Bushwalk Australia

Has anyone here in AU had any experience with this yet or the earlier model?
There are some sites here downunder that stock this, just wondering.......looks ok for price ( compared to $1k+ for Iridium et al )

You haven't looked at the pricing plans yet, have you...

Hi.

I haven't seen the SE yet, but have had a look at the specs. Looks good except for the lithium battery, no way to use AA's like the original InReach which I have, so stuck with recharging from portable power. They reckon it's good for 100 hours of tracking which is good battery life but accidentally left on etc and you could be in trouble.

As far as the service and performance of the original InReach, its about as good as it can get for a sat tracker. Messaging and tracking is reliable, Smartphone messaging works great both ways, and battery life is good. I'd expect the SE to have similar performance, but have not heard anything one way or the other yet (haven't looked though)

If you do go for an Inreach or SE, choose subscription plans carefully. Delorme told me that they were pushing Aussies to the local distributors which brings extra costs and more limited inclusions in the plans.

So the SE has pluses and minuses. Plus that you can sms from the device, minus that the battery option is limited. It's also thinner than the InReach (which is a bit of a brick), but taller. If the SE didn't have its battery restrictions I'd be tempted to upgrade.

Strider wrote:You haven't looked at the pricing plans yet, have you...

Yes Stride......I have!
I own an Iridium 9575, and am aware of the pricing.
I think this product could be the "in-between" between say a SPOT or atleast a PLB and then at the far right of the spectrum Satphone.
I assume most members that go hiking atleast take a PLB, but this product ( for the price) seems like a reasonable buy and that the monthly $ plans are affordable.
Having a "way" to inform either the Police or loved ones that you will be late or worse is paramount..... I KNOW THIS BECAUSE.............
Myself and another forum member ( who I will not name) - had the "honour"of getting a taxpayer funded ride from the NSW Ambulance Helicopter ( with 2 SCAT, 1MO and 2 Pilots) ride out of the Blue Mountains 2 weeks ago due to us being unable to cross 2 rivers that were in flood.We ONLY ( after 4 days of debate) set it off because we had filled out a Trip Intention Form with the NSW Police and were due back on the Friday at 2000hrs. Had we not set off the PLB - a rescue would have ensued nonetheless.
I did not have my satphone,as didn't have current subscription, so we relied on my partners' ACR PLB.
It took EXACTLY 2.48hrs from PLB to rescue. I will do a writeup and post about this whole saga soon, because I am quite interested to hear from other members about rescues et al.
From what is available currently, this product seems like a great go-between
Cheers,
KB

KANANGRABOYD wrote:We ONLY ( after 4 days of debate) set it off because we had filled out a Trip Intention Form with the NSW Police and were due back on the Friday at 2000hrs. Had we not set off the PLB - a rescue would have ensued nonetheless.

KANANGRABOYD wrote:I will do a writeup and post about this whole saga soon,

Looking forward to the write-up, K – in particular, AMSA’s response to you activating the PLB in a non-life threatening situation.

I’ve corresponded (and am currently awaiting further clarification) with AMSA about this type of situation. Basically, I asked if it was appropriate to set off a beacon if you were overdue (although not in immediate danger) and you knew that your responsible contact person would be notifying Search and Rescue that you were overdue.

My thinking, like yours, was that an activated beacon would shorten the time needed to find you and so tie up scarce resources less.

AMSA's response included the following :
"Only if the group is in a distress situation would it be appropriate for them to activate the beacon for AMSA SAR to pick up the detection."

KANANGRABOYD wrote:Having a "way" to inform either the Police or loved ones that you will be late or worse is paramount..... I KNOW THIS BECAUSE...

Have you really texted the Police with this device? What number did you text to? No, don't make it public if there's really a number that's monitored by the Police.

GPSGuided wrote:

KANANGRABOYD wrote:Having a "way" to inform either the Police or loved ones that you will be late or worse is paramount..... I KNOW THIS BECAUSE...

