I just wanted something to keep track of my wife when she's monitoring projects in Africa or out East or just when we're on our travels. I was looking at a Spot unit but have recently come across this:

DeLorme inReach - Two-way satellite text messaging, tracking and SOS anywhere in the world

Looks like a good package...anyone used it? Any thoughts?

Hi Bundubasher

My first post here!
I have tried both the Inreache SE and Explorer models twice each last year for a month each time. Both worked great, and gave excellent battery life (compared to iPhone using gps function). I got several days worth of battery life out of both. Switching the unit off at night when not travelling extends battery life even longer (obviously).

GPS tracking worked great, and my family and loved ones could watch me ride in (almost) real time on the InReach web map page.

Using the InReach for communications where no mobile coverage was available was very easy. I also installed the dedicated InReach App on my iPhone, from which you have access to almost all the functions as on the device itself.

My only gripe was with the iPhone App itself. I didn't even bother with the App second and third time I rented a unit. The App kept crashing.

I myself had a few sandy crashes while the Inreach was mounted on a RAM bike mount on my handlebar. Each time the unit came out dusty, but unscathed afterwards. Impressive.

Not sure what other GPS based tracking devices also offer cheap 2-way true Satellite text communication, so can't compare unfortunatelly. I will definitelly be buying my own inReach unit now.

Spot does not have proper coverage in Africa or south Argentina.
I ordered Inreach SE yesterday and should have that on hand in few weeks.
Few travellers that I met had this and they did not have any complaints (only the service fee).

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www.whereishemuli.eu
Riding round the World

Facebook:WhereIsHemuli

Thanks guys, esp. the bit about African coverage Hemuli.

Very much looking forward to hearing about your unit when you get it Rooipiet.

Are you buying the SE or Explorer?

Sitrep guys?

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Enzo

Here 3 Romanians are using InReach on their way to Tiksi, far, far, far Siberia. I follow them regularly - InReach works very well.

https://share.delorme.com/tiksi2015

Thank you.

Hell, thats a speedy map!

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Enzo

Do you also use it for voice or text comms?

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Enzo

No, I didn't try any voice and text comments. I follow their written story on Internet. It's in Romanian.
Prima parte - de la Bucuresti la Baikal

Been now using InReach SE for few weeks.
Works well, can be controlled with smartphone (texting via smartphone is so much faster).
You can check the tracking from my blog page and compare it to Spot.
Can be charged from USB connector.
Battery seems to last well.
Nice that I can write short messages to my fb too!

Couple things that I do not like:
Expensive service.
It overheats quite easily if it´s kept on top of tank bag (I could understand this somewhere in desert, but not in high Andes where temperature is not an issue).

__________________
www.whereishemuli.eu
Riding round the World

Facebook:WhereIsHemuli

Great! Thanks for all the feedback.

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Enzo

I've been using the InReach Explorer for a 3 months trip through Africa. Excellent stuff. Wrote every evening a post to my facebook account. People were following us in near realtime. Had following setup: a ping to my map every hour when driving, when static then every 4 hrs.
You can receive text message from any person. You can send messages to phone numbers or email addresse.
App on iPhone has just updated. Works perfect. Used mine to climb Kilimanjaro. Battery life easily 1 week!
For data contract, shop around. You can make your contract with any provider you like. There is a US, Canadian, Swiss, EU, South Africa and Aussie provider. Compare and choose.

Greets
Claudio


Summer 15: Trans Canada Adventure Trailer; Autumn and Winter 15/16: Kenya to South Africa; Spring 16: Kashmir

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One suggestion for a better map is to enable the SE so it works on spotwalla.com map.

Seemed to me to be a lot less clunky than the Delorme version and enables you to have multiple trips live each with its own time scale - and the data is stored on the spotwalla site permanently AND support is fantastic. Can also insert photos at any point on the track.Free site but of course a few dollars a year via paypal is much appreciated.

https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php...&fillFactor=20 is our map which covers all travels since we bought the Spot and later the Delorme, but of course that map could be split up into the individual strages each with its own URL.

Delorme SE is much better than Spot simply because it allows two way text messaging to and from any mobile phone or email address in the world, AND it also works anywhere on the planet

If you can wangle it, getting it through delorme USA is way cheaper than most other countries.

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Tony
Click here for Travel Photos & Travel Map