Mac/Windows Software

Basecamp Mac Elevation stats in Basecamp and on the Etrex 10 don't match

Elevation stats in Basecamp and on the Etrex 10 don't match

Former Member over 13 years ago

Hi.

When I look at the elevation stats in Basecamp they don't agree with what I've seen when out using my Etrex 10.

When out with the gadget the other day the readings for elevation compared with the map didn't seem too bad - up to 10 metres out. When I read the readings for my tracks loaded into Basecamp the figures for the same exact places had become garbage - over 40 metres out.

Is this a problem for others?

0 Former Member over 13 years ago

It's the same when I view my track in Routebuddy. The elevations are all wrong.

Clearly something goes wrong when the track is saved by the device because, as I say, when out the elevation readings on the etrex 10 screen seem reasonable.

0 PSEABOLT over 13 years ago

I think about the best you can hope for on elevation is about 50ft. GPSs can do much better on lat lon coordinates than elevation. Because of this, BC will use a topo map to set evaluation on you track. Double click your track and the gear drop down menu has an option, set track to map elevation.

0 Former Member over 13 years ago

I think about the best you can hope for on elevation is about 50ft. GPSs can do much better on lat lon coordinates than elevation. Because of this, BC will use a topo map to set evaluation on you track. Double click your track and the gear drop down menu has an option, set track to map elevation.

I said the elevations read on my etrex 10 weren't bad, within 10 metres.

But when the tracks are transferred to Basecamp the figures are very different and wildly inaccurate.

Can't I save the readings my etrex 10 showed rather than get these silly figures?

0 PSEABOLT over 13 years ago

Are you saying when you down load a track the elevation data is changing and you are not converting it to map topo elevation. How are you comparing points on the track to the same points on the downloaded track in BaseCamp?

0 Former Member over 13 years ago

Are you saying when you down load a track the elevation data is changing and you are not converting it to map topo elevation. How are you comparing points on the track to the same points on the downloaded track in BaseCamp?

Yes I'm getting sensible readings when out looking at my etrex 10 but when I save my tracks to Basecamp and double click the file I get things like I was 50 metres below sea level when in reality I was walking along a beach. The map in Basecamp I'm using is just whatever comes automatically with the program if that helps.

0 SUSSAMB over 13 years ago

That'll explain it ... the basemap is a very crude map, so I'm not surprised it's out ;)

0 Former Member over 13 years ago

Is it just too complicated for the device to be able to pass on its own elevation stats to Basecamp? I'll answer my own question. Clearly yes.

0 SUSSAMB over 13 years ago

I'm sure a developer will reply to that, but I'm not sure we'd really want it to. Elevation data on most GPS is not very accurate, so it would seem to make sense that BC takes elevation data from the map, if it can do.

Your particular problem is that you're using an innaccurate basemap.

Maybe there should be an option to let the user decide :confused:

0 Former Member over 13 years ago

There's been an update for the etrex 10 and for what it's worth I'm now getting elevation stats in Basecamp that are very good. They generally agree with the same place identified on Google Earth within 2 or 3 metres.

And it's all with the same basic map in Basecamp as I had before.

If I mark a waypoint when out on a walk it turns out to be accurate usually to within 4 or 5 metres, often within 3 metres.

Who needs a barometric reading when elevation worked out from the satellites is that good?