Ipad & InReach - a 30 day field test of navigation and communications

[agavelvr]

We just returned from a big summer trip, which I'll write up at some point. In the mean time, here are some first impressions on what I now feel is the best navigation and communications set up available for backcountry adventures.

Along for the ride was our Ipad (1st gen wifi only), Delorme Inreach, Dual Bluetooth GPS, my trusty Delorme PN30, and our usual collection of Benchmark Gazateers. We did not need the Dual Bluetooth GPS since the Inreach serves location services to the Ipad. However, it is wise to carry a backup device and the Delorme runs on lithium AAs vs the rechargeable Dual GPS.

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The setup.

The Ipad was mounted using RAM components consisting of a seat bolt mount, the rigid aluminum rod which you bend to suit, and a EZ Roller ipad mount. Power was provided by a Belkin usb adapter that fits in the cig lighter port. After 30 days of constant offroad travel, I will say that this mount provided an outstanding bang for the buck, costing me $70 total. Previously, I tried the Joy Factory carbon fiber mount, which failed on our first trail run and cost twice as much. Eventually, I plan on making a rigid mount that is a little easier to remove, but I was unable to source the parts in time for our departure.

In order to use the Ipad as a field computer, we added a zaggmate bluetooth keyboard that serves as a protective case as well. This was very helpful when typing in the truck, as demonstrated by my lovely assistant
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This keyboard was used several times per day for a month and never required recharging. Whenever we passed thru a town, it was easy to get some internet access from a cafe or hotel to check our email and such. Failing to find some free wifi in Cuba, NM I just walked up to the front counter of a hotel and asked if I could purchase some wifi access. The friendly lady just gave me the code for free

The Inreach allows you to send and recieve messages via the iridium satalite network. Since we travel alone in remote locations, this seemed like a wise investment in the event of emergency. Fortunately, all I used it for was to send some messages to my friends supporting us back home, trying out the facebook posting capability, and testing the tracking a few times.

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Sending a message is pretty simple. It uses you addressbook in the ipad, so you can quickly add recipients to the message, mixing email and cell phone numbers easily.

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I'm not a big facebook user, but here's what it looks like when you post up.

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the link in your message presents a nice map that your friends can zoom in on and switch between topo, aerial, and road maps for thier viewing pleasure.

Messages send quickly, and give you confirmation on screen and on the device once they are sent. I fired off my first message late at night, turning the system off when I went to bed. In the morning, I turned it back on and saw the message light flashing. I then turned the ipad on and launched the Inreach app. A friend had sent us a response after I had gone to bed, the Inreach system stored the message in a que until I turned everything back on, automatically sending the message to my ipad to read. Pretty sweet. The device is able to send a message while sitting in the map pocket behind the front seat of my tacoma, so a clear view of the sky is not necessary in most cases.

The only complaints I have are with the tracking feature and billing. Being a cheap bastard, I opted for the plan that does not include unlimited tracking, figuring I would just send 1 track point and pay the 25 cents for each one as needed. Well, that works, but each time you turn tracking on and off, it sends two track points, billing you for both, effectively making sending a single track point a 50 cent affair On the billing side, the device was advertised as having a $9 one time activation fee, when setting it up, the fee was actually $19. On top of that, our federal and state government hit us with communication taxes since this is a 2 way communication device, adding a few bucks to the montly fee, something I did not expect compared to the SPOT service I used to have. That being said, it's still worth it to me.

On the Nav side of things, we used MotionX GPS, the InReach app, and a digital version of Benchmark's New Mexico Atlas.

The recently released Benchmark App was free and proved to be one of the most useful things in our navigation kit. In addition to being a beautiful digital version of their printed map, the app allows you to download NEXRAD radar, which overlays ontop of the map you are viewing.
http://www.benchmarkmaps.com/product...ad-and-iphone/

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here is the app with our paper version for comparison.

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Surrounded by questionable weather, the radar overlay helped us find a destination that would be free of rain for the evening.

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and here's what that scary red storm cell looked like from the ground.

more to come....

[agavelvr]

Unfortunately, the benchmark app was only for New Mexico, and we started out in AZ, traveling to UT and CO first.
For those locations, we were pleasantly suprised to find out that the included Delorme Inreach app synced up exactly with my PN30's maps courtesy of Delorme's Topo USA software. This was very nice, as we could used the handheld for a zoomed in view and the Ipad for the wide view. If delorme would add all of the features of the handheld GPS to thier app, we would have a complete replacement for MotionX. For the time being we use the handheld for tracking and waypoint recording

Here are some crude images illustrating the differences at various scales

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Delorme, view 1

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MotionX, view 1

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Delorme, view 2

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MotionX, view 2

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PN30, view 2

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MotionX, provided in app access to your music, which is a nice touch since switching apps causes motionx to loose it's tracking capability until you return to the app.**
**update. I probably had MotionX's multitasking set to "optimized" rather than "always on", as with it set to "always on" the application did not stop tracking, even with the application backgrounded and several different mapping applications running.

