Cellular enabled iPad or bluetooth enabled GPS such as inReach

[Lurch II]

I
Want to add this. The Inreach is not a replacement for a good PLB. Period. Its a nice thing to have just in case, but I would recommend anyone to use an ACR or equivalent for serious rescue gear, and does not require an active subscription to use it (as does the Inreach).

I won't disagree that a dedicated PLB is a great choice but it also has some limitations. It is a one and done solution - that is, when you activate it you are signalling a life and death distress situation. With the InReach you can temper that by communicating the nature of the emergency. Are you mechanically broken down? Are you stuck but not in need of life saving support? If so, you can relay that information with the InReach to the response center and they can then dispatch a measured response to the situation. This is, to my mind, an invaluable plus to the InReach. The ACR and other PLB's are reliable and perfect for life and death emergencies, and they don't require a subscription. The ACR SARLink offers some of the functionality of the InReach.

I have used the InReach in Kazakhstan, ad across the US and Canada and it has never failed me so I have a lot of confidence in it but I also recognize that, like any electronic device, it can fail at the inopportune times. The best of both worlds? A dedicated PLB and an InReach - if you have the cash.

 

[AZ WANDERING BEAR]

My current set up, planning process and execution is this:

Equipment
- Desktop/laptop with Garmin Base Camp
- Garmin Oregon 750T with street maps
- InReach
- Ipad with Gaia Premium and Garmin Earthmate

Planning
- Planning done on the desktop using Garmin Base Camp to consolidate tracks and waypoints (often multiple trips in the planning process at one time, each n their own file, also preserves old data for future use)
- Transfer .gpx files to Garmin Oregon, Gaia, map on InReach home page
- Sync InReach and Ipad
- Download supporting Gaia map layers on Ipad
- Share .gpx file with other members of the group

Execution
- Primary navigation driving is on Ipad following my preplanned tracks (Ipad gps chip does good, but I also bluetooth with InReach for comm ability through Earthmate)
- Back up navigation or any computational routing done via the Garmin Oregon
- Out of truck navigation on the Oregon
- Emergency comms and coordinating with other members of the group over long distances or with the folks back home is via InReach through the Earthmate app on Ipad

Hint: Convert routes to tracks. Tracks are simply a geocoded line. Routes are calculations that can lose their fidelity when transferred from one program or platform to another.

 

[Obi-Juan]

I cannot use the gps on the inreach explorer+ with my iPad. I have a Dual that works, but cannot figure out how to make the inreach work.


Sent from my iPad using OB Talk

Maybe you have tried this by now... But try enabling "Airplane Mode" on your iPad, then manually turn just your Bluetooth back on. That should force your iPad to use just your inReach as its GPS source.

 

[Zeroviz]

I just got off phone with Garmin....if your iPad has built in GPS then you need to turn off location services (GPS) to allow Garmin InReach to provide gps signal to your iPad....if you don’t do that then whatever signal is the strongest that one will over ride the other if location services is not off.
I’m going to try that later today because I noticed that the lat/long reading in Gaia and Earthmate were different then the InReach so my setup was using the built in GPS on my iPad.

 

[Geisterbild]

This might be the wrong thread, but at least it's related. I just purchased an iPad mini 4 (WiFi) on Black Friday (online, I am not crazy). It was $150 off MSRP, which persuaded me to go with the WiFi only iPad as the price difference to the GPS enabled iPad today is $280, plenty of room to purchase an external BT GPS antenna. My question is what is the best external BT GPS antenna/receiver for off road use? Thanks!!

 

[xplorr]

@Geisterbild, I've seen a lot of positive recommendations for the Dual XGPS150A ($99). Personally, though, I decided I wanted to have track logging on my GPS so that it would be power-on and forget and not have to worry about saving a track log in an app on my device. With that in mind, I narrowed my search down to the Dual XGPS160 and the Bad Elf Pro (both $150). At that higher price point, I started weighing future plans and decided to put that money towards a Garmin inReach Mini. The inReach Mini is a good bluetooth GPS receiver with logging, and with a subscription, gives you satellite messaging.

 

[Geisterbild]

@xplorr This is great info, thank you! I might see about saving up for the inReach mini as well.

 

[nickburt]

I just got off phone with Garmin....if your iPad has built in GPS then you need to turn off location services (GPS) to allow Garmin InReach to provide gps signal to your iPad....if you don’t do that then whatever signal is the strongest that one will over ride the other if location services is not off.
I’m going to try that later today because I noticed that the lat/long reading in Gaia and Earthmate were different then the InReach so my setup was using the built in GPS on my iPad.

Good info, thanks for sharing.

 

[Obi-Juan]

Good info, thanks for sharing.

Try putting your iPad in "Airplane Mode" by swiping down from the top-right corner, then re-enable just your bluetooth by pressing the greyed out bluetooth button. This will insure that you area only connected to your inReach for GPS comms.