Have you really texted the Police with this device? What number did you text to? No, don't make it public if there's really a number that's monitored by the Police.

GPS.
Nope - I am assuming that the inreach lets you do this - not so much the Police, but loved ones etc.
My situation was that we had done everything possible ( apart from actually not going out on our trip) to take safety measures. I ALWAYS leave a map, GPS co-ords, and route etc with my partner, plus if heading into the Blue Mtns - go to Katoomba Police and fill out a Trip Intention Form. Prior to our trip I checked and triple checked the river heights, weather etc, and pretty much over checked.
The NSW AMbulance team ( based out of Bankstown ) - Thanks to Bob ( SCAT Paramedic ), and 1 of the pilots ( Budgie) - they were all very happy and appreciative that we had set off the PLB early during the day. I will do a write up tomorrow and show photos etc of the Tsunami like conditions of river etc.
It was a very difficult decision to activate PLB, considering we were not in any life threatening situation ( we had enough food for probably another 4 days if we rationed), and our camp was safe from flood, but.... because of stating on trip intention form that we would be back on Friday at 2000hrs ( that's actually allowing an extra 4 hrs time), what can you do??? Had we NOT returned by 2000hrs then a rescue would have been commenced.
I will save this for tomorrow.
P.S - Here's the chopper that came and got us.
Great pilots and Scat team. Really appreciativve, and thankful!

Also looking forward to your report K.

I assume this was you guys, (taken from the Police rescue FB page)

"About 2pm today Blue Mountains Police Rescue were notified of 2 bush walkers that were trapped by flood waters on the Coxs River below Mount Konangaroo.

As the group had registered detailed trip intentions with Police and had activated their personal distress beacon. A rescue helicopter was able to quickly located them and winch them to safety."



Travis.

Hahahah ABSOLUTELY THAT WAS US!

KANANGRABOYD wrote:Nope - I am assuming that the inreach lets you do this - not so much the Police, but loved ones etc.
My situation was that we had done everything possible ( apart from actually not going out on our trip) to take safety measures. I ALWAYS leave a map, GPS co-ords, and route etc with my partner, plus if heading into the Blue Mtns - go to Katoomba Police and fill out a Trip Intention Form. Prior to our trip I checked and triple checked the river heights, weather etc, and pretty much over checked.
The NSW AMbulance team ( based out of Bankstown ) - Thanks to Bob ( SCAT Paramedic ), and 1 of the pilots ( Budgie) - they were all very happy and appreciative that we had set off the PLB early during the day. I will do a write up tomorrow and show photos etc of the Tsunami like conditions of river etc.
It was a very difficult decision to activate PLB, considering we were not in any life threatening situation ( we had enough food for probably another 4 days if we rationed), and our camp was safe from flood, but.... because of stating on trip intention form that we would be back on Friday at 2000hrs ( that's actually allowing an extra 4 hrs time), what can you do??? Had we NOT returned by 2000hrs then a rescue would have been commenced.

Good to know that you guys got out safely. Unexpected weather is just that, one that comes in despite all preparations.

Curious. Did you also enter your trip plan in your PLB's account with AMSA? When you trigged the PLB, did AMSA and the air ambulance team coordinate with Katoomba police? In other words, did Katoomba police link your trip intention form with your PLB call?

KANANGRABOYD wrote:I think this product could be the "in-between" between say a SPOT or atleast a PLB and then at the far right of the spectrum Satphone.KB

That's exactly what it is. It's far better that a Spot if something goes wrong because you can receive acknowledgement. It's better than a PLB for the same reason.
The fact that you message from anywhere via your iOS or Android phone is a super bonus.
I know some people don't want to text a friend or Facebook from the depths of some canyon or creek system, but other do.
Pivotel aren't the ideal friend when it comes to pricing, but that's where you'll have to go.
If you're thinking of buying one overseas and connecting here, forget it.
In the long run, cheaper to do it here.
If money isn't an object then it's a darn good option.

