Inreach Mini: Could anyone explain to me the reason for this error?

Hi everyone, today while tracking one of my hikes in the mountains, I had this error.

I state that I bought the my Inreach Mini yesterday, so it may not be a mistake, but my inexperience.

The path I followed is all perfectly traced, except the distance between point B and C which you can see in the photo. Before reaching point B, I repeated the movement from A to B twice, and then stopped for a few minutes.

As soon as I got home and checked my track, I noticed the straight line between B and C, where I absolutely did not walk. Log points are also missing for this distance. I also noticed that the time of point B is 15:39, while of C 16:05. I have the tracking points update with an interval of 20 minutes, so it would also be inaccurate.

What could it be? It can happen? I rely on your experience, trying to understand the motivation.

Kindly thank you in advance

0 carleson over 3 years ago

Looks like typical GPS satellite dropout. You said that you went back and forth between A and B, based on the trackpoint it looks like it lost track of satellites after the first time you got to B and then didn't pickup again until you got to C. GPS satellites are 20,000 km away when overhead and signals aren't that strong, layers of clothing or tree cover easily block the signals. This dropout is a typical thing that happens, although from the photo you provide this does look like terrain that would be good for signal tracking. Best practice is to have the mini as high on your body as possible and the antenna exposed.

0 twolpert over 3 years ago

Unclear on the terrain. And the path you did take from B to C. If any of that path is in a valley or up against a cliff/steep hill, it would be bad for tracking. The Mini tends to lose lock more than other iR devices anyway,

The time stamps are also consistent with loss of fix. The second point reflects the time the unit reacquaired.

0 Lotabob over 3 years ago

I have found that if you set the log interval anything above 30 seconds the mini turns the GPS off between track points. Unfortunately the Mini is terrible at acquiring a GPS fix, made even worse if you're moving. Try setting your log interval to 1 second or 30 seconds so the GPS stays active, it will have a negative effect on the battery life but it won't forget where it is, the send interval can still be 20 minutes apart. It could be the terrain that's blocked the device from getting a fix bit knowing this device and it's huge drawbacks when it comes to finding a GPS fix it could be that it was just moving while trying to figure out where it was and just couldn't figure it out (mine does this all the time)

0 twolpert over 3 years ago in reply to Lotabob

See this thread, starting with the post from NeutronStorm, for information about improving TTFF for the Mini. From your description, it is entirely possible that you unit does not have a valid almanac. This can be fixed as described here:

https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/inreach/f/inreach-mini/192450/the-reason-for-inreach-mini-poor-gps-performance-compared-to-other-units-phones/1239199#1239199