Spot or in-reach

Looking at these satellite communicators... Which one? and why.... Thanks

All depends what you want to do. I have an "old" Spot that just shows my position on a shared page. Thant;s it! We send out a "We are OK" message every time we move. No texting, phone etc. Just nice and quiet. We like it as it keeps down the traffic from family and friends.

All depends on what you want to do.

or imarsat go with predict wind?

We have two older version Spot Messengers. One stays on the boat and one goes ashore. We need two because if I’m hiking alone and don’t come back, my wife can still send for help...lots of places up here at the ends of inlets where the radio doesn’t work.

My sister and her husband have the Delorme that can send messages between devices or with family back home. That can be a lifesaver, and handy for when plans get changed enroute.

Another huge plus for the Delorme is that you can “park it” when you aren’t using it, which costs a bit less...you have to pay full price on the Spot all the time.

I have the InReach, cheaper, because of the ability to go dormant in off season.

I've found the texting feature to be very useful in the wilds of BC and Alaska beyond phone service for spouse-reassurance or arranging logistics or rendezvous.

I have a cell plan which covers Canada and Mexico, but if you don't, you can save on roaming charges, at least for basic messages.

I have always had the InReach. You can’t go wrong with it. I have been told by the offshore sailors that there is a big dead zone South of Hawaii were the Spot won’t work. Now I realize that means little to most of us. The obvious differences are the Spot appears cheaper to buy but the InReach can be cheaper if you park it for the winter.

AlaskaProf said:

I have the InReach, cheaper, because of the ability to go dormant in off season.

I've found the texting feature to be very useful in the wilds of BC and Alaska beyond phone service for spouse-reassurance or arranging logistics or rendezvous.

I have a cell plan which covers Canada and Mexico, but if you don't, you can save on roaming charges, at least for basic messages.

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What Bill said. We've been using Inreach since it came out, in BC and Alaska. Low cost and effective for text messaging and tracking. We also have Iridium sat phone but hardly use it, since we have Inreach.

Last year upgraded my Spot to a SpotX which has messaging. Worked great on an RV trip to Alaska. And you can start/stop the service in 1 month increments whenever you want to.

I have the Inreach and have been very happy with it. The satellite texting fills the cellular gaps very nicely. As a solo cruiser, I'm required to call the wife every night. For those rare times without cellular coverage, texting is an acceptable alternative. In the total cost of boating, the plan difference between Spot and Inreach is nothing.

Ted

I had an Inreach. The bluetooth circuit didn't work, and it would not transfer text from my phone. I had to use the very convoluted and difficult proceedure to enter text. Tech support was useless and would only repeat the instructions on how to pair the device to a smartphone. I was never able to get them to repair or replace my unit.

So I sold it for half what I paid for it, and bought a SPOTX.

If you are thinking of buying an Inreach, make sure you can return it to the place of purchase if it doesn't work.

For the InReach guys, is there a specific model you would recommend?
Annual subscription or monthly?

Okydowky said:

For the InReach guys, is there a specific model you would recommend?
Annual subscription or monthly?

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I'm very happy with this model. It has a good basic map package included which includes many of the trails and topography when I'm hiking in the state park. This is also very good when kayaking or exploring with the dinghy. The EPIRB / PLB feature is also very reassuring.

Plans are really based on expected use. Because I use it away from the boat, I felt the ability to plot my location every 10 minutes was important if someone needed to search for me.

Ted

Thanks everyone, we have always carried a sat phone with us... but I found the plans pretty expensive and the usage of the phone very minimal. In most cases we were just checking in with family or arranging to meet friends, so text messaging was adequate for our needs. So when I saw this on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Handh...R1Y82MZ177QA&refRID=2BN0263HR1Y82MZ177QA&th=1

It seemed to be another boat toy that may actually get used on occasion.

Ka_sea_ta said:

Thanks everyone, we have always carried a sat phone with us... but I found the plans pretty expensive and the usage of the phone very minimal. In most cases we were just checking in with family or arranging to meet friends, so text messaging was adequate for our needs. So when I saw this on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Handh...R1Y82MZ177QA&refRID=2BN0263HR1Y82MZ177QA&th=1

It seemed to be another boat toy that may actually get used on occasion.

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That may very well be a good choice. Keep in mind, you will likely exceed the cost of the unit with the service plan in the first or second year. So, don't skimp on features you want as the long term cost is service and model is relatively small.

Ted

The original Spot was one way communication only, to an unreliable satellite constellation. Inreach is and has always been 2-way, to a reliable constellation (Iridium). The new Spot is 2-way, and their satellites have gotten a little better, but still not up to Iridium which is basically maintained by the US DOD.

