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

Bez Bing

I am getting really frustrated with the length of time my Garmin 405, it takes ages to pick up my location.
Im just standing around waving my arms in the air like an idiot for about 5 - 10 minutes before it locates. Is there a way to save you co-ordinates on the watch as most of my runs begin in the same place?

Cheers.

Krusty_Clown

Bez Bing wrote: »

I am getting really frustrated with the length of time my Garmin 405, it takes ages to pick up my location.
Im just standing around waving my arms in the air like an idiot for about 5 - 10 minutes before it locates. Is there a way to save you co-ordinates on the watch as most of my runs begin in the same place?

The 405 isn't picking up your location. What it's doing is picking up signals from several satellites, and using the information from those satellites to 'triangulate' your position, so saving your current location won't do anything for you. I find that the more stable the watch, the quicker it picks up those satellite signals, so first thing: stop waving your arms about the place.

Does the area you start most of your runs have an un-obscured view of the sky (away from tall buildings and dense foliage)? Might be worth giving the strap a clean, to remove any layers of sweat and dirt.

Bez Bing

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

The 405 isn't picking up your location. What it's doing is picking up signals from several satellites, and using the information from those satellites to 'triangulate' your position, so saving your current location won't do anything for you. I find that the more stable the watch, the quicker it picks up those satellite signals, so first thing: stop waving your arms about the place.

Does the area you start most of your runs have an un-obscured view of the sky (away from tall buildings and dense foliage)? Might be worth giving the strap a clean, to remove any layers of sweat and dirt.

Cheers, waving my arms about was a bit of an exageration. There is an appartment complex pretty close by but other than that it an un-obscured view of the sky.
I'll give the strap a clean tonight also.

Just out of interest does it take long for your Garmin to 'triangulate' your position?

huskerdu

Bez Bing wrote: »

Just out of interest does it take long for your Garmin to 'triangulate' your position?

Anything from 1 minute to about 3 minutes. My 305 is very consistent in how
long it takes to lock, in my various different regular running locations.

2 minutes outside my house
3 minutes beside the building at work ( 3 story building)
1 minutes in the middle of the car park at work

It took about 10 minutes in St Stephens Green before the St Patrick Weekend 5k, which is the only time I've had trouble,

robinph

A clear view of the sky to the south will help a little bit as well. The orbits of the GPS satellites only just go to directly over Ireland, 55degrees I think, so there are more likely to be more of them "visible" in the sky to the south than to the north.

Krusty_Clown

huskerdu wrote: »

Anything from 1 minute to about 3 minutes. My 305 is very consistent in how
long it takes to lock, in my various different regular running locations.

2 minutes outside my house
3 minutes beside the building at work ( 3 story building)
1 minutes in the middle of the car park at work

It took about 10 minutes in St Stephens Green before the St Patrick Weekend 5k, which is the only time I've had trouble,

My figures would be similar to Huskerdu's. Sometimes it takes an annoyingly long amount of time (5 minutes), but typically 1-2 mins.

Gringo78

If I'm at home I leave the 305 outside back door while I'm getting changed and normally is ready to go then when I'm ready to go. This generally works from a windowsill at work as well

shotgunmcos

Ok the Garmin HRM (310xt) has been basically pants over the last 2 months recording HR data. Not just spikes but prolonged periods at stupidlty inaccurate HRs. Now the HR data is completely absence for the last week.. Nada. Problem with the HRM or the device? Common? Cures?

Thanks

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Ok the Garmin HRM (310xt) has been basically pants over the last 2 months recording HR data. Not just spikes but prolonged periods at stupidlty inaccurate HRs. Now the HR data is completely absence for the last week.. Nada. Problem with the HRM or the device? Common? Cures?

Thanks

No doubt you have already checked/changed the battery in the HRM? Suffering the same absurd HR readings myself even if RPE suggests a lower effort than the HR reading.

SucCes09

My second time doing the Lost sheep cycle, and both readings came back short of the "known" distance (~79km instead if 83km). Looking thru this thread there seems to be an issue comparing the elevation between the traing center and garmin connect, but wondering if there are other issues with either the recording of the elevation or how it is displayed in the training center?

violator13

Just about to pick up a garmin 610 to replace my previous Garmin. Is it messy setting up a new garmin watch with your old garmin connect history and training?

Krusty_Clown

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Ok the Garmin HRM (310xt) has been basically pants over the last 2 months recording HR data. Not just spikes but prolonged periods at stupidlty inaccurate HRs. Now the HR data is completely absence for the last week.. Nada. Problem with the HRM or the device? Common? Cures?
Thanks

Battery? Though you might find that your HR data is just as accurrate with no battery in your HR strap.

Krusty_Clown

SucCes09 wrote: »

My second time doing the Lost sheep cycle, and both readings came back short of the "known" distance (~79km instead if 83km). Looking thru this thread there seems to be an issue comparing the elevation between the traing center and garmin connect, but wondering if there are other issues with either the recording of the elevation or how it is displayed in the training center?

