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Earthmate tracking is way, way off

8843165
over 3 years ago

Hi - I'm quite familiar with Garmin watches and have synced many hikes with my iPhone 11 and had no issues.  However in preparation for a FKT in a few weeks, I bought the InReach Mini and tested it for the first time this morning on a 8.3 mile walk to work.  When I finished the Earthmate app showed:

Trip time:  02:18:28

Time moving:  01:40:21

Distance:  6.25 mi

Speed Max:  6.06 mph

Moving Average:  3.1 mph

Trip Time is accurate so it did start tracking when I hit "Select OK to Start Tracking".  The rest is nonsense.  I did not stop moving the entire time, distance was 8.3 miles not 6.25, speed did not vary much except on steeps hills, and 6 mph is running not walking.  This is a route I've walked may times and tracked with Garmin watches and Gaia on my phone.

Please help me understand the issue.  The only reason I purchased was for FKTs and it has to work properly.

Thanks,

Craig 

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I did the same thing today. I believe the difference between my watch (FR 945) and my inReach was 1 second vs 2 minute logging of points. When I look at the track recorded by the inReach, it cut a lot of corners as compared to my watch. I was surprised how different 2 minutes was walking on city streets. I went 8 miles (per my watch) and got 6.5 on my inReach.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to BLADE7658

    I spoke with Garmin support and believe they sorted it out.  Short answer is set your Log Interval to 1 second.  Apparently this more closely matches a GPS watch, which is continuously connected.  I tried this on the same 8.3 mile walk and my InReach came in at 8.4 miles, then went on a long hike where my watch logged 37 miles vs 38 for my InReach Mini.  It's supposed to drain your battery a lot faster but mine held up whereas my watch needed a recharge near the end.  Hope this works for you as well.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 8843165

    Good feedback on battery. We head out soon for an AT through hike and power conservation will be vital. I think I will try both now (but the inReach could last longer but take more power to recharge - ah, the variables!). 

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to BLADE7658

    I hear you, been thinking through battery management for a FKT the past month.  I've been using a Nitecore NB10000 which weighs about 5oz and will charge an iPhone 11 twice, which is a lot of juice.  iPhone batteries are huge, on airplane mode and low battery setting a single charge should last up to a week.  The InReach Mini battery is much smaller and a watch battery is tiny.  As long as you turn them off at night, I suspect you will need to resupply in town long before the Nitecore needs a recharge.  Hope that helps.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 8843165

    Suspect you are exactly right. Looking forward to starting the experiment on Saturday!

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Just as a general note: Any "logging" at intervals of 30 seconds or less will cause the Mini to keep the GPS radio on constantly. This is a battery suck. You will see a warning when you change the interval to 30 seconds or less.

    Battery wise, the other thing to watch out for with the Mini in particular (although it applies to all iR devices) is use in challenging conditions. When you send a track point or message by satellite, the Mini (re)tries very hard to get the point out. This involves extensive use of the iR radio, which is an even bigger power hog since it involves transmission. If you are in poor conditions for a long time, this will drain the battery.

    Even if you are not tracking, the same thing applies to the once-an-hour active message check.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to twolpert

    That's very helpful thanks.  In easy conditions I haven't found much battery drain with 1 second log interval, but watches are nonetheless more efficient logging devices so I'm going to turn off logging on my iR and just use it for tracking, messaging and SOS.