KB, all the Iridium messengers are just hardware wrapped around the same iridium data transceiver module.
The previous generation uses the 9602 SBD whilst the Inreach SE uses the newer 9603 SBD.
As far as I can tell they have pretty much the same specifications except the 9603 is a smaller, lighter unit.

One thing I read somewhere is that the older Inreach can determine its own GPS location but it can also get it from the GPS on the bluetooth-paired phone too.
I guess this would not happen with the SE if its not paired so less redundancy there (probably not an issue though in most situations).

Its pretty frustrating that the local distributors for Inreach are poorly priced.
If you are interested, maybe you could try your luck and get US device delivered to Oz. I got mine from rei.com but this was before they had an Oz distributor.
Could perhaps try using a Visa prepaid gift card (physical address doesnt matter) to initially register on a US plan.
Or if they dont allow AU prepaid credit cards,do you know someone in the US who could buy a US prepaid gift credit card and you could use that to initially subscribe.
No idea if this would work..just a suggestion. I find that when purchasing US-restricted stuff you just need to jump over the initial obstacle they put in front of you
and then they are more than happy to accept your money.

LandSailor wrote: If you are interested, maybe you could try your luck and get US device delivered to Oz.

Been there dpne that, won't work. You're forced to go through the processes with Pivotel.

roysta wrote:

LandSailor wrote: If you are interested, maybe you could try your luck and get US device delivered to Oz.

Been there dpne that, won't work. You're forced to go through the processes with Pivotel.

Seems so. I notice that they have shut down the best local plan provider and there is a bit of a dispute running on the Track4Ever site!

Plans. Read and weep:

US Plans:


And the Aussie version:


Considering that the locals are doing nothing other than adding a margin on exactly the same service, it's a bit rich. Notice how almost every feature of the plans has been watered down so the markup is higher than it appears at first glance.

And there are other units on the market and more coming.

Generally, the hardware costs more and the service fees are in the same league. Yellowbrick might be an option for some as they offer a similar device but you only pay rental for the months you use it. Messages are taken out of your pre-paid and non-expiring credit (well, non-expiring as long as you pay some rental each year)



From YellowBrick

Thanks for posting the plan prices. Yep, prices for Aussies are not justifiable for the great majority of casual recreational walkers. PBL will remain for the foreseeable future.

I've read about the higher subscription costs above for Australian InReach users, is there any difference in the actual hardware units?

I'm off to the USA for work next week looks like the price for the inReach SE is USD$299 over there vs AUD$419 here so even with the plummeting Aussie dollar there is still a significant saving buying there, I don't want to muck around trying to activate it with a USA subscription but looks like I'll be able to sign up for an Aussie subscription once I have the device - anyone had any experience doing this?

Hardware is identical. I paid US$249 for the original InReach back in August last year. Same mob has the SE for US$299 so your price looks ok.

No experience of signing a US device to Aussie plan, must be possible though.

Thanks, seems worth the risk and I expect technology in this area to move quite quickly in the next few years so expect it will become redundant fairly quickly.
I like the idea that it can connect to the iPhone but also works standalone, I do have external batteries for the iPhone but it usually needs charging everyday.

photohiker wrote: I notice that they have shut down the best local plan provider and there is a bit of a dispute running on the Track4Ever site!

Been there done that. It seems track4ever did naughty things in some way and got zapped accordingly.

beachcruiser wrote: I'm off to the USA for work next week looks like the price for the inReach SE is USD$299 over there vs AUD$419 here so even with the plummeting Aussie dollar there is still a significant saving buying there, I don't want to muck around trying to activate it with a USA subscription but looks like I'll be able to sign up for an Aussie subscription once I have the device - anyone had any experience doing this?

Don't bother, I went the same way and in the end had to pay for certifcation here with Pivotel.
Cheaper to buy here.

