I’ve been using this for about 9 months now. It’s been very useful, enabling my partner to follow my almost entirely solo-hiking trips and provides a good safety backup, should I need it.
Lately though, it’s become unreliable with Mapshare pages not loading or, if they do load, intermittently not showing current (or historical) tracks and positions. This issue is not browser or device-dependent nor is how the device is connected to the internet.
Anyone else experiencing similar issues? If so, have you raised it with Garmin and/or managed to find a resolution?
This is probably not a very useful reply… but my historic tracks are all showing properly (Safari / MacOS 15.1).
(Off Topic) I’ve not been out on my own much recently, and being tight fisted I only pay for the basic service so only use it when walking solo. I am currently grounded due to the cooker trying to kill us all, or to be a bit less dramatic our 22 year old oil fired Rayburn (Stove) managed to burn a hole in a 1cm thick piece of cast iron giving a lovely view and smell of the oil burning. New heating system now being installed, so I’m grounded until it is finished (About another 3 weeks…(It turns out that designing an efficient air source system is of a similar complexity to understanding the efficiency of antennas with electrons being replaced by litres of water, and a similar approach with dBs being replaced by SCOP ratings) 73. Paul
Is the InReach Mini 2, or InReach Messenger worth getting over using APRS from an HT or an APRS tracker?
I was looking in to an InReach as I am getting back in to ultra running after a few years doing Ironman triathlons.
Training for a 130km Ultramarathon presently so thinking this might come in useful, particularly as I’m planning some trail runs in darkness (to simulate a race environment). An HT would be a lot heavier in a running pack but then the InReach would flap about everywhere too.
Won’t need it on race day as you get issued a tracker anyway. Thinking though this would be handy for training but also for occasional SOTA even if I am well within range of a cellular tower but don’t have any HT or mobile radio with APRS functionality, only APRSDroid on my blower.
Waste of money or worth getting one? Sorry to thread hijack, didn’t think it worth flooding with a new one.
My Mapshare page is also displaying correctly on multiple devices and browsers. Tried only Linux.
I have inadvertently deleted tracks when using trackpads on some laptops. I need a mouse or a very smooth trackpad to manage my tracks on the Mapshare page. True of Windows or Linux.
Could it be a subscription issue? Changes to an account linked for auto-pay?
I like InReach because it works anywhere that a satellite can see. No need for line-of-site to a repeater. If I’m injured in a remote valley I can send an SOS from the bottom. Am I underestimating APRS capabilities here? I have exchanged normal SMS messages from campsites without cell coverage. Not what I normally do when camping but when I tell friends that I will call on a certain day . . . .
My experience is 4 years with the Garmin Montana 700i. It is heavy, and I need to remember to restart the InReach tracking each time I turn on the GPS. Garmin has trackers as light as 100g.
I’m only just starting to experiment with APRS so I’m not the person to advise on that one I’m afraid. What I can say is that, when the Garmin tracking is working, it works well but can sometimes be a bit slow. I’m going to continue to use it, despite the problems I’ve had, not least as a backup for spotting shuld I find myself on a summit with no cellphone coverage. I don’t do CW in the field so the RBNHole won’t help.
To wind this one up, here’s the final reply I had from Garmin support…
*We have made system improvements for Mapshare that resolve issues with tracks not showing or Mapshare taking a long time to load. If you are trying to connect to your Mapshare from a cellular device it may take longer to load. Please keep in mind that the type of internet connection you are trying to use may impact the time it takes to connect. Please check your Mapshare page and reach back out to me if you experience any further issues regarding this. We do everything we can to resolve situations quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately due to the nature of technology we cannot guarantee that there won’t be issues on occasion."
It does seem to be working for me now although, as they suggest, it does sometimes take a while for the tracks to load after the map has appeared. I can’t understand why this might be but I guess I’m stuck with it. As someone who routinely goes off into the hills on my own, not always to play radion, it is better than nothing as a safety option and the Garmin does give me options to send text messages via InReach if all else fails.
Thanks to all though who commented and offered suggestions etc.
Because they have a zillion users with a squillion track points and fetching the data for all the people looking at tracks is taxing their servers. They could buy bigger servers or charge for showing routes or delete them after a few days or leave a bit pish so people only look when they REALLY want the track data.
You could well be right. I come from a different world I guess…the last time I worked in tech I was in the telephone business. When a user picked up the 'phone on their desk, they expected dial tone immediately, every time. That’s the kind of response times I was used to delivering but then I did escape from tech 20 years ago
