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

wellboss

Hi Guys,


I have scanned the previous pages and didnt see any relating to my question so sorry if it has already come up and I missed it.

Last night I did a pretty hilly 5km race. My friend had a GPS and I had a footpod for my suunto. When i got to the 5km mark my watch read 4.67km, now i know the footpods are'nt the most accurate because of changing stride lengths and so on but it's never ever out by 330m on such a short course. My friends GPS read 4.98 so pretty much bang on.

What I am wondering is, do GPS watches take into account the changing gradient of the running surface?. I presume they do and it's probably my footpod thats at fault but just said that I would ask as iv never seen this big of a difference before.

Thanks

Krusty_Clown

Was it the IMRA race? If so, my watch read 4.05 miles.
I don't believe the Garmin takes gradient into account (i.,e. running the hypotenuse) so what you're getting from a GPS watch is the overhead view (like mapmyrun) of the distance.

But... given that the hypotenuse is going to be longer than flat edge of the triangle, your foot-pod based watch should be reading longer than the Garmin. Take for example a 260m climb, with an incline of 5 degrees:


Obviously this is an extreme example, as it's uphill only, and your race no doubt featured an up and a down, but your down should in theory also represent a hypotenuse, and should also represent a longer distance. also worth observing that the difference in the above examples is only 12 metres.

I'd say the difference is down to poor calibration of the foot-pod or stride length, or else my logic is completely flawed. Very possible.

wellboss

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Was it the IMRA race? If so, my watch read 4.05 miles.
I don't believe the Garmin takes gradient into account (i.,e. running the hypotenuse) so what you're getting from a GPS watch is the overhead view (like mapmyrun) of the distance.

But... given that the hypotenuse is going to be longer than flat edge of the triangle, your foot-pod based watch should be reading longer than the Garmin. Take for example a 260m climb, with an incline of 5 degrees:


Obviously this is an extreme example, as it's uphill only, and your race no doubt featured an up and a down, but your down should in theory also represent a hypotenuse, and should also represent a longer distance. also worth observing that the difference in the above examples is only 12 metres.

I'd say the difference is down to poor calibration of the foot-pod or stride length, or else my logic is completely flawed. Very possible.

Thanks for the reply, yeah i was thinking that my footpod should be longer alright.

I was also thinking along the same lines as you with regard the GPS not recording the hypotenuse but instead recording the flat edge. But as the examlpe shows it's only 12m in the difference over nearly 3km.

Nope not IMRA, it was a road race in mayo, I set a PB on a hilly course that really shouldnt be giving too many PB's especially not the time I got anyway, unless I am alot fitter than I think I am, but 2 GPS watches were pretty much bang on the correct distance. I think my only solution is to go and measure it in a car or on a bike.

At the end of the day it doesnt really matter, but it's interesting to know that the GPS does not take into consideration inclines:cool:

Krusty_Clown

wellboss wrote: »

At the end of the day it doesnt really matter, but it's interesting to know that the GPS does not take into consideration inclines:cool:

Would you rather be out by 12m, or 330? :cool:

keano007

Hey lads apologies if this question has been asked already but I have been thinking about buying a garmin, haven't decided between the 405 or the 310xt yet!

Anyway my question is, I'm going to new York in september and I'm wondering If I find a garmin over there for "cheaper" than Ireland would there be any implications in using one bought in America over here?

plodder

keano007 wrote: »

Hey lads apologies if this question has been asked already but I have been thinking about buying a garmin, haven't decided between the 405 or the 310xt yet!

Anyway my question is, I'm going to new York in september and I'm wondering If I find a garmin over there for "cheaper" than Ireland would there be any implications in using one bought in America over here?

The worst that could happen is that the mains charger you get doesn't work over here. But, you could buy one for €10-15 or else just charge it off a computer. It could be the case that you get a charger that works everywhere anyway. Bottom line is, there's nothing much to worry about.

robinph

The mains charger is only a USB port anyway, and I think that the one which came with my 405 had both UK and US attachments for it.

Only slight issue is that you should take it out of the box before walking through Dublin airport because of the very, very, very slight risk of them wanting to charge you import duties if you get stopped on the way in.

BeepBeep67

I've used my Garmin on 4 continents and Robinph has the other one covered - so no issues.

Krusty_Clown

keano007 wrote: »

Hey lads apologies if this question has been asked already but I have been thinking about buying a garmin, haven't decided between the 405 or the 310xt yet!

Anyway my question is, I'm going to new York in september and I'm wondering If I find a garmin over there for "cheaper" than Ireland would there be any implications in using one bought in America over here?

The guys advice above is spot on. I don't think the US SKU comes with a different attachment for euro plugs, but to be honest, that's a €2 purchase anyway (and I always charge mine off of USB anyway).

For fear of repeating myself again (and again, and again), if you are visiting someone you know in NY, please consider checking out the prices on Amazon.com/eBay.com, as you could buy and have the watch waiting for you at your destination, far cheaper than you will find anywhere else. For example: Forerunner 405 bought from Garmin through amazon, would set you back €183 (€207 inc HRM). If looking at eBay items, check to see if it's a factory refurb (which should be cheaper, but will likely have a shorter warranty period).

