"The Rino 130 is a premium two-way radio," said Gary Kelley, Garmin’s director of marketing. "This rugged, waterproof unit has all the features of a high-end FRS/GMRS radio, plus the added benefit of GPS mapping capabilities, barometric altimeter and electronic compass sensors, and Garmin’s patented location-reporting feature — to keep our users connected, aware and secure."
The location-reporting feature combines the unique integration of navigation and communication technologies in the Rino series, enabling users to "beam" their location to other Rino users over the Family Radio Service (FRS) radio spectrum. Other users can then see the location of the sender on their map display, which shows the distance and direction between the sender and those receiving the broadcast location. A recent FCC rule also allows users to interrogate other Rino units using the location-polling feature. Utilizing this feature, a user can send out a polling request to a specific Rino radio within range, and the unit will automatically transmit back its location. These features have been lauded for their life-saving potential in search-and-rescue operations and other outdoor emergencies.
As a GPS navigator, the Rino 130 is similar to Garmin’s popular eTrex® Vista. The Rino 130 offers a detailed basemap of North and South America, displaying cities, highways, railways, rivers, lakes and borders. And because the Rino 130 boasts 24 megabytes of internal memory, it can store map data from a variety of Garmin MapSource® CD products, including U.S. Topo 24K™, U.S. Topo™, Recreational Lakes™, BlueChart® and MetroGuide®.
The Rino 130 also features two integrated sensors — an electronic compass and barometric altimeter. These sensors, when combined with GPS technology, provide enhanced bearing and elevation readings.
As a communication device, the Rino 130 operates on the two-mile FRS and five-mile General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) bands. The Rino 130 features 22 channels (14 that support FRS and eight that support both GMRS and GMRS repeater operation) and 38 squelch codes. Like the Rino 120, it offers external voice activation (VOX), a vibration mode for silent-call alerts and a voice scrambler for secure communications.
The Rino 130 also has seven dedicated weather channels to receive broadcasts by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The unit can also interrupt normal voice communications, alerting users to emergency weather broadcasts.
Other specific features of the Rino 130:
The Rino 130 is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2004 at a suggested retail price of $374.99. The unit ships standard with a belt clip, PC interface cable, owner’s manual and quick-start guide.