On Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at 5:44:40 PM UTC-5, JS wrote:

If it connects to a phone like the other InReach devices the mini should be fine. Personally don't find the InReach SE cumbersome, or expensive for that matter.
Suggest downloading the Garmin Earthmate app and the Text To Speak engine for the phone you'll connect, so you can use speech to text in the middle of nowhere. Test it at home in airplane mode.

OGN is great, but the N part needs to be much larger to be functional. Opening the OGN app and panning around N America, found only three stations in New Mexico and one between Montreal and Ottawa. Is that the extent of the N. American network?

I also use amateur radio APRS tracking. That network is huge compared to OGN, but still has blanks.
Jim

I have the Delorme Inreach Explorer. It works great. The cell phone pairing and Earthmate app are excellent. Reason for my specific question: I have friends looking at buying an inreach device. I recommended the Mini, but have no hands on experience with it, so I thought I'd throw out the question. Multi-day back country types bitch about the battery life (Amazon reviews), but for soaring it seems like the Mini would be ideal.

-Evan