Explorer plus or Mini?

Any comments?

I am considering a tracker, not interested in a spot and their network. Spider Tracks unit is expensive and would prefer to go with an In Reach if possible unless they dont perform well then in that case I will consider Spider Tracks.

Has anyone found any deals on plans? Years ago there was a great discount for pilots or glider pilots if I remember correctly.

Any input would be much appreciated.

Kurt

I prefer to only have to provide care and feeding for one battery if in an emergency.

I've kind of sold myself on the Garmin Mini after some research

I also use the InReach and they are great but not frequent enough position pings to be useful for aircraft tracking imo, unless you can get them down to 2 or 3 minute point locations, which I haven’t been able to do?

If you’re looking at aircraft tracking TracPlus are also on iridium network and their new RockAir unit connects to cellular and satellite seamlessly, so you only pay for satellite tracking when out of cellular coverage. I haven’t used it (I use Spidertracks) but it does seem to be a sensible option if constant tracking is required.
Two different devices for different uses really.

NZMaule wrote:I also use the InReach and they are great but not frequent enough position pings to be useful for aircraft tracking imo, unless you can get them down to 2 or 3 minute point locations, which I haven’t been able to do?

inReach can be set to send points as often as 1 per minute. I have mine set to 2 minute points.

Thanks BonanzaMan I haven’t been able to set mine to that in the past, will have to have another look - then InReach should do it all.

rw2 wrote:I prefer to only have to provide care and feeding for one battery if in an emergency.

Ok....So are you going to leave me guessing?

Kurt

We have TracPlus at work and have had some problems with the new rockair tracker switching between satellite and cellular. That being said, they are totally different units and capabilities. The TracPlus unit is really good at tracking, but the emergency button on the back would be real hard to get to in an emergency. The inReach unit is not a real good tracker, but the user interface seems to be much easier and the SOS button is much more user friendly. I chose to go with the inReach unit for my personal use as the user interface and monthly plan was more affordable. 8 also like being able to send messages from my iPad or iPhone.

I currently have an inReach Explorer Plus and am very happy with it. I also had the inReach SE
I have the Recreation plan for $25/month or $300 a year and for tracking it can be set for as low as 1 minute point locations but is limited to 10 minute reporting intervals.
Basically every ten minutes it sends an update with your last 10 location points.

Which model to get?
I am also unsure if I want to get the inReach mini or not because I regularly go on multi day trips so battery life is important to me.

They are all lithium ion rechargeables.
Battery life from the Garmin website:

SE & Explorer Plus:
Up to 100 hours at 10-minute tracking mode (default);
up to 75 hours at 10-minute tracking with 1-second logging;
up to 30 days at the 30-minute interval power save mode; and
up to 3 years when powered off

Mini:
Up to 50 hours at 10-minute tracking with 2-minute logging (default);
up to 30 hours at 10-minute tracking with 1-second logging;
up to 20 days at the 30-minute interval power save mode; and
up to 1 year when powered off

I like the idea of the smaller size and weight of the Mini but I am not a fan of having to recharge the battery more often.
Undecided

G44 wrote:

rw2 wrote:I prefer to only have to provide care and feeding for one battery if in an emergency.

Ok....So are you going to leave me guessing?

Kurt

Hey Kurt,
The mini requires your phone for use and the app for use. It doesn’t do much as a stand alone unit. Therefore, when the poo hits the fan, you have to make sure the mini and your phone battery remain charged. The bigger InReach has full functionality on its own. You will likely use the app as well because it makes it easier. However, in an emergency, you will be happy to only have to care for the InReach.

Tracking works great. I upgrade to the more expensive plan when I fly the backcountry so I get the most frequent tracking intervals. I then downgrade the plan when I see fit toward the end of summer. Usually I shut it down completely for the winter. That is the beauty of the Freedom plans. You can really just get what you need.

Joe

twflyer wrote:

G44 wrote:

rw2 wrote:I prefer to only have to provide care and feeding for one battery if in an emergency.

Ok....So are you going to leave me guessing?

Kurt

Hey Kurt,
The mini requires your phone for use and the app for use. It doesn’t do much as a stand alone unit. Therefore, when the poo hits the fan, you have to make sure the mini and your phone battery remain charged. The bigger InReach has full functionality on its own. You will likely use the app as well because it makes it easier. However, in an emergency, you will be happy to only have to care for the InReach.

