Hello CrisHazPlease see How inReach Messaging Works which explains how the message checks works with the 66i. As far as the unit working while plugged in to USB you would have to have the device in Garmin…
Yes sorry I edited my previous post. I don’t think you can turn that feature off it will just have to do its first message check and if it has trouble you will have to move to a different location where it has a better view of the sky. But I agree being able to disable it is clearly missing, you should be able to turn it off on the device itself.
Yes you're right Snow_Leopard,, I just tested it in the field in the last day trying to let the unit make is first contact with the satellite when turning on & then close the satellite signal on the unit....but unfortunately, after a while, the unit still try to reach the signal for the purpose of message verification. So, my humble opinion, Garmin have to respond to this with a simple solution,, an option to disable message verification for the reason mention above & also for situation where the signal reception become sketchy for any reason...because if you don't consider this condition in the field, you will be soon unable to reach anyone at all due to your battery issue !
Yes I think it automatically checks every hour, so then you’ll have to go outside again. Perhaps it’s that way for a safety reason. Let’s say someone is trying to urgently reach you, you’ll never know until you turn on that feature, but then again if the units not on you still won’t know will you, and as far as sending an SOS message goes, that could automatically turn it back on as well. Anyway that’s the way it’s probably going to stay. Too bad demo mode doesn’t disable it, even if it only did it temporarily just for the purpose of saving power while plotting course’s or map viewing. Maybe it’s just a 66i issue with the battery. I have a 67i and can send and receive inreach messages inside my house, and have played with it for long periods of time without substantial battery drain. Usually it only takes less than 5 minutes to do a message check.
