LOL, well if it's any consolation my wife doesn't use the embedded map link either. She's happy enough to get the OK messages, and I'm very happy not to be texting.
Spot can be set up so that others can follow the trip, and when set up with 10-minute tracking intervals the batteries (lithium) last about 80 hours, give or take, but if used only for morning and evening check-in/OK messages they can last a very long time. I tested it on a couple of trips early on, but after the novelty wore off I realized I have no interest in the tracking stuff.
Couple of weeks and we have a "social" hike, maybe 8 miles out and back. I'll get that set up and exactly what gets transmitted, sending to my other email/sms as well.
Also I need a better feel for just how long this thing will last battery wise. I intend to shut it off at night and already know it takes a bit to locate the satellites so I need to factor in start up. Probably turn on in AM and secure it to pack last-ish.
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Miles to go before I sleep. R. Frost
Hiking from 6:30 am to 4:30 pm with 1 minute tracking and reporting location every 10 minutes I could get 3 says from 1 charge.
I used the Go Zero Nomad 7 (newest model) at 8-12 oz and could easily keep my iPhone, Fennix 3 and InReached charged on the JMT. On the AT I use USB rechargeable pack (10,000 mah)
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I have an external battery. The weight and amp-hour I don't recall, but it would be another giz to tote and keep track of.
If I get 3 days that would be perfect, in Sept I'm doing Hampton Tennessee to Damascus. On the AT that should be a 3 day.
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Miles to go before I sleep. R. Frost
If I was just doing three days I would bring a much smaller USB battery as backup.
If you are using messaging it's easier to type and sent them on a smart phone. Using the InReach Earthmate App.
It can be done from the InReach but it's more tedious.
Practice before you go around your neighborhood.
Hope this helps
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Now that I think about it, I can see my family inundating me every 45 minutes with messages like "do you see any bears?", "are you alright?", "is it raining?", and "you haven't sent a message in an hour, are you getting mauled by a bear?"
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
Tell them you'll check in 3x a day and in the meantime either you're moving or bigfoot is dragging your carcass. Either way you're too busy to natter.
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Miles to go before I sleep. R. Frost
I never encountered these problems. YMMV.
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I first bought an ARC ResQlink PLB because I wanted to give my wife peace of mind and not wanting to pay for a service plan. After doing a hike were I had zero cell service and could not contact her to let her know I was fine I knew I need to upgrade to something better. I looked at the SPOT gen3 and the Inreach SE and decided to buy the Inreach SE. It was more money than the SPOT but IMHO was worth it to be able to send and receive text messages. The service plans cost me $15.87 per month so it comparable to SPOT service plan. Also being able to send text and receive text shouldn't be under rated. If you have an emergency at home love ones can contact you so you can get off trail and return home. If you need help you can talk to your rescuers to provide info they may need.
Google maps is a resource I don't utilize enough and I would like to do exactly what you are.. plot those sections of the AT I have sectioned. Would you be able to share how you export to a single map? Many of sections were incorporated in treks that departed to other trails.. is there a way to edit the track data so that only the AT legs are displayed?
Try as I might, I can't seem to locate the Delorme app. Is it listed under a different name? Any insight you can offer would be appreciated!!
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I just got my InReach I'm getting it set up for a 6 day backpacking trip around the Cloud Peak Wilderness. Everything seems to be fairly simple since I am not setting up tracking or anything, however I am running into two things I am curious about: 1) When paired my phone is paired with the device does the Earthmate App use the GPS location it receives from the InReach when it doesn't have it's own signal or is in Airplane mode? 2) What preset messages do you use or recommend?
Good question. The In Reach (I have the Explorer) instruction doesn't seem to specify!
As to messages I only added a light-hearted "all OK, but send beer" to tell DW I'm still with it.
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Miles to go before I sleep. R. Frost
I reviewed the manual, no explicit definition. Suppose you could call Delorme. If I can I'll walk outside this PM and see what whether my Android/Note 7 will pair and still be in airplane mode or if I can toggle it's GPS to Off while the inReach is paired and functioning.
Certainly a way to save battery power.
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Miles to go before I sleep. R. Frost
I'm speaking as an IPhone 6 User. Not sure about Android!
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Walked outside and turned on in Reach and cell.
Airplane mode on the cell turns _off_ Bluetooth, the two, Android and iReach, will not communicate then.
With both on and Bluetooth enabled I did not see the icon appearing on the cell that indicates that the GPS receiver was enabled. So the iReach was using only it's antennae.
In a couple of weeks we'll be doing a social hike in BullCreek (a Florida WMA) so I'll be doing a full-on test then. Leaving it on and sending location data to DW. An acid test. Right at the moment everything seems straight forward and one charge _should_ (he said, navigationaly) last the 3 days I need just now.
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Miles to go before I sleep. R. Frost