Can the Mini M1 only hold a single track in memory at a time? How can I record a long activity over the course of 2 days?

I'm going on a long bike ride this weekend. It will involve a stay overnight. I want to record the whole thing with the inReach Mini.

When I stop for the night, can I "stop tracking", or should I not? I could alternatively leave the device on all night to record the second day's mileage. If someone could answer the following questions that would be very helpful in being an inReach user in general:

1. If I stop tracking, once I start tracking again, does this clear the memory of the previous track? That is, how many tracks can the Mini store at one time?

2. If the device is left on, will the tracking frequency should automatically slow overnight?

3. If the device is left on, will it stay on indefinitely until it dies or is shut off, or is this only true when connected to an external power source?

4. If the device does die or is otherwise shut off during tracking, will the track be lost? Or will it resume where it left off once started back up?

I've had lots of problems with this device in the past, so I'm terrified of losing the whole recording because of a dumb mistake or misunderstanding (I really value having these gpx files). Is the inReach mini reliable for a multi-day activity? If not, I can just use my phone with Strava instead... though this is not preferred due to battery concerns.

0 6811232 over 1 year ago

Note: I understand that the sent points are pretty coarse, and that for a well-resolved track I need to grab it via USB once returning home. That is fine, my questions above still stand.

I also am aware that there is a 10,000 point limit on tracks synced to Explore. Is this true? If so, I may want to instead record each day separately, and manually combine the tracks later... but again, I don't know if that is possible since I don't know the answer to my question #1 above.

0 skyeye over 1 year ago in reply to 6811232

I use the Mini1 whole week for tracking and it works well. When charged occasionally, I travel with it a month and all is OK.

When you stay on one place within abt 100m or so, there will be an attempt to send a point only every hour as it also will check for messages in similar manner.

When device is on, it will be on until you switch it off or the battery is empty.

If the device is shut off, nothing is lost. All will be recovered next time you sync it with the garmin server.

0 twolpert over 1 year ago

SENT point frequency automatically adjusts when you stop moving. It goes up to one point every 4 hours until you move.

I do not believe that that applies to the LOGGED points. I THINK they continue at the interval you have selected. Note that any logging interval of 30 seconds or less keeps the GPS radio on at all times. This is a battery suck.

For logged points, there is only one "track". The actual limitation is on the number of logged points the unit can hold. Once the limit is reached, the log "wraps". New points overwrite the oldest points. 10,000 is the accepted number of logged points. However, as [not] explained here, it depends on what else you have stored on the device:

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=4FjxHHdUDl1YshLW1ae7DA

Bottom line is that you have no real idea other than the 10,000 rule of thumb.