These are the features that, in my opinion, should drive the next generation of innovation. We don't need VR or blockchain as much as we need to go the last mile on the promise to connect everyone everywhere to give them the services they need to raise quality of life.
Emergency SOS via satellite
321–330 of 479 posts
Re: Emergency SOS via satellite
#322Earlier quoted context omitted.
For Emergency services there is no “activate and pay later” because you don’t need to activate, and you don’t need to pay. If you have an iPhone 14 it’s supposed to just work if you’re calling 911.
>If you have an iPhone 14 it’s supposed to just work if you’re calling 911. Did you mean to say "work AS if you're calling 911"? The emergency message via satellite function has to be explicitly used instead of just calling 911
No. If you're offgrid and try to call 911 the interface automatically offers to use Satellite services.
Re: Emergency SOS via satellite
#323Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Even in some of our SF Bay Area counties Even? no (and you'd probably know better than me) but as a fellow bay area person, there are tons and tons and tons of roads and places that aren't covered by cell service, just go into the mountains a little bit. and then you also have to ask which cell carrier everybody has. there's a real digital divide once you get out of the city and the towns that surround it
> and then you also have to ask which cell carrier everybody has Not for emergency services you don't.
Ah you're right. I was still thinking back in the GSM vs CDMA days where AT&T phones physically couldn't talk to Verizon towers (and vice versa) so 911 couldn't work either.
Re: Emergency SOS via satellite
#324Earlier quoted context omitted.
More expensive than the avalanche probe, shovel, and beacon. I was responding to the following: "You'd be shocked at the number of people who carry their beacon, probe, shovel, etc but not an InReach or Spot device."
You would still require a probe, shovel, and beacon. The difference comes down to whether you purchase an iPhone 14 or a device akin to Spot.
For many, the answer will be that they're buying an iPhone in any case so why buy an additional several hundred dollar device.
Re: Emergency SOS via satellite
#325I was just on the ground coordinating with 4 friends that got buried in 5+ foot of unexpected snow in the mountains (forecast said 1"-2" when they went up) for the rifle opener in Montana. I wound up getting sick so I stayed home (hilariously I was the only one who got an elk) but I sent them up with my InReach. All I can say is THANK GOD that I did, because it turned into over a week long effort to get them out. Two…
No one is asking this but the rest i know about, so i find myself thinking "what on earth do you do with a rifle-shot-dead elk?", since I have no suburban-kid idea.
Leaving aside the option to take a side-by-side/ATV/snowmobile (with skid or trailer if needed) to solve the problem with horsepower, or the option of biological horses instead of petroleum horses:
1. You first field dress it - cut from sternum to tail and pull the entrails, leaving them in a pile in the woods for scavengers. That takes your elk from 700 lbs (you hope) to ~450 lbs.
2. Quarter it and hang the 4 ~100lbs quarters high in a tree safe from bears and wolves (but not cougars) and carry them out one at a time using a backpack with a frame and hip belt. Be sure to carry the prime cuts (backstraps) out with the first load. Watch for predators on the return trips.
3. It's becoming more common, too, to fully butcher the animal in the field, removing the bones, which reduces the load to haul down to about 200 lbs. The skin, ivory, and head (if you want those) add some weight.
A Jet Sled in 2" of snow makes it surprisingly easy to haul an awful lot of elk and gear. As long as you're going across flat ground or downhill, that is - uphill is no fun at all.
A whitetail here in Michigan is much easier, even a big one is only about 100 lbs after field dressing. You just lay it on a drag/tarp or in a sled (or, if you don't care about the skin staying pristine and aren't going over super rocky terrain, just tie a rope to the antlers and front legs) and drag it out.
Re: Emergency SOS via satellite
#326Earlier quoted context omitted.
Which Inreach model allows voice calls?
None of the Inreach devices can make calls.
you are correct, inReach devices can text by themselves(with no cell signal) and can be paired with a cell phone to make calls(I have the 66i), but not make calls by themselves.
https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/GUID-6E5DFD2E-EEE4-4...
Re: Emergency SOS via satellite
#327Earlier quoted context omitted.
So when I ride the bus or train, I'm allowed to use my phone? What about when I use an uber (or lift or any of the many many other local alternatives)? Not everyone that moves at driving speeds is driving, especially in places outside of America.
Oh, sure, there's tons of annoying cases, and it'll probably never be done, but it's certainly a feature that would save lives .
It would also cost lives. In a serious emergency you can start driving someone to the hospital and call 911. In rural areas when ambulances can take 45+ minutes being unable to call and drive can be a big issue.
That’s just one of many edge cases where disabling cellphone service for moving callers is downright dangerous.
Re: Emergency SOS via satellite
#328Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh, sure, there's tons of annoying cases, and it'll probably never be done, but it's certainly a feature that would save lives .
It would also cost lives. In a serious emergency you can start driving someone to the hospital and call 911. In rural areas when ambulances can take 45+ minutes being unable to call and drive can be a big issue. That’s just one of many edge cases where disabling cellphone service for moving callers is downright dangerous.
Oh sure - there’s tons of reasons it hasn’t been done. But it would be an option - even if you could only dial 911 whilst moving or something.
Maybe make it an insurance lock feature!
Re: Emergency SOS via satellite
#329Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I wish they had a non-cost plan (or maybe $10/year) plus $5/text or something like that for use in an emergency. Given that the outdoor SAR use case is probably the largest reason for people to get one of these devices in the first place, I doubt that such a model would be economically sustainable (unless subsidized by government agencies or possibly insurances saving money due to spending less on large-scale searc…
Yeah, if we conservatively say 1% of InReach users will need to send an SOS message, then looking at the math: Today, 100 InReach subscribers nets Garmin around $144/yr * 100 people = $14,400 If the InReach were free except for when activating the SOS, the SOS would have to cost $14,000 to make that same revenue from the same number of users. This would surely lead to more deaths due to folks waiting way longer to se…
They're going to lose the people like me anyway when phones can send a SOS by satellite, so their revenue from me will either go to $0 and I'll sell my InReach on eBay, or they can get some small amount of revenue (enough to cover the administrative costs of registering the device) from me.
Re: Emergency SOS via satellite
#330Earlier quoted context omitted.
> there needs to be a "use it now, pay later" or no one is going to activate it and actually have it available when they need it I've been solo hiking, running, kayaking, and biking in areas without cell service since before cell phones were things people carried. Haven't needed emergency search-and-rescue in 20 years, so it's just never seemed like a good investment...that's $3600 I could have 'wasted' on a service…
Depending on the location, perhaps getting your amateur radio license and a radio with APRS on it might help fill in some of the coverage gaps. I've heard (though cannot confirm personally) that there is often APRS coverage in remote areas that are otherwise not served by cellular.
It depends a lot on the terrain and specific area whether a typical VHF/UHF ham radio will work. The range is much longer than cellular, but it is quite LOS, and repeater/digipeater sites with good coverage tend to be at established antenna sites for commercical broadcast or telecom. There'll be some more remote sites of course, but infrastructure and LOS is still more or less required. With many popular recreation areas up in uninhabited mountain valleys with no infrastructure and where building stuff is often prohibited, the chances of hitting a site aren't great unless you happen to be below a mountain microwave site or such. At least without hiking out of the valley, but that's hardly a condition you want to put on yourself for an emergency communicator.
That said, it's not a bad thing to carry in your car, as there are plenty enough dead spots that would likely be covered by packet radio. It's just a lot less clear how to get help.