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Few questions following from watching couple of youtube videos...

WojciechP.
over 1 year ago

Hi, me and my wife are thinking of getting mini2, or messenger or mini. that's still undecided (due to costs, especially option to buy used mini1).
But question would be working for all 3 devices etc.

1. i know ideal situation is to have view of clear sky to send msgs, but where we hike it would be tall thick coverage of trees - how likely it is that it will still work? - lets go with example of amazon jungle - would device still work under those thick trees?

2. in one of the videos someone said that some txt msgs take even like 20-30min or longer to send - and mentioned something that maybe there is a que of users sending/using satelite bandwith and that is the reason for delay. -> is this true? is there some kind of avarage send/receive time?

3. assuming someone will press sos button to get help (and in some videos it says emergency services will reach back to u to get more info) what happens if the person that presses the SOS button did this after falling dawn etc, and it was their last effort before they faint etc. and wont be able to reply. Will help be still sent/considered needed or will services just cancel it?

4. if pressing sos button is there an option to get text msg to selected person about it, ie. i press sos on my mtb trip, and activate sos - would my wife know it - is there option for it.

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  • 0 over 1 year ago

    Just a had a few ideas/question popup during morning dog walks, maybe some of you guys will be able to answer.

    So i know the track points are sent every 10min (if set this way). but where are those point location are taken are they taken from gps fix (satelites) and then just sent every 10minutes?

    what if I'm not in the satelite signal connection/reach lets say for 30minutes, will the next sucsesfull transmission sent 4 point position from last 40minut (4x10minut steps).

    also this one is to have idea of how good/bad is satellite connections:

    so would you say they are similar to acquiring gps position from (gps satelites) - or worse than gps signal or stronger? 

    what i mean is: if i have gps signal/position would this also mean i should be able to reach/send to inreach satelites too?

    ps> sorry for all the questions

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to WojciechP.

    https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=l88DIqvA9U3iPLJQKjxq66

    support.garmin.com/.../

    Signal/position: for a gps fix you need minimum 3 (or better more satellites for a good fix), for sending a message via iridium, you need only 1 satellite- (the maximum to get is about 3 (?) - but due to position/height in orbit therer are much more gps satellites needed than iridium satellites) .

    And no, a gps fix does not automatically mean, that you have also a iridum fix.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to WojciechP.

    Typically, iR devices skip a sent point if the unit cannot acquire a GPS fix at the scheduled time. To put this another way, the unit will not send a point with a fix which is inaccurate at the time. The unit does try fairly hard to acquire a fix before giving up on the point.

    As points out, GPS and Iridiium satellites are completely different constellations. With a decent sky view, there are typically a dozen or more GPS satellites in view. The arrangement of GPS satellites in view varies with time. Typically, the satellites are scattered over the sky "dome". Geometry matters as to the quality of the fix. There are only 1 to 3 Iridium satellites in view. Typically, one of them is fairly high in the sky. The other two tend to be nearer the horizon. You only need one to communicate with the iR network.

    Acquiring a GPS fix only requires that the unit be able to receive signals from at least 3 (preferably 4) GPS satellites. Emphasis on receive only - no transmission by the unit is involved. In order to send a track point or a message (or even to do a mail check), the unit must be able to transmit and receive to/from an Iridium satellite. Emphasis on transmit. The need to transmit from a relatively low-powered iR device means that Iridium communication tends to be more sensitive to things like tree cover. The fact that only 1 to 3 iR satellites are in view means that iR communication tends to be more sensitive to geography vs. sky view - narrow defiles, proximity to bluffs, etc.

    Bottom line - it is usually easier to acquire a GPS fix than to send iR communications.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to WojciechP.

    How Satellite Reception May Affect an inReach Message or SOS | Garmin Customer Support

    "Clear View of the Sky

    An inReach device needs a clear view of the satellites for location acquisition and communication to be possible. These satellites orbit the Earth at varying altitudes, so they will be in the sky or near the horizon.

    If the inReach device is in a canyon and has a very limited view of the sky, the satellite reception of both GPS satellites and Iridium satellites will be impossible or extremely poor. Moving to a location with a better, more open view of the sky and horizon, if possible, is recommended to reduce delays in inReach communication and location acquisition."

    But this is valid for all devices with satellite connection from all manufacturers. So yes, if you are in an area where you have no clear view to the sky (heavy tree cover etc.), you may have problems to send/receive a message (or tracking points)/to trigger an SOS.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to atlas_cached

    If you want a "rough" looking device with a good battery life, a real compass and some more navigation/tracking features and a use-/helpful mounting system: the mini 2 is the best choice.

    For even more battery life, an even better gps/iridium antenna and less navigation/tracking featutes and if you don´t need: a real compass/rough look/good mounting system out of the box: go for a messenger.

    They both work with the messenger app, but the only the mini 2 is also compatible with the Explore app. If you get lost somewhere (and don't want to trigger an SOS): the mini 2 has a real compass for orientation, you can see/follow your track on the display and, if necessary, navigate to a waypoint/saved location.