To all,

Has anyone given the Garmin Inreach Mini a go yet ??

Cheers,

Mapleflt

Good timing. I was just looking at those at REI the other day. I am going to grab some popcorn, sit on the couch and wait to see if there are any responses...

Might want to repost with a more descriptive subject line...I thought you were asking about mini cooper automobiles or apple mini i-pads...two things well worth ignoring for any backcountry pilot...

The latest Aviation Consumer has some opening comments about the device, and that they liked it (not a review of the product) but support was problematic. It’s such a new device that tech support couldn’t provide adequate support for it (lacked knowledge). They did say that they (Garmin) were working diligently to correct the support problem, though.

I haven’t tried it, but I did talk to a garmin rep the other day and was disappointed to learn that you can’t run two devices on a single account. I have an inReach and would be interested in adding the mini, but don’t want to get a devoted account for it. Minor detail, perhaps.

I received mine just before flying up to Johnson Creek last week. Fortunately I didn't have to use it. Did send some messages. Neat little unit. Inexpensive plans available also.

Brian M wrote:I haven’t tried it, but I did talk to a garmin rep the other day and was disappointed to learn that you can’t run two devices on a single account. I have an inReach and would be interested in adding the mini, but don’t want to get a devoted account for it. Minor detail, perhaps.

FWIW, we have two devices on a single account. My wife has one that she takes hiking and I have one that I take aviating. Not sure why the rep told you differently.

I have been using an inReach for 5+ years. I had the latest Garmin branded unit and then got the Mini yesterday. The Mini does almost everything the bigger one does. But the deal breakers for me are it will not turn on automatically with the application of external power. It also will not turn off when power is removed. The previous units all would. The reason I like this is because no human interaction is needed. The unit turns itself on as soon as I turn the master on and then puts itself into tracking mode. When I shut the master off it stops tracking and shuts down. So the Mini will be out the door shortly.

Bonanza Man wrote:I have been using an inReach for 5+ years. I had the latest Garmin branded unit and then got the Mini yesterday. The Mini does almost everything the bigger one does. But the deal breakers for me are it will not turn on automatically with the application of external power. It also will not turn off when power is removed. The previous units all would. The reason I like this is because no human interaction is needed. The unit turns itself on as soon as I turn the master on and then puts itself into tracking mode. When I shut the master off it stops tracking and shuts down. So the Mini will be out the door shortly.

I could see the fact that I turns off automatically as being bad in an emergency. Say you crash and a wire gets unhooked, now your I reach turns off and stops sending a signal, right when you really need it to be sending...

This "instant off" feature makes it a "write off" as I see it ....!!!

https://www.rei.com/blog/news/which-satellite-messenger-should-you-get

Have both the Gen 2 and Gen3, and they're fine for the regular airport-airport stuff. However, for the remote, "I'll never hike outta here", contingency, I'd like to have have the texting capability. Flagged down a passing helicopter last time, but I know I was drawing on an inside straight. Like ABW tires, just an added cost of our side of the hobby.

There's no bad choice, just the hand-wringing about making the best one.

rw2 wrote:

Brian M wrote:I haven’t tried it, but I did talk to a garmin rep the other day and was disappointed to learn that you can’t run two devices on a single account. I have an inReach and would be interested in adding the mini, but don’t want to get a devoted account for it. Minor detail, perhaps.

FWIW, we have two devices on a single account. My wife has one that she takes hiking and I have one that I take aviating. Not sure why the rep told you differently.

Good to know. Thanks! I had wondered if the rep was correct on that...

I figure the mini would be fine for my needs 90% of the time, but sometimes I either don’t have my phone or its battery will die, and when on remote multi-day hunts it can be nice to have the text feature, even if it’s a pain to use without the phone. So, I’ll be keeping my larger model, but like the idea of adding the mini.

Brian M wrote:

rw2 wrote:

Brian M wrote:I haven’t tried it, but I did talk to a garmin rep the other day and was disappointed to learn that you can’t run two devices on a single account. I have an inReach and would be interested in adding the mini, but don’t want to get a devoted account for it. Minor detail, perhaps.

FWIW, we have two devices on a single account. My wife has one that she takes hiking and I have one that I take aviating. Not sure why the rep told you differently.

Good to know. Thanks! I had wondered if the rep was correct on that...

I figure the mini would be fine for my needs 90% of the time, but sometimes I either don’t have my phone or its battery will die, and when on remote multi-day hunts it can be nice to have the text feature, even if it’s a pain to use without the phone. So, I’ll be keeping my larger model, but like the idea of adding the mini.

Wonder if he meant "two devices on one account" or "two devices sharing one plan"... The former is a given, but perhaps Brian M was interested in the latter?

For me it was a no brainer! I have been running the Delorme "black box" inreach since it came out in 2012. The inreach mini is so much smaller and lighter and with many more capabilities that my old unit. And I will be much more likely to grab it on trips that I may not have in the past. It has been an awesome unit so far!

When I first read the comment about running while plugged in, my brain interpreted it as “does not work while plugged in.” I ordered one anyway. It is awesome. Like Hammer has mentioned in several posts, if you won’t carry it with you, you won’t ever use it. I have used mine hiking the past several days and it is so small that you don’t even notice it. The app interface is much better than expected. Compared to SPOT, the setup, account management, etc is a dream. Bonus points for still having all functionality even when not connected to a bluetooth device. The piece that really made me excited is that I can charge it with my portable solar panel meaning that it never runs out of batteries regardless of what I am doing. It is a winner in my book.

I have had my Inreach Mini a couple weeks. So far, I'm not particularly impressed. My issue is that it needs a perfectly, unflawed view of the sky to get any GPS signal at all. Inside the aircraft up by the windshield it gets no GPS signal. I have tried in my Super Cub and in a Learjet at FL480. This seems to be an issue if you go down and are stuck inside the aircraft (or even heavy tree cover). The device will be unusable. I have not found any other complaints like this though, perhaps my unit is flawed. Can anyone comment?

Not sure about the cub but I have had issues with certain devices not working well with heated windshields. Had issues with a Garmin 496 and the xm antenna in the Falcon if it wasn’t positioned just so. May not be your problem but just a thought.

That was a common problem in my airline days. You had to position a GPS device on a side/unheated window for it to work properly.