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Slow satellite lock

AngusK2
over 4 years ago
Hello,

My girlfriend and I both have the Vivosmart HR+. They were bought within a few days of each other and are, to all intents and purposes, identical. Both are installed with v3.00 of the software. However, when we go out for a run together and we both select the 'Run' activity, then 'Outdoor (GPS)', hers will lock to the satellites within 15-20 seconds and mine will certainly take at least a minute and maybe more. Yesterday it said it was going into power save mode before it had managed a lock! When it does eventually lock it will oscillate between 'Wait' and 'Ready' a couple of times before finally settling on 'Ready'. During the searching process my girlfriend's HR+ will show "1 mi" on the display, but mine does not.

Additional information: she synchronises her HR+ to an iPhone, I synchronise mine to my Windows 10 Phone.

Does anybody have any idea what is going on with my HR+? Why does it take so long, and what is this "1 mi" business all about? I've looked through the manual but all it says it to "Frequently sync the device to your Garmin Connect account" to keep the satellite data up to date. I do - often several times a day, but at least once and almost always after I wake up but before I go for a run. It doesn't get much fresher than that.

Any help or suggestions welcomed.

Regards,

Angus
  • 0 over 4 years ago
    I synchronise mine to my Windows 10 Phone.


    Try syncing your device via USB cable with the Garmin Express application running on your computer. If, after that, your device acquires a lock on GPS satellite signals more quickly, then it would suggest the ephemeris data file is not being refreshed when you sync your device wirelessly with the Garmin Connect Mobile app for Windows 10 Mobile. On the other hand, if performance does not improve after syncing with Garmin Express, then there may be a hardware issue with your device, in which case you should contact Garmin's Product Support team about it.
  • 0 over 4 years ago
    I have the same issue with my Vivosmart HR+
    It helps most of the time to sync with USB and Garmin Express before start running so the satellite lock happens quite fast.
    If I forgot to sync it could take up to 5 minutes but usually in such a case I cancel search and start running without GPS.


    PS: Since Creators Update I am unable to sync via Bluetooth with my Lumia 950XL so in the moment I need to sync with cable.
  • 0 over 4 years ago
    Try syncing your device via USB cable with the Garmin Express application running on your computer.


    Thanks, I'll try that. I'm deliberately away from my laptop this weekend, so I'll let you know next week.
  • 0 over 4 years ago
    Massive improvement

    Synced with PC before my run on Saturday. Started searching and locked on within about 10 seconds! Wouldn't like to say why syncing with the PC is so much better than syncing with the mobile app (but remember, it is the Windows 10 Phone app we're talking about), but on that one test it seems to be ok. I'll test more and report back.

    In the meantime, does anybody know why the location information for apparently geostationary satellites needs to be periodically updated anyway? Why isn't this the case with other devices which use GPS?
  • 0 over 4 years ago
    In the meantime, does anybody know why the location information for apparently geostationary satellites needs to be periodically updated anyway? Why isn't this the case with other devices which use GPS?


    Because they're not geostationary, they're orbiting the earth and travelling at about 10,000 km/h (two loops per day). A GPS satellite's orbit is about 20,000 km above earth, with the complete constellation criss-crossing the globe. Geostationary satellites orbit at 35,768 km, but only above the equator. Which wouldn't provide great coverage near the poles!
  • 0 over 4 years ago
    Well, I knew that there was some fairly standard trigonometry calculated very accurately to triangulate positions and make GPS work. I had no idea that they were moving as well. Makes it quite a lot more impressive. Thank you for the explanation.