[agavelvr]

Back to Benchmarks offering for a minute.

Once thing I do not like about digital maps is thier lack of a cartographer's artful influence. Sure, all the data is there in the Motion X and Delorme apps, but when you look at the benchmark product, what you need to see and how it is illustrated makes reading the map more enjoyable.

Here's what I mean...

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In this image, we have similarly depicted areas. While it may be hard to see in these small images(click on them to enlarge), the Benchmark app gives us much more information at this scale. Benchmark shows the lesser routes at this scale, delorme does not. Benchmark makes reading the topography easier thanks to it's orientation of labels, notice the ones of the platue and mesa are actually running along the length of the features. Delorme seems satisfied to just drop a horizontally formatted label on the middle of any feature. I also prefer the way Benchmark depicts political and admin boundaries, notice how Deorme just shades in the whole region of national forest, losing the opportunity to depict forests and lesser trails?

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However, Delorme gets the nod once we zoom in close, as contour information is much more useful in this instance compared to Benchmark's depiction of the same feature.

One map style can not do it all, but with today's digital technology, there is still a place for a cartographer to practice thier craft.

In the end, I have not found a single app or paper map that can handle the needs of regional route planning and detailed large scale work. Fortunately, it is inexpensive these days to have mulitple sources of digital maps on board, swithching between them as needed. It's actually a good idea to have multiple map sources on your Ipad, as we ran into several instances where Delorme, MotionX, and Benchmark depicted different information for the same place I hope Delorme integrates the features of motionX and Benchmark in their application (especially the NEXTRAD radar), while adding typical navigation tools like waypoints, tracking, and map layering. It would be nice to have one app to rule them all. That, or having Ozi Explorer on a Ipad with the capablity to run the Inreach

Feel free to ask questions, as I just threw this together while traveling in the field during the month we were away. I'm sure I missed a few things Bottom line, I think the ipad is the best choice you can make for an in car navigation/field computer system for under $500. It never failed...dust, vibration, and heat and sun exposure did not phase it. The same can not be said for the numerous laptops I have used over the years in far less demanding conditions and shorter duration.

[agavelvr]

One last plug for the ipad for those of you considering a car computer...
You can get a sweet OBDII reader that works with it.

http://www.ot-2.com/

I have one and they are much nicer than a scangauge IMHO.

[TangoBlue]

This post is extremely useful. Thanks for taking the time to perform this detailed analysis and write-up!

[Dendy Jarrett]

NOW, I am considering an iPad. That is terrific. Thanks Jeff!
D

[Vegas_Nick]

Great write up Jeff. I found the same thing when it comes to needing paper as well as technology. I run the same iPad using my cell phone's 4G connection when I need it. I also run the Motion X and like it the best of the 6 or so Apps that we have added.

I am still waffling between the SPOT and the Delorme. Care to elaborate on the SPOT experience?

[agavelvr]

Glad you guys are finding this thread useful. I'm never impressed by marketing hype and short duration testing when trying to make a choice on equipment. This trip really put everything, including us, to the test.
I have to give credit to RobRed for turning me onto the ipad
http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...90#post1074790

Great write up Jeff. I found the same thing when it comes to needing paper as well as technology. I run the same iPad using my cell phone's 4G connection when I need it. I also run the Motion X and like it the best of the 6 or so Apps that we have added.

I am still waffling between the SPOT and the Delorme. Care to elaborate on the SPOT experience?

I had a SPOT gen 1 for one year. It did what it was supposed to for a reasonable price. I was not too impressed with thier customer service or the renewal deal presented. I ended up selling it because I knew the Delorme InReach was coming out. Back in November, I borrowed a SPOT for my solo AZ traverse trip because Delorme had not yet released their IOS compatible version. Once again, the SPOT did what it was supposed to.
SPOTs are great, but they do not allow for incomming messages and have a less robust satellite constellation backing them.

To me, an InReach is better because it allows you to send a message, and more importantly, recieve an answer in the middle of nowhere. Plus, it uses the vastly superior Irridium system.

Something better will come out next year no doubt, but at this point I don't "need" anything more than what the InReach provides.

[jCubed]

This is a great right up! I'm using my iPad 2 in my Tundra for everything from maps to Pandora music through the bluetooth stereo. I'm really interested in the InReach, I'd love to have that for when I am out and about just for that emergency situation.

Cool setup and thanks again for the info.

[RobRed]

MotionX, provided in app access to your music, which is a nice touch since switching apps causes motionx to loose it's tracking capability until you return to the app.

This doesn't happen on either of my iPads 3G - 1st or 2nd gen... Motion X setup allows various levels of multitasking - what was your setting? Also it looks like you were using a passive track in the screen shots.

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