Garmin Megathread-Ask your questions here-See post 1 on how to search thread

DogSlySmile · 15-01-2012 4:06pm

Yea heres a link. From 5:00 minutes to 15:00 minutes I'm entering and maintaining zone 3 (well, according to my watch anyway).
When I first started using connect I entered my resting HR and took my max HR from a recent interval session. Didnt know I could/had to set HR zones on the watch so I'm just monitoring my HR on the watch
Thanks Krusty

Krusty_Clown · 15-01-2012 4:26pm

DogSlySmile wrote: »

Thanks Krusty

DogSlySmile wrote: »

Yea heres a link. From 5:00 minutes to 15:00 minutes I'm entering and maintaining zone 3 (well, according to my watch anyway).
When I first started using connect I entered my resting HR and took my max HR from a recent interval session. Didnt know I could/had to set HR zones on the watch so I'm just monitoring my HR on the watch

There's a couple of ways you could set-up this workout:
1) Create an Advanced workout in Training Centre (or a workout in Garmin Connect) and set an acceptable range for your HR. The watch will then alert you when you drop out of of exceed this zone.
2) Get your HR zone ranges right on the watch. Normally this involves setting the zones in Training Centre or Connect, and uploading these to the watch.
3) Use HR Lap as one of your data fields, and hit the lap button at the start of your 'hr phase'. This will average out your HR for the duration of the lap, so you can keep an eye on it.

I reckon 1 and 3 are just that little bit less flaky than the HR zones as there's less room for ambiguity.

PGL · 15-01-2012 5:15pm

I tried out my buddy's forerunner 110 today for an 8km run, and simultaneously used my iPhone miCoach GPS app.

I have always suspected (when using it on proper organised runs) that iPhone apps under estimate distances by approx 1 to 4%. So on the basis that the garmin is presumably more accurate, I would have expected it to clock a longer distance than the iPhone. However the opposite was the case - the garmin measured 8km, and the iPhone measured 8.11km (these distances take stopping at junctions into account). I'm not sure why there is such a discrepancy - perhaps the iPhone app has been updated lately to be more accurate?

Eitherway what are people's experience of the accuracy of garmin watches?

Furthermore, I take it that the pace displayed (when you view the run in the "history" menu) is the overall average pace?
I ran 8km in 37mins 53.25secs, which by my maths equates to a pace 4.74mins/km. However the garmin displays 4.44mins/km - am I missing something stupid here?

cheers!

PGL · 15-01-2012 5:23pm

When quizzing a shop attendant yesterday (as well as quizzing Krusty and everyone else here for the past week!) about garmin watches, he warned me that if I buy one off a non-Irish website, neither the website or Garmin will fix/replace the watch if anything goes wrong. I am obviously mindful that the shop attendant is a sales person hoping to convince me to buy one off him instead, so I thought the best thing would be to ask you lot if anyone has had a similar experience?

thanks a million folks

huskerdu · 15-01-2012 6:41pm

PGL wrote: »

Furthermore, I take it that the pace displayed (when you view the run in the "history" menu) is the overall average pace?
I ran 8km in 37mins 53.25secs, which by my maths equates to a pace 4.74mins/km. However the garmin displays 4.44mins/km - am I missing something stupid here?

cheers!

You are mixing up how the garmin displays the pace and how you calculate pace.

37 min 53 sec is 37.88 min /8km = 4.74 min/km ( In this case .74 is a decimal not a no of seconds)

.74 of 1 min is 44 sec.

The garmin displayed 4.44 which 4min 44 sec which is correct.

huskerdu · 15-01-2012 6:47pm

PGL wrote: »

I have always suspected (when using it on proper organised runs) that iPhone apps under estimate distances by approx 1 to 4%. So on the basis that the garmin is presumably more accurate, I would have expected it to clock a longer distance than the iPhone. However the opposite was the case - the garmin measured 8km, and the iPhone measured 8.11km (these distances take stopping at junctions into account). I'm not sure why there is such a discrepancy - perhaps the iPhone app has been updated lately to be more accurate?

8.11km vs 8km is only a difference of 1.4% which is within the margin of error for either device.