There are two important reasons to go with a 2-way system: first, you do not know that your position report has been received by the satellite without confirmation, and as a result the 1-way Spot has frequent dropped position reports. The Inreach will continue to retry sending the report until receipt is confirmed. Second, it you send an SOS, it is much better for SAS personnel to have some basic communication about the nature of your emergency.

DDW said:

The original Spot was one way communication only, to an unreliable satellite constellation.

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I have an original SPOT and have used it for about 5 years with no issues at all.

The original Spot was and is far better than the older Epirbs, I'll give a copy and paste from Wiki, notice the coverage of one satellite - 20 km.

"The first form of these beacons was the 121.500 MHz ELT, which was designed as an automatic locator beacon for crashed military aircraft. These beacons were first used in the 1950s by the U.S. military and were mandated for use on many types of commercial and general aviation aircraft beginning in the early 1970s.[3] The frequency and signal format used by the ELT beacons was not designed for satellite detection, which resulted in a system with poor location detection abilities and with long delays in detection of activated beacons. The satellite detection network was built after the ELT beacons were already in general use, with the first satellite not being launched until 1982, and even then, the satellites only provided detection, with location accuracy being roughly 20 km.[3] The technology was later expanded to cover use on vessels at sea (EPIRB), individual persons (PLB and, starting in 2016, MSLD).[citation needed] All have migrated from using 121.500 MHz as their primary frequency to using 406 MHz, which was designed for satellite detection and location."

rsn48 said:

The original Spot was and is far better than the older Epirbs, I'll give a copy and paste from Wiki, notice the coverage of one satellite - 20 km.

"The first form of these beacons was the 121.500 MHz ELT, which was designed as an automatic locator beacon for crashed military aircraft. These beacons were first used in the 1950s by the U.S. military and were mandated for use on many types of commercial and general aviation aircraft beginning in the early 1970s.[3] The frequency and signal format used by the ELT beacons was not designed for satellite detection, which resulted in a system with poor location detection abilities and with long delays in detection of activated beacons. The satellite detection network was built after the ELT beacons were already in general use, with the first satellite not being launched until 1982, and even then, the satellites only provided detection, with location accuracy being roughly 20 km.[3] The technology was later expanded to cover use on vessels at sea (EPIRB), individual persons (PLB and, starting in 2016, MSLD).[citation needed] All have migrated from using 121.500 MHz as their primary frequency to using 406 MHz, which was designed for satellite detection and location."

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I don't see how this is relevant

Ted

I have multiple models of both the Spot and inReach, and started with Spot years ago when they first came out. I now prefer inReach because of their features, specifically the app you can pair with the device and use to see maps and send messages.

An inReach saved me from a bad situation in the mountains 3 years ago, and I appreciated the ability to send text messages back and forth in an easy manner.

Since Garmin bought them a couple of years ago, I have liked where they were going with some of the additional features.



I have a review I need to finish on the new GPSMAP 86sci model (the one on the right above - the one on the left is the Explorer SE+) which is the first true marine version of the inReach. I actually purchased this one myself because I wanted a handheld GPS with good marine charts. It has a better radio as well for the satellite side, plus a ton of other features.

Using it with their apps and syncing is a hot mess, but that usually happens with new products and integrations. So far I really like it for the maps and the much faster and more functionality around the inReach side.

We use our inReach for two main reasons - tracking us 100% of the time when we're on the water so others can follow, and for sending messages where there isn't any cell coverage. Works great for both, can be mounted at the helm, sync with phones, etc.

We had the original SPOT and used it for several years to populate a position page on our blog. Was super easy to just push the button once we were anchored each day, and our position would show up on the map on our blog with no further actions on our part.
Bringing our boat north from Seattle in November, the person accompanying me had an In-Reach, and I liked the ability to text my wife every couple days to say we were OK.
Anyone using an In-Reach to populate a position page on line? Just wondering if it is as easy to send the info using it, as it was for the SPOT?

Ventana said:

We had the original SPOT and used it for several years to populate a position page on our blog. Was super easy to just push the button once we were anchored each day, and our position would show up on the map on our blog with no further actions on our part.

Bringing our boat north from Seattle in November, the person accompanying me had an In-Reach, and I liked the ability to text my wife every couple days to say we were OK.

Anyone using an In-Reach to populate a position page on line? Just wondering if it is as easy to send the info using it, as it was for the SPOT?

