Garmin inReach for Papua Backcountry

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Seems like the important core features have been stable for some time. I imagine there's some learning curve since the Mini was I believe designed completely by Garmin so no legacy debugging of a mature device to inherit from DeLorme.

I believe it uses a different chipset than the Explorers, so that makes sense.

Another in-depth review from 2018.

Garmin inReach Mini Satellite Communicator In-Depth Review

For those that have been around the DCR block long enough, you’ll know that I’m always looking for tracking solutions for my worldly activities. Especially ones that don’t depend on having a mobile phone nearby, and even more so for

www.dcrainmaker.com

I remember the early days of Garmin taking over inReach were filled with confusion over the subscription plans and how the devices functioned if the subscription was paused. Initially, if there wasn't an active subscription, an Explorer was useless, with even the basic GPS functionality turned off. After a few months, Garmin fixed that and adjusted the plans, but there's still some bad data from old reviews floating around.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I believe it uses a different chipset than the Explorers, so that makes sense.

Perhaps a different GPS chipset or main MPU and the architecture is probably modernized but I doubt it's a different Iridum short burst data modem.

 

[shade]

Perhaps a different GPS chipset or main MPU and the architecture is probably modernized but I doubt it's a different Iridum short burst data modem.

Makes sense. I'm sure there's more churn in GPS development driven by other mobile devices than Iridium modems. I'll see if I can find the specific chipsets.

 

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Garmin inReach Mini - by Larrin Wada / Core77 Design Awards

designawards.core77.com

"Through further refinement we arrived at a design that was half the size of its competitors. At such a small scale it was necessary for new electrical components to be designed. A smaller integrated Iridium chipset and quad-helix antenna that uses both GPS and Iridium satellite communication were designed to fit into the smaller footprint."

So, that's something. It may also explain some complaints about slow GPS fixes, and other signal related issues.

Neat stuff on the horizon. Looks like enhanced capabilities, as well as improved signal strength for legacy devices.

GPS Block III - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[DaveInDenver]

The delay in block III might even give time for receiver chipsets to be available by the time the new signals become active. ;-)

 

[wltrmtty]

Thanks for the feedback! Good discussion.

mep1811, he will likely be doing this flying for years. Yes, the plane (Cessna Caravan, Amphibious) will have an ELT. This unit would be an extra signal plus, "I'm ok" or other messages depending on the situation.

There will be dense jungle, so I understand that will be an issue. He will also have an IPhone and Anker battery, but don't want to depend on that, alone.

Thanks, again,

Terry

 

[SquirrelZ]

Terminology is important! Does the airplane really have an ELT? Although they are not TOTALLY worthless, they're a lot closer to worthless than to being an important safety feature. But don't take the word my word for it.... go to the official NOAA website, which is listed below.

406MHz Emergency Distress Beacons | SARSAT

www.sarsat.noaa.gov

Here is an extract from that website.

Antiquated 121.5 MHZ ELTs are also available. The 121.5 MHz ELTs were intended to alert other aircraft flying overhead of a crash. Satellites are not listening for the 121.5 MHz ELT signal. A major limitation of a 121.5 MHz ELT is that another aircraft must be within range and listening to 121.5 MHz to receive the signal.

There are approximately 170,000 of the older generation 121.5 MHz ELTs in service. Unfortunately, these have proven to be highly ineffective. They have a 97% false alarm rate, activate properly in only 12% of crashes, and provide no identification data.

406 MHz ELTs dramatically reduce the false alert impact on SAR resources, have a higher accident survivability success rate, and decrease the time required to reach accident victims by an average of 6 hours.


Presently, most aircraft operators are mandated to carry an ELT and have the option to choose between either a 406 MHz ELT or a 121.5 MHz ELT. The Federal Aviation Administration has studied the issue of mandating carriage of 406 MHz ELTs. The study indicates that 134 extra lives and millions of dollars in SAR resources could be saved per year. No one can argue the importance of 406 MHz ELTs and the significant advantages they hold. For more information on the differences between 121.5 MHz Beacons and 406 MHz beacons click to view a Comparison.


Due to the obvious advantages of 406 MHz beacons and the significant disadvantages to the older 121.5 MHz beacons, the International Cospas-Sarsat Program stopped monitoring of 121.5 MHz by satellites on February 1st, 2009. All pilots are highly encouraged both by NOAA and by the FAA to consider making the switch to 406!

The critical thing is that the Cospas and SARSAT satellites no longer monitor 121.5. So an aircraft needs to fly over head and be monitoring 121.5 for the beacon to be heard.

If you son's airplane really does have an ELT, buying a PLB (406 beacon) would be something to seriously consider in that part of the world. Of course a PLB needs to manually triggered, which is a trade off. 406 beacons designed for aircraft are designed to activate when an impact (something like 2 or 3 G's) is detected. The accelerometers inside an ELT are one of the big differences between an ELT and a PLB. 406 ELT's and PLB's provide a GPS position when activated, which takes the "search" out of search and rescue which is a big part of why they are so much more effective than the old 121.5 ELT's.

 

[SquirrelZ]

Oops, looks like the previous post was added twice.

Anyhow, I forgot to mention that you need to ask your son if has inflight tracking on the airplane. There are a number of companies that do it, Spider Tracks is one example. Its a simple way to have visibility on a flight. I'd bet almost all commercial operations use something like it and its also widely used by private pilots. They are another excellent layer of safety in addition to an ELT. You might even be able to use something like Flight Aware to see his flights.

 

[wltrmtty]

Thanks, AquirrelZ. My son tells me the planes are equipped with a Spot and he has one of his own - redundancy is not a bad thing. I've asked him to look into whether an inReach would be a worthwhile add.

Thanks, again!

 

[wltrmtty]

I just got an update. The planes are equipped with inReach.