The Rino 130 is also outfitted with a marine-point database and a basemap of North and South America. The database includes nautical navaids for North and South America. The Americas Highway basemap includes the United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America, and covers an area from W180 to W30 Longitude and S60 to N75 Latitude. Also included is a high-level worldwide map with political boundaries and major cities. Among many other included elements are oceans, rivers, and lakes (greater than 30 square miles), principal cities and many smaller cities and towns, major interstates and principal highways, and political boundaries (state and international borders).

Integration has its advantages: the Rino 130 sends and receives GPS locations using FRS channels and shows them on the map. The GPS device is a 12-channel, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver. WAAS, which stands for Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), is the global-positioning-system of choice for mariners. The handheld's built-in electronic compass give a heading while you're standing still, and its barometric altimeter provides accurate elevation and pressure readings to help you identify and analyze weather conditions.

The Rino 130 also provides two-way radio communication with a transmission range of up to two miles using FRS channels and up to five miles with GMRS (be aware that use of GMRS requires an FCC license). The integration of two-way radio and GPS lets you transmit your position with a simple button press, so others can easily navigate to your position. The Rino 130 also has a polling feature so you can manually request GPS location information from other Rino units.

You get 14 FRS channels, 8 GMRS channels, and 8 GMRS repeater channels, as well as 38 sub-audible squelch codes per transmission channel for semi-private radio communications.

The unit's ergonomic design grants single-handed operation, with its Call, Page mode, and Press-To-Talk (PTT) buttons mounted on the side, Power/Backlighting button on top, Volume and Zoom buttons on front, and a Thumb Stick positioned in the center. The thumb stick allows channel selection and volume adjustment in FRS/GMRS mode, as well as quick map panning, enter, and selection functions in GPS mode.

Other features include a backlit display (160 x 160 pixels), external voice activation (VOX), waterproof construction to IPX-7 standards (immersible in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes), storage for up to 500 waypoints with graphic identification and 20 reversible routes, 10,000 trackpoints and up to 20 saved tracks to retrace your path or a companion's path via the location-reporting feature, trip computer with speed tracking, sunrise/sunset read out, trip time, and trip distance, and multiple grid formats including MGRS and Loran TD. The Rino 130 even sends and receives short text notes for quiet communication.

The Rino 130 has a battery life of 14 hours (typical use) on 3 AA alkaline batteries (not included).

What's in the Box
Rino 130 receiver, a PC-interface cable, a wrist strap, a belt clip, a user's manual, and a quick-reference guide.

Customer Reviews Average rating - 4.0

Rating - 5 Date: 2008-10-01
Content: "I buy the RINO 130 FROM ELECTRONICA DIRECT. ARRIVE FASTER THAN WHAT I EXPECTED. THE ITEM WAS NEW THE WAY THEY SAY IT WOULD BE, AND PRICE WAS THE BEST COMPARED WITH OTHER SALERS. AND MY THANKS TO CUSTUMER SERVICES FOR THEIR PROFESIONALISM, I LOVE MY RINO AND I SUGEST ANYONE INTERESTED IN OUTDOOR ADVENTURES, GET ONE OF THIS GAGET, FROM THE FAMILY OF RINO, FROM ELECTRONICA DIRECT THE BEST PRICE." NISE GAGET.
I LOVE..
Summary: 2 THUMBS UP

Rating - 5 Date: 2008-08-12
Content: This garmin was easy to use and never had any problems with it at all. And updating it was easy too. Loved it
Summary: Garmin Awsome

Rating - 5 Date: 2007-03-30
Content: I have had this for a year now and it works great. Matches ACU color. I would buy the 430 or 420 with the color screen but I don't need the color screen. I haven't downloaded any new base maps but I intend to do so at some point before a deployment. If you want a cheap GPS to give you MGRS grids, purchase the Foretrex not Forerunner. The Forerunner is only for lon/lat. So unless you are a flyboy and you want a cheaper, smaller unit get the Garmin Foretrex. I would like to get another unit that has an MMC slot, currently the only ones that have that are the E-Trex and some other models.

Overall it is a great item.
Summary: Great Gadget

Rating - 4 Date: 2006-08-01
Content: After reading all of the online reviews here on Amazon, and on the manufacturer's web site, I decided to purchase the units and judge for myself. I had been planning a trip to the Michigan sand dunes, and thought it would be nice for safety to have at least two units in case any member of my family got lost, or seperated during the trip.

Within the first few hours of using the units, we learned a few of it's idiosyncrocies. One thing you have to know is that the units must have time to "locate" at least 4 satellites before it will accurately report location info. The time required can vary, depending on the environment. Terrain with buildings, or other barriers, natural or otherwise, will increase the time required for the unit to "lock-in" satellites.

Once the unit's find the satellites needed for self-navigation, the unit works without much intervention. My 14 year-old son was able to learn how to use the tracking-navigation feature within a couple of hours of tickering with the unit.

Out in the field, my 14 year-old son made a miscalculation, and ended up in a chest-high pond of water, with him, his ATV, and the Garmin Rino 130 fully submerged for about 3 minutes. After the initial panic of making sure he was ok, and removing the water-logged ATV from the water, we immediately checked the Rino 130, and it was still working great. However, the external PTT microphone that is sold as an accessory did not survive the plunge.

The unit works so well, and is so simple to use, it can seem almost "toy-like" until you realize how much data it keeps track of at one time. Once I initiated the "tracking" feature for the other two units I purchased, it maintained location data for the duration of the trip, without any further manipulation. I was actually stunned by the simplicity of locating any of the units, even standing still. Although the compass feature works better when moving, it is still very accurate in a fixed location under the right conditions.

Overall, I would recommend this unit for anyone needing basic communication and GPS capability. The Radio was a bit under-powered in my opinion, but they were suitable for short distances in wooded areas. Near some metro areas, RF interference is definitely a problem, but that's no fault of the unit. Many of the people who have complained about this unit seem to either have received a defective unit, or don't like to read manuals.
Summary: Well designed, mission-ready unit

Rating - 2 Date: 2006-04-11
Content: I bought 2 of the Rino 130's for my wife and I to use for hiking, boating, and geocaching. We were excited about the prospect of peer to peer positioning, etc. After 10 minutes, one of them locked up, then the second one would not transmit only receive a radio communication. The only way to get either one of them to function properly again was to remove the power source, wait a few seconds and reinstall and power up again. The first time this happened I was hoping it would be an isolated incident; then it happened again 10 minutes later. I checked the software; one was running ver 5.40 and the other 5.20. Webupdater would not work with one of them. It would lock up during the firmware upgrade.
I chose to immediately return the items, thinking that if it is this much trouble now, what will it be like later. I expected better quality than this from Garmin. Great features and an intuitive user interface are a plus; however, dependability in the long run is apparently non-existent. The GPS portion of the unit is terrific. The problem seems to be aligned with the communication creating instability. I am purchasing a different unit and plan to make it a Garmin product again.
Amazon is easy to deal with on returns; 5 stars to Amazon.
Summary: Troublesome