You don't have auto-pause switched on, do you?

Garmin Connect does elevation correction (see the option in the bottom left of the Garmin Connect Screen). If you turn it off, then you should get similar readings across GC and GTC. GPS accuracy is always an issue, however, over an 80km course, I wouldn't expect it to be out my more than .5 of a km (unless the entire race is conducted under ground!). If your readings were long, then you could partially account for it with racing line, but 4km short is beyond the bounds of normal discrepancy. Sounds like the course may be short. What did others record for the distance? How is the course measured? If they use a car odometer, then a 4 km discrepancy is within the realms of possibility.

Krusty_Clown

violator13 wrote: »

Just about to pick up a garmin 610 to replace my previous Garmin. Is it messy setting up a new garmin watch with your old garmin connect history and training?

You mean connect it up to your existing Garmin Connect account?
No bother at all. Presume the 610 will be just as straightforward.

BeepBeep67

violator13 wrote: »

Just about to pick up a garmin 610 to replace my previous Garmin. Is it messy setting up a new garmin watch with your old garmin connect history and training?

Interested in hearing your review on it in good time - I'm due a replacement soon and I'm undecided on the 610

Hi folks. I got a new Forerunner 110 recently and am just getting used to it. It's worked fine so far except that it won't seem to upload an activity - my longest ever LSR! - from last Sunday morning. When I go to upload new activities it keeps saying that it is trying to upload the Sunday run, but nothing happens. All the other runs have uploaded without a problem.

Any ideas or suggestions?

liamog

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Interested in hearing your review on it in good time - I'm due a replacement soon and I'm undecided on the 610

I bought a 610 in May, so far it's been great, I've not used a GPS watch before so admittedly don't have anything to compare it to.

I've just started the GF on the C25K program, the workouts on the watch are very good for this as I'm able to load up her session and run with her.

The vibrating alert is very good for anybody who likes to run with an iPod as it is noticeable where the audible alert my not be.

Virtual Partner function is also great, I used it in the Dublin Half Marathon to pace myself. I set the pace at under 2:00 pace and was able to see on the watch how far ahead I was.

The touchscreen is a breeze to use, and I haven't had any issues with it on any of my runs.

Krusty_Clown

Deleted User wrote: »

Hi folks. I got a new Forerunner 110 recently and am just getting used to it. It's worked fine so far except that it won't seem to upload an activity - my longest ever LSR! - from last Sunday morning. When I go to upload new activities it keeps saying that it is trying to upload the Sunday run, but nothing happens. All the other runs have uploaded without a problem.

Any ideas or suggestions?

AFAIK, the 110 connects to your computer in the same manner as an external drive/Media, so you should be able to just browse the watch (once it's connected), find the appropriate workout and copy it to somewhere on your computer. You can then perform a manual upload to Garmin Connect. Make sure you actually pressed [stop] once you finished the run. That one 'caught me out' a few times.

Krusty_Clown

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

AFAIK, the 110 connects to your computer in the same manner as an external drive/Media, so you should be able to just browse the watch (once it's connected), find the appropriate workout and copy it to somewhere on your computer. You can then perform a manual upload to Garmin Connect. Make sure you actually pressed [stop] once you finished the run. That one 'caught me out' a few times.

Thanks Krusty. That makes sense and I will give it a bash when I get home. I definitely pressed stop this time, but that did catch me out a few times at the start!

subscriber

I took my new garmin forerunner 305 out for its first spin today. Did a short 3 miles around the local horse race track. Got home and uploaded the activity, no problems..


Now.. the map of the activity seems absolutely crap. im happy with the statistics given and the function of the watch on the run.. but the map is like something a 3 yr old drew on Microsoft paint. I mean there is absolutly zero detail in it.. Is this normal.. Iv seen maps from the 305 from members on here in posts and they look like something similar to google maps and possibly even a bit more detailed again..

Was it because the gps shows as being off road because I was running on the horse track or what is going on??

Krusty_Clown

subscriber wrote: »

I took my new garmin forerunner 305 out for its first spin today. Did a short 3 miles around the local horse race track. Got home and uploaded the activity, no problems..


Now.. the map of the activity seems absolutely crap. im happy with the statistics given and the function of the watch on the run.. but the map is like something a 3 yr old drew on Microsoft paint. I mean there is absolutly zero detail in it.. Is this normal.. Iv seen maps from the 305 from members on here in posts and they look like something similar to google maps and possibly even a bit more detailed again..

Was it because the gps shows as being off road because I was running on the horse track or what is going on??

Did you upload it to Garmin Connect or to Garmin Training Centre?

The base-map for Garmin Training Centre is awful. But you can install additional Open Street Maps maps, which will provide a much greater level of detail.

If you uploaded to Garmin Connect, then that's all the detail available for the area you were running. Send on a link to your Garmin Connect activity.

subscriber

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Did you upload it to Garmin Connect or to Garmin Training Centre?

