Battery charge for In-reach mini

[bobby49]

GPS signals pass straight through normal fabrics, but not through anything conductive or metallic. The signals do not go through water, so if you had a waterproof case with a lot of water standing on it, that might be a problem. GPS signals go straight through just about any normal tent.

It would be smart if the cloth case had a tiny bit of padding to it, just in case the whole thing drops.

[CAMERONM]

The battery will last 20 days in Extended Tracking mode.
But even if you are not interested in tracks per se, since you have this marvelous device that can increase your safety, why not use it to full advantage? *Turn on extended tracking* It puts the phone in a mode that turns off between times that it sends tracks. The tracks are crude but will be immensely helpful breadcrumbs if someone needs to find you. You don't need to be concerned with turning it off and on- it goes into sleep mode when it does not move. And if someone is tracking you it will be very helpful to see if you don't move for an extended period of time, and to know where. https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=X ... yJjKw2wK07

Some comments on battery life with Extended Tracking: https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/ques ... -week-trip

You will not want preset messages about injuries. Rather, for sure you will want to send specific texts about your situation, that is the beauty of a communicating device. I would not impose the limitations of what you did not have before to a device that can offer much more.

[Wandering Daisy]

It appears that I have the thing up and running. Maybe I am a Luddite, but that was NOT easy! I am leaving Friday for an extended time in the Wind Rivers. The first few trips are short so I should have sufficient battery power to figure it out a bit better.

One more question for those who use it. Are the weather reports worth getting now and then? I am used to reading the NWS forecasts including the detailed discussion. I gather that the in-Reach weather report is more like the version one gets on their I-phone; just little icons/pictures that show the weather hourly at the most.

[wildhiker]

Hi WD,
I find the Garmin inReach weather forecasts practically worthless. A better option is this free service:
https://wx2inreach.weebly.com
Basically, you text the message "wx now" (don't include the quote marks) to wx2inreach@gmail.com to get the 6 day weather forecast for your current location from the National Weather Service grids. You can text more complicated messages to get additional or more detailed weather - check the website. I set this up as one of my "preset" messages on the inReach so I can get the forecast with one click and it doesn't count against my monthly texting quota. By the way, it can take several minutes to get the response back with the forecast.
-Phil

[mschnaidt]

Hi WD,
I find the Garmin inReach weather forecasts practically worthless. A better option is this free service:
https://wx2inreach.weebly.com
Basically, you text the message "wx now" (don't include the quote marks) to wx2inreach@gmail.com to get the 6 day weather forecast for your current location from the National Weather Service grids. You can text more complicated messages to get additional or more detailed weather - check the website. I set this up as one of my "preset" messages on the inReach so I can get the forecast with one click and it doesn't count against my monthly texting quota. By the way, it can take several minutes to get the response back with the forecast.
-Phil

Thanks Wildhiker! This is a great find! I just tried it. Here is a sample of the forecast you will receive. I took a screenshot from my phone but the same info shows up on the screen of the inReach Mini.

I added a contact called Weather Forecast with wx2inreach@gmail.com as the email address and wx now as a quick message to my account at explore.garmin.com.

Screenshot_20200716-081110_Earthmate (1).jpg

[Wandering Daisy]

I tried to add that contact and it would not allow it.

[mschnaidt]

I tried to add that contact and it would not allow it.

Hi WD,

Did you add "Weather" as the first name and "Forecast" as the last name? Then "wx2inreach@gmail.com" as the email address?

Capture.JPG

[Wandering Daisy]

I will try again. I probably did not spell thing right. Thanks

[bobby49]

That's the trouble with these modern computer thingies. They allow us to make mistakes much faster than we ever could before.

[Wandering Daisy]

I went back to do it again, and now it says it did work. I have had similar problems putting in other contacts. It will tell you it is not allowed and then you come back later and it is in as a contact. I synced it and that seemed to work. Whatever, it is in there now.

So what/who exactly is this weather forecast e-mail address? Is it an in-Reach product?

This probably a stupid question, but I did all the set up on my desk top. I am taking a lap top with me to Wyoming. I assume I can get into my account same as I do on my desktop?