DeLorme inReach SE announced, ships mid to late April

"Before this option [location] was added, I don't believe you could actually tell if you had a good GPS lock without sending a message via the Iridium Satellite network."

In truth, Mike, you could analyze the SE's GPS performance by pairing it to a Bluetooth device (better Apple) and using either DeLorme's Earthmate app (cranky!) or a competent third-party mapping app like Gaia. Early on I got a current iPod Touch, which has a supergood hi-res display and which is happy to use the GPS feed from the SE. The short story is that the SE's GPS is all that one could want it to be. It works well in forested areas and is very accurate so far as I can tell. When turned on it locks in under a minute, usually much less.

My experience using the iPod with the SE is that it's much easier and more effective than using paper topo maps, which I've been using for about fifty years. I've been skiing complex forested backcountry terrain high in the southern Rockies this season with this combination of instruments. I can tell you that finding and staying on the correct sequence of similar looking wooded ridges is *much* easier with a competent GPS map app. Previously, luck played a significant role. I also use a baseplate compass and a sighting clinometer. Oh, yes, and an altimeter. (All by Suunto) Aneroid altimeters, kept calibrated, are much better than GPS for elevation. The GPS location on the topo display provides good elevation for calibrating.

The great drawback of using electronic gizmos for important things like route finding is the possibility of equipment failure. Of course, maps and compasses (and altimeters!) can come to grief too. So can the backcountry traveler. But then you can expire at home in bed. Also, the earth could be destroyed any minute now by a big chunk of space rock. There's an app for that.

Finally updated to 2.4. Some stuff I noticed:

Good:

– Update worked first time, no problems

– New feature – Location (previously mentioned)

– New feature – Settings > Messages > Ring until Msg is Read (poorly described in DeLorme's announcement)

– New "features":
Settings > Tracking > Stationary Interval: 4 hours
Settings > Tracking > Stationary Radius: 100 m
You can't change these settings, but at least you can see them now.

Annoying:

– Update reset time zone to Eastern (default)

– Update reset Tracking to Off

– Update reset "Display owner info at startup" to Off

Overall, a good update so far, but I haven't taken it outside yet.

— Rex

Besides the firmware updates, does the hardware look to be pretty durable? I mean, will this survive a three-foot drop test? Or, would I need to carry it in a bag of bubble pack?

The early GPS receivers of twenty years ago had a lot of discrete components inside, and one good drop could do major damage. However, the more modern GPS receivers have integrated most of the component functions onto one big chip, so there is much less to break. This SE product has the GPS stuff, plus the sat phone transceiver, plus other features.

How do you feel about the battery system? As I recall, there is an internal rechargeable battery.

–B.G.–

Besides the firmware updates, does the hardware look to be pretty durable? I mean, will this survive a three-foot drop test? Or, would I need to carry it in a bag of bubble pack? … How do you feel about the battery system? As I recall, there is an internal rechargeable battery.

No complaints so far. Build quality seems solid. I typically carry the SE attached to my pack on a short loop, hanging in an external mesh pocket. I drop the pack on the ground, and toss it in the back of the truck, and generally forget the SE is in there. Still works 6 months later. I wouldn't expect problems dropping the SE 3 feet onto dirt; not sure about granite or concrete.

I keep the SE on the charger when not in use. I haven't noticed any drop in battery life, but I haven't run any specific tests. My experience and other reports say 4-5 days of reasonable use; most of my trips are shorter than that, no problem so far. On longer trips, I would either scale back tracking and other use to extend battery life, or plan on some way to top up the battery as required.

— Rex

B.G.:

Here are DeLorme's specs on dust, water, shock, and battery life from the SE brochure.

• Waterproof/dustproof (IP67; standard submersion to 1 meter for 30 minutes).
• Impact-resistant (Mil-STD-810F for vibration/shock).
• 100 hours of battery life in 10-minute tracking mode with a clear view to the sky.

Seems pretty sturdy to me, but I haven't abused it (yet).

Due to inflation, the three-foot drop test has now become four feet. That's good.

I guess the small screen looks durable, as well.

