel and list only 1/2 watt.

garmin 5 watt rino

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