Tracking works great. I upgrade to the more expensive plan when I fly the backcountry so I get the most frequent tracking intervals. I then downgrade the plan when I see fit toward the end of summer. Usually I shut it down completely for the winter. That is the beauty of the Freedom plans. You can really just get what you need.

Joe

Thanks Joe, that makes sense now.

Kurt

So if I understand this correctly the InReach can report a track but only communicates this externally at 10 minute intervals? If that’s the case what’s the point (in the aviation environment) of having 1 minute logging only to send the data so long afterwards?
For example if you go down and your unit is destroyed 8 minutes after the last download/upload of tracking data, your last position report for anyone to find you is 8 minutes in any direction, (although the previous track may give some indication of the direction you were intending to travel). Or am I interpreting this wrong?

I like the InReach (I have multiple units for work) but for some reason we don’t use them as an aircraft tracking device but perhaps we should if they can genuinely update every 1 or 2 minutes like the Spidertracks and TracPlus units we currently use.

NZMaule wrote:So if I understand this correctly the InReach can report a track but only communicates this externally at 10 minute intervals? If that’s the case what’s the point (in the aviation environment) of having 1 minute logging only to send the data so long afterwards?
For example if you go down and your unit is destroyed 8 minutes after the last download/upload of tracking data, your last position report for anyone to find you is 8 minutes in any direction, (although the previous track may give some indication of the direction you were intending to travel). Or am I interpreting this wrong?

That is correct for the Recreation Plan at $25/month

They have more expensive options. Extreme Plan at $80/month gets you down to 2 minute tracking intervals and unlimited text messages.

You can set the inReach to record as low as 1 second log intervals of your location but it will only send that data out every 10 minutes for my recreation plan. It sure eats up the battery quick though

NZMaule wrote:So if I understand this correctly the InReach can report a track but only communicates this externally at 10 minute intervals? If that’s the case what’s the point (in the aviation environment) of having 1 minute logging only to send the data so long afterwards?
For example if you go down and your unit is destroyed 8 minutes after the last download/upload of tracking data, your last position report for anyone to find you is 8 minutes in any direction, (although the previous track may give some indication of the direction you were intending to travel). Or am I interpreting this wrong?

I like the InReach (I have multiple units for work) but for some reason we don’t use them as an aircraft tracking device but perhaps we should if they can genuinely update every 1 or 2 minutes like the Spidertracks and TracPlus units we currently use.

The Extreme plan has a two minute tracking interval. Here is a link to the plans and what is included in each.

https://explore.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/

Joe

Alaskan Tin Can wrote:You can set the inReach to record as low as 1 second log intervals of your location but it will only send that data out every 10 minutes for my recreation plan. It sure eats up the battery quick though

Unless they have changed things, the 1 second (or indeed anything less than 10 minutes on the 10 minute plan) only gets logged locally. It never gets sent to the satellite. You can only access that data once you get back to civilization and sync your InReach with the cloud.

I purchased the in Reach Mini prior to my trip to Idaho in July. Did lots of research prior and decided it was perfect for me. I think you only need your cell phone for messaging and not for using the emergency button. Fortunately I didn't have to use it.

Magnet wrote:I purchased the in Reach Mini prior to my trip to Idaho in July. Did lots of research prior and decided it was perfect for me. I think you only need your cell phone for messaging and not for using the emergency button. Fortunately I didn't have to use it.

Yup, that's right. If you only want to call the calvary, then it's perfect.

My concern was that I figure it's far more likely that I'll be stuck somewhere and need help, but not SAR. I guess that's happened to me twice already, so I'm happy to have the bigger one. That was part of my thought process behind InReach versus Spot as well. I want to be able to send arbitrary messages and that wasn't possible with spot until recently.

The mini can send texts with out your phone. It just is not easy from what I have been told but it can be done.

AK_Logan wrote:The mini can send texts with out your phone. It just is not easy from what I have been told but it can be done.

I stand corrected. Just found a video demoing that. Major PITA, but it can indeed be done!

Thanks for all the good input.

Kurt