oh, I didn't know that. but doesn't it need to be recalibrated when the weather changes??
Sure does. Maybe they're doing what they do on the Fenix, calibrate the barometric altimeter with GPS and then occasionally compare to keep them from drifting apart too far. There's certainly no way to calibrate it on the VIRB from what I see.
The altimeter is completely false. There is no calibration like other S model handhelds. All tech support can suggest is to factory reset the unit (hold down button during power up). They said that should cause altimeter to recalibrate itself. It did not solve the problem either.
I find it interesting that at times the altimeter doesn't even come alive until it sees satellites. Does it even have an altimeter? Is it trying to get elevation/altitude from GPS?
The altimeter is completely false.
There is no calibration like other S model handhelds. All tech support can suggest is to factory reset the unit (hold down button during power up). They said that should cause altimeter to recalibrate itself. It did not solve the problem either.
I find it interesting that at times the altimeter doesn't even come alive until it sees satellites. Does it even have an altimeter? Is it trying to get elevation/altitude from GPS?
They may be trying to calibrate it from GPS. Fenix has a mode called "Auto Cal" which, as I understand it, uses the GPS altitude to calibrate at the beginning when you start a track and also to keep tabs on whether the barometric altimeter drifts too far from the GPS altitude or not. I use that mode, and it seems to work pretty well against known altitudes in the area. (Fenix also lets you just calibrate the altimeter by hand and then just run off the barometer.) Maybe they're doing the same thing with the Elite. They should, of course, have some way to calibrate it by hand as well. Even waypoint calibration like the Edges do (if you start near enough to a waypoint that's tagged with altitude, it will calibrate to that altitude) would be better than what they're doing now.
I went and made a video comparing the elevation between the Garmin Nuvi 3597 and the Virb Elite. It seems to take a little time for the elevation to start changing in the beginning of the video(after being stopped at a stop light).
www.youtube.com/watch
The Edge 800 seems to work in 2 meter increments. You'll see the altitude "stick" and then suddenly run up 7 ft. Maybe that's what's going on with the Elite.
The Edge 800 seems to work in 2 meter increments. You'll see the altitude "stick" and then suddenly run up 7 ft. Maybe that's what's going on with the Elite.
Interesting video. Thanks. Are you windows or mac. What OS?
Does the nuvi have an altimeter too or is it pulling it from a base map? I am trying to figure out why the elite's altimeter doesn't start reading unless it has satellites.
Lately With my unit once it starts reading it holds fairly steady. The main altimeter complaints now are that sometimes it takes 5 minutes to read any elevation and without changing positions each time I turn it off and back on the altitude is different (-150 to200ft). I cannot see the situation improving until the firmware allows us to input a known altitude for calibration.