Both the iPhone app and the garmin calculate the distance in the same way
By finding out where you are every x no of seconds and working out the difference in distance between each measurement point.

You would need to compare them a number of times to see if the discrepancy is the same each time.

How often does the iPhone app take a measurement point compared to the garmin ?

DogSlySmile · 15-01-2012 7:16pm

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

2) Get your HR zone ranges right on the watch. Normally this involves setting the zones in Training Centre or Connect, and uploading these to the watch.

Ta, KC. I'll give this a whack as the other two seem a bit fiddly. So, was my watch displaying the wrong zone in the above workout? (And as such, was a waste of a workout)

PGL · 15-01-2012 7:17pm

huskerdu wrote: »

You are mixing up how the garmin displays the pace and how you calculate pace.

37 min 53 sec is 37.88 min /8km = 4.74 min/km ( In this case .74 is a decimal not a no of seconds)

.74 of 1 min is 44 sec.

The garmin displayed 4.44 which 4min 44 sec which is correct.

spot on huskerdu - dooh!!!!!

PGL · 15-01-2012 7:23pm

huskerdu wrote: »

Both the iPhone app and the garmin calculate the distance in the same way

Someone please correct me if i'm wrong, but as far as I know the garmin works off satelites whereas the iPhone is working off a phone signal, so they may not be calculating distance the same way....

As i said earlier, the only way to really gauge distance errors is when you use them in official runs - what is people's experience of garmin's distance errors in official runs?

pointer28 · 15-01-2012 7:59pm

Hi,

Maybe somebody can help me with an issue I'm having with the Garmin Fit App for my Android phone.

I use it to record the distance of my runs as my FR60 can't do this for me. It worked fine for the first while, when I got home after a run I activated the Wi-Fi on the phone and it uploaded by workouts to Garmin Connect.

However, for the last couple of days this hasn't worked and I can't find an option to force it to upload. I re-logged in on the phone and selected refresh and it uploaded one of the missing workouts, but there are still two left and it just won't upload them for me.

Does anyone have any advice on this?

Ideally, I'd love to upgrade to a GPS watch, but this just isn't possible at the moment.

huskerdu · 15-01-2012 8:14pm

PGL wrote: »

Someone please correct me if i'm wrong, but as far as I know the garmin works off satelites whereas the iPhone is working off a phone signal, so they may not be calculating distance the same way....

As i said earlier, the only way to really gauge distance errors is when you use them in official runs - what is people's experience of garmin's distance errors in official runs?

I was under the impression that the iPhone had a GPS receiver and the app used it.

BUT, I'm no expert it would be interesting if someone could confirm this.

Krusty_Clown · 15-01-2012 9:43pm

huskerdu wrote: »

I was under the impression that the iPhone had a GPS receiver and the app used it.

BUT, I'm no expert it would be interesting if someone could confirm this.

You can approximate a phone's position from phone masts, but no, you couldn't do anything like track locations, direction etc from the masts. Alternatively, Google uses Wifi signatures to identify where you are, but again, you couldn't use it for direction/pace/tracking etc. Has to be GPS.

As for GPS accuracy, it really depends on where you are, visibility of the sky etc. I generally find them very accurate (within a couple of hundred metres over the course of a marathon).

Krusty_Clown · 15-01-2012 9:44pm

pointer28 wrote: »

Hi,

Maybe somebody can help me with an issue I'm having with the Garmin Fit App for my Android phone.

I use it to record the distance of my runs as my FR60 can't do this for me. It worked fine for the first while, when I got home after a run I activated the Wi-Fi on the phone and it uploaded by workouts to Garmin Connect.

However, for the last couple of days this hasn't worked and I can't find an option to force it to upload. I re-logged in on the phone and selected refresh and it uploaded one of the missing workouts, but there are still two left and it just won't upload them for me.

Does anyone have any advice on this?

Ideally, I'd love to upgrade to a GPS watch, but this just isn't possible at the moment.

Probably best to go to the Garmin Connect forums. They must have a sub-forum for the Garmin Fit App.

