Garmin inReach Explorer+ discontinued

It was indeed the wrong guy to quote. I'm glad I made the mistake though. You seem to have a lot of knowledge in this area. It was a good read.

 

A bit off topic, but made me think of this thread:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LFLl9q-bEgk

 

Always weird quoting yourself but I'm always one to admit when I'm incorrect. In this case I really blew the 5 year timeline. Sorry. lol

https://www.engadget.com/qualcomm-snapdragon-satellite-messaging-android-211037007.html

 

Nice. They are using Iridium which has broader coverage (i.e. truly global) than Global Star which Apple is using. Smart to just partner with Garmin for the emergency response processing.

Press release ghosts Starlink in anticipation of competition by noting Iridium uses the “weather-resilient L-band spectrum”. Starlink uses much higher frequencies which can be severely attenuated by rain.

 

This is a great thread and like @DVexile states, I too run a PLB and a mini. Eventually this will work its way out in our favor as these companies are in the business of taking our hard-earned money. Each system has its merits though, If I had only one it would definitely be the PLB. Off grid texting is a great luxury and helps some cope with the solitude of remote travel and is a great way to communicate for those unplanned issues that may arise short of a full-blown life-threatening emergency. Having been in some bad situations, pre-cellphone, do not rely on any electronics to save you. Like the video above, these emergency devices can lead some to people to get in over their head by treating the sos feature as room service. SAR take risk every time they respond to these calls. Social media can be a reason behind some of the unnecessary risk taking and as technology grows it can give a false sense of security. Whatever your mode of travel is make sure to carry your map and compass. I prefer UTM coordinates and related measuring device.

 

Interesting that their demo directs the user to move the phone around to get the best signal. Wonder if the hardware is different from Garmin, or if Garmin just didnt want users worrying about it

 

That’s a bummer, I like my explorer+, even though the maps are sometimes not the best.
Has anyone tried the GPSMAP 66i? It looks like it should also let you send messages without a separate device.
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/623975
The price has kept me from trying it myself.

 

I've not X-rayed or disassembled the inReach Mini, but it appears likely that its antenna is a helical monopole which would in general perform well if just held upright. In that vertical orientation it would have the most gain towards the horizon where satellites would be at their longest range with somewhat lower gain straight up where satellites are at closer range. In other words, its antenna pattern is well suited to its use case without any orientation beyond just holding the device with the antenna pointed up as would be natural. While the antenna size is small for the wavelength it does functionally occupy a decent volume which means it is probably reasonably efficient despite its short length. It also appears to use an Iridium provided satellite modem module already designed to close link with such antennas so there would be little point in Garmin trying to be fancier.

For the antenna integrated into a phone things are probably a bit more sketchy. The antenna volume is going to have to be quite a bit smaller of course as this is sort of a "paste on" feature and that means it is probably a fair bit less efficient. Likely its antenna pattern is fairly distorted by packaging constraints as well. It probably has an antenna pattern that has lobe of more gain/efficiency in a particular direction compared to the inReach which is a more toroidal pattern. The phone antenna is also probably less efficient due to volume constraints so it needs all the help it can get. Not sure if they might also have power constraints in the power amplifier for the transmit chain. Basically the design now has a lot of trade-offs and competition from all the other things the phone is suppose to do in a limited volume and power budget.

So yes, it is likely the inReach is benefiting from being a purpose built device with more package volume dedicated to its sole RF interface. A phone is really a collection of many different radios operating in many different bands all smooshed in with a computer as well. The phone probably has to suffer a degraded user experience compared to the dedicated satellite transceiver.

Worth noting that Apple's GlobalStar based solution also prompts the user for pointing since they likely deal with the same set of antenna constraints (and the GlobalStar uplink operates at nearly the same frequency as Iridium so their antenna size impacts are nearly identical for the transmit antenna).

 

or this. https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/699779

if i didnt have the kit i already have i would comsider it. encompasses quite a bit of everything. technically you wouldnt need a seperate gps and could leave your phone at home/camp backed up with map/compass. Looks like screen is large enough for veh applications as well.

 

Yeah, the larger screen would be make it better for use in the truck. I do like the physical buttons even though it makes the screen smaller, just because then I can still operate it with gloves on.

I’ll probably end up giving one of them a try when my inReach eventually dies.

 

Same, I don't think I would like not being able to easily use the functions with gloves on.

With that said, I don't think Inreaches are easy to kill from normal wear and tear. People do need to quit putting them on their shoulder straps and belt lines just dangling by a carabineer.

 

nice