I get on Ebay, bid on a unit and win the bid for $255.
The unit looks absolutely perfect, new, and unused. The battery is about 50 percent charged. I plug it into a charger and that will do for a first checkout.
There is only one button, namely "Reassign". It shows the device as "added June 8, 2021". I click the Reassign button. I could now select a different user, but there is an Unassign button. I click that. After a few seconds it goes back to the original display but it now shows it as unassigned.
At the top of the page that shows both my 66i and my Instinct is an "add inreach device" button. This takes me to a choice between the Messenger App, the Earthmate App, and the Explore Web. I find messenger on my phone, but this is Facebook. The only Garmin app I have (or have ever used with Garmin) is Connect.
I go to the stupidly named "play store". I find the search feature, type "garmin" and it shows me (among other things) Garmin messenger, with the same orange color as inreach devices. I install it on my Pixel 6 phone. I launch it and it says "ready to get started".
I follow the "get started" steps on the app. It wants my mobile phone number. It sends me a code and makes it easy to respond with it. I enable notifications and let is use my contacts. It says I am "all set".
A gear thing at the upper left gives me a menu and the top thing is "add device". It is searching. I power up the new 66i. It wants to install new software. I tell it to go ahead. The phone sees the 66i. The 66i shows a passkey. The phone then says "unable to connect". This is difficult, confusing, and not well documented. The 66i shows another passkey now.
I carry my old 66i (which seems to be powered off) and my Instinct watch into the other room, hopefully out of bluetooth range. I check that bluetooth is on on the phone (it is). Aha!. The problem is that my phone was in "do not disturb" and Android needed to display a notification. I fix that and the pairing now works.
The phone says I need to activate the device and offers a button to do so. I click it. It is giving me advertisements for various plans. I already have a plan and am paying for it. I bail out on this and go back to the website.
I click the "get started" on the right on the website. I tells me to grab the 66i, use "setup, about" and it will show me my IMEI and authorization code. And it does! The display is all but impossible to read as it think it is night time (it is, 7:30 PM). I type in the numbers. Now it offers a button to "Add device and move service". I click this. It works a while and now wants me to confirm the transfer, warning me the old device will be deactivated. I click a blue button to do the transfer. They say I will get an email when the transfer is complete. A progress bar is busy, but as I am typing this the window says "service transfer complete".
It has a DONE button. I click it, now more progress bar stuff. So, I transfered service, but the device is not yet activated. It says activation may take several minutes and that both my device and the screen should give a message.
I take the device outside where there is clear view of the sky. Nothing happens quickly, so I set it on a table and go inside and type this, watching the screen on my desktop browser and relying on it to tell me when activation is complete.
I began playing with the garmin messenger app and then saw the web browser screen change out of the corner of my eye. It went back to the main screen. I fetch the 66i from outside and there is nothing on the screen, but perhaps it only showed up for a few seconds.
On the browser, "plans and devices" now shows the new 66i with a subscription and the old unit as deactivated, so I think this worked. I suppose the way to know for sure is to send a message.
The phone now sees my 3 preset messages. Right now they go to myself, which is OK for testing. I try sending one, and there is even more to do. I need to fire up messenger and complete activation. I do so. I type "send message" again -- and I get the email.
Tom's backpacking pages / tom@mmto.org