Krusty_Clown · 15-01-2012 9:54pm

DogSlySmile wrote: »

Ta, KC. I'll give this a whack as the other two seem a bit fiddly. So, was my watch displaying the wrong zone in the above workout? (And as such, was a waste of a workout)

I would've thought that the 1st and 3rd suggestion are a lot less fiddly, as they are based on absolute HR values, while Heart Rate 'Zones' is an abstracted concept, and liable to be erroneous (if you have different zone information on different devices/applications).

Unfortunately I can't really see the zone information (splits don't include HR zones). From the graph, it certainly looks like you were in zone 3 from 5mins to 15 mins. It took you a minute+ to get into zone 3, and then you maintained it until the 15 minute mark, at which point it drops off. You should probably hit lap, as you target the specific zone, so you can isolate the data for analysis.

PGL · 15-01-2012 11:04pm

PGL wrote: »

When quizzing a shop attendant yesterday (as well as quizzing Krusty and everyone else here for the past week!) about garmin watches, he warned me that if I buy one off a non-Irish website, neither the website or Garmin will fix/replace the watch if anything goes wrong. I am obviously mindful that the shop attendant is a sales person hoping to convince me to buy one off him instead, so I thought the best thing would be to ask you lot if anyone has had a similar experience?

thanks a million folks

the lack of responses suggests no-one had any issues with their garmin watches, which is postive..... is that the case?

RayCun · 16-01-2012 10:24am

I bought my Garmin from Amazon. When it stopped working (about 6 months later) I contacted Garmin support directly, and they replaced it.

PGL · 16-01-2012 1:49pm

RayCun wrote: »

I bought my Garmin from Amazon. When it stopped working (about 6 months later) I contacted Garmin support directly, and they replaced it.

Thanks for that RayCun

Out of interest, was Garmin the actual seller in this case, or will they stand over their products regardless of who sells them?

cheers!

RayCun · 16-01-2012 2:00pm

I bought from Amazon, not directly from Garmin. I think there's a general warranty period, no matter who you buy from.

HardyEustace · 17-01-2012 4:33pm

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Did you setup an Advanced workout in Garmin Training Centre, or set it up on the watch? You need to make sure that it is not using the HR zones (which are pretty crap in my opinion), instead using 'custom', which I assume uses your min and max HR values (never tried it, to be honest). Also, might be worth your while making sure your 'beep' is still working.

I have set-up workouts in Garmin Connect ([Workouts] tab), with Min/Max pace, and the alerts worked fine. Too fine, in fact. They were bloody annoying! The only problem with Workouts created in Garmin Connect, is that you only seem to be able to send one to your device (405) at any one time. It seems to erase/overwrite existing work-outs. But maybe that's been fixed since I last tried.

Discovered the problem. I did hit Do Workout but welllll, <deep breath>, apparently you've to hit start as well to get the workout to um, start. <blush>

<wanders off to find the pointy hat with the big D on it>

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 19-01-2012 8:30pm

My home laptop is completly buggered and whilst i can upload my forerunner 305 files to my work laptop it is not recognising the edge 500 device. I have tried updating the drivers etc and it keeps coming up with "This is an unsupported OS version. Must be Windows XP SP3 or better"

Help please, the work laptop is Windows XP and as i mentioned recognises the 305 and file downloads.

Krusty_Clown · 19-01-2012 8:31pm

Kylen Warm Beaker wrote: »

My home laptop is completly buggered and whilst i can upload my forerunner 305 files to my work laptop it is not recognising the edge 500 device. I have tried updating the drivers etc and it keeps coming up with "This is an unsupported OS version. Must be Windows XP SP3 or better"

Help please, the work laptop is Windows XP and as i mentioned recognises the 305 and file downloads.

Does it have SP3 installed?

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 19-01-2012 8:59pm

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Does it have SP3 installed?

It should have i would have thought as automatic updates is switched on

I have an SP3 windows update running to be sure so will soon find out if thats an issue.

Krusty_Clown · 19-01-2012 10:57pm

Kylen Warm Beaker wrote: »

It should have i would have thought as automatic updates is switched on I have an SP3 windows update running to be sure so will soon find out if thats an issue.