–B.G.–

Quoting from Wikipedia:

MIL-STD-810 is a flexible standard that allows users to tailor test methods to fit the application. As a result, a vendor’s claims of “…compliance to MIL-STD-810…” can be misleading. Because no commercial organization or agency certifies compliance, commercial vendors can create the test methods or approaches to fit their product. Suppliers can—and some do—take significant latitude with how they test their products, and how they report the test results. When queried, many manufacturers will admit no testing has actually been done and that the product is only designed/engineered/built-to comply with the standard. This is because many of the tests described can be expensive to perform and usually require special facilities. Consumers who require rugged products should verify which test methods that compliance is claimed against and which parameter limits were selected for testing.

=====

You could say the same about IP ratings like IP67 (dust tight, water resistant to 1 m for 30 min). Nobody certifies, nobody publishes their test procedures.

Having said that, the DeLorme inReach SE looks and feels pretty rugged and well-designed.

— Rex

PS – MIL-STD-810G superseded MIL-STD-810F on October 31, 2008.

"the product is only designed/engineered/built-to comply with the standard"

I understand that extremely well.

Thanks for the information, guys. I'm thinking of purchasing one of these before the summer backpacking season.

–B.G.–

@Bob

I agree that the inReach SE seems to be built well but it’s hard plastic, so a drop on the rocks might damage it. Delorme sells a neoprene case that would really help it survive a drop (and it’s supposed to make it float). I’ll probably pick up a case for mine but it’s for the floatation, not a durability concern (I carry it when fishing).

As others have said, the battery life is pretty good but I think the 100 hours claimed by Delorme is a bit high. I have been surprised to find that the battery holds it’s charge very well while “not” on a charger. The charge only drops a couple of percent after a couple of weeks of sitting in a drawer.

I carry a tiny charger that I found at Walmart just in case I kill the battery. The charger is inexpensive, very small and light but can bump the charge of the inReach battery up a reasonable amount if required (not a full charge though). The battery life of the inReach is really quite good and can be managed by sending fewer tracks and messages for longer trips however, I’m more worried about leaving the inReach powered on accidentally. I’ve done that several times. When the inReach “sleeps” it doesn’t have any lights on at all so it looks like it’s turned off.

The neoprene case is pretty, but it is also too heavy. I think wrapping the unit in a bubble pack bag would be sufficient.

–B.G.–

Bob,

If you stumble across a good deal on these please share. I too am looking to buy one for this season.

Adrien

So far, all I have seen is $272 at Amazon.com

What I would really like if there was some special deal on the sat service rates. That will end up being the majority of the overall cost.

–B.G.–

"What I would really like if there was some special deal on the sat service rates. That will end up being the majority of the overall cost."

You just missed, Bob. DeLorme was offering the first two service months free for sales during Nov and Dec. Why don't you call them and beg for mercy? They did this before. June and July sported the same offer. They will probably offer it again.

Depending on your intentions, the Safety plan at ~$10/mo is probably adequate. If you're chatty, maybe not.

Jim, I don't want it now. I don't want it before summer backpacking season. Besides, if I wait until they there may be more firmware updates that I won't have to do.

–B.G.–

–B.G.– :-)

Dan, I don't want one now, mostly because I don't want to turn on the meter.

First, I think we ought to develop some kind of text-shorthand so that we can minimize the length of the satellite messages and still get our meaning across. We don't want to make it too cryptic, because then the rescue agencies won't know what the hell we mean. They should not have to read my mind during an emergency.

1. Broken right leg, can't walk, need helicopter evacuation.
2. Brkn rt leg, cant walk, need helo evac.
3. B&@) ** leg #Pp 66, help!

When the SOS message is sent, it is sent with the GPS coordinates. What is the default format of the GPS coordinates? Lat/long degrees and decimal degrees, or what?

–B.G.–

Bob….easy peasy…..sos… dying, need help now!!!

Worry about the consequences, if any after they arrive :-)

"When the SOS message is sent, it is sent with the GPS coordinates. What is the default format of the GPS coordinates? Lat/long degrees and decimal degrees, or what?"

All SOS messages are sent to GEOS. Presumably they get what they want and can use. Presumably, GEOS can use any specified type of geo-coordinates. They serve a number of different emergency communication services.

But, not to be too coy, I looked at a bunch of messages (non-SOS) I sent from the SE, and they are all in decimal degrees. The nice thing about Lat/Long coords is that they are not opaque like the various grid coordinate systems. For me, anyway.

The two options are lat/long vs a variant of UTM.

Apparently one of the reasons why the rescue agencies like two-way text like this is so they can interrogate the victim a little to determine that it is not a false alarm, and to verify the position against the GPS coordinates. They can also get a feel for how urgent the emergency is. If they have to keep flying county helicopters with medics all over, it gets very expensive.

