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Which sat system is/are used by the inReach Mini?

Pablo Cruz Navea
over 4 years ago

Hi all!

Where can I find "official" information about the satellite systems that are used by the Mini?

I'm wondering why the Mini is slow to reach position locking. Although my Mini is quite fast compared to what many other people say on forums, it's still slow compared to my GPSMAP even if the latter is used with only GPS (Navstar) system.

Regards!
Pablo

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    The Mini uses only the US-based GPS system. It does not support Galileo, GLONASS, or BeiDou or any of the regional systems.

    I don't believe that the Mini uses an EPO file. At least, I can't find one on the device. If it's like any other GPS receiver, acquisition time will depend on whether or not the device has an up to date almanac on board. You may be able to improve acquisition time by making sure that the almanac is up to date. Allow the device to acquire a fix. Place the device on a fixed surface with a clear view of the sky, and step away. Let it "soak" for 20 minutes or so. By that time, it will have an up to date almanac. 

    If you use the unit regularly, the almanac will stay reasonably up to date. If not, it will eventually become stale (IIRC, 60 days although I have seen numbers as high as 6 months).

    You will also get a slower fix after moving the unit more than 200 miles with power off. (Slower first fix on next power on.) This is because the unit uses the almanac, location, and date/time to determine which satellites are overhead. Until it gets a fix, it's trying to use the last known location...

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to twolpert

    Good! I did what you recommended. Now the Mini is as fast as the GPSMAP when using with US-GPS only.

    Thanks.