[Start] [Control Panel] [System] should tell you which SP you have installed.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 20-01-2012 1:26am

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

[Start] [Control Panel] [System] should tell you which SP you have installed.

SP3 updated on windows, communicator plug in updated, usd drivers updated and i am still getting this message on the Garmin test page...very frustrating:mad:

"Communicator Plugin is properly installed and up to date, version 3.0.1.0.

Garmin GPS device is NOT detected. To complete test, connect device and refresh page. If a Garmin device is connected and you're still having problems, download and install the latest Garmin USB drivers."

Krusty_Clown · 20-01-2012 1:20pm

Kylen Warm Beaker wrote: »

SP3 updated on windows, communicator plug in updated, usd drivers updated and i am still getting this message on the Garmin test page...very frustrating:mad:

"Communicator Plugin is properly installed and up to date, version 3.0.1.0.

Garmin GPS device is NOT detected. To complete test, connect device and refresh page. If a Garmin device is connected and you're still having problems, download and install the latest Garmin USB drivers."

Can you try a different browser? how does the 500 communicate; is it via a USB/cradle, or an ANT USB dongle? Could possibly indicate a problem with your device

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 20-01-2012 1:33pm

Sorted KC the work laptop was not recognising/blocking device so a sticky bun and a cup of tea to the IT Manager sorted it;). Thanks for your help.

Krusty_Clown · 20-01-2012 4:06pm

Kylen Warm Beaker wrote: »

Sorted KC the work laptop was not recognising/blocking device so a sticky bun and a cup of tea to the IT Manager sorted it;). Thanks for your help.

Lol. If only all of life's problems could be sorted with a sticky bun and a cup of tea!

Mint Sauce · 21-01-2012 10:54pm

Just got a 310xt.

Downloaded the web uploader, and the driver software before plugging in the USB AGENT key as advised, wouldn't pair with device after plugging in, got error messages for the USB key when trying to open it from the start menu. Emailed it off to support.

Noticed that I didn;t have the Garmin Connect Software, so downloaded this as well.

Tried all again, still the same message for the USB key, also seen an error message for the web uploader, sent this message off as well.

Waiting responces, but any suggestions what I could do in the mean time.

Krusty_Clown · 21-01-2012 10:59pm

irish-stew wrote: »

Just got a 310xt.

Downloaded the web uploader, and the driver software before plugging in the USB AGENT key as advised, wouldn't pair with device after plugging in, got error messages for the USB key when trying to open it from the start menu. Emailed it off to support.

Noticed that I didn;t have the Garmin Connect Software, so downloaded this as well.

Tried all again, still the same message for the USB key, also seen an error message for the web uploader, sent this message off as well.

Waiting responces, but any suggestions what I could do in the mean time.

Well, don't keep us in suspense! Share the error messages with us and we might be able to help. There is no Garmin Connect software by the way. Just the ANT Agent software, the USB drivers, and optionally, Garmin Training Centre.

Mint Sauce · 21-01-2012 11:04pm

Ant Agent Message

App: Garmin ANT Agent(tm)
At: 1/21/2012 10:01:29 PM (UTC)
OS: Windows Vista
Processor: x86, Processor Level: 6, Processors:2, Model: 14 Stepping: 12, RAM: 1045952
GLO_SMARTPTR.HPP-105-2.2.17.0
Language ID: 1033
Part Number: 006-A0214-00
Build Type: Release
Stack Trace:
1970253982
6095916
5427890
4200552
4497137

Wont let me copy the Web updater message, only lets me send the report, didn't get a confirmation when hitting send so dont even know if it did send.

Krusty_Clown · 22-01-2012 12:04am

Ahh. didn't realize it was a software crash. More likely to be related to your operating system than the Garmin software. Have you tried installing with Administrator privileges? Right-click the setup.exe and select [Run as Administrator]. Worth a shot.

Mint Sauce · 22-01-2012 12:20am

As the sole user of the laptop, wouldn't I already be logged in as the Administrator, or is Administrator privileges something differnet.

Would I need to uninstall everthing Garmin related first, and would I be able to access everything normally afterwards without going through Administrator privileges?