I should add another thing to this thread. In my opinion it's better to go with the previous version of the inReach rather than the SE.
Yes, the touch screen is nice, but the ability to have AA batteries is far better.

roysta wrote:I should add another thing to this thread. In my opinion it's better to go with the previous version of the inReach rather than the SE.
Yes, the touch screen is nice, but the ability to have AA batteries is far better.

I havent used the Inreach SE myself but my understanding is that it can run off USB power so am assuming you could power it from AA batteries in an external power pack as a backup.

I have an Inreach SE and used it on a recent expedition to East Greenland. http://www.ammassalik.com
It is a fantastic device, very user friendly, simple to operate, reliable and amazing on batteries. I didn't use it for tracking whilst on the move, only at each campsite but it makes communication as easy as texting with a mobile phone (albeit a little more expensive). I was fortunate enough to have the unit supplied gratis to me with airtime paid for for the duration of the expedition.
Highly recommended
Geoff

geoffmurray wrote:I was fortunate enough to have the unit supplied gratis to me with airtime paid for for the duration of the expedition.

I would love it too if I have the unit free and not charged for airtime. A no brainer at that point. Unfortunately these aren't free for most.

Hi there, had a question or two for KANANGRABOYD about the 9575 and info but cant seem to PM for some reason. if your still monitoring the forum could you please PM me or reply here please.

Yes it was an easy decision . However, I now have to pay for my local plan and still consider it absolutely worthwhile.
geoff

I have the SE and use it for business, mainly for traveling in Africa, and it is a lot more versatile than a PLB. That said for the average person, if you get it here in Australia, the ongoing cost, and the fact they would only use it walking, may be a deal breaker. I can send messages in out of the way places that have no mobile coverage and the wife loves the tracking feature as she always knows where I am. That is especially true when I'm solo hiking. Rather than just send an alert you can actually send the problem so if it is non urgent you don't tie up helo time if there is a greater emergency.

Getting an SE or the new explorer from the states is not hard in this era of virtual addresses and credit cards, it just takes time to set it up. Register with ship it to, http://www.shipito.com/ or a similar company (the virtual credit card site has a list) for an address, do all the verification including the Notarized FORM 1583 so you can receive letters as well as packages, then go to http://www.usunlocked.com/ and get a virtual credit card. This process allows you to get mail from the USA and as far as businesses know you live in the states. Remember to use a gmail or similar email when communicating and not one ending in .au . I use the Freedom plan so I can turn it on for when I need it and pay monthly. http://www.inreachdelorme.com/product-i ... -plans.php

As far as the company is concerned I do a lot of travelling everywhere except in the states where it is never turned on. HA Ha HA I'm looking at the new explorer and that may be an option for anyone without a GPS as it seems to do all that as well.
http://www.inreachdelorme.com/product-i ... plorer.php

I should add to the above post that it doesn't hurt to have a USA phone number to link it all together. You do this through Skype and here is the best explanation of how to do it. http://www.usunlocked.com/blog/ai/USUnl ... ocked-card

Small update to this old thread.

Local plans are a bit better:

http://alwaysinreach.com.au/index.php/p ... e/15-rates

The cheapest plan now has 10 messages and there is no minimum contract. In theory you can sign up for a month and pay the $17 plus $30 connection fee. The next plan up looks more usable with 100 messages ( ie say 50 sent and 50 received).

If you mainly use the device over the summer months -your expedition months- then switching on for about 3 months may be a viable option. For a single month it gets complex as there is something about pro rata amounts for the first month up to the set renewal day - I presume both the costs are pro rata and the messages so the first month you may have a lot less than you think.

The US plans now have a Freedom plan where you pay a yearly $25 and then just switch on the months you need it for a slightly higher fee:

http://www.inreachdelorme.com/product-i ... -plans.php

Annoyingly the US plans have unlimited preset messages whereas the Aus plans such messages come off your message allowance. At least I think that is the case. So on a US plan you can send a daily (or more) OK message.

There is a new model with better GPS features - it looks like a software update just adding functionality. Reports are it's not a great GPS. Despite that the InReach is a very interesting device.

Chris