BigAl81

Hey hey,

I've a Garmin 305, and love it. I had Nike+ before and the accuracy was very hit and miss.

I only found out about split times yesterday, and I didn't see it mentioned on this thread so in case anyone else is new to the watch, go into the menu and turn on Auto Lap (I set mine to 1KM).

Each time you finish a kilometre, a little window pops up on the watch and tells you your pace for that K, and at the end you get the splits on the website.

Run with splits (see left of screen, half way down)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/44263372

Run without splits
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41411184

The splits are great as you can see what are your slow sections and look to improve on those.

Apologies if this is really obvious, but it was news to me!!

Go Team!

PS: For anyone in the Lucan area, the run mapped above is amazing, but keep it more of a secret than I did ;o)

PPS: Only 8 days till GaelForce... eek!

robinph

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

I've used my Garmin on 4 continents and Robinph has the other one covered - so no issues.

I've not yet tested it out in the Antarctic though, not really into the xc skiing, and I suspect the GPS would have difficulty there.

BigAl81 wrote: »

PS: For anyone in the Lucan area, the run mapped above is amazing, but keep it more of a secret than I did ;o)

Agreed, that trail is good for running round. Was living very near there for years before I discovered it myself.

JosDel

In the BHAA race on Wednesday my garmin 205 clocked me as running 1.90 miles as opposed to 1.86, I would then take it the extra distance is from running out of lane 1..?

Krusty_Clown

JosDel wrote: »

In the BHAA race on Wednesday my garmin 205 clocked me as running 1.90 miles as opposed to 1.86, I would then take it the extra distance is from running out of lane 1..?

Not necessarily. A Garmin will rarely measure to that level of precision, particularly on a track. That's around a 2% discrepancy. That's as good as it is going to get.

JosDel

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Not necessarily. A Garmin will rarely measure to that level of precision, particularly on a track. That's around a 2% discrepancy. That's as good as it is going to get.

Thanks KC

nerraw1111

Is it possible to delete sections off a route on Garmin Connect?

For example, numerous times I've accidentally pressed start on my watch after a race/run, so a 10km run turns into a 50 mile run as the Garmin is still going in my pocket on the car journey home.

No biggie but means calculating distance/elevation myself which is a bit tedious

plodder

robinph wrote: »

The mains charger is only a USB port anyway, and I think that the one which came with my 405 had both UK and US attachments for it.

Did you buy it in Europe or the US, because there's a US version, a Europe version and a Pacific(?) version. Presumably, if you go to a bricks and mortar store in the US, then you'll get the US version, which possibly doesn't include the European plug adapters.

Krusty_Clown

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Is it possible to delete sections off a route on Garmin Connect?

For example, numerous times I've accidentally pressed start on my watch after a race/run, so a 10km run turns into a 50 mile run as the Garmin is still going in my pocket on the car journey home.

No biggie but means calculating distance/elevation myself which is a bit tedious

Yes, but you're not going to like it. If you have the watch set up for laps, and the bit you want to delete is in a separate lap, then:
1. Export the file from Garmin Connect, as a TCX file
2. Import the file into Garmin Training Centre (you do have it installed, don't you?)
3. Highlight the lap, or laps you want to delete, and press the delete button.
4. Export the workout from Garmin Training Centre (again as a History/TCX file)
5. Delete the old activity from Garmin Connect (This step may not be necessary, I'm not sure).
6. Manually import the new workout/history file.

If the stuff that you want to delete isn't in a seperate lap, you're going to need to go into the XML using your favorite editor, and hack out the stuff that shouldn't be there. So, do as above, but instead of importing the file into GTC, open it up in a text editor (or even better, an XML editor). Look for where the date/time changes, and delete the rest of the track-points, making sure that you preserve the matching open/closing tags. Then import!

robinph

plodder wrote: »

Did you buy it in Europe or the US, because there's a US version, a Europe version and a Pacific(?) version. Presumably, if you go to a bricks and mortar store in the US, then you'll get the US version, which possibly doesn't include the European plug adapters.

I've got so many USB mains plugs I don't know which plug came with which gadget now, but I think it was a US plug where the pins folded down and the UK one slotted on top of it. Think I got it from Amazon UK, but not certain.

The biggest difference between the US/ UK/ EU/ Pacific versions will be the selection of languages they stick in the paperwork included.

Macanri

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Yes, but you're not going to like it. If you have the watch set up for laps, and the bit you want to delete is in a separate lap, then:
1. Export the file from Garmin Connect, as a TCX file
2. Import the file into Garmin Training Centre (you do have it installed, don't you?)
3. Highlight the lap, or laps you want to delete, and press the delete button.
4. Export the workout from Garmin Training Centre (again as a History/TCX file)
5. Delete the old activity from Garmin Connect (This step may not be necessary, I'm not sure).
6. Manually import the new workout/history file.