Krusty_Clown · 22-01-2012 12:31am

irish-stew wrote: »

As the sole user of the laptop, wouldn't I already be logged in as the Administrator, or is Administrator privileges something differnet.

Would I need to uninstall everthing Garmin related first, and would I be able to access everything normally afterwards without going through Administrator privileges?

You may be logged in as a user with administrator privileges, but because of security changes implemented in Vista (UAC), you don't necessarily run the installer as administrator. Used to cause me problems.

When you say 'everything Garmin related', what Garmin related products have you got installed? I would've though the ANT agent and the Garmin communicator would be the most relevant apps. Like I said, it's just a hunch.

Mint Sauce · 22-01-2012 12:41am

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

You may be logged in as a user with administrator privileges, but because of security changes implemented in Vista (UAC), you don't necessarily run the installer as administrator. Used to cause me problems.

When you say 'everything Garmin related', what Garmin related products have you got installed? I would've though the ANT agent and the Garmin communicator would be the most relevant apps. Like I said, it's just a hunch.

The Communicator, the ANT agent, and the Web Updater (only three things I downloaded for it). Do have an old EDGE, but uninstalled all for that first.

Am surprised there was no instructions to download anything for the 310xt, or would that have been picked up by the ANT Agent.

RacoonQueen · 22-01-2012 8:46pm

Dear Garmin Agony Uncle,

Nothing has transferred to training centre/garmin connect since Tuesday. I can't force send from the unit. I can't manually upload from garmin connect. Most of the activities in history, including some from this week(that I didn't get written down

) have disappeared from the unit AND the unit now has a couple of activities from 2007 on it.

I am at a loss, half of my weeks training is no longer recorded on the garmin, it's like it never even happened.

Please help me Garmin God.

Yours,

A sad Racoon.

menoscemo · 22-01-2012 8:57pm

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I am at a loss, half of my weeks training is no longer recorded on the garmin, it's like it never even happened.

Well, you'll have to scratch them from the 1000 mile/SBR challenges in that case

RacoonQueen · 22-01-2012 9:50pm

menoscemo wrote: »

Well, you'll have to scratch them from the 1000 mile/SBR challenges in that case

Feck that, I have witnesses for Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Krusty_Clown · 23-01-2012 7:36am

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Dear Garmin Agony Uncle,

Nothing has transferred to training centre/garmin connect since Tuesday. I can't force send from the unit. I can't manually upload from garmin connect. Most of the activities in history, including some from this week(that I didn't get written down ) have disappeared from the unit AND the unit now has a couple of activities from 2007 on it.

I am at a loss, half of my weeks training is no longer recorded on the garmin, it's like it never even happened.

Please help me Garmin God.

Yours,

A sad Racoon.

Sorry RQ, haven't a clue. Sounds like some serious memory ssues, if old activities are showing up. Shouldn't really be possible, unless there's some kind of master boot record that's screwed up. Are you sure it's not just the date that's messed up? I'd try a hard reset, then send it back.

RacoonQueen · 23-01-2012 11:08am

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Sorry RQ, haven't a clue. Sounds like some serious memory ssues, if old activities are showing up. Shouldn't really be possible, unless there's some kind of master boot record that's screwed up. Are you sure it's not just the date that's messed up? I'd try a hard reset, then send it back.

I didn't even have a garmin in 2007. It's like a couple of spooky sessions the garmin did all on it's own. :eek:

Yeah, I think I'll send it back. Otherwise it'll probably go bananas the day of a race.

RayCun · 23-01-2012 11:59am

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I didn't even have a garmin in 2007. It's like a couple of spooky sessions the garmin did all on it's own. :eek:

This is a replacement unit, right? Could it be reconditioned?

RacoonQueen · 23-01-2012 3:45pm

RayCun wrote: »

This is a replacement unit, right? Could it be reconditioned?

Yeah, they're reconditioned units, but it should be storing workouts from 2007 as they'd have been deleted and the 310 didn't exist in 2007.

The wait is so long between when you report it > they respond > send it back > get your replacement. I've races in the next few weeks, can't race without a garmin. :eek:

Edit: and now the computer isn't recongising the USB stick. Looks like fate wants me to but a 910 and get a new usb stick, hrm and watch doesn't it?

