Mapshare questions

I've got the 2nd part with Sent Points and messages figured out and showing on the map.  I'm trying to figure out how to copy the route into inReach from GC, GCM, or a file on my PC.  I don't want to connect my FR945 as I don't want everything from that device to get synced.  

My track from my "Sent Points" appears to be the same Blue that you show on the map above.

OK, I decided I'd try connecting the 945 and have it sync to a separate collection.  I can no longer add it back in to my account.  As far as I can tell Earthmate doesn't allow this, and when I go to Explore and tell it to Pair Device, I don't get any compatible devices.  I get a whole lot of "Unsupported devices".  It gives me an option to "Register device with Garmin Connect", but my 945 already is registered and paired with GC.  I wonder if the fact that I originally paired it, and then removed it to clear things out is preventing me from re-adding it.

I also tried to go to the inReach site and under "Plans & Devices" "Add other Device".  That takes me to a myGarmin web page that has the same list of unsupported devices but doesn't include the 945.

So I'm thinking I might be SOL for getting a course into mapshare.  I can't connect to my inReach/Mapshare account my one compatible device that I could load the course onto.

And now that I launched Explore to try to figure the connection thing, a bunch of my tracks I've tried to get rid of are back in my library.  I feel a bit like I'm going in circles.

Still can't add a course from GC or a file, but was able to convert a track I did a few days ago to a route.  And with that, using the inReach web page, if you click on the route, a popup shows up in the middle of the map.  Click on the little pencil and it gives you a chance to change the name AND the color.  So you can set the route color.  Not sure if you can change the track point color, but that isn't a big deal as long as they are two different colors.  Note that clicking on the pencil in the the collection only lets you change the name, not the color.

One oddity, after changing the color, I'm not seeing that route show up on the inReach map page, but it is showing up on my MapShare page and in the new color.  I set it to green.

This whole courses on the watch vs explore vs inReach is a mess. Creating a course on the explore web is still not following trails and seems to be just a straight line between points. No way I'm doing that. I've still got Basecamp on my PC and it is a far better experience even if it isn't what it needs to be. 

The whole inReach web needs a trip planning page where you pick or upload a course, set a date for the trip, and then pick your mapshare options for this trip. One simple wizard that asks all the right questions.

The other alternative is to have the inreach understand that I'm using a course on the watch and show that on mapshare. I'm tracking with the watch. I don't need to follow a course on both devices (if that is even possible)

Some of the functionality seems to be lurking just below the surface, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to make all the pieces work together.

Part of the problem here may be that the Mini is not fully supported directly by the Explore eco-system. You can't pair the Mini with GCM, nor can you use the Mini with the Explore mobile app. You have to use the Earthmate app with the mini. That's not to say that I understand why that would prevent you from adding a compatible device (the 945) to the same explore account with the Mini. But it's a possible reason.

Note: I realize most people have one on Garmin account. Some of us have more. I've included that possibility below because I KNOW it causes problems with the pairing.

The most reliable way I've found to get an Explore-compatible device paired with the phone, GCM, and the Explore app is as follows. Be sure that the device is NOT registered to any Connect account. If it is, remove it from all such accounts. If the device shows up in the phone's BT settings as paired, remove it from there as well. If the device allows you discrete control over paired BT phones, remove the phone from the device BT settings as well.

Now, make sure that both the GCM and Explore apps on your phone are logged into the Garmin account to which you want to add the device. Use GCM to pair the device with the phone and add it the Connect ecosystem. Open the Explore app and add a device. Any device which is not paired with Explore but IS paired with GCM should show up on the "add devices"  page (whatever it's called) as a discrete entry. Just tap the device in that list and follow the instructions to complete the pairing and first sync with the Explore app.

The "register device with Connect" link will always show up below the device list. You should NOT need to use it since you've already paired with GCM. I have never had good luck "demand pairing" with GCM from Explore. Always seems to work better if I pair with GCM first. I'm probably doing something wrong, but I don't know what.

Finally, note that you cannot get the Mini itself into the Explore app. You must use Earthmate, which doesn't know about Connect. So you'll never really get the Mini and the watch into the same app and visible at the same time.

The easiest way to get a course (from a device in the Connect ecosystem) onto an inReach is to export it from Connect as a .gpx file. Import the .gpx into the explore.garmin.com web site. Make sure to add it to a collection that is sync-d to the iR device.

Note that you can import as a track or as a route. If you want to be able to navigate it on any iR device other than a 66i, you should import as a route. This may result in "thinning" of points since routes support a limited number of points (IIRC, the limit is 200). Ironically, this limit appears to be due to the limitations of other devices in the Explore ecosystem. i know that older iR devices support routes with many more points.

In most cases, the thinning will be acceptable. However, routes with particular kinds of topology (for example, a lot of closely spaced switchbacks) may be simplified to the point where you can't follow them directly in the field.

Totally missed the import/export buttons in the inReach web page.  Thanks.  Interestingly, I am not seeing my routes show up on the inReach web page (left), but they are showing up in the MapShare page (right).  The green was converting a track from within my library, the red was importing a course (as a course where it reduced it to 200 points).

Too bad they don't directly support .FIT course files.

MapShare and Explore site visibility have separate controls. The visibility controls for the Explore site are more complicated.  

At least for routes, it doesn't seem to be working correctly (or, at least, the way I thought it did) at the moment. I have the opposite problem, though. The route (mostly) always shows up no matter how I adjust things.

The way I think it works is that the routes category in the library must be set to visible. Otherwise, no routes show up in any collection. (Making them invisible here does seem to hide them.) The collection in which the route exists must also be visible. (Making the collection invisible does not hide routes for me. However, making ALL collections invisible does hide them all. YMMV).

I don't know what's supposed to happen if the route exists in more than one collection. I did check. My test route only appears in one.

nmyeti Here is what my wife saw during today's run.  I was following the course I showed earlier.  Green is the old track converted to a route.  Red is the imported route (imported through the inReach site w/ max 200 pts).  Blue was the data sent from the inReach mini today.  The blue boxes or the preset messages I manually sent.  The little blue circles and the automatic "sent points".  And there is one little blue circle with a star in the middle if the switch back along the right edge.  That signifies a point where my wife clicked on the "Location" button so it poled my location.  Not sure what impact that has.  Is that considered a message that will come out of my 10 / month?  The blue Arrow at the bottom on top of to message boxes shows my current location when I turned off my inReach mini.

Thank you. I think it is starting to make a little more sense. 

OK, that explains it.  I had the courses set to not visible in the library so they weren't showing on the map even though I had them marked to display in my collection.  They are now all visible.