More likely how I could see one of these getting use is if I were entering through the Sierra Nevada crest at some point, heading north for five days, and then exiting out to some trailhead where I have a friend arranged to pick me up. Then suppose I have some minor emergency after only two days, so I need to exit early to a different place, and I need to arrange for my friend to change place and schedule. It would be nice to be able to send a text message (by this gadget).

Or, suppose I was thru-hiking some long trail and I have arranged for a friend to "walk-in" a major food supply to me on a certain date. Then I might need to change the date or get the friend to bring in an extra dose of olive oil or something. This gadget could be handy, even if the messages are very short.

–B.G.–

"The nice thing about Lat/Long coords is that they are not opaque like the various grid coordinate systems."

Jim, what do you mean by _opaque_ here? Please clarify.

Degrees and decimal degrees would be good. It is something simple enough so that if I had to manually pick off my position from a map and send it as text, they can make sense out of it.

Forty-odd years ago I was using the Military Grid Reference System, so I can convert from just about anything to anything.

–B.G.–

"Jim, what do you mean by _opaque_ here? Please clarify."

I, among many others, know how lat and long map onto the globe. Just seeing lat/long coords gives me a sense of where in the world the coords lie. UTM and its variants and the other rectangular grid systems do not do this. You have to have a map with that specific piece of the grid system marked on it to have the slightest idea of the place where the coords refer.

Twenty-three and a half degrees either side of the equator (zero degrees lat) constitute the Tropics. The Arctic and Antarctic regions lie within twenty-three and a half degrees of the poles (+/- ninety degrees lat). Every fifteen degrees of Longitude represents and hour of time, . . . and so on. You don't get *any* of that with the grid systems. They have their virtues, but geographic transparency is not one of them.

@Bob – I use the inReach very much as you have described. I don't always know when I will stay longer or if I plan to bail early, so it's nice to have an option to let others know your plans or call for a ride at a new pickup point. Being able to get confirmation is a big plus to me. I have also used it to let my backpacking partner know where will camp for the night so they can join me on the trail. If you use the Earthmate App on a smart phone, they have a feature that allows you to pick a reference point on the map (a point that is not your current location) and send the reference point coordinates in an email. This is a great feature for identifying a unexpected pickup point.

I also don't think you need to abbreviate your messages (other than for convenience… typing on that on-screen keyboard is painfully slow!). You can send up to 160 characters and you are charged per message, regardless of the number of characters you type.

From what I've read, when you send an SOS message with the inReach, it will prompt you for confirmation that you really want to send an emergency message. If yes, you will get a pre-defined message on your screen that requests help and you can alter the messsage however you like. When you hit "send" it will count down for 20 seconds before sending. This is presumably to allow you to hit cancel. Once the message is sent, the unit's tracking is locked on (you can't turn it off). When your message is received, you will be sent a message confirming that your request was received and help is on the way. That's a really nice feature that Spots and PLB's don't have.

As for the service plans, you can suspend your service when you are not using the device and it only costs you $4 per month to keep your account active. This feature makes the plans affordable in IMO. In Canada, we have a different service plan than in the USA. We get a pay-as-you go service. It's not well advertised, but if I switch to the Expedition Plan for a week and then suspend my service, I am only charged for the week of usage (they pro-rate the monthly cost). I have just tried this and haven't seen the bill yet, so we'll see if it's as good as it sounds.

I don’t want one now, mostly because I don’t want to turn on the meter.

Buy now, turn on the meter later. You activate through https://explore.delorme.com when you are ready.

Be sure to put it where it won’t tempt you :-)

— Rex

"If you use the Earthmate App on a smart phone, they have a feature that allows you to pick a reference point"

No, I don't use a smart phone, so no Earthmate App. I don't need any of that stuff to send a manual reference point by text.

"You can send up to 160 characters and you are charged per message, regardless of the number of characters you type."

If you can't condense your overall message, then it might take several messages to get the whole thing sent. So, being able to condense a 500 character text down into 160 characters might be a good thing.

"Once the message is sent, the unit's tracking is locked on (you can't turn it off)."

Yes, but you can sure as hell kill the tracking signal from getting out. Stick it inside a cook pot with the lid on.

"suspend your service"

It goes against my nature to pay somebody $4 per month for nothing.

–B.G.–