Inreach delayed messages

[AkPA/18]

I was trying to help a buddy on the ground at Ophir in fog get home through Ptarmigan pass. I noticed he did not seem to get messages in a timely manner. Once he got airborne it became apparent he wasn't when he would text asking for info I had just sent. The way I read it is when Inreach sends out a text, it will actively listen for a reply for the next 10 minutes. After ten minutes it will check for messages every hour. Inreach is awesome up here but I was trying to use it like immediate cell phone text. I will know better next time. Weather at Puntilla had gone from 25mi vis to 2mi and snow in 20 min so I was really trying to get the info out. Everything worked out fine. Sorry for the specific ak locations

Mark

 

[LUCIFER]

I also seem to always have a delay of 15 minutes or more with my inreach when texting. Same with weather.

 

[mvivion]

I was told once that, if you transmit a message, it will go up to the satellite, but if that satellite isn’t in contact with a ground station, the satellite will hold that message until the satellite comes back in range of an earth station, thus sometimes creating a delay. I assume it may work the same way in reverse.

That was what I was told a loooong time ago, before Garmin acquired the inreach, and my memory may not have preserved the data, so…..

MTV

 

[AkPA/18]

How often does Garmin inReach check for messages?
every hour
During a check, your device connects to satellites and receives messages waiting to be sent to your device. When sending a message, the device will continue to listen for replies for 10 minutes. After this, the device will check for new messages every hour.

Just passing along what I read on Garmin support. His outgoing messages were timely.

Mark

 

[Bill Rusk]

I believe there is a setting, that allows you to dictate how often the Garmin checks for messages. I don’t have mine with me right now, so I can’t verify that.


But I will offer a story. Landing on a lake in the southeast in a mountainous area, I sent my “done for the day” message from the center of the lake right after I landed, hoping that it would get out from underneath the mountains. I failed to verify that that message had in fact been sent before I turned off my Inreach. My sister did not receive the message so from her perspective the last thing she saw was me going from 40 miles an hour to zero in the center of the lake and no further messages. Needless to say she panicked because it looked like I had crashed in the middle of the lake . Fortunately, she was able to get confirmation that I was OK from another source, but it certainly cost some gray hairs for her. I am very blessed to have someone that tracks me as closely as she does.
But at any rate, it is important to verify that your messages do go out before you turn the Inreach off.

Hope it helps

Bill

 

[cgibber]

There is a way to force inReach to check/send messages and I use it frequently. The slow automated cycle times for messages is, in my opinion, the biggest issue with inReach.

From the owner's manual:
[h=1]Checking for Messages[/h]When you send a message, your device listens for replies for 10 minutes. The device also checks for new messages every hour. When you are using the inReach® tracking feature, your device automatically checks for messages at your tracking interval.
NOTE: To receive messages, your device must have a clear view of the sky and be in view of a satellite when it checks for messages.
You can force a check for messages by manually checking for messages, sending a message, or sending a track point. During a check, your device connects to satellites and receives messages waiting to be sent to your device.

• From the home page, press OK to open the home page actions.
• Select Message Check.

Chip

 

[cubflier]

Some things to do before you go out to the field with your inReach.

1. Update your firmware - As an example, I was helping a pilot on the use of an Aviation weather to inReach app. He was having a lot of time delay issues in message responses. After some back and fourth I asked him to update his firmware and then things went a lot better.

2. Practice messaging with concerned parties - For reasons I do not understand it may take a few back and forth message attempts before "the system" starts give more priority to the conversation. Also keep in mind that Garmin uses a lookup table to route traffic to a device rather than a specific phone number. Bottom line is always established contact (as a test) with all concerned parties first before you go out to the field.

3. Always ask the recipient of an inReach text attempt to acknowledge your text - This will confirm it's transmission and give you a better idea of response times.

4. In the inReach settings is a time interval for message retrieval - In busy times I set this to continuous. Keep in mind it increases battery consumption

5. If message delivery is critical I may send a couple of the same texts within a short period of time - I call this message stacking. It seems to help when the sever is in slow mode.

6. Don't forget the test loop function on your inReach.


Something I have noticed about Garmin messaging. I use an inReach to Aviation weather app often. Responses from this app can have messages that span several segments. I get a pretty good view of some sorting flaws that exist under the Garmin/Iridium system. Multi segment responses often get sorted in illogical sequence. Sometimes I can have part of a response take several minutes and eventually show up mixed in the output of another request.

However for the most part I can get weather request responses within a couple of minutes or so. On a good day most in under a minute.

Good Luck.

Jerry