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Yup it’s very easy. In fact, you don’t have to push a button - it can be set to do it every X minutes automatically which is what I use.


https://seabits.com/where/

Now here's an InReach killer app...Birdseye Satellite Imagery downloaded onto your device:

https://www.thegpsstore.com/Garmin-BirdsEye-Satellite-Imagery-Card-P2330.aspx

Imagine...working your way across an outer coast BC island with no trails but you know where all the little lakes are, so you can avoid them, or, you're on a mountain ridge and the clouds have moved in...is this the rock slide that goes over a cliff or is it the one with the awesome talus boot skiing run back to the meadow?

MurrayM said:

Now here's an InReach killer app...Birdseye Satellite Imagery downloaded onto your device:

https://www.thegpsstore.com/Garmin-BirdsEye-Satellite-Imagery-Card-P2330.aspx

Imagine...working your way across an outer coast BC island with no trails but you know where all the little lakes are, so you can avoid them, or, you're on a mountain ridge and the clouds have moved in...is this the rock slide that goes over a cliff or is it the one with the awesome talus boot skiing run back to the meadow?

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Ooh cool! I have the high def topographic maps on an extra card on my 86sci which have been nice while ashore. Didn’t see the satellite charts - would definitely be useful.

stevemitchell said:

Yup it’s very easy. In fact, you don’t have to push a button - it can be set to do it every X minutes automatically which is what I use.


https://seabits.com/where/

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Nice. Looks like you took a little boat ride to visit all my friends at their temporary home on McNeil.

Ventana said:

Nice. Looks like you took a little boat ride to visit all my friends at their temporary home on McNeil.

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:lol: yes I have stayed a number of times at Eagle Island right nearby. Never had the pleasure of staying on McNeil itself though

I think that was from our South Sound trip a couple of years ago. I had a different boat then with really tall sticks and weird rags hanging from them. It went really slow and I bumped my head everywhere.

Having grown up in Gig Harbor / Fox Island, I'm familiar with the water down there quite a bit. I have a tentative trip planned for down there this spring.

Interesting
No comment re: Iridium Go

https://www.predictwind.com/iridium...B6Mgg8f2o8qoatgLbzrZL5MOpYzoCcWAaAlAmEALw_wcB

Any research I have done suggests it is superior to the alternatives.

Simi 60 said:

Interesting
No comment re: Iridium Go

https://www.predictwind.com/iridium...B6Mgg8f2o8qoatgLbzrZL5MOpYzoCcWAaAlAmEALw_wcB

Any research I have done suggests it is superior to the alternatives.

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It also is waaaaaay more expensive and primarily targeted at people very far offshore using it for grabbing weather data. $60/month for 5 minutes of data, and texts are charged at $0.25/text. The next tier up is $105 and includes free texts and more stuff, but that's quite a bit more expensive.

Iridium's tracker function is also more complex and less frequent. You have to turn it on with their software, and it uses your SMS quota to send them out every hour (highest frequency from what I remember during my testing) so you really need the $105/month plan to make it work.

Spot and inReach are much cheaper monthly, and inReach offers a way to turn their plans off for months throughout the year if you're not cruising. I think I pay $20-30 a month for my inReach plan and get something like 100-200 texts a month as part of that, plus unlimited tracking.

Based on one the OP was looking for in terms of text messages and tracking, the Iridium Go doesn't seem like a perfect fit....

Simi 60 said:

Interesting
No comment re: Iridium Go

https://www.predictwind.com/iridium...B6Mgg8f2o8qoatgLbzrZL5MOpYzoCcWAaAlAmEALw_wcB

Any research I have done suggests it is superior to the alternatives.

Click to expand...

We put Go units on all the passenger boats for the company I used to work for up here. Up side is that it offers voice and limited internet on top of texting and position functions. Down side is that the plan is expensive. There is an Alaska only plan that they do to make it a bit cheaper, but still nowhere near cheap.
Iridium brags about working everywhere, and they are probably the closest to making that happen, but because of terrain there are places in Alaska where nothing works.

stevemitchell said:

It also is waaaaaay more expensive and primarily targeted at people very far offshore using it for grabbing weather data. $60/month for 5 minutes of data, and texts are charged at $0.25/text. The next tier up is $105 and includes free texts and more stuff, but that's quite a bit more expensive.

Iridium's tracker function is also more complex and less frequent. You have to turn it on with their software, and it uses your SMS quota to send them out every hour (highest frequency from what I remember during my testing) so you really need the $105/month plan to make it work.

Spot and inReach are much cheaper monthly, and inReach offers a way to turn their plans off for months throughout the year if you're not cruising. I think I pay $20-30 a month for my inReach plan and get something like 100-200 texts a month as part of that, plus unlimited tracking.

Based on one the OP was looking for in terms of text messages and tracking, the Iridium Go doesn't seem like a perfect fit....

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Thanks for that, I may have to rethink comms for our trip north.