If the stuff that you want to delete isn't in a seperate lap, you're going to need to go into the XML using your favorite editor, and hack out the stuff that shouldn't be there. So, do as above, but instead of importing the file into GTC, open it up in a text editor (or even better, an XML editor). Look for where the date/time changes, and delete the rest of the track-points, making sure that you preserve the matching open/closing tags. Then import!

Good man Krusty - Do you speak english also?? Only kidding, I can't blame you for my intelligence, or lack of it!:o

Krusty_Clown

Macanri wrote: »

Good man Krusty - Do you speak english also?? Only kidding, I can't blame you for my intelligence, or lack of it!:o

English is my third language, after Garmin and bullsh1t.:D

nerraw1111

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Yes, but you're not going to like it. If you have the watch set up for laps, and the bit you want to delete is in a separate lap, then:
1. Export the file from Garmin Connect, as a TCX file
2. Import the file into Garmin Training Centre (you do have it installed, don't you?)
3. Highlight the lap, or laps you want to delete, and press the delete button.
4. Export the workout from Garmin Training Centre (again as a History/TCX file)
5. Delete the old activity from Garmin Connect (This step may not be necessary, I'm not sure).
6. Manually import the new workout/history file.

If the stuff that you want to delete isn't in a seperate lap, you're going to need to go into the XML using your favorite editor, and hack out the stuff that shouldn't be there. So, do as above, but instead of importing the file into GTC, open it up in a text editor (or even better, an XML editor). Look for where the date/time changes, and delete the rest of the track-points, making sure that you preserve the matching open/closing tags. Then import!

Cheers Krusty, super stuff. It's all laps so will just need to chop off the laps.

yop

Any way of displaying your "avg time per km"

I rely big time on "how as your last km" on my runs so that I can go slower or speed up, how is this done on the 305? Do I use the kmph as my guide?

Krusty_Clown

Not exactly sure what you mean.
Time per kilometer is essentialy pace - The amount of time it takes you to complete a kilometer. Whereas km per hour is the number of kms you complete in an hour. So perhaps if you switch the watch to pace instead of speed, you'll get what you want?

You can get the watch to display:
Average pace - which is your overall time per km for the entire session
Pace for current km - Need to have the watch setup to record laps of 1km
Pace for previous km - Not as useful, but again need to have the watch setup to record laps of 1km

shels4ever

Just wondered if you use the Auto lap function on the garmin and then hit the lap button also does this reset your auto lap point also?

gerard65

shels4ever wrote: »

Just wondered if you use the Auto lap function on the garmin and then hit the lap button also does this reset your auto lap point also?

If you have autolap on for 1 mile intervals it will still register every mile on the mile no matter how many times you press the lap button in between.

BeepBeep67

^ I don't find that, if I'm doing 600's for example, I'll set the auto lap to .6k so i'll hear it beep then check for my 75 sec recovery and hit lap again - it then resets and starts the 600 over again.

g0g

Firstly. thanks to whoever suggested about the autolap thingy - think I'd seen it somewhere else before but never figured how to turn it on!

Ok, now my question is in relation to multi-sport events - specifically Gaelforce West. I have a 305 with HRM and am trying to figure out how to use it properly. Ideally what I'd like is one single upload at the end of the day with my full race. Today I tried out going for a run followed by a cycle. I thought I did the right thing for multisport - I did the run as "running", pressed stop when I got home, maybe took a couple of minutes to get ready for the cycle, then held down MODE to change to Cycling and when I left the house I pressed start again. Yet at the end of it all it was treated as two separate activites when I uploaded to Garmin Connect. I was thinking maybe if I had left the clock running right through it might have kept it all together, but then sure that's mad because you're including the transition times when maybe the clock isn't on! Any advice appreciated, and I'm hoping it doesn't involved editing files or using other software!

yop

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Not exactly sure what you mean.
Time per kilometer is essentialy pace - The amount of time it takes you to complete a kilometer. Whereas km per hour is the number of kms you complete in an hour. So perhaps if you switch the watch to pace instead of speed, you'll get what you want?

You can get the watch to display:
Average pace - which is your overall time per km for the entire session
Pace for current km - Need to have the watch setup to record laps of 1km
Pace for previous km - Not as useful, but again need to have the watch setup to record laps of 1km

Ah, I didnt spot the pace for current KM, thats what I am on about. I want to try and keep Gaelforce (on the sections which I can run) to about 6min per KM so this will be my "guide"

Thanks

Krusty_Clown

yop wrote: »

Ah, I didnt spot the pace for current KM, thats what I am on about. I want to try and keep Gaelforce (on the sections which I can run) to about 6min per KM so this will be my "guide"

Set the watch to auto-lap every kilometer (you'll need to have the watch set to metric) and then have one of your data fields set to Pace-Lap. That will show you your average pace for the current kilometer you are running. Good luck with Gaelforce!

RacoonQueen

shels4ever wrote: »

Just wondered if you use the Auto lap function on the garmin and then hit the lap button also does this reset your auto lap point also?

On the 405, if I pressed the lap button at say 4.35 miles it wouldn't beep itself again till 5.35 miles.