iPad + inReaach Mini + Gaia GPS = no bueno

[Jgenshlea]

I have an older iPad without GPS. I also have a Garmin inReach mini and GAIA Gps installed on my ipad. I have a GAIA premium account if that matters.

I can successfully connect my inReach to my iPad over bluetooth. My inReach mini indicates that it acquired a GPS signal.

Last week while in Eastern Oregon the accuracy of the current location was very poor. I was driving down hwy 97 at about 65 mph and the marker wouldn't move at all for 20 minutes at a time. And when it did finally "unstick" it would just move to a very inaccurate location. It's almost like my iPad was trying to figure out where it was based on known wifi networks. It was really that bad. I just turned it off.

Can anyone give me some trouble-shooting ideas?
JOE

 

[Overland Omnivore]

I have an older iPad without GPS. I also have a Garmin inReach mini and GAIA Gps installed on my ipad. I have a GAIA premium account if that matters.

I can successfully connect my inReach to my iPad over bluetooth. My inReach mini indicates that it acquired a GPS signal.

Last week while in Eastern Oregon the accuracy of the current location was very poor. I was driving down hwy 97 at about 65 mph and the marker wouldn't move at all for 20 minutes at a time. And when it did finally "unstick" it would just move to a very inaccurate location. It's almost like my iPad was trying to figure out where it was based on known wifi networks. It was really that bad. I just turned it off.

Can anyone give me some trouble-shooting ideas?
JOE

I think you may be asking too much out of your iPad…when I first read this I pulled out my iPad which has GPS to test it out because I recently dropped the cell service off of it…it worked ok but was not perfect…I was not using the downloaded map for GAIA but I generally do…you may just need to update your iPad to one with GPS…I’m not an expert on this for sure but I know I have had problems trying to merge older to newer technology especially when I start stacking different components from different manufacturers…hope that helps

 

[Flipper]

Sounds like the gps isn’t connected or turned on. That’s how my iPad acts if I turn off my Garmin GLO. Also try downloading your mapping instead of redrawing real-time.

 

[Ubiety]

I have an older iPad without GPS. I also have a Garmin inReach mini and GAIA Gps installed on my ipad. I have a GAIA premium account if that matters.

I can successfully connect my inReach to my iPad over bluetooth. My inReach mini indicates that it acquired a GPS signal.

Last week while in Eastern Oregon the accuracy of the current location was very poor. I was driving down hwy 97 at about 65 mph and the marker wouldn't move at all for 20 minutes at a time. And when it did finally "unstick" it would just move to a very inaccurate location. It's almost like my iPad was trying to figure out where it was based on known wifi networks. It was really that bad. I just turned it off.

Can anyone give me some trouble-shooting ideas?
JOE

What version of the InReach do you have? I have heard that the older (v1?) work better as a shared GPS than the newer/latest model. Where do you keep the inReach while it is in use? Does it have a good view of the sky and can you move it to a place where it has a better view? Does the InReach have any way to view GPS "statistics" such as satellites in view or DOP? If so you might be able to glean some info from that data. Also you may try monitoring the iPad's Bluetooth connection to the InReach - maybe it has dropped and that is causing the issue? I'll bet that there is an app on the App Store that can display GPS statistics and that may prove to be useful.

FWIW - I use a cellular enabled iPad (has hardware GPS) without a data plan and that has always worked flawlessly for me. I run OB1, onX and Gaia simultaneously, since I find that each has its own strengths, and each of these work fine for me.

My previous iPad was not a cellular/GPS model and I got position data to it by connecting to my iPhone's hot-spot. There are folks that swear that this does not work but it did for me. This might prove to be a good backup plan if nothing else (and it works for you). Been a long time since I have done this so I cannot say if it still works.

 

[Kent R]

I have had the same setup for a long time, linking the iPad to the InReach. First I had an older iPad mini that was acting like yours is, and after some lengthy research mostly here on the forum I found that it was just to old and would not keep up with the data. I then purchased a used iPad pro and have no issues at all.
You might do a search for similar posts on the forum.

Modern electronics, with built in obsolescence ;-)
Good luck!!