inReach Waypoints Inaccurate

9920694 over 2 years ago

Hi there,

Has anyone ever experienced the following issue? :

When using my Garmin inReach EXPLORER+ device, I navigate to the "Waypoints" Icon, then to "New Waypoint" when taking a point to record my location in the field. When importing these points from my inReach EXPLORER+ device, everything seems to work smoothly. Then, when I attempt to open these point in Google Earth, it would seem as if the presented locations are ~50-100m off from the location I took the waypoint. This occurs for every single waypoint I have taken.

When in Google Earth, the waypoints also show up with blue balloon-shaped markers instead of the yellow pin-shaped Placemarks that Google Earth typically has.

What is the solution to have my points recorded and displayed accurately? I often have to come back to these locations, so taking a waypoint that is 50-100m inaccurate is not acceptable when the devices are at this price point.

0 twolpert over 2 years ago

Need some additional information. How did you get the waypoints from the Explorer+ into Google Earth?

If you navigate to the point using the Explorer+, so you arrive at the correct location or not? Looking to determine if the original waypoint was accurate.

0 Like2Hike over 2 years ago

Check to ensure the GPS position formats are the same (ie.degrees, minutes, decimal minutes)

0 9920694 over 2 years ago in reply to twolpert

I used the provided Explorer+ USB cable to upload the points into a collection at explore.garmin.com/Map. I then exported the collection as a .kml file and saved to my desktop. Then opened the .kml file using Google Earth.

Thanks for your help in advance.

0 9920694 over 2 years ago in reply to twolpert

Update: When in Google Earth, I have looked into the fact that it may be a projection error. When using the "Clamp to Ground" function in Google Earth, the point moves to the correct location. It looks like they are being projected at the wrong location, when in reality it is that the point is being shown at an elevation far above where the actual point was taken.

Do you know if there are any settings in inReach that would:

A) Cause the elevation of the points to be inaccurate

or...

B) allow me to export points from the Explorer+ without elevation ?

0 twolpert over 2 years ago in reply to 9920694

I don't know about legacy devices such as the Explorer+. Some iR devices do not include elevation with the waypoint - so they all come out as zero (approximately sea level, depending on the exact location). This does not sound like what is happening here.

Even if elevation is included, it could well be inaccurate. In general, vertical error is at least 2x to 3x the error in horizontal position.

I don't recall what the .kml file looks like. If you export from the Map tab in .gpx format, you can examine the .gpx file (with a dumb editor like Windows notepad). This allows you to easily examine the elevation recorded in the waypoint.

0 skyeye over 2 years ago in reply to 9920694

you can not expect waypoints created on a grid basically on a mercator projection to be exactly same on google earth. This uses different projection as the maps are displayed on a 'round' earth picture.