NiallG4 · 23-01-2012 3:48pm

When I try and look at older ativities on my garmin connect account, it will not go back. It just stays at loading. Broadband is really good so no issues there. Any suggestions.

Krusty_Clown · 23-01-2012 8:22pm

NiallG4 wrote: »

When I try and look at older ativities on my garmin connect account, it will not go back. It just stays at loading. Broadband is really good so no issues there. Any suggestions.

1) Try a different browser.
2) Raise the issue on the Garmin Connect forums.

happygoose · 23-01-2012 10:18pm

My relatively new Forerunner 305 appeared to have died earlier, it was fine when I ran. I went to turn it on and connect it to Garmin Connect and it was lifeless. I followed the instructions below and it came back to life, somewhat...but like the last poster it won't upload activities now, it freezes at a certain point. I've tried a couple of different browsers. The unit is chugging to life on the 3rd or 4th attempt when I try to start it now too.

http://www.activesplit.com/my-garmin-forerunner-305-doesnt-power-on-its-just-dead-solutions/

RacoonQueen · 24-01-2012 1:55am

My garmin, gamin connect and the usb stick all appear to have fixed themselves, including the date mess up.

It gets even weirder...

Krusty_Clown · 24-01-2012 7:15am

RacoonQueen wrote: »

My garmin, gamin connect and the usb stick all appear to have fixed themselves, including the date mess up.

It gets even weirder...

You ever hear of Uri Geller? That's me, that is!

littlebug · 27-01-2012 3:00pm

NiallG4 wrote: »

When I try and look at older ativities on my garmin connect account, it will not go back. It just stays at loading. Broadband is really good so no issues there. Any suggestions.

I'm getting this too

Did you find a solution?

Also... at every lap beep on runs recently I'm getting a "lap counter full... delete oldest " (Or something like that). How do I delete runs? I thought they automatically disappeared over time/ new runs added

Edit: Did a search

and got the answer.

Caprica · 29-01-2012 12:50pm

Two questions on my Garmin 405

1 - Is it possible to buy a replacement strap? I broke my current strap around the buckle (tiny metal bar) a few weeks back and fixed it with superglue but it has broken again.

2 - I can't pair my HRM with the 405. Have the garmin a few years and never bothered sinking it but a few weeks blanked everything by accident so reset and went with yes for the HRM option. Follow the instructions and it will just not connect, funny thing is when I go to races it has no problem picking up someone elses HRM. What am I doing wrong.

Krusty_Clown · 29-01-2012 12:55pm

Caprica wrote: »

Two questions on my Garmin 405

1 - Is it possible to buy a replacement strap? I broke my current strap around the buckle (tiny metal bar) a few weeks back and fixed it with superglue but it has broken again.

Go to this page, click on Accesories, and expand the 'Fitness Parts' category.

Caprica wrote: »

2 - I can't pair my HRM with the 405. Have the garmin a few years and never bothered sinking it but a few weeks blanked everything by accident so reset and went with yes for the HRM option. Follow the instructions and it will just not connect, funny thing is when I go to races it has no problem picking up someone elses HRM. What am I doing wrong.

Have you changed the battery in the HRM strap recently?

PGL · 30-01-2012 11:10pm

Hi folks

I got my new (NOK) 405CX on fri 20th (10 days ago) and gave it a full charge (probably for 2-3 hours until 100% appeared on watch) on that day. Since then I have used it 5 times. Yesterday I noticed that the battery was at approx 40%. Today when I went to use it the screen was blank, and I could not restart it by pressing enter and quit simultaneously, which I assume suggests that the battery was dead?

When I plugged it in 2 and a half hours ago, 35% battery appeared on screen straight away - surely it should have been 1%?. Later on I noticed that it was stuck on 99% for quite a while. 100% has literally just appeared on the watch now - shouldn't the watch make a sound when fully charged?

Eitherway it seems to me that the batter indicator is telling me lies - has anyone else had a similar experience?

Thanks!

Garmin Megathread-Ask your questions here-See post 1 on how to search thread

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