The base-map for Garmin Training Centre is awful. But you can install additional Open Street Maps maps, which will provide a much greater level of detail.

If you uploaded to Garmin Connect, then that's all the detail available for the area you were running. Send on a link to your Garmin Connect activity.

I uploaded to garmin training centre, just the disk that came with the watch, the maps are shambolic on it. Will I just pluck garmin connect from garmin website or where? Do I have tp pay extra? After i have it, where do I get open street maps add on?? Sorry about all the questions..

Krusty_Clown

subscriber wrote: »

I uploaded to garmin training centre, just the disk that came with the watch, the maps are shambolic on it. Will I just pluck garmin connect from garmin website or where? Do I have tp pay extra? After i have it, where do I get open street maps add on?? Sorry about all the questions..

Ahh right.. When you install Garmin Training Centre, you are only getting a crappy basemap with it. If you installed it from a CD, it's also probably a very old (out of date) copy, though the mapping will still be just as crap in newer builds.

Garmin Connect is on online web-based portal, where you can upload your workouts, and it uses the latest online maps. It's free. Visit Garmin Connect and create a new account.

If that doesn't meet your needs, I'll type up instructions on how to update your maps that display in GTC (though I might have done this before on this thread....somewhere...).

subscriber

cheers krusty, threw my earlier route onto connect, lovely bit of software, a lot more detailed. would ya mind puttin up instructions on how to update the maps in training centre as well , id be grateful as I wont always have use of connect and will occasionally need to use off - line..

Many thanks in advance!!

subscriber

back for more questions... I designed 8 or so courses / routes on garmin connect , but only 2 will transfer to the device??

Tried several times to transfer and it says 'transfer complete' each time but every time I check menu -> training -> courses... It only shows the same two routes??

Anyone have similar problems?

Krusty_Clown

subscriber wrote: »

back for more questions... I designed 8 or so courses / routes on garmin connect , but only 2 will transfer to the device??

Tried several times to transfer and it says 'transfer complete' each time but every time I check menu -> training -> courses... It only shows the same two routes??

Anyone have similar problems?

I don't have a 305, so only guessing, but maybe it only has enough allocated storage space for 2 courses? Very few people use courses (in fact it's a brand new feature in Garmin Connect). I tried it on my 405 today for the first time, and didn't think much of it, to be honest.

Micilin Muc

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I don't have a 305, so only guessing, but maybe it only has enough allocated storage space for 2 courses? Very few people use courses (in fact it's a brand new feature in Garmin Connect). I tried it on my 405 today for the first time, and didn't think much of it, to be honest.

I use courses every week on my 305. Until now I've been uploading them to the watch via Garmin Training Centre and I found that it couldn't handle more than 4 or 5 courses.

I create the course on gpsies.com and download it to my hard-drive. I then fire up Garmin Training Centre and import the course. I then transfer it to my watch, and delete the course in Garmin Training Centre. When I've ran the course and want to do another one, I delete it and start over again.

This way, GTC never transfers more than one course to my watch and therefore no errors. It's a bit annoying but it's the only way it works for me.

christeb

Hey KC - having trouble syncing on the new laptop - running Windoze 7 now. Any ideas?

I've searched the various forums to no real avail....

Krusty_Clown

Micilin Muc wrote: »

I use courses every week on my 305. Until now I've been uploading them to the watch via Garmin Training Centre and I found that it couldn't handle more than 4 or 5 courses.

I create the course on gpsies.com and download it to my hard-drive. I then fire up Garmin Training Centre and import the course. I then transfer it to my watch, and delete the course in Garmin Training Centre. When I've ran the course and want to do another one, I delete it and start over again.

This way, GTC never transfers more than one course to my watch and therefore no errors. It's a bit annoying but it's the only way it works for me.

It may be that the new feature for creating courses in Garmin Connect uses a lot more trackpoints than the method you are using Micilin Muc. The GC feature allows you to devise a route aligned with existing roads. However because the watch has no knowledge of the aforementioned 'roads', it could be storing a trackpoint (or waypoint) every 50ms, which might take up a lot more storage space than your method of creating them in gpsies and sending via GTC.

subscriber: you gotta remember, these devices are not designed for navigation, and it is more of an after-thought rather than the core functionality of the watch.

How do you use this functionality Micilion Muc? Do you upload routes when you don't know where you are going, or on a general workout basis? Do you often find yourself 'off-track' according to the watch, despite following the correct line?

I uploaded a 12 mile course yesterday (to play with the feature) and despite showing me the correct directions (compass) for the route, it never registered that I had hit the start of the course, so by the time I had finished my run, I still had '12 miles left to go'.

Krusty_Clown

christeb wrote: »

Hey KC - having trouble syncing on the new laptop - running Windoze 7 now. Any ideas?

I've searched the various forums to no real avail....

What type of watch christieb?